Bilbo and Frodo Baggins are both impossibly old today!
I was never much of a Frodo man, meself. If I had to pick a character from LotR, it would be Sam, for reasons I may get into in a later post.
But Bilbo Baggins! Has there ever been a better protagonist for a fantasy novel? When you read The Hobbit for the first time in middle school, as I did, you become Bilbo. Bilbo lives the insulated world of the Shire, quite comfortably, until a wizard shows up and scratches graffiti on his door.
We should all be so lucky.
Though Bilbo is something of a coward and a tenderfoot, he has that spark inside him that let's him pull through in a pinch. Though he was shaken at leaving his home without a handkerchief, he somehow found the courage to sneak into a dragons lair, treat with the dragon, and steal some treasure.
We want to be Bilbo when we're 12 years old! Hoping against hope that some grand adventure will sweep us up. We want to be tested, and to be found extraordinary. We pray that underneath our ordinary-ness, there's a little spark of dragonfire. When I first started roleplaying, I wanted to be Bilbo Baggins. I wanted a sword that glowed when orcs were about.
Interestingly enough, I don't believe I've ever played as a
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