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A review by mtmdays
The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
5.0
There and back again: Frodo Baggins Queering the Shire
I’m not as well-versed in queer theory as I should be or want to be, but it behooves me to indulge in this brief observation because those contemporaries of mine who are, may refuse to take this up. “This,” of course, is the Frodo/Sam dynamic that arises in the final pages of Lord of the Rings.
Now, many have made their Brokeback Mountain jokes about Sam and Frodo’s journey into Mt. Doom. Such jokes are in poor taste and too easy. But, let us for a moment take Sam and Frodo’s relationship as it plays out in the final days of their life together seriously, as a true alternate configuration of friendship and love.
First, Frodo is settling in nicely in his hobbit hole, and he invites Sam to come and live with him, in fact, assumes that he will. Sam seems troubled because he’s feeling pressure to marry Rosie - a good kind of pressure - he wants to marry Rosie, but he says he’s conflicted. He wants to marry Rosie, but he also wants to live with Frodo - equally, he seems to imply. Sam, truly torn about what true love means, about caring for his ring bearer and trying to choose one, torn about how he might split his affections equally and ethically.
Frodo does not hesitate. He invites Sam and Rosie to live with him. A compromise or the fulfillment of a dream that he’s really wanted. It’s clear that Frodo’s love for Sam knows no expectation, no boundary, and no social constraint, and this is how the Lord of the Rings ends, lovingly and generously.
I’m not as well-versed in queer theory as I should be or want to be, but it behooves me to indulge in this brief observation because those contemporaries of mine who are, may refuse to take this up. “This,” of course, is the Frodo/Sam dynamic that arises in the final pages of Lord of the Rings.
Now, many have made their Brokeback Mountain jokes about Sam and Frodo’s journey into Mt. Doom. Such jokes are in poor taste and too easy. But, let us for a moment take Sam and Frodo’s relationship as it plays out in the final days of their life together seriously, as a true alternate configuration of friendship and love.
First, Frodo is settling in nicely in his hobbit hole, and he invites Sam to come and live with him, in fact, assumes that he will. Sam seems troubled because he’s feeling pressure to marry Rosie - a good kind of pressure - he wants to marry Rosie, but he says he’s conflicted. He wants to marry Rosie, but he also wants to live with Frodo - equally, he seems to imply. Sam, truly torn about what true love means, about caring for his ring bearer and trying to choose one, torn about how he might split his affections equally and ethically.
Frodo does not hesitate. He invites Sam and Rosie to live with him. A compromise or the fulfillment of a dream that he’s really wanted. It’s clear that Frodo’s love for Sam knows no expectation, no boundary, and no social constraint, and this is how the Lord of the Rings ends, lovingly and generously.