Son of Drogo
Today, my Musings Monday is going to feel a little random. I was thinking about The Lord of the Rings (as a good person occasionally does) and I came to a realization.
All of our stories are more complicated than we give them credit to be. We are all affected by invisible influences in our history, sometimes from things we barely think about in our day-to-day life.
This isn’t actually anything new. It’s not really an epiphany, but I thought about this concept anew in context of The Lord of the Rings.
Frodo Baggins
We all know about Frodo Baggins. If you don’t, then you should.
Frodo is the main character in The Lord of the Rings, the brave hobbit who—after being sucked into a journey of peril and mystery because of his uncle Bilbo’s secret ring—volunteers to take the One Ring, the source of the dark lord Sauron’s power, and destroy it in the fires of Mount Doom.
Frodo is accompanied by a fellowship of two men (a ranger and rightful king and the son of a steward), three hobbit friends, an elf, a dwarf, and the wizard who pulled Frodo into the quest in the first place. Together, they journey east towards the shadowlands of Mordor in one of the greatest epics in all of fiction literature.
Frodo, the heart and soul of the fellowship, presses onward, unwavering through danger, his eyes set on the goal, the only way to save Middle Earth from Sauron’s impending return.
Of course, he couldn’t do it without his friends. Samwise Gamgee was the rock that steadied Frodo, and the only one who could be there for him through the whole story to keep Frodo standing and catch him when he fell.
I could go on and on about the choices of Master Samwise.
Indeed, I could go on and on about all of the fellowship, of their courage and valor.
I could.
But I won’t.
We already know about them and the role they played in the story. And if you don’t already know, you can read the books or watch the movies.
Instead, my musings have gone a different direction—one less certain, more mysterious. I’m curious about the role of Frodo’s parents.
Son of Drogo
Drogo and Primula never appear on screen in any scene in The Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit, yet they are the physical reason Frodo exists.
We aren’t given much information about them, but their presence subtly haunts the story from the shadows, popping up every time Frodo is referred to as “Frodo, Son of Drogo.”
Every time that name is spoken, we—along with as Frodo—are reminded of his absence.
From the beginning of the story, we see Frodo living with his uncle Bilbo, who technically is more of a cousin on the family tree. Frodo is adopted by and inspired by this half Baggins, half Took uncle, but Frodo’s earliest, most formative years were spent in a family.
But who is Drogo? Who is Primula?
Tolkien, master author and world-builder, didn’t actually give us much information. We know they drowned in some sort of boating accident. They died when Frodo was only twelve years old. But besides that and the family tree, we’re left only to speculate.
What was Drogo’s personality? How did Frodo’s father impact Frodo in those crucial childhood years?
There’s little way to know.
We know in general that the Baggins family deeply values the traditions and values of most hobbits. They rarely do anything unexpected. We also know that Frodo’s mother was half Brandybuck and half Took. The Took family was known for being more adventurous.
So, Frodo had a heritage from the Baggins, Brandybuck, and Took families. Like every hobbit, Frodo valued life, beauty, and the routine of its maintenance. After the death of his parents, I would venture to guess that he cherished life even more, and valued its protection. With just enough Took blood to encourage his ambition, Frodo knew he would go to extreme lengths to protect and preserve all that is right in the world.
He was a hobbit, yes, but he wasn’t passive, nor did he take his life for granted, as so many of his his kin were prone to do.
Frodo cared. He cared about his cousins, Merry and Pippin, and his best friend Sam. He also cared about the greater world beyond the Shire, the world he’s only heard about through Bilbo and Gandalf’s stories.
Frodo had a tender, unselfish heart, and the determination, ambition, and audacity to fight for what’s right, even against insurmountable odds.
And the genesis of this steadfast strength started with Drogo and Primula.
Application
So, what does any of that have to do with us?
Obviously, Frodo is a fictional character. What could we possibly learn by knowing his parents’ names?
One—No Life is Wasted
There is no doubt: The deaths of Drogo and Primula were tragic. For a peaceful place like The Shire, the tragedy must’ve been extra-shocking, extra-jarring, extra-difficult to swallow.
Frodo must’ve been pitied by all. What good could possibly come from tragedy? You want to know what I think? I think that in the tragedy, his parents’ examples remained imprinted on Frodo’s heart.
Yes, death is tragic. Yes, it would be better for premature death to not occur. However, a premature death doesn’t devalue the life of the lost.
I can think of a lot of people off the top of my head that have died yet continue to impact me. Are their deaths heartbreaking? Of course they are. But does that tragic fact mean their lives were wasted? No.
We can be comforted in calamity to know that legacy of the perished continues eternally, even if not visibly.
Two—Our Lives Are in Context of a Greater Story
Drogo and Primula played and important role in the story of Middle Earth, and their legacy is untouchable, even when we know so little about them.
Though we each do our own individual things, live individual lives, fulfill individual destinies, we are also supporting characters in the drama of the world around us. Everything we do doesn’t just impact our own story, but every day in which see another person is a crossover episode in a bigger story.
Even when we aren’t conscious of it, we are always impacting and being impacted by those around us.
We’re all connected! Every good ending is the product of teamwork, and even more deeply, the product of intersecting and overlapping legacies.
Frodo didn’t get to Mount Doom without the influence of Drogo and Primula. He also couldn’t have gotten there without the entire fellowship around him. He would never have gone on the journey without his connection to his uncle Bilbo, who journeyed with Gloin (the father of Gimli) and Balin, who’s tomb the fellowship passed through early in their quest.
I repeat: It’s all connected!
Three—Cherish Life and the Past That Formed You
Yes, cherish it. Value it, and the context it gives you. No, that doesn’t mean you have to act like it was all good. We all have things in our past that we regret or wounds inflicted on us beyond our control.
You do not need to pretend that bad things are good—but I would encourage you to recognize those things and the way they’ve influences you, shaped you, molded you.
Cherish the past and the wisdom and context it brings.
Cherish it, but don’t let it control you or define you.
Frodo’s life was scarred with tragedy, but he still found joy. He still lived his life to the fullest and pursued his purpose and sacrificed so much for the victory against evil.
He could never have done that had he remained unhealed, perpetually hurt by his parents’ deaths.
Frodo, Son of Drogo, had a destiny far greater than Drogo could have imagined for his son. Frodo was formed by his parents, and he let their influence inspire him to grow in character and courage.
With that courage, he didn’t let tragedy define him.
Just like Frodo, your past, even the bad parts, can encourage you forward in your destiny. Let its legacy bring influence and empowerment, not the chains of doubt and discouragement.
The past informs the present, but it doesn’t control the future.
What is your destiny? Your story is still being written.
You might never be in the position to save the world from a dark lord.
Even so, take courage. Just as you are influenced by everyone you come in contact with, so you are influencing those around you.
Together, as we grown and learn from each other, we too can face our fate with the confidence of a hobbit—a hobbit secure in his identity as the Son of Drogo.
