Have Elf, Will Travel

[The Saucepan Man]

I see what you are saying, Dininziliel, and I agree with you as far as Frodo is concerned. He certainly displays Elvish qualities, and this is commented upon by other characters, such as Goldberry and Gandalf. But I disagree with regard to Sam and Bilbo. Sam certainly shows a wonder for the Elves and a desire to see them, but I don't think that he necessarily shows any Elvish qualities. As I see it, it is his practical Hobbit nature that enables him to endure the Quest and he is far more at home in the Shire than Rivendell or Lothlorien. Even his love of good songs and stories is, I think, rooted in his Hobbit nature. As for Bilbo, it was his "Tookish" side which took him off on adventure, rather than any Elvishness in him. And I think that it is the scholar/writer in him that makes him feel so at home in Rivendell. And that, I think, was sparked off by his adventure, rather than by his contact with the Elves.

And I am not sure that an Elvish nature would necessarily help in bearing the Ring. As I have said elsewhere, I think that Elves would have been rather vulnerable to the seductive nature of the Ring. Elves had enough flaws to give the Ring something to work on. Admittedly, the classic examples are in the First Age (Feanor and his sons, Thingol, Eol, Maeglin etc), but the Elves of later Ages clearly recognised their own vulnerability. The bearers of the Three immediately removed and concealed them when they perceived Sauron's plans so as not to be enslaved by him, and neither Elrond nor Galadriel trusted themselves to carry out the Quest of the Ring. Indeed, Galadriel's successful attempt to resist it is portrayed as a trial for her. No, I think that Hobbits, with their humble outlook and sturdy natures, were much better suited than Elves to bearing the Ring.

Which leaves the question of why Tolkien does portray Frodo as having these Elvish qualities, which become more apparent as the Quest unfolds. And that's something that I will have to think further about.

[Dininziliel]

Saucepan Man--points taken about Sam and Bilbo. I think it's still debatable, but is definitely more illuminated now!
SM:

Elves had enough flaws to give the Ring something to work on.

This is a good point. Which is why I think the question that ended your post is a good one--

SM:

Which leaves the question of why Tolkien does portray Frodo as having these Elvish qualities, which become more apparent as the Quest unfolds.

I wonder (wildly) if Tolkien was not trying to reconcile the Elves' "karmic" debt for their deeds in The Silmarillion?

Then there is this idea posted by tar-ancalime:

all five major-character hobbits develop special relationships with other races,

This is in keeping w/what originally piqued my curiosity. It is also another thing I had never noticed--the hobbits as a combined group seem to serve as a moving reflection of and a reciprocal influence on all other free peoples they meet in ME, or something else that I can't quite put a finger on.

[Son of Númenor]

I wonder (wildly) if Tolkien was not trying to reconcile the Elves' "karmic" debt for their deeds in The Silmarillion?

That is an interesting notion. I think another reason for Tolkien's portrayal of Frodo as having Elvish characteristics about him is that Tolkien, consciously or subconsciously, wished in this attribution to reconcile the world of the Silmarillion with that of the Hobbit. That is also why, I think, the Lord of the Rings starts off and lingers for a bit in the Shire, Bree, the Old Forest, etc. - Hobbitish places. As time winds on, the settings of the Lord of the Rings become less & less familiar-seeming to readers only acquainted with the Hobbit - Moria, Lothlórien, Minas Tirith, etc. - while the writing takes on a more 'heavy', dreary, mystical aura than it ever did in the Hobbit, beginning to somewhat resemble (in 'feeling', not so much in actual style) the prose of the Silm. An example of this that stuck out to me was this description of Aragorn:

...And taking Frodo's hand in his, he left the hill of Cerin Amroth and came there never again as living man. (The Fellowship of the Ring, "Lothlórien")

This had a distinctly un-Hobbitish feel, for me at least, & more closely resembled lines in the Silmarillion like

Yet in her choice the Two Kindreds have been joined; and she is the forerunner of many in whom the Eldar see yet, though all the world is changed, the likeness of Lúthien the beloved, whom they have lost (Silmarillion, "Of Beren and Lúthien"),

or

But in after days it was sung that Tuor alone of mortal Men was numbered among the elder race, and was joined with the Noldor, whom he loved; and his fate is sundered from the fate of Men (Silmarillion, "Of Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin"),

than any hobbit-related prose thitherto written by Tolkien. There are several other examples of this 'bridging' between two very different works throughout the Lord of the Rings - Aragorn's singing a part of the Lay of Leithian, the increased majesty of Rivendell & Elrond compared to descriptions in the Hobbit, the Rangers of Ithilien praying in fear to the Valar, the depressing poignancy of the Grey Havens, & other more subtle changes. Perhaps Frodo is the embodiment of this literary transition for Tolkien: a hobbit of the Shire who at first displays very hobbit-like mannerisms & sensibilities & interacts with other hobbits in a normal fashion, but who grows into a wiser & more Elvish seeming being as the book progresses from the cheery, charming atmosphere of the Shire to a darker, more mystically 'enchanting' piece.

I don't mean to get into allegory/applicability too much here, but the hobbits do tend to represent the 'little' or 'insignificant' people of the world, in which case Frodo's (& Bilbo's & Sam's) affinity for the Elves could be seen as akin (not allegorical!) to the downtrodden, the forgotten peoples of the world rising up against their oppressors, drawing on the knowledge & ideals of Enlightened theologians & philosophers of old (the Elves) in leading a revolution against foreign &/or totalitarian domination (both in the destruction of the Ring & the scouring of the Shire). To speak in less allegorical terms, the hobbits' (particularly Frodo's) relationships with & subsequent derivation of knowledge/wisdom from the Elves could merely represent the values & virtues that Tolkien felt were needed for some of the 'little' folk to lead the way to victory.

Blech! that all sounded allegorical, & a bit too reminiscent of Marx's Manifesto for me to be comfortable with it - but I hope you understand at least partially what I am saying about the possible meaning of the three hobbits' affinity with the Elves, & the reconciliation of the realm of the Hobbit to the world of the Silmarillion.

[Estelyn Telcontar]

Good thoughts, Son of Númenor, and I'd like to add one more connection - Tolkien himself! He spoke of himself as being very hobbitish in his tastes, and he apparently was so in his normal daily life, and yet this tremendous imagination resided inside him, with languages, poetry, and story - in short, Faery. So he was himself a combination of Hobbit and Elf. I think that aspect of his own personality can be found in Frodo, though the hobbit is not an autobiographical character.