"You carry the fate of us all, little one."

[tar-ancalime]

Thanks for the thoughtful replies!

Boromir88, interesting idea about Frodo taking on the sins of others. Do you think of this as having a Christian resonance? In other words, are the Cracks of Doom Frodo's Crucifixion? Is the ship from the Grey Havens his Ascension?

(I'm using the word "resonance" here because I stand firm in my position that Tolkien didn't put any overt Scriptural references into his writing; I think he kept the influences of his faith on a more thematic level.)

Neferchoirwen, you are spot-on here:

the Ring chooses no one and corrupts nevertheless.