Odd thing and thoughts on Frodo's journey

[butterfly]

Dominic Monaghan is a very attractive man. So, it's utterly baffling to me how unattractive he is in the drawn credits sequence. Everyone else comes off quite well (Mmm... David Wenham in particular comes off very nicely.), so why does Dom's drawing seem to capture all the bad features of his face and none of the good? It's a mystery.



There are many levels of sacrifice. The highest is what Frodo does in the movie - he voluntarily offers up, not only his life, but his very soul and being for the sake of the rest of Middle-Earth. In the end, he fails physically and emotionally, but he's still the one who caused the destruction of the ring, because of his actions with Gollum. What he did in the past affected his future.

Interesting side note - In the Extended Edition of Fellowship, we see Sam before we see Frodo, just as we leave Sam after we leave Frodo in Return.

Each of the other characters become who they could be without their old self being destroyed. Pippin is still Pippin, but a wiser Pippin who now knows what the world can be. Merry is still Merry, one that has been uncovered and has seen horrors. Sam is still Sam, having been melted down and refined to his purest essence (which is what happens to them all). Gandalf becomes the White. Aragorn achieves his kingship and his love. Legolas and Gimli learn the value of friendship in the unlikest of places and create a bond that lasts as long as time itself - they become more than the sum of their race. Boromir achieves his redeemption in Fellowship - fighting for the lives of Merry and Pippin and letting go of his anger and fear towards Aragorn - and learns that he is capable of a greater darkness than imagined and that he isn't the best man for the job. Eowyn discovers her self-confidence. Arwen gets to keep her love while retaining immortality in the most mortal of ways - children. They become.

Frodo, though, empties himself into the quest - fighting the essence of evil with every breath of his body, until - at the center of that evil's power - it finally overtakes him. Not a hero - a martyr. He sacrifices himself for the sake of the world. He completely loses himself and fails under the influence of the greatest evil in Middle-Earth. But because of who he is, because he's the sort who would spare someone who'd tried to kill him - even when he lost himself, his goodness saved him. Frodo is definitely worth every ounce of love that Sam, Merry, and Pippin have for him. And the only person that could have gotten the ring to Mt. Doom.

I've been reading some interesting things lately and this quote from the book struck me as so true, when it comes to the Frodo (that smile!) that we see at the very end of the film -

But to the wizard's eye there was a faint change, just a hint as it were of transparency, about him, and especially about the left hand that lay outside upon the coverlet. "Still that must be expected," said Gandalf to himself. "He is not half through yet, and to what he will come in the end not even Elrond can foretell. Not to evil, I think. He may become like a glass filled with a clear light for eyes to see that can."
- FotR; Many Meetings

Comments

[livinglaurel.livejournal.com]

I had a long reply to this, but lj ate it (perhaps mercifully). I'll just say that Frodo, at the very end, reminds me quite a bit of Arthur being carried off to Avalon, the Blessed Isle, which is also perhaps Tirna-n-Og -- and Frodo and Arthur both sort of merge into the Fisher King for me, too. Although that story's Christianized, the wounded King is also the wounded land, which corresponds to Mordor and the Scouring of the Shire as well. (More astute people than me have picked this up, I just remembered it strongly on reading your post.) I did find a nice bit of Malory:

Than syr Bedwere toke the kyng vpon his backe and so wente wyth hym to that water syde
& whan they were at the water syde
euyn fast by the banke houed a lytyl barge wyth many fayr ladyes in hit
& emonge hem al was a quene
and al they had blacke hoodes
and al they wepte and shryked whan they sawe Kyng Arthur
Now put me in to the barge sayd the kyng and so he dyd softelye
And there receyued hym thre quenes wyth grete mornyng and soo they sette hem doun
and in one of their lappes kyng Arthur layed hys heed
and than that quene sayd a dere broder why haue ye taryed so longe from me
Alas this wounde on your heed hath caught ouermoche colde
And soo than they rowed from the londe
and syr Bedwere behelde all tho ladyes goo from hym
Than syr Bedwere cryed a my lord Arthur what shal become of me now ye goo from me
And leue me here allone emonge myn enemyes
Comfort thy self sayd the kyng and doo as wel as thou mayst
for in me is no truste for to truste in
For I wyl in to the vale of auylyon to hele me of my greuous wounde
And yf thou here neuer more of me praye for my soule
but euer the quenes and ladyes wepte and shryched that hit was pyte to here
And assone as syr Bedwere had loste the syght of the baarge he wepte and waylled and so took the foreste....
Thus of Arthur I fynde neuer more wryton in boookes that ben auctorysed nor more of the veray certente of his deth herde I neuer redde
but thus was he ledde aweye in a shyppe wherin were thre quenes
that one was kyng Arthurs syster quene Morgan le Fay
the other was the quene of Northgalys
the thyrd was the quene of the waste londes
Also there was Nymue the chyef lady of the lake....

moi

[dlgood.livejournal.com]

I'll just say that Frodo, at the very end, reminds me quite a bit of Arthur being carried off to Avalon, the Blessed Isle, which is also perhaps Tirna-n-Og -- and Frodo and Arthur both sort of merge into the Fisher King for me, too. Although that story's Christianized, the wounded King is also the wounded land, which corresponds to Mordor and the Scouring of the Shire as well.

That's a pretty valid connection to make. Tolkien was a professor of Anglo-Saxon, and also a very devout Catholic. So it's not out of bounds to see those echoes of Arthurian legend or Christian myth in his stories. Indeed, in one of Tolkien's language the isle in front of Valinor (the undying lands the elvish ships are going to) was named Avallonne.

[livinglaurel.livejournal.com]

Indeed, in one of Tolkien's language the isle in front of Valinor (the undying lands the elvish ships are going to) was named Avallonne.

Ooh! Nice.

Going to see the movie this weekend -- I suspect if I'm not crying at that point already, the "some have to lose things that others may keep them" bit will get me but good.

moi

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

That is pretty. And if you ever work up that long reply again, I'd love to read it.

[monanotlisa.livejournal.com]

Just drivin' by-- almost off to the wilds of Lower Saxony, but I needed to tell you how much I adore every piece of your LotR analysis. Will comment in 2004! & ;-)

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

Thanks. I'm looking forward to it.