Title:‘Pendant of Starlight: A Token of Resilience’
Creator: Frodo Baggins
Medium: A pencil drawing of a gemstone pendant on paper.
Owner: Samwise Gamgee
Place of Creation: Bag-end, Hobbiton, the Shire
Date of Creation: December 14th, 3019
On Loan: Samwise Gamgee
Artifact Number: MITH-127
This beautiful drawing depicts a delicate pendent on a silver chain, holding a radiant white gem that looks like it has captured starlight; this pendant was a cherished gift from the Elven princess of Rivendell and now Queen of Gondor Arwen Undómiel to the brave hobbit Frodo Baggins. Bestowed upon him after his heroic journey to the mountain of doom and his final departure from Gondor. Arwen gifted the pendant to aid Frodo when the memory of the fears and darkness is too much, bringing him back to the light. Frodo Baggins drew this beautiful pendant when he returned to Beg-end, and Samwise Gamgee became the owner after Frodo’s final departure from the Shire.
Copyright Information: Photograph. ‘Drawing of a Pendant’ Artist: Elly Crandlemire. Medium: Pencil on paper. Date: Nov, 2024. Photographer: Elly Crandlemire.
A Drawn Promise: Frodo’s Gift to Sam
Elly R. Crandlemire
Department of English, University of British Colombia Okanagan
English 395l B 001
Professor Marie H. Loughlin
November 22, 2024
The delicate drawing displayed here, housed in the Shire’s mathom-house museum, offers a brilliant glimpse of the beautiful pendant given to Frodo Baggins from the Rivendell princess Arwen, who is now the Queen of Gondor alongside King Aragorn. This pendant is a significant part of Frodo’s story, and the drawing is now a part of the museum’s collection, which is filled with traditional and repurposed items or cherished heirlooms and mementos. These items tell the histories and stories of the hobbits who gift, donate, or loan them to the museum. Sam has decided to loan the drawing to the mathom-house in hopes of reminding the Hobbits in the Shire of the sacrifices that were made for the safety and preservation of it and to remind everyone that when feelings of fear and darkness creep in, there is always a source of light within the stars.
After Frodo’s heroic return to the Shire from Mount Doom, he had a tremendous weight of darkness and fear to carry. He was so deeply wounded that even in the happiest of times shared in the Shire, he felt the looming corruption of the One Ring. Frodo could not live out the rest of his days in the Shire, knowing that Sam, his best friend, and companion on his journeys, would have to live in constant worry about him, especially since Sam has a wife and children at home. So he decided he was to leave Middle-earth along with the elves and his close friend Gandalf, and his mentor Bilbo Baggins. However, he could not leave without ensuring Sam was happy. He turned to the one thing that gave him solace in times of darkness, the pendant from Arwen that he was given before he departed Gondor for the last time. Arwen told Frodo, “When the memory of the fear and the darkness troubles you, this will bring you aid” (Tolkien, 2011, p.1276). This pendant, described as having captured starlight, has the power to lift the spirit of those burdened with darkness. So, Frodo, unable to part with the pendant that represents both light and the friendship made between himself and Arwen, decided to try and capture its essence with a drawing, emphasizing the beautiful elvish craftsmanship and the radiance of the gemstone. If his dear friend Sam ever felt the darkness and fears creep in as he did, he would also have the pendant to look upon to bring him light and aid his sorrows. Though the drawing does not have any actual magical properties, Frodo hoped the drawing would still evoke the same feelings of hope and light the original does.
Ultimately, when drawing the pendant, Frodo had no ambition for it to be displayed in a mathom-house museum. However, he would have been proud to lift the spirits of any who look upon its light. The pendant will also continue to represent his long-lasting ties to Sam and Arwen and the hardships he faced on his journey that saved Middle Earth.
References
Tolkien, J. R. R. (2011). The Return of The King: 3. The Lord of the Rings. HarperCollins.