"Who is the Bravest Hobbit of All?" Topic

Sam – "nobody told 'im nothin' and he still soldiered on!"

Plus he did give up the ring

Samwise came to my my mind imeadiately. He put up with one hell of a lot of BS, including constant insults, and still did what he knew he had to do.

Let's not confuse who is your favorite hobbit with who is the "bravest". Sam may have been the most steadfast and most loyal, but it was Frodo who sacrificed the most (and thus the bravest) to destroy the ring. He was permanently scarred and pained to the point he could not live a normal life.

All of them,of course--each in his own way.

Merry and Pippin come closest,in Hobbit terms, to the traditional hero role of romance. Sam,as Tolkien said, was modeled on the solid English OR's he came to know in the trenches,and recognized as "so much superior to myself". In genre terms,he embodies the low mimetic ideals of the 19th century,genesis and work:getting the job done,cleaning up the mess,and planting the seeds of the future.

And Frodo is a 20th century hero,accepting the role seemingly assigned to him at random, carrying his burden to the end,only to return suffering from PTSD,too broken to fulfill the traditional nostos story.

BTW,20thmaine, you left out a little-emphasized,but significant element of Fredegar Bolger's story--during the main characters' absence,he became a resistance leader in the Shire against the usurper's tyranny,a Robin Hood figure--in fact,the Shire equivalent of Faramir as leader of the Rangers of Ithilien. Remember Frodo freeing the prisoners from the lockholes (which also echoes Aragorn's freeing of the slaves of Mordor): "One of the first they freed was poor Fredegar Bolger,Fatty no longer".

Graycat, I don't get the "constant insults". Sam started rising in the others' estimation almost as soon as the quest began.

Which one shot Liberty Valance?

Rosie Cotton. She took in Samwise, knowing full well how he'd wake sobbing at night, haunted by dreams and death.

I think Frodo was the bravest because he was the only one of them who had any real understanding of just how dangerous a task they were undertaking and he still volunteered anyway. Sam was certainly brave, but he came along mostly out of his devotion to Frodo rather than any real conscious decision to risk all and save the world. Merry and Pippin, also showed a lot of bravery in many situations, but they had looked upon this as a grand adventure with cousin Frodo and, again, didn't really understand what they were getting themselves into.

Don't forget Bilbo also verbally sparred with Smaug the Dragon, barely escaping with his life…

But I'd probably vote Frodo.

Easy pick … Samwise. Frodo gets a lot of credit, but without Sam by his side, Frodo would have failed numerous times. Frodo was the ring bearer, and paid the price for that duty, but the success of the mission falls squarely on Sam.

Courage is being afraid, but pressing on anyway. That defines Sam to a T.

Courage is being afraid, but pressing on anyway.

Which is why I voted for Fatty.

The four hobbits who leave basically say "there's something really bad after us, but we need to slip away without them knowing. Could you stay here and distract them?"

And Fatty could have said "You guys have always been mean to me. Do you think Fatty is a nice nick-name ? Do you think it builds up my self esteem? And now I should help you escape and put my life at risk?"

What he actually says is "Ok, I'll do it".

Rosie Cotton. She took in Samwise, knowing full well how he'd wake sobbing at night, haunted by dreams and death.

Bummer, man.

Since there was no "All" choice, I didn't vote,so I don't know who's winning.

I would point out that Merry could have remained safely at Dunharrow, Pippin at Minas Tirith. They didn't.

One more thing about Fatty--now that the editors have taken away his pony,he has to walk all the way to the hedge (and back),while the others ride.

No respect, I tell ya! No respect at all!