As I settle kicking and screaming into middle age, I find great comfort in the fact that my favorite Heroic Fantasy-genre hero started as a rather dull, comfortable, overweight 50-year-old, rather than some hot-shot kid or teen who was born to greatness. Right from the first time I read The Hobbit at age ten, I loved that Bilbo was the most unlikely hero - not young, no destiny, pretty clever at riddles, and only brave when it was that or nothing, and it would be too embarassing to back out now. Mostly he uses a bit of common sense to deal with things like trolls, goblins, and Gollum, and although the Ring certainly provided a nice bit of help with the spiders, the Elves, and Smaug, it was still Bilbo using his brain that really made the difference.
It seem that this, like turning the idea of a quest from an adventure where you go to get the magic dingus to one in which you go to throw the magic dingus away, was one of the great ways that Tolkien flipped Heroic Fantasy on it’s head. Even his closest imitators (I’m looking at you Mr. Brooks) missed out on those two defining characteristics of his books.
So what other Heroic Fantasy heros have not been “chosen ones”? I think Conan the Barbarian would probably fall into this category, and I’m sure there are others.
In Lois McMaster Bujold’s “Chalion” series, the heroine of the second one, “The Paladin of Souls,” is a middle aged widow whose children have grown and moved out, leaving her alone to deal with a major problem. (She wants it that way, it’s her problem, and she doesn’t want it to affect their lives.)
Intentionally vague, but it’s a great series, and that one in particular is one of my favorite books.
I only like Bilbo in The Hobbit. I find him irritating in LOTR, blathering on about elves and that damned ring he can’t let go of. And I always thought he was less than kind to Frodo in LOTR.
I know, I know–I’m in my own special place when it comes to these books.
I really love him in TH, though. He is a perfect foil for the dwarves and an excellent narrator.
But remember Hobbits were much longer lived than humans. They didn’t reach maturity until they were 33. So I figure that their 50 would equal our 25 (or so).
In The Lord of the Rings, Bilbo has become the not-quite-easily-liked uncle. We all have them, or something similar. Talks too much, gets all paternalistic, a bit crotchety at times. But remember, he was a fabulous host at The Party. Even invited the Sackville-Bagginses, he did. Gave Lobelia some silver spoons, too.
Conan is Sword and Sorcery, and pretty low fantasy if you look at it. Conan is somewhere in between an Anti-hero and a hero (closer to the former), we root for him in the stories more because he’s the main character than any sense of virtue. I wouldn’t say he’s an “unlikely hero” so much as “that guy who we follow that wins all his battles.”
The “most unlikely person” who becomes a hero is (like so much that Tolkien used) standard folk-tale myth: it’s Jack from Jack and the Beanstalk, it’s the youngest son from so many Grimm stories.
Fair enough, but I still don’t like him. I certainly wouldn’t (if I were Frodo --and wouldn’t that be interesting if I were) want to spend any more time with him, Grey Havens or no Grey Havens.
No, Bilbo was comfortably entering Middle-Age. Called it the equivalent of 35-40 years old.
I love Bilbo, but Frodo will always be the greater hero. He took on a much greater burden and knew much of what he was getting into when he left Rivendell. A bravery that few others ever showed. Bilbo was great, but probably no better than Meridoc attacking the Lord of the Nazgul. Frodo and Sam both showed more heroics. Samwise might be the greatest example of a hero from the humblest beginnings. The simple gardener, a bit slow.
Well that is the other difference with the LotR. It has many heroes. It harkens back to the great epics of the Greeks in this way.
The story is actually of the culmination of a 4500+ year war and Aragorn marrying Arwen and reuniting the Kingdoms and a new if temporary golden age at the beginning of the Age of Men. So Aragorn is a classic hero of legend and lore. He is the most obviously heroic figure.
Frodo is the obvious main character and the primary Ring Bearer. His choosing to go though he knows not the way at the council of Elrond, declares him as the principle hero of the epic. He also uniquely actually fails in his quest and is only saved by the fact that like Bilbo he took pity upon the wretched creature that was Sméagol. How many stories before Tolkien had the hero fail in the end? How few even since have done the same?
Sam is clearly an everyman hero. He shows the most growth and gains the most for one without expectations or hopes of gain. He went through the entire journey simply out of friendship and loyalty. In the end he was rewarded with high postion and respect throughout the Reunited Kingdom and the Shire. His family ascended from the ranks of the working poor to among the highest families of the Shire and his own daughter was the handmaiden to the Great Queen Arwen. In the end he even journey to Aman. Every step along the way, Sam showed a basic wisdom and steadfastness could carry the day.
Meridoc is another great example of a classic hero. Here was a young well off hobbit of little experience, an aristocrat as much as Hobbits had aristocrats. He grows to the greatest (literal) height of any Hobbit in recorded history, he helped to slay the strongest Captain of Sauron and he becomes the Shires great captain. He took what he learned in the journey and led the Shire in overcoming the men that had taken it.
Gandalf finally is the actual mover and shaker, the one that pushed the hardest. He arranged for the fortuitous destruction of Smaug and thus reestablished a strong Dwarven Kingdom in the North. He helped to train Aragorn for his great mission. He overcame the betrayal of the leader of the wise. He defeated the Balrog and yet died and returned to complete his mission. He arrived in time to turn the certain defeat of Rohan to victory twice in a short period which left them free to help rescue Minas Tirith. He even affected the young Faramir in a very positive way that led to him succoring Frodo rather than hindering him or seizing the Ring.
Jim (Sorry, I got on a roll and a small essay poured out)
I hate that The Hobbit gets overshadowed by LOTR. TH is such a good, ripping, adventure tale, without all the ponderous and bloviated legend stuff. It can (and does) stand alone without the backstory of all the ages etc. I think it was Tolkien at his most focused and disciplined when it comes to narrative, YMMV.
The Hobbit was the first fantasy novel I read. (Unless we count James and the Giant Peach.)
I watched the cartoon on TV because I was at my Aunt’s and bored out of my mind. I was old enough not to want to go to the relatives’ but too young for Mom to let me stay home alone. So I was stuck there with little to do. It was on, I watched it and fell in love with Fantasy.
I recently wrote a review of Volumes 1 and 2 of The Savage Sword of Conan and the impression I got from the stories was that Conan was definitely an anti-hero at times. On two occasions he betrays men who saved his life and subsequently did him no harm – in one case, Conan pretty much murders his rescuer. In another case, he concieves of a scam involving a pimping out a slavegirl who looks just like a princess who has vanished to her fiancee for 10,000 gold pieces. When his partner in crime falls for the slavegirl and wants to renege on the deal, he and Conan wind up in a swordfight. Really, Conan was pretty much a pimp in that story (Haunters of Castle Crimson, from Volume 2).
Agreed, I definately wouldn’t consider him an “unlikely hero” either though, due to the fact that he’s NOT a hero, but rather a theif/pirate/tyrant king (in the literal definition, a usurper or illigitamate ruler, not a malicious ruler)/whatever who happens to get tangled up in situations which are fun to read about. He’s not out to “banish evil” or “slay the dragon” or rather, he’s out to do whatever the hell happens to be around and benefit him. He may fit the bill of unlikely hero on occasion, when he just happens to save someone important, but overall “unlikely hero” isn’t a general archetype I’d apply like I would to Bilbo.
Yes, but there are some distinct things that set it apart from “typical” fantasy (or rather, it’s usually not high fantasy which is what people tend to think of). Specifically it revolves around the person, not the fate of the planet, or the balance between good and evil or whatever. Conan is out for HIM, in that way he’s not really a “hero” so much as a “main character.” He does somewhat fit a romantic hero, but overall it’s a bunch of tales about Conan doing stuff for his own interest, and only on occasion doing something chiefly as a heroic deed.
This contrasts with, say, the Hobbit, where we see Bilbo clearly acting in the interest of heroism and on behalf of the world (uniting Dwarves, Elves, and Men in the Battle of Five Armies for example) and going so far as to fulfill a prophecy earlier on (killing Smaug… well at least helping by figuring out his weakness) which follows a sort of heroic progression, culminating in a sort of “wow… this involves just about every man woman and child this is intense!” as opposed to “Conan just saved some people and got his own revenge, sweet!”
Okay, that probably made no sense… probably shouldn’t play No More Heroes when talking about the heroic function of hobbits and cimmerian wanderers.
