Gandalf's Staff

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Originally Posted by Essex

As I said, I can't argue anymore on Frodo failing if people are saying this becuase he did not throw the Ring in. I've said my piece and do not agree on this.

Reading Tolkien's letter, I think he is saying that Frodo saw himself as a failure. This makes his leaving Middle-earth even more of a bind to me. That he left partly because he felt he let everyone down makes it an even sadder ending than it has been to me before. Poor Frodo.

I'm with you. It's a semantic thing, methinks. You would say that Frodo did not fail and I would say that Frodo's quest did not fail. Technically, Frodo finally fell to the temptation of the Ring at the very last - but that's okay - and a nudge due to his actions/spirit etc helped him get the job done.