(Akhtene- Where did you find that beautiful picture? Is it from a Russian illustrator?)
Anyway, I've been following this incredible thread, but in no way felt capable of jumping in the water. I'm not that good of a swimmer.
But a question has been building in my mind while reading the discussion of Frodo's duality; his Elvish vs. Hobbit nature. Perhaps this should be covered in another thread, but I'll ask anyway.
What is the seed of this duality? Even before Frodo's flees the Shire to protect the Ring, you can see the stirrings of a restless spirit, vaguely discontent with the life he was born to, wandering the night, searching...for what? Sam believes that he is visiting the elves.
Why would the child of any Hobbit, let alone such staid, "normal" hobbits as Drogo and Primula, feel such yearnings? Bilbo's tales of adventure and travel can't have been the sole cause, though they must have certainly fed the longing. Even Tolkien's reference to his "Tookish" blood doesn't fully explain it.
One of my favorite fantasy novels deals with the theme of "The Hero of the Borrowed Heart". That every hero throughout history is given a piece of a special "fea", The Borrowed Heart, which prepares that person to play the role he was chosen for, which is to be in a certain place and time when Incarnate Evil appears in the world, and to do battle against it.
So could Frodo be, not a product of his parents, nor of Bilbo's teaching, but an actual "child" of The Valar Themselves? Chosen and sent to do a mission every bit as much as Gandalf was chosen and sent to do his mission?
If looked at this way, then perhaps Frodo was never "home" in the Shire in the first place, and his journey to the Undying Lands is not just for healing or growth, but an actual homecoming.
Hope you can deal with my run-on sentences and ramblings.
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