Bilbo Baggins, the Heroic Non-Hero
In celebration of Bilbo’s birthday
The Lord of the Rings was a true earthquake for Tolkien’s epic.
Up to that point, his stories had mostly been about exceptional heroes. A more classic kind of hero, if you will.
Let’s take, for example, the Three Great Stories of The Silmarillion. The heroes of Beren and Lúthien are the titular characters. Beren is one of the last of the House of Beor, the very first mortal people who came in contact with the Elves, and he’s a strong and daring warrior in his own right. Lúthien is the only child of Middle-earth to have both Elvish and Maiar blood.
The hero of The Children oh Húrin is Túrin, who’s foremost in Morgoth’s thoughts. Morgoth’s intent is to find the hidden city of Gondolin. He has taken captive Húrin, one of the few people in Middle-earth who knows where Gondolin stands — and won’t bend to Morgoth’s power. So Morgoth curses not him, but his children and dogs Túrin’s every steps’ till the bitter end.
The hero of The Fall of Gondolin is Tuor, Túrin’s cousin, who also has the special attention of a Vala. In his case is Ulmo, who helps him save as many people as possible from Gondolin when Morgoth finally finds out its location and destroys it. Tuor will then be the father of the man who will break the Ban of the Valar and will eventually allow dethroning Morgoth.
