Well, Frodo, it's nice to see you again, but... - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

davem · 05-11-2006, 05:21 AM

Mormegil makes an important point here. If Frodo had succeeded in the Quest & lived happily ever after it would have trivialised the whole story, but if Frodo had died & Sam had been broken by the Quest (whether he succeeded or not) the end would have been too bleak. Tolkien succeeds wonderfully by having both Sam & Frodo come through to the end. Frodo's breaking brings home the sacrifice required in the detruction of the Ring, Sam's happy marriage shows us it was worthwhile. Frodo's words at the end (some people have to give things up so that others may keep them) sums this all up beautifully.

Frodo's end is the catastrophe, Sam's the Eucatastrophe that gives it meaning. The odd thing, if you think about it, is that this 'Eucatastrophe' is 'merely' Sam going home to his wife & child & sitting in his chair by the fireside with Elanor on his lap. Yet Tolkien has seemed (in OFS) to imply that a Eucatastrophe is much bigger that that - that it offers a 'glimpse beyond the circles of the world' & compares it to the Resurrection of Christ.

Sam's return, the end of the story, is small, intimate, mundane. And of course that's what the whole thing has been for - all the loss, the suffering , the sacrifice. Not to defeat Sauron, or place Aragorn on the Throne of Gondor - those are means to the real end, which is to make it possible for all the Sams to return to their Rosies & sit by the fire with their children on their laps. Because in the end that's all that really matters. The slaughter at Helm's Deep, on the Fields of the Pelennor, the long slow slog up Orodruin (or further back - its the purpose of the Ainulindale, the reason Beren & Luthien entered Thangorodrim & faced Morgoth, why Earendel crossed the Sea to ask aid of the Valar). It was all so that Sam could sit by his fireside & dandle Elanor on his lap. And all the evil, the cruelty & hate-fired destruction of Morgoth, Sauron & their minions was for the opposite reason - all to prevent Sam sitting in his favourite old chair with Elanor on his lap.

So, that one scene is the great eucatastrophe of the whole Legendarium, the most sublime depiction of the victory of Good over Evil imaginable. That's why it has to end at that point, why Frodo had to survive beyond Cirith Ungol: so that there was another who could make the sacrifice of their beloved things so that Sam didn't have to sacrifice his own.

05-11-2006, 05:21 AM	#16
davem Illustrious Ulair Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: In the home of lost causes, and forsaken beliefs, and unpopular names,and impossible loyalties Posts: 4,240	Mormegil makes an important point here. If Frodo had succeeded in the Quest & lived happily ever after it would have trivialised the whole story, but if Frodo had died & Sam had been broken by the Quest (whether he succeeded or not) the end would have been too bleak. Tolkien succeeds wonderfully by having both Sam & Frodo come through to the end. Frodo's breaking brings home the sacrifice required in the detruction of the Ring, Sam's happy marriage shows us it was worthwhile. Frodo's words at the end (some people have to give things up so that others may keep them) sums this all up beautifully. Frodo's end is the catastrophe, Sam's the Eucatastrophe that gives it meaning. The odd thing, if you think about it, is that this 'Eucatastrophe' is 'merely' Sam going home to his wife & child & sitting in his chair by the fireside with Elanor on his lap. Yet Tolkien has seemed (in OFS) to imply that a Eucatastrophe is much bigger that that - that it offers a 'glimpse beyond the circles of the world' & compares it to the Resurrection of Christ. Sam's return, the end of the story, is small, intimate, mundane. And of course that's what the whole thing has been for - all the loss, the suffering , the sacrifice. Not to defeat Sauron, or place Aragorn on the Throne of Gondor - those are means to the real end, which is to make it possible for all the Sams to return to their Rosies & sit by the fire with their children on their laps. Because in the end that's all that really matters. The slaughter at Helm's Deep, on the Fields of the Pelennor, the long slow slog up Orodruin (or further back - its the purpose of the Ainulindale, the reason Beren & Luthien entered Thangorodrim & faced Morgoth, why Earendel crossed the Sea to ask aid of the Valar). It was all so that Sam could sit by his fireside & dandle Elanor on his lap. And all the evil, the cruelty & hate-fired destruction of Morgoth, Sauron & their minions was for the opposite reason - all to prevent Sam sitting in his favourite old chair with Elanor on his lap. So, that one scene is the great eucatastrophe of the whole Legendarium, the most sublime depiction of the victory of Good over Evil imaginable. That's why it has to end at that point, why Frodo had to survive beyond Cirith Ungol: so that there was another who could make the sacrifice of their beloved things so that Sam didn't have to sacrifice his own. __________________ “Everything was an object. If you killed a dwarf you could use it as a weapon – it was no different to other large heavy objects."