I find the Norse comparison instructive, perhaps we could expand this to other areas as well
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You can find Sauron in Odin's bad aspects.
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I wouldn't agree; Odin is, ultimately, a good deity (right?), while Sauron is, for the most part, evil. [I mean, all supreme deities have an aspect which is destructive; but there are certain destructions which are not evil in and of themselves (such as death, which is ultimately, a blessing) while other such acts stem from nihilism, rebellion, thirst for ultimate power.]
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it seems that the idea of divine kings with healing powers went back way before Christ's time,
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Are there similar events in the other major religions? I am a bit familiar with the Gita, but I don't remember something of the likes.
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However, what about that we have three Hobbits who go to Valinor, not two?
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*slap* Actually, it was Sam that I forgot about in my counting - not anymore
["Thus Frodo (by the express gift of Arwen) and Bilbo, and eventually Sam (as adumbrated by Frodo); and as a unique exception Gimli the Dwarf, as friend of Legolas and 'servant' of Galadriel." - Letter #154]
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I would venture to say that Bilbo is not all that humble, in fact he's quite a proud little Hobbit.
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It seems to me that Bilbo put up with a lot of dwarven scorn, quite bravely (can I say Christianly?
). Even more importantly, he is the first person to give up the One Ring (Isildur did consider it, never go to putting it into practice); afterwards, Sam did give up the ring too, but that was after several days, not ~ 8 decades, of possesion.