The purpose of the Scouring of the Shire, upon my first reading, seemed a bit strange. Good had triumphed over evil, had it not? The movies ended off at Gondor with the hobbits being praised by all the nation. Why shouldn’t the book end there too? Why is it necessary to detail the long journey back to the Shire when a seemingly more “suitable” ending was available? There are a variety of reasons for why the Scouring is vital to the narrative of The Lord of the Rings, but I will primarily argue here that it is a vital part of Frodo’s story and to remove it would be to remove the complexity, beauty, and sorrow that defines his character.
In comparison to all the other major characters, Frodo seems to get the short end of the stick. Aragorn returns as the rightful king of Gondor and marries Arwen, Sam becomes Mayor and marries Rosie, Merry and Pippin marry and maintain close relationships with the rest of the Fellowship. Frodo, however, is no longer content in the Shire, or indeed in Middle-Earth. Sam’s conversation with him before the Grey Havens is revealing:
“‘But’, said Sam, and tears started in his eyes, “I thought you were going to enjoy the Shire, too, for years and years, after all you have done.’ ‘So I thought too, once. But I have been too deeply hurt, Sam. I tried to save the Shire, and it has been saved, but not for me. It must often be so, Sam, when things are in danger: someone has to give them up, lose them, so that others may keep them.’” (The Grey Havens)
This is the clearest indicator of the toll that Frodo’s journey has taken on him. On his journey to Mordor, Frodo’s perspective is increasingly absent which is easy to miss as a key sign that Frodo is wrestling with the influence of the Ring, and his energy and will are being drained as a result. The Scouring, to some extent, allows Frodo to voice the impact that the journey with the Ring has had on him.
I think Frodo’s Dreme, or the Sea-Bell, is a useful way to think about Frodo’s return in the scouring. In the introduction to The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, the collector comments briefly on the poem, in that it is unlikely to have actually written by Frodo himself, but was instead associated with the dark dreams that plagued him on the anniversaries of Weathertop and Shelob for the last few years he remained on Middle-Earth. The general sense of the poem is of loss and defeat, which seemed to pervade Frodo’s thoughts even after the rebuilding and regarding of the Shire. One can imagine the immeasurable sense of grief that Frodo would have felt to realize that despite defeating Sauron and returning with his life, his home no longer provided him with a sense of belonging. The familiarity and comfort that Tolkien shows so well in the beginning of the story is no longer present for Frodo, and he feels painfully out of place.
Consider the poem’s narrator, who, having only heard traces of any elvish presence in Faërie, decides to crown himself King: “‘Here now I stand, king of this land, with gladdon-sword and reed-mace. Answer my call! Come forth all! Speak to me words! Show me a face!’” This seems to speak to the guilt that Frodo bears for ultimately failing to accomplish what he set out: “‘I do not choose now to do what I came to do. I will not do this deed. The Ring is mine!’” The decision is a conscious, willing one; he does not say “I cannot” but that he chooses not to and will not cast it into Mount Doom, one that haunts him despite the fact that no mortal being would have been able to do differently in that situation.
The poem also expresses a strong sense of disconnect between the narrator and those around him after he’s returned: “To myself I talk, For still they speak not, men that meet.” Frodo has experienced something that no other character has come close to doing. To other normal hobbits, his tales will likely seem fantastical and unlikely, as the Gaffer reacts to Sam’s fame, saying, “‘It takes a lot o’ believing…but I can see he’s been mixing with strange company’” (The Scouring of the Shire). The idyllic Shire and its people are at odds with all that Frodo has seen and felt. More importantly, even among Merry, Pippin, and Sam, Frodo stands out. He was stabbed by the Witch-King, poisoned by Shelob, and bore the ring to its uttermost end. While his wounds may have healed, the scars of his trauma remain. This lingering darkness is affirmed by many of the Wise who can see that Frodo has not been truly healed. Arwen says to him, “‘If your hurts grieve you still and the memory of your burden is heavy, then you may pass into the West, until all your wounds and weariness are healed,’” which comes before Frodo begins to show signs of discontent and fatigue, and predicts that he will not find peace within Middle-Earth. On the way back to the Shire, Gandalf, too, notices that all is not well:
“‘Are you in pain, Frodo?’ said Gandalf quietly as he rode by Frodo’s side. ‘Well, yes I am,’ said Frodo. ‘It is my shoulder. The wound aches, and the memory of darkness is heavy on me. It was a year ago today.’ ‘Alas! There are some wounds that cannot be wholly cured,’ said Gandalf. ‘I fear it may be so with mine,’ said Frodo. ‘There is no real going back. Though I may come to the Shire, it will not seem the same; for I shall not be the same. I am wounded with knife, sting, and tooth, and a long burden. Where shall I find rest?’ Gandalf did not answer.”
Frodo is poignantly aware of his own unrest long before he arrives at the Shire. He doubts whether returning home will provide him with any comfort. This conversation with Gandalf is withheld from the others, who believe that returning to the Shire will fix all their ills. After “Sharkey” has been removed, the only glimpses that Sam, Merry, and Pippin get of Frodo’s suffering are when he takes ill on occasion, which Frodo attempts to conceal. We continue to get brief glimpses of his anguish: “I am wounded; it will never really heal,” and “It is gone, and now all is dark and empty” (The Grey Havens). While Merry, Pippin, and Sam all encountered peril and evil on their journey, it is Frodo who faced The Evil, which for any mortal spirit would be impossible to overcome. Deliver us from evil, indeed.
Without the Scouring, Frodo’s journey never finishes. To remove his gradual descent into sorrow and unrest would be to remove a critical aspect of his character. As he himself says, some people must give up the things they love so that others can have them. Frodo sacrifices his own happiness and contentment on Middle-Earth so that others, like Sam, Merry, and Pippin, can flourish and heal the Shire’s hurts. He gave up any hope of truly returning home so that others could do so; that is why his departure for the Havens is so moving and so necessary.
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