A new Lord of the Rings fan theory that’s picking up a lot of heat on Reddit seems to suggest that the Hobbits were always going to be the monkey wrench in Sauron’s plans for dominion over Middle-Earth.
Of course, as most fans already know, creator J.R.R. Tolkien lends a lot of significance to the fact that the seemingly innocuous and down-to-earth halflings are among the few people in Arda whose modesty, humility, and simple way of living allows them to resist the corruption of the One Ring, which tends to instantly sully the good in Men and Elves alike, even someone as high-standing among them as Galadriel.
Also noteworthy is the fact that Boromir, a member of the Fellowship, hardly came into contact with the Ring at all and still it managed to lead him astray of his purpose. In fact, Lord of the Rings repeatedly reminds audiences of the fact that if the weapon of the enemy were to fall into the hands of anyone but Frodo, the world would succumb to darkness.
But now, as one fan has astutely pointed out, there seems to be a lot of coincidence involved in how things turned out in the War of the Ring. For one thing, why did Bilbo of all people have to stumble upon the Ring in Gollum’s cave, a Hobbit who possessed all those good qualities almost to a fault?
This later meant that Frodo would be the one to inherit the Ring, which Gandalf called no stroke of luck. So, what if some fate actually meant the hobbits would be the ultimate thorn in Sauron’s side?
The theory muses that maybe it was Eru Ilúvatar, the god and creator of Arda, who indirectly influenced events in a way and changed the hobbits’ destiny. While the deity has always been reluctant to do that, others have often enough taken matters into their own hands in his name, including Manwë, chief among the Valar.
It’s certainly a palpable theory, but with no way to deny or confirm it within the Lord of the Rings canon, it’ll once again come down to fans to interpret events in their own way.
