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

[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