D&D General Settings of Hope vs Settings of Despair

[Misanthrope Prime]

They are common, in the sense that matters in the Tolkien context - they are not nobility, or even leaders in their communities.

Aragorn, Boromir, Faramir, Theoden, Eomer, Denethor - are all holders of hereditary leadership titles. Legolas is the son of the King of the Mirkwood Elves. Gimli is of the line of the dwarven kings as well, though some generations removed from a second son. Gandalf is, effectively, a minor angel!

Bilbo apparently has enough cash to live comfortably, with no clear sign of occupation, but we are not given its source in the text. People surmise that he's a landlord, for lack of any other idea, but that isn't established in the work. The only property we are actually told he owns is Bag End, and that is the only property he's concerned about when he comes back from his adventure.

Tolkien was the world's most well-showered crustpunk anarchist so in a weird way this makes sense, but it's still really weird to modern political sensibilities.

Anarcho-Monarchism - First Things

The only thing I know that J.R.R. Tolkien and Salvador Dalí had in common—or rather, I suppose I should say, the only significant or unexpected thing, since they obviously...

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[Umbran]

Pippin is - he is the son of the Thane. Hence the Gondorians are technically correct referring to him as “the prince of the halflings”.

Merry’s dad is the Master of Buckland - not noble, but definitely the hereditary leader of a community.

Yes, and maybe that's further indicative of the pattern. Merry and Pippin are the ones with less sense, and end up hanging around with the royalty, while Sam and Frodo are the ones with the strength to carry the One Ring to Mount Doom, and the mercy to let Gollum live.

 

[Remathilis]

I think arguing about hobbit gentry is a clear signal of a setting of despair.

 

[Umbran]

Tolkien was the world's most well-showered crustpunk anarchist so in a weird way this makes sense, but it's still really weird to modern political sensibilities.

It is also real-world politics, and so not really something we can discuss here.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Merry and Pippin are the ones with less sense

That’s the movie version, in the book Merry is the sensible one, even compared to Frodo.

 

[Flying Toaster]

I find phrases like “not gonna lie", “I gotta be honest here”, or the dreaded “I’m just telling it like it is” to be quite useful. All too often they serve as warnings that the speaker is about to lie not only to me, but to themselves...

EDIT: Obvious exception made for fellow commenters using the phrases in this thread, of course.

 

[Staffan]

He may call it that. But he also presents us with a story in which a common person - a hobbit, the stand in for his beloved bucolic common Englishman, saves the day, and the power who set that commoner in motion pretty much knew he had the strength for it. He presents us with a story in which whenever a leader says, "Folks, it is time to go fight evil!" the people do not give up - they stand up, every time. That's not despair, by any measure.

The thing is, Frodo didn't have the strength for it. At the end, he couldn't throw the ring into Mount Doom. He got close, but no pipe. What saved them was Gollum becoming overcome by his desire for the Precious, biting off Frodo's finger, and then falling into the volcano. That's the "eucatastrophe" in question.

 

[Umbran]

The thing is, Frodo didn't have the strength for it. At the end, he couldn't throw the ring into Mount Doom. He got close, but no pipe. What saved them was Gollum becoming overcome by his desire for the Precious, biting off Frodo's finger, and then falling into the volcano. That's the "eucatastrophe" in question.

Note I mentioned strength AND mercy.

Frodo is strong enough to get it most of the way. And a good enough person to have a friend like Sam, to help him go the rest.
And yes, he fails at the end, but Frodo's mercy when tempted to get rid of a threat is what ultimately left Gollum alive, to play that final part.

Being a Good Person^TM and not giving up when things get hard, is what allows providence to provide in Tolkien's world.

 

[Celebrim]

I find phrases like “not gonna lie", “I gotta be honest here”, or the dreaded “I’m just telling it like it is” to be quite useful. All too often they serve as warnings that the speaker is about to lie not only to me, but to themselves...

This is actually a major subtheme of Tolkien's work, showing up in both the Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.

It's most humorous (and tragic) when Sam does this trope, advancing to stand between Faramir and Frodo and saying, "I'm not one to put myself forward, but...". Tolkien very much wants to see the irony and see Sam is lying to himself in that moment, and of course that Sam is in over his head at that moment - speaking when he should be quiet. Frodo has been speaking carefully and elegantly, and Sam comes in and unknowingly plays the buffoon.

It works out for Sam, but only because Faramir is who he is - perhaps the most noble character in the whole story with the most self-awareness and self-control. (This is perhaps another of those moments of providence, where folly undeservedly becomes good.) Sam's proud, rough, unlearned speech convinces Faramir that Frodo is as honest as he is clever, and he decides that the matters being discussed are too sensitive for continued public debate. But Sam is being his normal "half-wise" self at that moment, and it is one of the times we see Sam "sinning".

 

[Celebrim]

The thing is, Frodo didn't have the strength for it. At the end, he couldn't throw the ring into Mount Doom. He got close, but no pipe. What saved them was Gollum becoming overcome by his desire for the Precious, biting off Frodo's finger, and then falling into the volcano. That's the "eucatastrophe" in question.

Yes, and that happens because The Ring itself, frustrated by Gollum's small minded lack of ambition and determined to reunited with its truly diabolical master, cursed Gollum to fall off a high place should he ever touch the ring again. So evil in its triumph had undone itself, causing its own downfall that none of the heroes was of their own power capable of achieving.