“‘It is also said,’ answered Frodo, ‘Go not to the Elves for Council, for they will say both no and yes.'” (Chapter Three Three is Company)

When Frodo was little his adopted father Bilbo Baggins was a legend in the Shire for bringing riches back from a journey that no one really expected him to come back from. So little Frodo grew up with hobbits adoring his uncle and looked up to Bilbo as a role model and probably wanted to be like him when he grew up. Only now, at the commencement of The Fellowship of the Ring, he knows how hard it is to do what Bilbo did and go out on a journey. Frodo’s task is to try and destroy the Ring. We learn now that Frodo is starting to regret going on the journey to destroy the ring because he is realizing all the challenges he will face. The fact that the elves won’t even give him a straight answer is also challenging. Frodo needs as much help and advice as he can get. For Frodo this will be a test of his strength, will, and mind. “‘I wish it need not have happened in my time,’ said Frodo. ‘So do I’, ‘and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.'” Gandalf agrees but he explains to Frodo that he is here and he has to make the best of it. Frodo is not a little kid anymore. Well he’s fifty but that’s in Hobbit years so that’s beside the point. He is going to start making life and death decisions and must deliver if he wants to keep the world intact.

What is usually the purpose of epic fiction? To find riches like in The Hobbit? Sometimes. But it usually involves trying to save the world. The Fellowship of the Ring demands that you look deep into the origin of the Ring. “It was Gil-galad, Elvin-king and Elendil of Westernesse who overthrew Sauron, though they themselves perished in the deed; and Isildur, Elendil’s son cut the Ring from Sauron’s hand and took it for his own.” This ring is a feisty little fellow. Get it? Fellow, like fellowship of the ring? Okay that was a terrible joke. Anyway the ring has overcome and possessed each person who has safeguarded it, and many others desire it. Sauron who seems very powerful, had the ring and with it was basically unstoppable. Isildur saved us all by chopping off his finger right? This restores order and peace. Oh wait, now Sauron is back. I’m sure Frodo is happy that he is. Now all Frodo has to do is destroy the very thing that Sauron wants and the only way to destroy is to go in the very middle of Sauron’s palace. No wonder Frodo’s scared. The ring is the main weapon, object, and possession in the books.

“A Ring of Power looks after itself, Frodo. It may slip off treacherously, but its keeper never abandons it. At most he plays with the idea of handing it on to someone else’s care – and that only at an early stage, when it first begins to grip.” Gandalf and Frodo discuss intently about what to do with the Ring. The Ring is all-powerful. Sauron is searching for Frodo and it seems absurd that it appears Frodo is delivering it straight to Sauron by going to his kingdom.

While Frodo and Gandalf may be discussing the fate of the world, Samwise Gamgee, Frodo’s best friend and gardener, decides to eavesdrop on them. Gandalf has been around for a long time and will live for an entire age which is 2,300 years. This is an extremely long time for a human, though Gandalf isn’t a typical human. It may be funny that he tells Frodo that they must make do with the times that is handed to them. Easy for him to say. He has 2,300 years. “A Ring of Power looks after itself, Frodo. It may slip off treacherously, but its keeper never abandons it. At most he plays with the idea of handing it on to someone else’s care – and that only at an early stage, when it first begins to grip.” It is all about the Ring. No wonder the Trilogy is called Lord of the Rings. In The Hobbit the Ring saved Bilbo’s life countless times and now Frodo has it. But this time it’s different: a lot different. Frodo can’t even use the Ring. In fact, the whole point of the journey is to destroy it. Frodo is terrified, terrified that he could fail on this journey. When Bilbo told Frodo about his success, Frodo might have thought that it was all fun and games. Now he is starting to realize what the challenges will be in his journey. And he is going to have to be mighty strong to do it.