This thread made me think. According to me, Tolkien's characters did just what they thought they should do. Whether this 'should do' is born out of a sense of rightness or something else entirely, I know not. But one thing is for sure, no one set out on the quest thinking of fame or glory.
As Rikae pointed out, Aragorn did what he had to do. There was no way out of him, other than exiling himself, which would have been a poor choice.
Legolas was an elf, the prince of a realm. He didn't need to deliberately put himself in harm's way. However, we can only speculate as to his intentions. It might have born out of the sense of guilt, as he let Gollum escape, or friendship might have prompted him. We don't know, we can only guess.
Now for Samwise Gamgee. He is one interesting character. He cared for Frodo a lot and this simple feeling of caring and friendship crafted him a place in the legends. However, it is my thought, that Sam's mind and heart greatly resembled that of a kid. He danced at the thought of going on an adventure, cried out at the thought of seeing elves and when the going got tough, he simply held on to his beliefs with both hands. This simplicity of his made it possible for him to be the force behind Frodo's journey.
A wiser or a more 'noble' person would probably have failed to attain what the quest demanded. Destroying the ring needed simplicity, needed humbleness and discretion. And all of these all are hard-pressed to find in nobility.
At the end of the day, it does not matter what you are destined to do, but rather what you did do. And here exactly lay the strengths of the hobbits, all of them. They did what they had to and emerged as heroes.
Heroes are those who do great things. They may be noble or simple. However, a person can be called a hero if he does great things and not otherwise. Motivation notwithstanding.
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