Only Names? - The Free Peoples

Talking about the Free Peoples, there can be no talking of a lack of names. Especially when looking at the family trees and annals of the kings in the appendices of "The Lord Of The Rings", the question arises whether there is any room, even in a book of a thousand pages, to mention all those persons at all. Does such a number of characters reduce the amount of individuality for each of them? The answer is yes and no.

The Dwarves

As there is no possibility for a comparison, it is hard to say to what extent Dwarves were true individuals. It seems, however, that Tolkien created Gimli as a representative of his whole kind, as he is the only Dwarf of any importance in the whole "Lord Of The Rings", which, as he apparently saw no need to set another Dwarvish character against him, points to a small amount of individuality within the Dwarvish race.
There is, however, one signifficant difference that distinguishes Gimli from all other dwarves: Because of his deep friendship with the Elf and Ring Companion Legolas, he gave up the Dwarvish mistrust against the Elves and even carried a lock of hair of the Elven Queen Galadriel given to him as a gift when the Fellowship left Lothlórien. Moreover, he was the only Dwarf granted admission to the Undying Lands due to his friendship with Legolas and loyalty to Galadriel.

Gimli and Legolas

The Elves

Similar to Gimli, Legolas is apparently meant to stand as an example for the Elvish race. Although some other Elves appear in "The Lord Of The Rings", most of them seem to give more information about the Elves in general than about their own character. The reason for this is quite simple: The Elves were nearly perfect beings and perfection does not leave any room for individuality. Due to this, there is not much difference in character between the Elves, although many of them are given a detailed lifeline.
There is, however, one Elvish character characterized to a higher extent than than the others, probably to represent the Calaquendi as Legolas is "only" a Wood-Elf.

Lady of Lothlórien.: Galadriel

Galadriel was one of the rebelling Noldor who followed Fëanor to Middle-Earth and settled in Lothlórien with her husband Celeborn in the Second Age.
When the Fellowship of the Ring passed through her realm, she proved extremely friendly, especially towards Gimli the Dwarf: It was the law of Lórien that a Dwarf could only cross its borders blindfolded, but she ordered the guards to let him walk freely. Moreover, when welcoming him, she praised the beauty of the Dwarfen realms, using their Dwarfen names; Gimli, who had, like all Dwarves, mistrusted the Elves before, challenged everyone to a duel who spoke ill of her ever after.
Since Galadriel was able to read the minds of the Companions, she could give them precious counsel; she could even read Sauron’s thoughts and keep him from reading hers at the same time.
When she read the wish in Aragorn’s mind to have some men of his people, the Dúnedain of the North, at his side, she sent word to them; they caught up with him on his way from Isengard to Edoras and followed him to the Paths of the Dead and fought with him on the Pelannor Fields. Many of the gifts she gave to the Nine Walkers proved useful on their way: the Elvish rope, the Elven cloaks whose colour adjusted to their surrounding and, above all, the phial filled with the light of Eärendil (27) she gave to Frodo: It saved the Ring-bearer’s life in his fight against the giant spider Shelob who backed away from the light of Valinor.
When she revealed to Frodo that she was the bearer of the Elven Ring Nenya, he offered her the Ruling Ring. However, although she confessed she had longed to get hold of it, for its destruction would also wipe out the power of Nenya and ring in the downfall of Lothlórien, she refused it after an inner struggle.
When the Ring War was over, Galadriel sailed into the West together with Elrond, Gandalf, Bilbo and Frodo in the Ship of the Ring-bearers.

The Hobbits

As the entire first three chapters of "The Lord of the Rings" are entirely set in Hobbiton, we learn quite a lot about this merry people. From the converstaions between them, we can tell that, although they were quite alike in a way, each of them had very characteristic features like the Gaffer with his "wise" sayings, Bilbo who was so proud of his poetry and was considered "queer" as he had followed Gandalf into an adventure and had dealing swith "outlandish folk" or the nasty Sackville-Bagginses who hoped he would die soon so they could inherit Bagend. Of the four Hobbits who join the Fellowship of the Ring, Merry and Pippin are typical Hobbits do, although they are own individuals, also serve the purpose of giving further information about their people. Frodo, however, is a most untypical Hobbit who resembles the Elves in a certain way while Sam can be called neither nor.

Merry and Pippin

Meriadoc Brandybuck and Peregrin Took were friends of Frodo. He tried to keep his departure secret from them, but they found out what he was planning and decided to come with him although they did not understand the peril that lay before them. Their love for Frodo made them follow him even beyond Rivedell; at Amon Hen they drew the attention of the Uruk-hai to themselves in order to give Frodo the possibility to escape with the Ring; Boromir died trying to defend them and they were taken captive. However, near Fangorn they were able to escaoe and fled into the forest wher they met the Ent Treebeard. They managed to rouse the Ents and convinced them to march to Isengard; the destruction of Isengard and the defeat of Saruman were at leat partly their achievents. After that, they got sepparated:
Merry stayed in Rohan where he served King Théoden. He was very disappointed when he was supposed to stay in Edoras while the Rihirrim rode to war as all of his friends had gone to Minas Tirith, but Théoden was convinced that a battle was no place for a Hobbit. However, when the warrior Dernhelm (who proved to be Éowyn, Lady of Rohan, in disguise) took Merry with him in secret, the two of them killed the Lord of the Nazgûl together.
Pippin was taken to Minas Tirth by Gandalf where he became the page of Steward Denethor; he saved the life of his son Faramir when Denethor wanted to burn him alive by fighting his way through the burning city and informing Gandalf of the steward’s madness.
Both of them proved courteous, courageous and clever in the events of the Ring War once they had gotten used to travelling and not having six meals a day, which was hard enougb for them. However, Pippin also caused a lot of trouble with his curiosity and cheekyness: He drew the attention of the Balrog to the Fellowship when throwing a stone into a well in Moria and nearly revealed their plans to Sauron when looking in to the Palantír of Isengard.
After their return to the Shire, they led the rebellion of the Hobbits in the Battle of Bywater. Pippin inherited the post of the Thrain, Merry became Master of Buckland and wrote many history books as well a "Herblore of the Shire" and both of them were honoured by Hobbits as well as Men and Elves; when they died, they were burried next to King Elessar.

Sam

"I am learning a lot about Sam Gamgee on this journey.
First he was a conspirator, now he's a jester.
He'll end up by becoming a wizard - or a warrior!" (28)

Sam was Frodo’s gardener who was chosen as his companion by Gandalf because he had been lying under the window listening to everything Gnadal fhad told Frodo about the Rings and the plans of the enemy. After he had fouund out he might be going to the Elves on his way, he was felighted to go with Frodo for meeting the Elves had always been one of his biggest wishes. Sam was a simple man, but he, too, proved very daring and saved Frodo’s life not only once, even if he thought Frodo was making fun of him when he said he would not have come very far without him; his greatest deed was when he killed the giant spider Shelob while Frodo was out of consciousness. Believing Frodo dead, he took the Ring himself and decided to destroy it on his own. Short after, a troup of orcs from a nearby watchtower found Frodo and took him with them when they noticed that he was still breathing; Sam fought his way through the watchtower and saved Frodo. He was very loyal and always prepaired to risk his life for his master; he was the only one of the Companions who followed Frodo into Mordor, even though Frodo had told him to stay behind.
Sam was very suspicious towards strangers; he distrusted Aragorn until he had saves Frodo’s life several times and he always hated Gollum. He also had a very quick temper and was easily annoyed, especially towards whoever seemed to distrust Frodo. But the most unique thing about Sam was that he made jokes even in the most perilious situations and recited his own poetry to entertain his friends out in the wild.
Back in the Shire, Sam found a more peaceful use for the courage he had developped: He asked his love Rosie to marry him; she agreed and bore him 13 children. He was also elected as a mayor six times, having become educated, calm and thoughtful on his journeys.
After Rosie had died he went to the Grey Havens and was allowed to follow his master into the West as he had born the Ring for a short time.

Frodo

"One Ring to the Dark Lord's hand
sitting on his throne
in the land so dark
where I have to go:
Mordor, dark land under Sauron's spell."
Blind Guardian - Lord Of The Rings

Although Frodo was "more than half a Brandybuck" and lived with his "queer" uncle Bilbo, most people in Hobbiton thought he was "a nice a young Hobbit as you could wish to meet". They were rather worried when Gandalf started to show up at Bagend more and more frequently after Bilbo had left for good, believing he was going to spoil him like he had done with Bilbo. And their fears became true for Gandalf had recognized the golden ring Frodo had inherited from his uncle as the One Ring of Power and he sent Frodo to Rivendell as the Nazgûl were already on his track.
Frodo proved his courage for the first time when he saved his friends from the Barrow-Wights by cutting off the hand of one of them who was trying to kill Sam. And it was far from being the last time, for when they reached Rivendell, after he had attacked the Witch-king on Weathertop and had been seriously wounded, he decided to keep the Ring and take it to Mordor and destroy it, mainly to save his own land and people from the shadow. However, it was only at Amon Hen that he realized the full extent of his task. He realized that he had to fulfill his task on his own if he did not want to get his friends into peril and left in secret, but still he did not have to go all alone: Sam Gamgee knew what he was up to and persuaded him to take him at least.
As they drew nearer to Mordor, the burden of the Ring got heavier and heavier. Soon Frodo refused to eat and was unable to sleep; he had become stern and hopeless and he was weakened by the wound the Lord of the Nazgûl had given him. When they came at least to Amon Amarth, Frodo refused to destroy the Ring which was now entirely possessing him and after the Ring had been unmade and Sam and Frodo had been taken back to Rivendell by the Eagles, even the skills of Elrond could not wholly cure him.
Back in the Shite, he could not become really happy again because the shadow of the Ring as well as his wound still haunted him; to mend his pain, he was allowed to sail to Valinor with Gandalf, Galadriel, Elrond and Bilbo.
Whoever met Frodo on his road to Mordor got to know him as a courteous and educated Hobbit who was learned in Elvish lore; especially Gildor was delighted to be greeted by him in the High Elven tongue. Although Frodo, like all hobbits, liked drinking and dancind, he could be very serious and silent and proved sophisticted and reasonable in the negotiations with Faramir in Ithilien.

Mortal Men

As the time of Men was about to begin in the Third Age and all other peoples were starting to vanish from Middle-Earth, a majority of the characters in "The Lord Of The Rings" is human. Many of them appear only once and for a short time, but many of them are characterized in a detailed way, by their actions and through the talk of others, and some of their relationships among each other make up minor strands of the plot that could fill novels of their own.

pride, reason and madness: Boromir, Faramir and Denethor

Boromir and Faramir were the two sons of Denethor, the Steward of Gondor. Boromir, whom their father loved a lot more than his brother, commanded of the army of Minas Tirith while Faramir, the younger of the two, was the captain of the Rangers of Ithilien, a part of Gondor already about to fall under the shadow of the enemy. Those two brothers loved each other very dearly, yet they were very dissimilar in their characters, in their fates and also in their behaviour when the Ruling Ring was within their reach.

"Seek for the Sword that was broken:
In Imladis it dwells;
There shall be counsel taken
Stronger than Morgul-spells.
There shall be shown a token
That Doom is near at hand,
For Isildur’s Bane shall waken
And the Halfling forth shall stand." (29)

Having heard this prophecy in a dream, Boromir left Minas Tirith and went to Imladis (Rivendell) to find out the meaning of the riddle. When everything had been explained to him at the Council of Elrond, the proud warrior joined the Fellowship of the Ring.
Boromir was valiant and fearless in battle, but as much as he delightened in wielding weapons, as little did he care about lore and tales of old. This, together with his pride, became Boromir’s doom: He did not understand that it was impossible to use the Ring against Sauron and longed to use it to become a mighty warlord that would lead Gondor to victory. He was convinced that Frodo’s attempt to destroy it would fail and when Frodo rejected his request to "lend" him the Ring, he was seized by madness and tried to take it from him by force, accusing Frodo of collaborating with Sauron. Frodo escaped by using the Ring to become invisible and Boromir realized that he had been driven by madness; he got his retribution short after when he was killed by orcs while defending Merry and Pippin. Before he died, he swore his oath of allegiance to Aragorn whom he had not accepted as the rightful king of Gondor before.
Most unlike Boromir, Faramir loved music and lore and he had learned all he could from Gandalf whenever the Grey Wizard had been to Minas Tirith. He could look into people’s hearts and was very mercyful and easily moved to pity. When he and his Rangers took Sam and Frodo as captives in Ithilien, he questioned Frodo and, due to his study of ancient lore, was able to guess about his task. He assured Frodo that he would never use a weapon made by the Dark Lord even to a good purpose and then declared him and any being under his protection free to move around Gondor and bade them farewell like old friends. He had passed the test that had been the doom of his brother.

During the Sige of Gondor, Faramir who was defending Osgiliath when it was taken by the Nazgûl was wounded so severely that some were sure he would die.
His father Denethor had become grim and embittered after his wife had died and this bitterness had even been increased by the death of his favourite son Boromir. Believing himself strong enough to withstand the will of Sauron, he had often used the Palantír of Minas Tirith in order to gather news. Sauron, however, had been able to manipulate him and make him believe that Gondor stood no chance of resisting his, Sauron’s, power. When Denethor saw his only remaining son seriously wounded, he was sure that his line was about to cease and madness took him: He refused to defend the city any longer and ordered him and Faramir, who was still alive, to be burned. Pippin was able to prevent Faramir’s death by informing Gandalf, but Denethor could not be saved: The moment Faramir opened his eyes and Denethor realized he was still alive, the oil he had ordered to be poured over him caught fire.
Faramir was brought to the Houses of Healing where he was cured by Aragorn, who later made him Lord of Ithilien and Steward of Gondor, and met his future wife Éowyn.

While Boromir and Denethor are punished for their deeds, Denethor dying in a most unhonourable way, Boromir, who regrets his mistake and tries to right the wrongs, falling in battle while protecting his friends, Faramir is rewarded with the princeship over Ithilien and the love of Éowyn.

Valiant shieldmaiden of Rohan: Éowyn

"I do not fear either pain or death.
[What I fear is] a cage, to stay behind bars,
until use and old age accept them,
and all chance of doing great deeds
is gone beyond recall or desire." (30)
Éowyn

Éowyn Éomund’s daughter was the niece of King Théoden of Rohan. She was powerless against the enchantment of Gríma Wormtongue who had - by order of Saruman – gained so much influence over her uncle that he followed whatever cousel Gríma gave him, unaware of what he was doing. When the Three Hunters (31), encompanied by the Gandalf, came to Edoras, she fell in love with Aragorn, the noble and valiant Chief of the Dúnedain who was, however, engaged with Arwen Undómiel of Rivendell. Éowyn was descended from an ancient house of queens and she was as valiant as a warrior; she was fed up with staying at home and looking after the old men and children while the men rode to battle and it made her angry to see her uncle, whom she loved like a father, whither away, poisoned by Gríma’s lies. When Aragorn did not return her love she developped the wish to die in battle, herself embittered by the cunning speeches of Gríma, and when the Rohirrim were called to arms by their allies, she dressed up as a warrior and rode to war.
On the Pelennor Fields, Rohan’s army was attacked by the Witch-king; Théoden was hurt and all his man fled, terrorstruck, except for one them: Dernhelm, who was nobody else than Éowyn. When the Lord of the Nazgûl claimed he could not be killed, referring to the ancient prophecy that "no living man" could do so, she laughed and removed her helmet with the words "But no living man am I! You look upon a woman." (32) before she drove her sword into the empty space between his shoulders and his crown and thus fulfilled the prophecy, avenging her uncle who died short after.
Having been hurt seriously by the Witch-king, she was sent to the houses of healing where not only her wounds were healed but also the pain of her heart was mended: She had long talks with Faramir, who had been injured as well, walking through the gardens outside the Houses of Healing, and when she realised that he did not pity her, as she had thought, but truely loved her, she gave up being a shieldmaiden. She followed Faramir to the princeship Aragorn had given him and became Lady of Ithilien.


The triangle relationship between Denethor and his sons or the story of Éowyn are not only interesting "substories". They proof that Tolkien’s world of Men is far more than a chaos of tribes and names but many of them are fully characterised and entwined in a multitude of conflicts.

Ranger, King and Healer:
The metamorphisis from Strider to Aragorn to Elessar

"All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken
The crownless again shall be king." (33)
The Riddle of Strider

In the Prancing Pony in Bree, Frodo was addressed by a man who was wearing a dirty green cloak and looked rather untrustworthy. The mysterious stranger did, however, proof to be a friend of Gandalf, and they accepted him as their leader against the warnings of the Bree-folk. It was probably the best desicion Frodo made on their journey, for Strider, as he was called in Bree, had wandered the Northern Lands for a long time and knew how to find paths in the wild. He saved their lives by fighting off the Nazgûl on Weathertop and brought them safely to Rivendell where they found out who he really was: Aragorn, son of Arathorn, Isildur’s heir and rightful king of Gondor, Captain of the Dúnedain of the North. He was not only valiant in battle, but also learne din Elvish lore, having been raised in Rivendell, and told them many ancient stories.
He proved worth more than just one warrior in the Battle of Helm’s Deep for he was able to encourage Rohan’s people and he spread hope wherever he showed up; his will was string enough even to defeat Sauron in a duel of wills, looking into the palantír of Orthanc.
But although he was a bringer of hope to everybody, his mind was troubled: He loved Arwen, the beautiful daughter of Elrond, but her father would not allow the marriage unless he would defeat Sauron’s army and become King of the united kingdom of Gondor and Arnor. Hopeless as he was, he did not even fear to travell the Paths of the Dead, a cave system haunted by the Men of Dunharrow who had broken their oath to Isildur. However, as Isildur’s heir and wielding Isildur’s re-forged swaord, he was able to call the Living Dead to war and reached the Pelannor Fields in the fleet of the overthrown Cosairs of Umbar. After the battle was won, he was able to heal his wounded friends, Merry, Faramir and Éowyn, which proved that he was indeed the rightful king for it had been foreseen in an old verse that "The hands of the king are the hands of a healer, and so shall the rightful king be known." (34) After Frodo had destroyed the Ring, Elessar, as he was now called, was crowned and wedded Arwen; he was a wise, just and merciful king who spared the Men who had served Sauron and gave them a land of their own and his reign was the beginning of a long time of peace.
Imagining the situation Barliman Butterbur, the innkeeper of Bree who had fiercly advised them against following "Strider", found himself in when Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin returmed from their journeys and told him that the new king was not at all sitting in his castle and drinking wine, but thought the beer at the Parncing Pony was excellent alone should be enough to proof the uniqueness of the second main character of "The Lord of the Rings".



Although the fact that many names are metioned, yet only few induviduals are characterised holds true for all of the Free Peoples, their grade of individuality still varies: While Dwarvish and Elvish characters seem to serve the purpose of characterising their whole race, true individuals show up in the peoples of Men and Hobbits. While few is said about the Men who don’t contribute to the plot, even the Hobbits who barely appear are presented with their characteristic features. However, those humans who are described intensely are characterised in a rather detailed way.

Commanders of trees and rivers: spirits of Middle-Earth

Gandalf

"After the duel in Dwarven caves,
The Grey Wizard rose again
In colours of radiant white."
Battlelore - The Grey Wizard

Gandalf (who was called Mithrandir, the Grey Pilgrim, by the Elves while his name in Valinor was Olórin) was the last of the Istari to set foot on Middle-Earth and also the most powerful one. He was given Narya, the Elven Ring of Fire, by Círdan, the shipwright of the Grey Havens, which gave him the power to encourage Men even in great peril (35) , in addition to the abilities he had learned in Valinor:
Patience (which was indeed needed when dealing with Hobbits) and Foresight.
The Hobbits, whose ways he studied, knew him as an old Wizard who loved to laugh, drink and smoke just like they did; what "mysterious business" he did when he was not in the Shire they did not know, but they hardly guessed what powers he had. He was rather unpopular because he tended to send honourable Hobbits away on adventures, but the children loved his magical fireworks.
Elves and Men guessed some more of his true power: They appreciated the counsel of the Grey Pilgrim, especially after he had contributed to the capture of Dol Guldur, Sauron’s fortress in Mirkwood.
Gandalf’s whole capability, however, was revealed in the Ring War where he stood forth as the good aquivalent of Sauron: Like all evil deeds committed by orcs, Easterlings or servants of Saruman were Sauron’s doing, Gandalf was the driving force behind every action taken against him: It was him who found out about the whereabouts of the One Ring and sent Frodo on his task to destroy it, brought the rightful king back to Gondor, fought the Balrog of Moria, called the Rohirrim to war, brought Éomer and his men to the aid of Théoden’s army in the Battle of Helm’s Deep, withstood the Witch-King in a spiritual struggle at the Gate of Minas Tirith, commanded the of Men Minas Tirith during the Siege of Gondor and, together with Aragorn, led the army of Gondor and Rohan to the Black Gate of Mordor, challenging Sauron’s army in order to distract his attention from his own country and give Frodo time to destroy the Ring.
Why did Gandalf reveal himself as a Spirit of Valinor although the Istari were supposed to hide their true nature? When Gandalf had nearly overcome the Balrog of Moria in a duel on the Spiritual level and the Bridge of Khazad-Dûm collapsed, taking the Balrog down with it, the Balrog’s power flared up for a last time: In his fall, he wrapped his whip around Gandalf’s leg and pulled the Wizard down after him. His companions lamented for him, but they had to flee as soon as they could and so Aragorn quickly led the Fellowship to Lothlórien. When searching for Merry and Pippin in Fangorn, Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli were taken by surprise when suddenly Gandalf stood in front of them, but clad in white instead of grey.
After Gandalf had fallen into the abyss of Moria, the struggle between the two Spirits had continued until he had finally destroyed the Balrog. However, his victory had weakened his Spiritual powers so much that he "died": His soul went back to Valinor. Yet his task was not yet fulfilled and so was sent to Middle-Earth a second time, mightier than ever before. As Saruman had chosen to be "Saruman of many colours", Gandalf was now the White Wizard who should - and did - bring the final victory over Sauron.

Tom Bombadil

"Old Tom Bombadil is a merry fellow;
Bright blue his jacket is, and his boots are yellow." (36)


Tom Bombadil

When Merry and Pippin were attacked by the Old Willowman in the Old Forest, Sam and Fordo found unexpected help in a small man with a long brown beard who wore a blue jacket, yellow boots and an old hat with a blue feather on it and was singing a song which mainly consisted out of "Hey dol! Merry dil! Rinag a dong dillo". This man was Tom Bombadil.
After he had saved Merry and Pippin from being pulled into the tree by singing a song, he brought them to his house where they questionen him about who he was, but never got a decent answer: The only thing he would say was that he had already been there before the Shaping of Middle-Earth. It came as a shock especially to Frodo when Tom Bombadil put on the Ring – and stayed visible; the Ring seemed to have no power over him.
Tom Bombadil was a keeper of the forest who took care of all living things, but did not care about anything else. He was content living in the Old Forest with his wife Goldberry and desired neither wisdom nor wealth. He was his own master, and no other rules than the rules he set himself were valid for him.
A lot of guesses have been made about what kind of being Tom Bombadil was. While some see him as some kind of spirit of nature, others think he was a Maia of Yavanna. The only opinion Tolkien ever clearly rejected was that Tom Bombadil was Illúvatar himself; he wanted Tom Bombadil to stay a mystery, and this is what makes him the most unique being in Middle-Earth next to Gollum.

27 The Evening Star was said to be the ship of Eärendil who had sailed to heaven and wore the last Silmaril on his brow.
28 TLOTR I/XII, p. 203
29 TLOTR II/II, p. 240 (Morgul-spells: Minas Morgul, the fortress of the Witch-king; Isildur’s Bane: the Ring; the Halfling: Frodo, the Ringbearer.)
30 TLOTR V/II, p. 767
31 the name Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas gave themselves when following the Uruk-hai who had taken Merry and Pippin
32 TLOTR V/VI, p. 823
33 TLOTR I/X, p.167
34 TLOTR V/VIII, p. 844
35 cf. the Siege of Gondor: "Wherever he came men’s hearts would lift again, and the winged shadow [the Nazgûl] pass from memory." TLOTR V/IV, p. 806
36 TLOTR I/VII, p. 122