# Frodo, Sam, Meriadoc or Peregrin? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 30, 2009, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frodo-sam-meriadoc-or-peregrin/504819 "2009-07-30T22:45:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2009, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frodo-sam-meriadoc-or-peregrin/504819/1 "2009-07-30T22:45:47Z")
Pretty much the same as the other threads, but this time, its open-endedness probably won’t be the basis for much sexual attraction. One would hope, anyway. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2009, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frodo-sam-meriadoc-or-peregrin/504819/2 "2009-07-30T22:53:18Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > Pretty much the same as the other threads, but this time, its open-endedness probably won’t be the basis for much sexual attraction. > One would hope, anyway. :eek: Hey! I start the obsessive Tolkien threads, damn it! Anyway, Merry. Frodo never gets laid, after all with the possible exception of involuntarily at Cirith Ungol, and while both Pippin and Sam father children, they’re both rather dim. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2009, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frodo-sam-meriadoc-or-peregrin/504819/3 "2009-07-30T22:54:25Z")
Why choose? You _know_ they’d be into it. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2009, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frodo-sam-meriadoc-or-peregrin/504819/4 "2009-07-30T22:55:16Z")
Sam, hands down. He’s the most badass hobbit who ever lived. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2009, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frodo-sam-meriadoc-or-peregrin/504819/5 "2009-07-30T23:43:22Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > Sam, hands down. He’s the most badass hobbit who ever lived. Fool of a Took! Peregrin killed a TROLL. By my math, one troll = 145 orcs (in base six). ---
**Author:** ![well\_he\_s\_back](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3ab097/32.png) [@well\_he\_s\_back](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/well_he_s_back)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frodo-sam-meriadoc-or-peregrin/504819/6 "2009-07-31T01:41:08Z")
Nope. For me it’s Frodo. Frodo is my hero. Frodo Lives. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frodo-sam-meriadoc-or-peregrin/504819/7 "2009-07-31T02:39:35Z")
Sam would kill me if I tried anything. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frodo-sam-meriadoc-or-peregrin/504819/8 "2009-07-31T02:39:40Z")
I’ll pick who I want to be, since I don’t want to sex it up with any of them, and that would be Sam. He gets an adventure and still gets a wonderful life at the end, the kind of life I would love to have. ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frodo-sam-meriadoc-or-peregrin/504819/9 "2009-07-31T03:27:40Z")
Merry is the only sane one in the bunch. Frodo is obviously damaged goods. Sam is a mere gardener, plus, I think he has a thing for Frodo. 😉 And Peregrin is, well a fool of a Took. I’ll take Meriadoc “The Magnificant.” Witch-Kings beware! ---
**Author:** ![Erdosain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/erdosain/32/7284_2.png) [@Erdosain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erdosain)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frodo-sam-meriadoc-or-peregrin/504819/10 "2009-07-31T04:08:34Z")
Yeah, Merry is a no-brainer. However, I have to say that the movie versions of Sam and Frodo have totally tainted those characters for me. Sam was always a bit dim and rash and such, but the movie version was actively annoying. Ditto with Frodo. And that doesn’t even take into account that the sexual tension was so thick you could only cut it with a barrow blade. Damn you, Peter Jackson! ---
**Author:** ![congodwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frodo-sam-meriadoc-or-peregrin/504819/11 "2009-07-31T04:28:24Z")
Pippin. I’ve had a crush on him since the first time I read the books. The crush got worse after the movies. I’m reading The Two Towers again right now and it’s still Pippin all the way for me. ---
**Author:** ![Elyanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b5ac83/32.png) [@Elyanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elyanna)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frodo-sam-meriadoc-or-peregrin/504819/12 "2009-07-31T04:34:38Z")
I’ll take Sam the loyal. Frodo has his head in the clouds and I can’t remember the personalities of the other two very well anymore. ---
**Author:** ![PapSett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@PapSett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PapSett)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frodo-sam-meriadoc-or-peregrin/504819/13 "2009-07-31T12:54:27Z")
As seen in the movie… Frodo. I just wanted to cuddle him! ---
**Author:** ![badbadrubberpiggy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/57b2e6/32.png) [@badbadrubberpiggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badbadrubberpiggy)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frodo-sam-meriadoc-or-peregrin/504819/14 "2009-07-31T13:20:47Z")
> [@congodwarf](#): > > Pippin. I’ve had a crush on him since the first time I read the books. The crush got worse after the movies. > > I’m reading The Two Towers again right now and it’s still Pippin all the way for me. Yup. It doesn’t hurt that the actor who plays him in the movies very much resembles an ex-boyfriend of mine, either. ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frodo-sam-meriadoc-or-peregrin/504819/15 "2009-07-31T13:21:45Z")
I don’t swing that way. Rosie Cotton… ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frodo-sam-meriadoc-or-peregrin/504819/16 "2009-07-31T14:29:55Z")
Well, the movies representations were just awful, starting with making Frodo, who was IIRC fifty at the time of the Fellowship, look like he was 20 in human years (roughly 33 in hobbit age). And I thought what they did with Merry and Pippen was terrible; they became part of the comic relief, which they most certainly are NOT in the books. :mad: Frodo fails at the end; and then cannot live with the burden of having been subjected to the Ring without heading off to Elfland. Peregrin is the son of the most powerful hobbit around, which makes him the hereditary count of the Shire, if you will, so I consider him a bit of a spoiled rich-kid. The same is true of Meriadoc to a lesser extent (the son of a border baron), but Merry steps up and takes the lead in a number of important places, so he’s ahead on points for me. Sam, however, never fails the whole time. He hands over the Ring voluntarily, always a hard task. He sees right through Sméagol, which shows him to be percipient. I’d go with Sam, if it wasn’t for the fact that he’s a bit to passive for my tastes. So I think Merry. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frodo-sam-meriadoc-or-peregrin/504819/17 "2009-07-31T14:39:23Z")
> [@VunderBob](#): > > I don’t swing that way. Rosie Cotton… It doesn’t have to be who you’d sex. Who you want to be is OK too. So you’d be Sam, to get a piece of Rosie. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frodo-sam-meriadoc-or-peregrin/504819/18 "2009-07-31T14:46:05Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > Well, the movies representations were just awful, starting with making Frodo, who was IIRC fifty at the time of the Fellowship, look like he was 20 in human years (roughly 33 in hobbit age). And I thought what they did with Merry and Pippen was terrible; they became part of the comic relief, which they most certainly are NOT in the books. :mad: > > Frodo fails at the end; and then cannot live with the burden of having been subjected to the Ring without heading off to Elfland. Peregrin is the son of the most powerful hobbit around, which makes him the hereditary count of the Shire, if you will, so I consider him a bit of a spoiled rich-kid. The same is true of Meriadoc to a lesser extent (the son of a border baron), but Merry steps up and takes the lead in a number of important places, so he’s ahead on points for me. > > Sam, however, never fails the whole time. He hands over the Ring voluntarily, always a hard task. He sees right through Sméagol, which shows him to be percipient. I’d go with Sam, if it wasn’t for the fact that he’s a bit to passive for my tastes. > > So I think Merry. Merry is, of course, the smartest member of the Fellowship (in practical terms; I agree with Sam that Frodo was wiser). But I don’t think it’s fair to say that Frodo fails. His mission was not to destroy the Ring; his mission was to get the Ring to the place where it could be destroyed. It was impossible for any mortal to make the choice to destroy the Ring; it was necessary to trust in Providence, which is to say the plan of Eru Iluvatur. If the Powers had simply wanted it destroyed they should’ve sent Tulkas or Orome or at least Eonwe. It’s not like they were doing anything useful. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frodo-sam-meriadoc-or-peregrin/504819/19 "2009-07-31T18:26:21Z")
Sending Eonwe would have been a mistake. If Olorin, the wisest of the Maiar, feared to bear it lest he be corrupted, I wouldn’t expect Eonwe to do any better. Back to the OP, I’ve long maintained that it’s Sam, not Frodo, who’s the hero of the book. Frodo’s got all that angsty fate stuff going on, but Sam is just an ordinary guy who does the right thing because it’s the right thing. Meanwhile, any nominations for Fredegar Bolger? ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frodo-sam-meriadoc-or-peregrin/504819/20 "2009-07-31T18:51:22Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Sending Eonwe would have been a mistake. If Olorin, the wisest of the Maiar, feared to bear it lest he be corrupted, I wouldn’t expect Eonwe to do any better. Except he wasn’t Olorin then; he was Gandalf then, and much diminished–I expect even as the White. He was locked into a single material form, for one thing, unable to change shape as Men change raiments. But, anyway, I expect the likes of Tulkas or Orome or Varda or Aule could have taken the Ring in hand and laughed at its blandishments. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frodo-sam-meriadoc-or-peregrin/504819.md?page=2)