The Ring-bearer

I watched Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy again. I mentioned this to someone and she immediately asked me how many more times do I have to give and waste almost 10 hours of my life to these movies. There are only 24 hours in a day, isn’t there anything worthwhile that I can do with them? I told her that I do not question what good it does her when she goes off malling at the end of her work day or during weekends, so what I do with my own time should not concern her.

I honestly do not think watching the trilogy is a waste of time. Aside from seeing gorgeous men in armor (which can brighten anyone’s spirit) and fantastic sets (hmmm… how did they do that? Maybe I can draw it), you can see and pick up a lot of good things from the movies. They talk about friendship, loyalty, honor, and coming into terms with one’s own life. One can surely identify with any one of the characters at a given moment. Arwen says to Aragorn at the beginning as he struggles with his future—"Why do you fear the past? You are Isildur’s heir, not Isildur himself. You are not bound to his fate." How many of us have not thought that we should follow in our father’s (or mother’s or forefather’s) footsteps and carry within us his or their sins?

I identify most with Frodo. Yes, I am short, have curly hair and have a penchant for drama (though I do not have hairy feet!), but I also feel his helplessness and fear with the situation in which he found himself. "I wish the Ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened." There are dark days when I question the path that I have taken, the choices that I have made, and seriously wish I had not chosen to become an artist. It’s not easy job. I do not enjoy being the only one around who doesn’t have a "regular" life. When things don’t come my way it is so easy to see this as a burden instead of a gift or calling.

In another memorable scene Frodo says to Galadriel, "I cannot do this alone." She answers, "You are a Ring-bearer, Frodo. To bear a Ring of Power is to be alone. This task was appointed to you. And if you do not find a way no one else will." He replies, "Then I know what I must do… it’s just that I’m afraid to do it." Galadriel smiles and whispers gently to him, "Even the smallest person can change the course of the future."

I do not think that I alone can save the world. At least not in that cataclysmic, doomsday sense. I believe that we are all little Frodos. We all have a task to do with our lives and in doing that we contribute to the survival and good of our Middle Earth. We don’t have to slay Orcs and Uruk-Hais to be a hero. Each one of us has something to do—whether to be a mother, a leader, a farmer, a banker, an artist—and each responsibility is as important as the next. What matters is, even if it is easy or difficult, that we do what we are supposed to do. And although it is true that we are alone in doing this task—your friend, husband or mother can’t do it for you—we do not have to isolate ourselves and that, whether we want to or not, we will always have someone to help us along the way. Frodo did not save Middle Earth alone. He had loyal friends (Sam, Aragorn, Gandalf), strangers (Faramir who released him instead of taking the Ring for himself), and enemies (Gollum who bit off his finger and took the ring) who have all in their own way helped him with his job.

So when I find myself feeling desperately dispirited and disheartened about the life that chose me, I go back to my favorite Frodo moment toward the end of the The Fellowship of the Ring: he’s standing on edge of the riverbank of Anduin with the Ring resting on the palm of his hand. He knows he has to leave and go to Mordor alone. He remembers what Gandalf said when he confessed that he wishes that the Ring had never come to him, "So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us." The music swells (tears start falling down my cheeks). And with great courage Frodo pockets the Ring, accepts his fate, and with a determined look, boards the boat and sails to the eastern shore.