[tar-ancalime]

I've been ruminating on a slightly different thought about wanderers and non-wanderers (homebodies?) in Tolkien. I'll post it here and move it if anyone thinks it's thread-hijacking.

It seems that frequently (if not always) characters who are wanderers are paired with characters who stay put.

Obvious example that has already been mentioned here: Gandalf and Saruman.

But wait, there's more...

The Ents and the Entwives. Treebeard has been described above as changing from static to active, but I disagree with that characterization. He has always been active, always been a wanderer; all that changes in Book Three is that he decides to become involved in the affairs of the outside world. It is, in my opinion, irrelevant to his status as a traveler/wanderer.

Aldarion and Erendis, two of my favorite characters. I think I've posted before about the parallel I see between their story and the Ent/Entwife story.

Among the Firstborn: those who traveled to Valinor and those who refused.

Aragorn and Boromir. Now, hear me out on this one, as I know it's rather a stretch. Aragorn is obviously the wanderer, and while Boromir does get around, I submit that he's a homebody at heart. He's a little like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz--not sure how he got to where he is, and totally focused on getting home. He displays a startling lack of knowledge about the world outside Gondor, more than once dismissing real places and people as myths (Fangorn/Ents, Lorien/Galadriel). Again, as with Treebeard, the Ring and the War are irrelevant to his status as a homebody, except that the dream (which almost always came to Faramir) was the impetus for his journey to Rivendell.

Bilbo and Frodo. Another possible pairing of hobbits is Frodo (wanderer) and Sam (homebody), but I think it's a false projection of Sam's strong association with the Shire. Throughout the story, it's Sam who wants to have adventures, see mountains and Elves. Sam isn't really a good model for either a wanderer or a homebody. Frodo, on the other hand, is not at all eager to leave the Shire and in fact delays to his peril. He's like Boromir--a reluctant traveler who would rather have stayed home. Bilbo (Lord of the Rings Bilbo, not Hobbit Bilbo), on the other hand, leaves home out of wanderlust. He misses the Road. He's the appropriate pairing for Frodo.

I'd really like to find a common thread among all these paired characters, as I think there are too many pairs to be a coincidence, but I haven't come up with anything yet. Thoughts?

I was thinking that perhaps it's the wanderers who survive--i.e. Treebeard remains while the Entwives are lost, Aragorn ascends to the throne and we all know what happened to Boromir, Gandalf wins his battle and Saruman meets a most undignified end, etc. But I don't know. This part of it (the all-important conclusion to what is otherwise merely a set of observations) eludes me, and I'd love to have some feedback.

Again, I apologize if I'm hijacking this thread, as I realize I'm going in a different direction than the previous posters.