September 22 holds a special place in The Lord of the Rings universe.  First, it is the birthday of both Bilbo and Frodo Baggins, the heroes of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, respectively.  More than that, it is the date of Bilbo’s famous, farewell, day-long birthday feast in The Fellowship of the Ring.  It was also the date that Frodo embarked on his quest with the One Ring.  In honor of so many important Middle Earth events coinciding on one day, let us take a closer look at hobbits.

In our modern age of comic book superheroes, super-human powers, and inventions hobbits are unlikely heroes.  They are shorter than humans; they have no particularly incredible abilities; they do not have a tragic flaw that motivates them toward heroism; any superpower beyond their resilience would probably be feasting.  It gives us a good opportunity to reflect on what exactly made those hobbits so heroic—and why J.R.R. Tolkein did not opt for a Kryptonian, genetically-modified soldier, or genius-level weapons inventor to save Middle Earth.  The nature of hobbits, in a sense, is nearly a character of its own that’s woven throughout the books.  

​Resilience

For all the admiration we give to qualities of strength and power, one of the more enviable qualities is resilience.  Resilience is the ability to recover quickly from change or misfortune.  It’s also a sort of marriage of perseverance and courage.  Having this quality is to be highly desired, for wisdom both secular and spiritual attests to change/misfortune as regular occurrences throughout life. 

For hobbits, their resilience came from being rooted.  Their roots ran deep: to the land, in the food they grew, and in ordinary life.  When Bilbo and a company of dwarves stumbled upon three giant, evil trolls in The Hobbit, the hungry trolls were determined to eat their captives.  Bilbo, thinking quickly, suggested multiple different ways to cook them; he kindled an argument among the trolls, buying them time.  Soon, the sun rose—which meant death to the trolls, as the light turned them to stone.  

What saved them was Bilbo’s quick thinking, but also in part his love of food.  We cannot mistake this love of food for gluttony.  The fruits of the land are something good; enjoying them is also good.  Hobbits loved to feast—here again, this meant enjoying food but with family, friends, and neighbors.  Here they display a proper relationship with food and the land.  That is, what was it for?  Gluttony, by contrast, sees food as an end unto itself, and puts pleasure as its highest goal.  Hobbits definitely enjoyed eating, but their joy was properly ordered.  

Toughness

Hobbits were not warlike or quick to quarrel; yet they could still handle arms. The prologue “On Hobbits” described their lives of “ease and peace had left this people curiously tough” (LOTR, pg. 5).  Gandalf described hobbits as soft as butter but tough as an old tree root. Both in the movies and in the books, there are many instances where hobbits display their toughness.  

In The Fellowship, in a part of the book not included in the movie, hobbits Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin stay with Farmer Maggot while making their way toward Rivendell—and fleeing the Black Riders.  Farmer Maggot related that when a Black Rider came to his door offering gold in return for information on a Mr. Baggins, the farmer roundly told him off and refused any dealings with him.  Anyone who has seen the movie representation of the Black Riders knows the terror they struck in the hearts of many men.  The thought of a hobbit telling one of the Nazgûl to shove off is both comical and impressive!

Merry Brandybuck also proved his worth, attacking the Witch King of Angmar, the head of the Nazgûl.  Toward the end of The Return of the King, Merry rode with a disguised Eowyn to the battle.  He snuck behind the Witch King, who was engaged in battle with Eowyn.  Merry stabbed him in the back of the knee, causing the evil wraith’s blow to miss Eowyn.  The maiden of the Rohirrim then struck at the Witch King’s head and did not miss. 

Toward the end of The Two Towers (in the book version, not the movie), Sam stands up to the giant spider Shelob to defend Frodo.  In a battle that should have resulted in Sam becoming Shelob’s dinner within a few seconds, the hobbit’s bravery won him the day.  

Takeaway for Non-Hobbits

I think we can draw many lessons from the fictional hobbits, and even more lessons from The Lord of the Rings itself.  Tolkien’s writing is so good, it’s amazing that the screenplay keeps as many lines from the book as it did.  

We can see the surface level lessons in determination, courage, and resilience.  Fortitude and courage are virtues made available to every single one of us!  It’s normal to feel as well-equipped for the spiritual battle as a hobbit—outsized, outmatched, and overwhelmed—but we have access to grace from many avenues.  Baptism incorporates us into the Body of Christ; the Eucharist sustains our souls and unites us to Jesus; confession restores us from sin.  When our practice of the faith is properly ordered and prioritized, everything else falls into place.  

Frodo took heart in the stories of heroes at different times throughout the novel.  So, too, must we take heart in the heroism of the hobbits in The Lord of the Rings.  Pursue virtue and have faith that God will supply the graces we need when the need arises.  Consider the dying words of King Theoden of Rohan to Merry, who asked forgiveness for disobeying the direct order to stay away from the battle: “Grieve not!  It is forgiven.  Great heart will not be denied.”