The Middle Earth Popularity Cup

[A Little Green]

++ Beleg

No question. Frodo is nice and all, but for some reason he's never moved me to one way or another. He's somehow a trifle too basic a main character. I don't know what's this thing of mine about main characters, but they never interest me as much as the minor ones do.
Beleg, on the other hand, is one of my all-time favourites and his death I think is one of the most tragic scenes in Tolkien's work. Granted, he's maybe a bit too perfect, but I just love him, his wisdom, his courage, his faithfulness, and the way he dies is so wrong it hurts.

[Aganzir]

++Frodo

When I compare him to Beleg, it's Beleg who doesn't move me that much. I think that is because it can be seen so clearly in the story how Frodo grows up and learns to consider also other people's needs. It's easy to say that other hobbits might have done at least as well as he did, but I wouldn't bet on it. Frodo was both strong-willed enough and capable of adapting quickly to difficult situations.

He started out with Sam as his servant, but can you talk about a servant and a master anymore in the end? Try to remain a good servant as Sam might, Frodo clearly considered him his equal on the later part of the journey.

Think how Frodo treated Lobelia in the beginning. He spoke nastily of her and was mean to the Sackville-Bagginses - and he also left the dishes for Lobelia when setting out to Crickhollow! But in the end he felt pity for her (and Lotho). No wonder Lobelia left him what little property she had. That's something I call adorable.

I'm quoting also my earlier post where I voted Frodo in order to convince those who might still be wavering to vote for him.

I like to compare him to Siddharta Gautama; having lived a happy youth, he went through a lot of suffering to achieve wisdom.
In the beginning he was a simple, ordinary hobbit - just like the Gaffer - but on returning home he had learnt forgiveness, mercy, and peace. When I was little, I found him a bit boring, not a proper hero, when he refused to bear weapons in the end, but now that's one of the most important things why I like him.

Also, a suggestion, skippy. Isn't it a bit unfair that in case of a tie the winner is always the one who got his/her votes first? What about giving some overtime in those cases so that although a new match has already begun, it's still allowed to vote for a contestant of the previous match until one of them gets a vote?

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

Originally Posted by A Little Green

He's somehow a trifle too basic a main character. I don't know what's this thing of mine about main characters, but they never interest me as much as the minor ones do.

That's exactly what I think as well and also exactly what I said in the last voting But still, to me, Frodo is a more interesting character, and he is not that horribly uninteresting as many of the main characters happen to be. But also:

Originally Posted by Aganzir

Think how Frodo treated Lobelia in the beginning. He spoke nastily of her and was mean to the Sackville-Bagginses - and he also left the dishes for Lobelia when setting out to Crickhollow! But in the end he felt pity for her (and Lotho). No wonder Lobelia left him what little property she had. That's something I call adorable.

This is wonderful, I say. Yes - the stance of Frodo towards the Sackville-Bagginses when he returns is just something very moving and shows some other, deeper dimension of Frodo and shows indeed, maybe more than anything else (at least more than anything else I can think of right now), the change he went through on his journey.

Yes, no long pondering.

++Frodo

[Groin Redbeard]

No question about it. We get to see Frodo grow on his journey and evolve into a more delightful character, and we share in his struggles that he deals with. One significant change I saw in Frodo at the end of the book was his almost pacifist nature. Frodo was ready to kill Gollum in Moria yet even at the cracks of Doom he does not feel any ill feelings towards Gollum. Same thing when he lets Saruman/Sharku go after he has defiled the Shire. Frodo has transformed into the very impitamy of mercy and is absolutely the strongest, most showing, and best side of Frodo's character.

++Frodo

[mormegil]

Bah! Frodo didn't actually do anything now did he? All he did was whine the whole way to Mordor, ride on Sam's back and basically take all the food and drink from the truly noble Samwise. How hard is it to make yourself look good when you and your uncle essentially write the narrative?

Beleg, on the other hand, is noble and brave. Plus anybody who gets a surname like Strongbow has got to be pretty cool.

++Beleg

Frodo's foot hair is too long as well.

[Thinlómien]

++Frodo

I'll come back to reason later if I have time and this round is still going on.

[Andsigil]

While I enjoyed reading Groin's thoughts on how Frodo became the epitome of mercy, I have mixed feelings on that sort of blanket pacifism. It's easy to show Frodo in a noble light for acting this way because, after all, he was the central character and Tolkien crafted the story the way he wanted. However, in real life, the luxury of embracing pacifism generally only works when it's done from behind the safety of a bulwark, which says something poignantly ironic about the nature of pacifism, itself.

I've also found through the years, both in real life and in studying history (at university and subsequently) that the old adage of "Mercy to the wolf is cruelty to the sheep" has a lot of truth in it. I suppose it depends on what you consider to be a wolf. My threshold for wolflike behavior is pretty low.

In any event, I choose ++Beleg

[skip spence]

Originally Posted by Aganzir

++Frodo
Also, a suggestion, skippy. Isn't it a bit unfair that in case of a tie the winner is always the one who got his/her votes first? What about giving some overtime in those cases so that although a new match has already begun, it's still allowed to vote for a contestant of the previous match until one of them gets a vote?

I actually had that in mind myself but promptly forgot about it. But yeah, let's do it: in case of a tie when the deadline passes anyone may vote again and the first to do so decides the contest in sudden death fashion. I'll add that in the op too.