Quote 5
“But
I have been too deeply hurt, Sam. I tried to save the Shire, and
it has been saved, but not for me. It must often be so, Sam, when
things are in danger: someone has to give them up, lose them, so
that others may keep them.”
Frodo speaks these words in his final
farewell to Sam in Book VI, Chapter 9—the
final chapter of The Lord of the Rings. Frodo is about
to depart for the Grey Havens, where he will sail to the uncharted
West with the other Ring-bearers, in search of paradise. As Frodo
mentions, the quest has wounded him in an irreparable way. He assumes
that the safe deposit of the Ring in the Cracks of Doom will save
the Shire. The Shire does live on, but more so because of the bravery
of Merry, Pippin, and Sam in overthrowing Saruman’s destruction
of the Hobbit lands. Though no one but Sam has witnessed Frodo’s
deed, it has saved Middle-earth and has allowed the Fourth Age to
dawn and the kingdom of Men to take root in Gondor. Such accomplishments,
however, have little bearing on Frodo or on the Shire. On the whole,
his quest has been a negative one, a burden from the start. It has
centered around giving things up: not only the Ring, but also Frodo’s
innocence and mental energy. Frodo has offered an absolute sacrifice,
giving up a large part of himself with minimal thanks from the hobbits
for whom he cares the most.
In a sense, Frodo himself becomes a mythic character.
As a hobbit, he is an everyman of sorts throughout the novel, experiencing the
events of his quest in wide-eyed, somewhat disbelieving fashion, as
if they are a fantasy story or a fairy tale. Frodo remains detached from
the Elves and the Dwarves, as they are beings whom Frodo has encountered
only in tales as a child. Now, Frodo’s own greatest deeds in life
live on only in story and legend, symbolized by the bound volume
of tales he presents to Sam. It is fitting that Frodo sails away
into obscurity with the other Ring-bearers, whose fantastic lives
in the coming age of Men will also attain a mythic, unreal status.
