Of course I write about Lord of the Rings. What did you expect?

Warning: the following message runs to exactly 900 words, making it just a bit long.

I hope it’s not too cliché to write a bunch about Lord of the Rings here. If you haven’t read the book and want to, a) don’t read this post because it’s packed with spoilers, and b) go out and get a copy and spend an afternoon reading – it’s pretty great. 

Lord of the Rings is, at its core, a quintessential Hero’s Journey. Frodo, a normal-ish Hobbit (Hobbits are like humans, but short and with hairy feet, so they’re not exactly epic heroes) is gifted a magic disappearing ring by his uncle. Then his uncle’s friend, a wizard, comes by to tell him that the ring is a powerful, magical, extremely dangerous artifact. Furthermore, the only way to prevent the forces of the evil almost-god Sauron from overtaking the world is to chuck the ring into a volcano, helpfully positioned in Sauron’s home of Mordor. The wizard won’t take the ring because its power is too tempting, so Frodo has to journey to a council meeting, and later to Mordor, himself. 

Of course, along the way Frodo picks up a bunch of friends. Each of them also goes on a journey of heroism and self-discovery. Perhaps the most obvious case is Aragorn, whose name literally changes throughout the book. He is introduced by the common, rough name of Strider, then takes on the name Aragorn as he starts on his quest and it’s revealed he’s an heir to the throne. After many trials in battle and a final success, he becomes the King Elessar, signifying a triumphant return home. Practically every other character who doesn’t die has a similar arc. 

During the first read-through, I really needed these side-journeys to keep going, because Frodo’s ordeals are in no way fun to read. While the other characters engage in friendly competition over how many minions they can slay, Frodo and his friend Sam are trudging through the mountains that surround Mordor, with only Elvish protein bars to eat (lembas are closer to solid Soylent but apparently they taste really good so I don’t know), and being guided by a creature that probably wants to kill them while they’re asleep. While Aragorn returns home a king and Frodo’s Hobbit friends save their homeland and enjoy peace and prosperity for all their years, Frodo struggles to cope with lasting psychological scars caused by being in the presence of the Ring for too long. The addition of a struggle that continues after the return home was a very, very important change from past Hero’s Journey’s I’d read and watched. 

Most Hero’s Journeys I had consumed prior to Lord of the Rings were very … psychologically safe. In most of the action hero-type journeys, the main character experiences lots of physical danger, but no (or few, short-lived) mental problems. Indeed, the hero’s mental state gets better as they become more brave, strong, or loyal.  

But in Lord of the Rings, the journey wears Frodo down, and he returns home from war irreparably broken by the trauma he’s suffered. The first time I read LoTR, I was almost mad at Frodo for not being happy. I expected that he’d be able to cast away his memories of suffering – that he could get over it. I didn’t realize that most of the other Hero’s Journeys I’d read were completely unrealistic.  

Frodo may have been the first heroic character I knew of who made a true sacrifice for the world. He gave up his mental health and his ability to enjoy life so that the rest of the world could be happy. His friends (who returned home more mentally healthy, generally) also helped very importantly in the war, but Frodo was the linchpin. Which side won depended entirely on whether this one Hobbit could throw the Ring into the fire. So even though his friends’ victories were more enjoyable to read through, they were ultimately not as important as Frodo’s mission. 

A few readings later, I think that this moral was very intentional on Tolkien’s part. He wrote LoTR during WWII, having lived through WWI. He was, as you might expect, very sympathetic towards the foot soldier. Many depictions of heroes tend to depict their suffering or sacrifice as a transient thing: they endure the pain of war, and then they get a medal and a feast and settle into life as usual. But Frodo’s narrative takes a darker turn. Instead of depicting Frodo happy and healthy after he returns, Tolkien depicts Frodo as a soldier returning with problems that will never heal. This message changed my view on Hero’s Journeys in general; it made me more cynical, more skeptical. 

  

It’s a little weird to write this because people don’t normally think of Lord of the Rings as a cynical Hero’s Journey, or a twisted one, but the ending note is definitely on the bitter side of sweet. It also made me cry for two actual, whole days. In my defense, I was like ten years old. 

To make this into the required essay I think I should focus more on my relationship to the book, but I also really want to write a literary analysis of this side of LoTR. I know it has been done before. I still want to write it. But that will have to be another essay! 

Anyways, this has run long. Thanks for listening to my TED talk. Bye. Drive safely tomorrow.