Not just a Trinket

In my continued experiences with Lord of the Rings and its various fans, one idea I keep running into more and more is that Frodo is a wimp.

Ok, let's get one thing straight: 

FRODO IS NOT A WIMP. 

I know why people think this, and I understand why this idea is misconstrued when watching the movies. I really do see it. After defending Frodo for many years, I have come to the conclusion that people think Frodo lacks strength or courage because we don't, even as a LOTR fan base truly understand what the Ring is. In order to truly understand Frodo's agony as the Ringbearer, you have to understand the Ring itself. 

Right now in the school year, I am in a Scripture class, and the ideal of Christ being the ultimate melding of the physical and spiritual world has been brought up often. This idea says that, according to the teaching and beliefs of the Catholic Church (and to my knowledge, most Christian religions), Jesus Christ is fully man and fully Divine, bringing into perfect unison the life of the spiritual realm and the physical. He became both God and man on Earth in order to fulfill His mission as Savior of the world. 

Talking about Lord of the Rings with a dear friend of mine suddenly got me thinking about this idea, this principle of the spiritual inextricably bound with the physical, and this thought occurred to me with the Ring.  

What is the Ring?

The origins of the Ring go as far back as the reigning of Sauron in the Second Age of Middle Earth as evil lord. Sauron, his dominion in Mordor, crafted a series of rings in order to trick the various races into his servitude, leading to an attempted complete control of Middle Earth. I am sure this is familiar to you, but the infamous Tolkien poem explains this perfectly:

Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,
Seven for the dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,
Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die, 
One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.

One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them
One Ring to bring them and in the darkness bind them
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie. 

                                    

The craft of Sauron was successful in its deception; the dwarves, men, and elves took the rings, each of them receiving whatever they wished from the works of these rings. Some came to horrific ends as a result of this greed. The infamous Ringwraiths, as Aragorn so aptly describes in the Fellowship of the Ring, "...were once men. Great kings of men. Then Sauron the deceiver gave to them nine rings of power, one by one, falling into darkness. Now they are slaves to his will." 

The dwarves met nefarious ends as well (although I do not know the exact specifics), but the Elves, however, had the foresight and the will power to see that there was more to this gift of crafting the rings than appeared. They hid themselves, away from the sight and knowledge of the Dark Lord. Even up until the time of the One Ring and the Fellowship's quest across Middle Earth, Sauron had no knowledge of where the three rings were hidden. Galadriel and Elrond were two of the ringkeepers, the third being given to Gandalf from the elf Cirdan, who originally held it. This was the reason Elrond and Galadriel were bound to stay behind in Middle Earth while the War of the Ring ravaged; if they left, and Sauron discovered the rings they carried, it would have been disastrous and dire to the safety of all in Middle Earth. 

What were magic rings? What powers did they hold? This very basic fact is essential to understand what LOTR truly is, and what that journey meant for Frodo as the bearer of the One Ring.

Ultimately these rings were what they appeared to be: rings that bore special powers, and held incredible responsibility for whoever bore it. Although I am not versed in the detailed descriptions of the other rings of power, the basic principles are the same for them. These rings did not make the wearer perfect, or impervious to temptation or evil, as is shown by Galadriel's still being tempted by the One Ring in Lothlorien when Frodo offered it to her. 

They didn't endow you with supernatural physical strength, although a spiritual and magical strength did accompany some actions of magic with the ring, as is shown with Gandalf is his fight with the Balrog in Moria, (both in Gandalf's being able to deflect the majority of the Balrog's blow and using his staff to sever the stone bridge that caused the Balrog to fall).

Let's take these basic applications/traits of the magic rings, and take a fresh look at the darkest of all the rings, of all the evil forces in the world: the One Ring. This is not an ordinary ring, even as far as magic rings go. With this ring in particular, the intention behind its creation is EVERYTHING. Sauron created the Ring for the sole purpose of conquering the known world, of submitting every one of its creatures to his will, and killing/tormenting those who stood in his way. That level of evil, that depth of complete greed, wrath, and lust is darker than any of us could possibly comprehend. This level of evil was so tangible that it was able to be formed, through the dark arts, into an actual object.

How is this illustrated? You don't have to look very far. The Ring's first act upon being discovered after being hidden for more than 500 years was murder. Yes, Smeagol (later called Gollum after the Ring found him) chose to murder his cousin, but this would not have happened if Smeagol hadn't found the Ring. The Ring truly drove him mad with lust, and drove every single one of his actions, even up to his death in Mount Doom. 

This Ring is not simply a tool that evil wants to use for their benefit. This is a complete manifestation of evil; this is THE manifestation of evil. That is not to say that the Ring is all-powerful or able to move on its own. It does have a will, (the intention of evil bred into it being so strong), but it doesn't work in direct, outright actions. It works subtly, quietly, weaving dark whispers and temptations into the heart of the one bearing it. 

It wasn't just anybody who could take the Ring to Mordor to be destroyed. Gandalf couldn't even touch it, and it drove Galadriel to a dark state of temptation and anguish when she was tempted. These two people weren't exactly wimpy or delicate. And yet, Frodo in his innocence and true goodness volunteered to take the Ring, having a very basic idea of its evil and without fully knowing what he was doing (who does in such an instant of necessity?). Remember, all you who think Frodo is a wimp: the Ring is a huge deal. Remember that when looking at Frodo! The inner turmoil and anguish he suffered because of the Ring and over the Ring is a topic for later, but remember what the Ring means in the world it was created in. The Ring is not just a trinket, it is the point upon which Middle Earth will either stand or fall.

So, let me state again...FRODO IS NOT A WIMP.

(Start at 5:16)
http://youtu.be/xyQlj6dIzAw

Namaste!
     Jenn