Shane Rockenstein Carlson
Professor Erickson
Section 112
30 November, 2020
Greek Myth: The Lord of the Rings Analysis
Given the immense legacy of The Lord of the Rings, both the novel and the film trilogy, it could almost be said that it has become one of our own modern myths. As such, it is not hard to believe there are significant parallels between the story of Frodo and Sam and the Greek myths of old. These similarities are so uncanny that it is nigh-impossible to believe that they are mere coincidence. The Lord of the Rings shows clear ties to mythological characteristics, through the numerous examples of liminal zones, the unique take on the hero-sidekick decomposition, and the hero initiation paradigm undertaken by the two main characters, almost cementing it as a tale on equal footing with ancient myths.
Liminal Zones
Liminal zones in mythology are presented as areas in which normal rules “are flipped temporarily while…in this liminal space,” (Lecture 5c). They are places where those who enter “are in between different stages” (Lecture 7a) and experience profound change by the time they leave. Most often, these zones will manifest in some place outside or on the fringe of society where mortals are “more in touch with the gods” (Lecture 5c), but at the most basic level, they are areas that operate on different rules than normal society.
From this basic definition, many places in The Lord of the Rings can be identified as liminal zones, and some might be liminal to certain characters yet normal to others. For example, everything outside of the Shire becomes a liminal zone from the perspective of the hobbits, who have never been far outside of their homes. Rivendell, home of Elrond and many elves, is a good example of this. To Elrond, Aragorn (who, as explained in the novel, grew up in Rivendell), the Elves, and Gandalf and other regular visitors, Rivendell is normal and familiar. However, to the hobbits, and even to Boromir, this land is unknown, and its people are strange. The hobbits act out differently and feel their emotions more. They undergo a great change in this liminal zone; all the members of the Fellowship fully commit to the quest before them, and Frodo previews the seductive power of the Ring when Bilbo lashes out at him, possessed by his lust for the Ring. This is a fairly straightforward integration of the idea of liminal zones into this story.
What is most interesting in The Lord of the Rings’s approach to liminal zones is the dynamic between each successive liminal zone. For the most part, the characters go from a positive liminal zone, in which they are healed and given encouragement for their quest, to a negative liminal zone, in which they encounter tragedy and negative change, back to a positive liminal zone, in which they heal and recuperate, etc. Specifically, they go from Rivendell, where Frodo is healed and the quest and questers are decided; to the Mines of Moria, where they face grief and pain and lose Gandalf; to Lothlórien, where they recuperate and receive aid for their quest; and back and forth through different liminal spaces. This keeps viewers on their toes, as they never know whether the next place the Fellowship visits will be helpful or hindering.
The closest parallel to this phenomenon seems to be the Odyssey, in which Odysseus goes from location to location, encountering new foes or allies in each one. Sometimes he tries to get help but finds only enemies, or he receives some help and is refused anymore, or he finds a threat but tames it. In each place, things are not normal, and there is always an air of mystery around every zone.
The Lord of the Rings’s use of liminal zones along a journey hearkens back to mythic journeys like that of the Odyssey, which keeps the viewer/reader invested in encounter after encounter and wondering how each event will play out, whether good or bad for our beloved heroes.
Hero-Sidekick Decomposition
There is a very unique take on the hero-sidekick dynamic in The Lord of the Rings. Most often, the hero is split into two characters, “one that’s…more divine and more perfect and the other one that’s more human…” (Lecture 13b). In the case of the Odyssey, Odysseus is clearly the hero, and his men can almost be considered the sidekick. Odysseus is serious and encounters serious issues, whereas his men do not take their plight nearly as seriously as Odysseus and cause their own downfall. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh is a sober hero who undergoes his quest in all earnesty, whereas his sidekick, Enkidu, is a primitive, wild man, the polar opposite of the Uruk king Gilgamesh.
However, in The Lord of the Rings, Frodo and Sam challenge this common decomposition to an extent. While the characterizations of Frodo and Sam denote Frodo as the divine hero and Sam as the more human sidekick, both these characters undergo their own hero initiation rituals, and the specifics of those rituals flip this idea. As we will explore later, Sam does not give in to temptation and saves Frodo multiple times, contesting this decomposition.
Going against the common idea of the hero being strong and self-serious and the sidekick being funny and a bit incompetent, both experience great hardship and are necessary for the completion of the quest. Frodo’s overwhelming devotion to the task at hand in tandem with the corrupting influence of the Ring would have killed him if not for Sam. Sam’s devotion to his friend saves the both of them and, in the end, gets the quest done.
Sam is lighthearted, definitely, and is able to enjoy the little things along their journey. For example, he loves being able to meet the elves (The Fellowship of the Ring), see an Oliphaunt (The Two Towers), and generally experience the natural world. Nevertheless, he knows when to be serious. He stays awake most nights, especially as they get farther along on their journey; he starves himself to give Frodo more food and water; he spars with Gollum, whom he never trusts and sees as a detriment to their quest (The Return of the King).
This is a bit similar to the dynamic in the latter half of Odysseus’s journey, in which both he and his son, Telemachus, can be identified as heroes. In both cases, two heroes undergo their own heroic arcs and fulfill a heroic quest. In another striking similarity to the Odyssey, both Frodo and Sam, like Odysseus before them, are more so metis heroes, “one[s] that [use] their wits”, than bie heroes, “one[s] that [use] brute force” (Lecture 19a). In the case of all three, their heroism comes from their endurance and cunning, not from simply overpowering their foes.
Yet another similarity to the Odyssey is the idea that “the hero is both one who causes harm to others and is harmed,” (Lecture 16a). Frodo and Sam suffer deeply, but like Odysseus, “it’s not clear that [they cause] pain to others,” (Lecture 16a). Furthermore, they suffer even more than either Telemachus or Odysseus, and they do not get a scene of brutal vengeance like Odysseus’s slaughter of the suitors in book 22 of the Odyssey. The most suffering they cause is the downfall of Sauron, which is justified because Sauron threatens to destroy the free peoples of Middle Earth.
While the hero-sidekick identification is inferred from the characteristics of Frodo and Sam, both are heroes who undergo tremendous suffering in their own rights and complete their own hero’s journeys, and the mere idea of this decomposition is challenged by the end.
Hero Initiation Paradigm
As mentioned several times previously, both Frodo and Sam (as well as countless other major characters) go through the hero initiation paradigm almost beat-for-beat. Describing how each phase lines up would take a tremendous amount of time, so instead, we will consider four phases of this paradigm: the Call to Adventure, the Refusal of the Call, the Meeting with the Goddess, and the Apotheosis.
The Call to Adventure: In this phase, the hero-to-be receives some sort of invitation to undertake their quest. This invitation can come in many forms, such as meeting two droids with valuable information that needs to be given to someone else as in Star Wars, or being bitten by a radioactive spider that gives one strange powers as in Spider-Man. In the case of Frodo, his call comes in the form of a strange ring left to him by his uncle Bilbo after Bilbo disappears. When the wizard Gandalf discovers that this ring is the Ring of Power made by Sauron, the dark lord who once fell but has been slowly returning to Middle Earth, the quest is made clear: the Ring must be destroyed, thrown into the fires of Mount Doom in the middle of Sauron’s homeland, Mordor. Sam’s call to adventure is directly linked to this, as Gandalf discovers Sam eavesdropping on their conversation about the nature of the Ring and thus orders Sam to accompany Frodo. These calls clearly set up the quests before our heroes in the exact same way quests are set up in the stories of mythic heroes.
The Refusal of the Call: Often, the hero will be reluctant to heed the call at first, as “they’re still…getting a sense of where they belong in the world,” (Lecture 13b). Think of Luke’s whining and insistence that he has to stay on Tatooine in Star Wars. Neither Frodo nor Sam outright refuse the call, but Frodo is unsure of the quest. Frodo’s journey initially is just to take the Ring to Rivendell, where a council is to be held to determine the fate of the Ring. As such, Frodo somewhat believes his quest is over once he arrives in Rivendell. Sam, on the other hand, never refuses his order to stick with Frodo all the way to the end. This denotes the traits of these two heroes: Frodo is a conventional hero who undergoes all the beats of hero initiation, whereas Sam is almost better than all other heroes for never refusing the call and never giving in to temptation.
Meeting with the Goddess: This phase’s title is rather metaphorical, as the “goddess” in question refers generally to “a temptation that the hero has to reject” for fear of “not going on with what their main objective is,” (Lecture 13b). For Frodo, there are multiple instances that could count for this, the most prevalent being the Ring. The effects of its temptation are made crystal-clear through Gollum, who acts almost like a devil on Frodo’s shoulder, convincing him away from his quest and tricking him into almost certain death. Gollum also acts as a foil to Frodo, or a contrasting character that highlights qualities of another. Gollum shows what unceasing devotion to the Ring causes in a person, heightening the consequences should Frodo give in to the temptation of the Ring. Sam, on the other hand, does not experience temptation away from his quest. He constantly spars with Gollum and never trusts him, and he never walks away from the quest when given dozens of opportunities to do so. For example, when Frodo leaves the Fellowship, Sam swims after him, even though he is incapable of swimming, because his devotion to his friend and to saving his homeland far outweigh any temptation that could come his way. Again, Sam is almost better than all other heroes because of his dedication to the task at hand, and this flips the idea that Frodo is the divine hero and Sam is just the sidekick.
Apotheosis: The final stage depicts how the hero dies but then experiences “a symbolic lifting up to the gods,” (Lecture 20b). Frodo and Sam return home changed hobbits. Nonetheless, Sam is able to rejoin with hobbit society to an extent through his marriage to Rosie Cotton, with whom he has been in love long before setting out. Frodo, however, is unable to reconnect with the Shire and return to the way life was before his journey. In the end, Frodo leaves with Gandalf, the elves, and Bilbo, going across the sea to the Undying Lands, a mysterious land reserved for immortals and the occasional heroic resident. Frodo gives the Red Book, the written account of Bilbo’s and Frodo’s adventures, to Sam before leaving; Frodo essentially leaves his legacy with Sam to continue and combine with Sam’s own legacy. Metaphorically, Frodo has died, allowing himself to be worshiped as Greek heroes were. If we consider the novel, Sam does follow Frodo into the Undying Lands after a fulfilling life and Rosie’s passing, and leaves the Red Book (again symbolic for his, Frodo’s, and Bilbo’s legacies) with his daughter, meaning he too eventually dies and enters into hero worship. Frodo has a more tragic apotheosis, “dying” so soon after completing his quest, whereas Sam has something akin to Gilgamesh, living a long and satisfying life before “dying” as well, peacefully and in honor.
Conclusion
There are numerous other similarities between The Lord of the Rings and myth, and they are clearly intentional. These similarities cement the mythic weight of this story among the tradition of the Odyssey and the Epic of Gilgamesh. The liminal zones along the journey are a clear callback to journeys like that of Odysseus. The heroes especially are of mythic significance. Frodo’s conventional hero initiation signifies him as a hero in the vein of Odysseus, whereas Sam is almost the best hero since he does not follow the conventional stages of temptation, which marks him especially as an incredibly significant hero in modern myth. Through their famous quests, these heroes have themselves passed into the heroic pantheon to which they referred back.
