The Curious Case of Frodo Baggins

[CloudDancing]

(so I had to write this for class but my classmates liked it so much I decided to share it with you all)
From the Desk of Dr. Throbblefoot, Hobbit Psychologist:

The Curious Case of Frodo Baggins

Family Background:

Frodo's father, Drogo, had left Hobbiton and removed to Buckland to live with his wife's family, and so Frodo was raised in Brandy Hall, the ancestral home of the Brandybucks. He lost both his parents in a boating accident in 2980.

An only child, Frodo stayed alone in Brandy Hall, until his ninety-nine year-old uncle, Bilbo Baggins, adopted Frodo in TA 2989. Bilbo took Frodo to live with him in his home at Bag End and made him his heir. The two grew very close in the following years; Frodo learned much of the Elvish language during his time with Bilbo, as well as much of the lore of Middle-earth

Although Bilbo often referred to Frodo as his 'favourite nephew', he was in fact his first cousin once removed (through his mother), and also his second cousin once removed (through his father). Frodo lived with Bilbo at Bag End for twelve years, and inherited some of his peculiarities. It was said that he would meet with Elves in the woods, for example, and Bilbo allowed him to read his diary of the journey to Erebor.

At Bag End, the Baggin's ancestral home-hill, Frodo lived an average life, though prone to fancies like his Uncle Bilbo (who was known for doing unstable things.) An avid reader Frodo played among the hobbits at games, but not of till the field, or pick the turnip, but steal from the dragon, and goblins and dwarves. Thus his main companions were his Uncle and his best friend, the son of their gardener. Samwise Gamgee and Frodo proved to be inseparable as younglings just as his father had an odd acceptance of the Baggins's abnormal ways.

Slowly Frodo separated from his other playmates because other parents found his play too odd because s a young Hobbit, Frodo never seemed to take an interest in farming or the opposite sex. This was considered odd by the community but figured it was due to the the Baggin's being independently wealthy. This assuredly left Frodo to some trifling idleness and distracted him from proper Hobbit thinking.

Yet as the elder Baggins stayed oddly preserved in his old age, the younger Frodo never seemed to have his coming of age moments as most young hobbits do with midnight swims, summer foot dances, and do the requisite shivarees. Still bachelor Hobbits are not unknown and being one is no shame. There is a long legacy of bachelor teams and old spinsters setting up housekeeping and being of some contribution to the Hobbit society.

BUT the real moment of truth for Frodo came when in 3001, Bilbo held his great Birthday Party (a birthday Frodo happened to share) and afterward discreetly departed from the Shire, leaving Frodo to come into his inheritance of Bag End, the Baggins's ancestral hobbit hill home.

Frodo's eccentricity began to rear it's ugly head now as he was left in Bag End alone. And very soon after this, he disappeared entirely for almost 2 years under the shroud of night, his cousins Merridoc and Pippin, and his best friend Sam with them.

They did not return until the time when the nefarious Sharkey had taken over our precious shire with his hired thugs. Then when Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin returned they gathered all the Sheriffs and townsfolk in the Shire, and they successfully defeated the Ruffians at the Battle of Bywater.

While Frodo was not directly involved in the fighting at the Battle of Bywater; instead, he made sure that no Hobbits (saying that no Hobbit had ever intentionally harmed another in the Shire and that it was not going to begin there) and also that any ruffians that surrendered were not harmed.

Frodo Baggins is currently serving as Deputy Mayor of the Shire but he came to me after suffering from bad dreams, melancholy that seeps into his daily life and duties, ghost pains from war injuries long healed, and gripping attacks of panic. As well he he claims that paranoia grips his daily activities to the point where he cannot perform in regular Hobbit enjoyments.

Interview Transcript:

Dr. Throbblefoot: So Deputy Mayor Baggins, it is an honor to have you in my hole. Tea and cakes?

Frodo: *obviously embarrassed* No, No, please just call me Frodo. And no need to worry about tea and cakes I just returned from second breakfast and I am quite full-up.

Dr. Throbblefoot: Now you came here because you are feeling unwell. I know this talking cure is something new in the Shire, but I assure you the lessons I learned in Minrath Tiras are completely sound. And it is rather hard to talk-a-bout when most Hobbits think the only war was with Sharkey and his thugs at Bywater.

Frodo: *hollowly* A terrible battle that was too. But I could not let the Shire fall to brigands after all I sacrificed..for them! Frodo shifts away and reaches one arm to squeeze his shoulder

Dr. Throbblefoot: You made great sacrifices? I know you were absent a year taking Merri, Pippin, and Samwise along with you and there was a war of men and orcs in the north.

Frodo: Aye me. If only it were just that. May I tell you this in confidence?
Dr. gently nods
You see my Uncle Bilbo left me a ring right about the time he disappeared on his Birthday. And it turned out the ring was some sort of sighs magic ring.
Dr. raises his eyebrows.
It was a horrible ring, terrible! It sucked at the heart and the soul..till there was barely nothing left of me. And I was sent, me, a Hobbit, to take it to Mordor and have it destroyed. He trembles uncontrollably and grabs his chair

Dr. Throbblefoot: Now now Frodo, you are safe here. Can you take some deep hearty breaths and slow yourself down. There is nothing to fear.

Frodo:*he breathes slowly, the color returning to his face* I am sorry. I don't like thinking about the ring and how it drove me. *he brightens up* Sam was really my strength in all this. He kept me going through the long journey and fought side by side

Dr. Throbblefoot: Ah Samwise Gamgee, your gardener and newly married too I see? How do you feel about that.

Frodo:*shrugs and looks away* Oh it is fine with me. I am happy for Samwise. Rosie and he were always fond. I mean it means less time we get to spend with each other but still, happy ending for Sam and all that. It is what he deserves for all he put up with me.

Dr. Throbblefoot: So how do you feel around him and Rosie?

Frodo:*uncomfortably sets his feet on the floor* Oh. Just fine I guess. Sometimes I get that feeling in my chest..the fear rising. So I go out and have a pipe bowl and try to think. At worse I just go home and climb under the covers. I want them to be happy you see, not have to deal with my old war wound ruining the evening. Right?

Dr. Throbblefoot: So you get anxious when you all spend time together and feel you must excuse yourself. Ah you have a wound from the war that still pains you. Do you see a healer for that?

Frodo: Ah no. Not here at least. Hobbits just don't understand this kind of wound. The Elven healer I saw, Elrond is rather hard to get to. He told me to avoid strenuous exercise with this arm and eat pure foods and drink pure water, as well as expose the wound to bright sunshine when it is possible. Still it pains me and keeps me from precious sleep.
His eyes are ringed and red-rimmed

Dr. Throbblefoot: So your sleep is disturbed from your wound. Does it give you pain? May I see the place?

Frodo: I suppose so. *he shrugs off his vest and pulls his loose white shirt to the side, baring a three inch wide vertical scar with a bluish stain to it, but completely healed, in the meat of his shoulder*
See it aches ever so much. And when I dream, I dream of the moment on Weathertop and the looming shadow, and finally the stab stab of sickening paid as my soul and life were drawn from me..*he hurriedly pulls up his shirt and hugs himself* It wakes me; once or twice a night. And he is there, Smeagol, Gollum and he is accusing me..pointing at me because I could not save him. But oh how I tried doctor! *holds his curly head in shame*

Dr. Throbblefoot: That sounds very upsetting Frodo. I see why you have come. Is there anything else that bother you?

Frodo:*sighs softly* Spiders. I can't abide spiders. As Deputy Mayor I am always walking about and a spider of any good size sets me running the other direction in abject terror. I've made due by having Samwise attend me and kill them wherever we go discreetly.

Dr. Throbblefoot: So Samwise is your protector from the Spiders? Do you spend a good deal of time with him.

Frodo: Yes of course. He is my best and dearest friend. I must confide in you I plan to invite him and Roise to move into my Bag End. It is too much of a hole for just me and in fact without Uncle Bilbo I find it rather depressing and lonely.

Dr. Throbblefoot: So Samwise can take care of you better too I assume?

Frodo: Oh. Perhaps. I never thought of it like that. You know while the times Sam and I spent on the road during the War were the worst times of my life, those times were always the best times of my life. Sam and I, with a purpose, and fighting a great evil. Now things seem so aimless and mundane. I feel lost.

Dr. Throbblefoot: You feel lost. I see. And war it gave you purpose. And it was just you and Sam together. No complications.

Frodo: Oh there were complications but Sam, he would not let me go on alone. He stuck by me. I hate being a burden to him. Augh! The rest of the time I am just “the Hero” and the “Deputy Mayor” to be stared at by hobbitlings and pestered with mundane questions about turnip plantings and the well's levels. I'd very much like to go away on a journey again, but I’d have to go alone. I don't think I could bear it alone.

Dr. Throbblefoot: Ah what sort of journey would you go on?

Frodo: Well I should think, long and far, till I disappear forever and the Shire would become like a ghost of a memory.

Dr. Throbblefoot: Hmm. I hope you would never harm yourself Frodo. Please promise me if the pain becomes to great to seek me out. Especially if you want to suddenly take a journey with no notice, like your Uncle Bilbo did.

Frodo: I could do that yes. I am lonesome for Uncle Bilbo. He stays with the Elves. Which is all for the better, he's finally showing his age.

Dr. Throbblefoot: Do you every worry over a life spent as a bachelor yourself? Most Hobbits, like Samwise for example came home, settled down, found a good woman, then took up housekeeping and or some honest trade? Have you had any luck with that sort of thing?

Frodo:*face reddens as he stutters* I..I..I..never had an interest in those things to start you see. Uncle left me very well-off in provender and coin. And I find myself idle when not doing mayoral duties, so I have taken to writing, writing of the good times and the bonds of brotherhood we shared in war. As for women-folk, well I just do not feel for them. There are fine and good women like Rosie is. And Samwise has pushed me toward plenty. I just don't feels so inclined to take a wife as Sam did. That is all. I mean who could ever understand what we went through? Who could stand my night terrors and my strange utterances from time to time?

Dr. Throbblefoot: So you worry your strange behavior would repel a potential female match because she would not understand you?

Frodo: Exactly! Shire girls want nice average husbands that behave, well in an average manner. If I am in the pub alone, every loud noise makes me jump and grab for my dagger. And what is worse, there is the expectation provide them with children, the pain from this would would make that impossible. And I just cannot imagine, children of mine own running about. I would be a most cold and distant father with my writings and bad moments.

Dr. Throbblefoot: I see. What of your own parents? How do they feel of this?

Frodo: My own parents are dead sir, drowned in a boating accident. I moved in with my Uncle Bilbo because he always had an affinity for me as a little lad. *he hurriedly moves on* Uncle Bilbo was a good parent to me and gave me more space than most lads to do as I wished. He would take me on small trips to meet the Elves and speak with his friend Gandalf. Plus I had plenty of time to play with the boys and get into mischeif. *Sighs deeply* I miss him greatly. I wish he would come home even though I know he is most delicate. Only he really can understand me like Samwise, Meri, and Pip.

Dr. Throbblefoot: So what are your plans now Frodo?

Frodo: I'd really like to travel again if you can help me recover just a little bit. When I pass Bag End properly to Samwise I know it is in good hands. *He clutches at his chest again in that strange tick revealing he is wearing a fine mithril chain shirt underneath his regular shirt*

Dr. Throbblefoot: *raises eyebrows* So I see you are wearing some kind of armor underneath you clothes there. Do you wear it always Frodo?

Frodo:*nervously fidgets* Yes. You see I must always be prepared and the coolness of the fine chain soothes the ghostly aches of my war wounds. It's very light you see, mithril, almost like cloth. You never know when something is going to sneak up on you...*gulps* you know..end you? I also keep my Sting here, right in it's sheathe though I have her peace knotted in respect sir. Behing deputy Mayor is more about looking official than really exerting any force. It does stress me so if the boys push at me, I get all sweaty and trembly and feel I am near ready to lop off a few of their grinning drunken heads to make a point.

Dr. Throbblefoot: So getting in a row makes you feel like you might loose control. And all this has been going on since you returned over a full season ago?

Frodo: Yes, it has. Will it ever go away? The Elves used all their magic on my wounds. And yet I feel so numb, so empty inside. Can you help me or should I just go away from the Shire and leave myself to the care of the Elves with my Uncle?

Dr. Throbblefoot: We shall see, I will have to consult the herbalist and perhaps some talking therapy is in order. I am sure things will come up we did not expect. I appreciate your honesty Frodo, I see you truly want to get better. We will work together to first see you are getting a peaceful sleep.


Diagnosis:

Using the criteria from on the Minras Tirith Manual for Internal Brain Malfunctions of 3001 as provided by the Halls of Healing I have come to determine that Frodo Baggins meets the criteria for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

It is a rarely new disorder but after the current war passing have many suffering from such agitations. This war was particularly grisly and the amount of horrors Frodo alone experienced are more than the average foot soliders did, though the reactions I have recorded are one in the same.

A short list was related to me. He witnessed his companion, the son of the ward of Gondor be slaughtered by huge man-orcs, then he was stabbed by some sort of wraith in a place called Weather Top, then he was forced to travel into the Mines of Moria, dark caves infested by goblins, and apparently encountered some sort of demonic creature who killed his family friend and wizard Gandalf. THEN after all this he was marched into Modor, through fens of dead bodies, and captured by an enormous spider that nearly ate him not for his friend Samwise. He later lost his finger in the process of destroying this mysterious and horrible ring everyone keeps mentioning.

I believe the final snap happened after he was taken by the spider then his paralyzed corpse dragged off by goblins. I spoke with Samwise casually and he said it was on that day he thought most of what made Frodo his friend, fled from the poor fellow forever and what is left seems like a hollow shell of a male. On the back burner of this pressure cooker is the issue of his repressed homosexual love for Samwise which may be a result of the experience they shared in war but possibly predates that.

Thus he meets the criterion for experienced extremely traumatic events. He has frequent nightmares and often flashbacks to these events when stressed. He claims peace knotting his sword helps remind him he is safe. I also see that Frodo is in considerable distress and has to sequester himself often to avoid exposing his friends and loved ones from his spells of fear and aniexty.

Frodo in general avoids conflict now. His actions in the Battle of Bywater show that happening where he prevented any lethal harm coming to anyone involved when he and his friends could have easily hacked them to bits in front of the whole shire. I'd almost think this admirable.

Frodo always revealed me his extreme vigilance is preventing and interrupting his sleep. Not only does he wear a chain shirt and sword all the time, he has to move around his home and check all the doors and portals each night to make sure the are firmly locked. Any unusual noise will startle him from a sleep and he rises sword in hand.

He also finds himself often on the floor on his knees staring into a crack in the floorboard, looking furtively for a ring he claims he destroyed. I don't think he has really understand what this will mean when his best friend moves in with his family as well. Overall Frodo does not get much sleep and find he needs several pints of good lager to put him to rest at night, a common indulgence among the Hobbit old-folk. His dreams are peppered with storise of Weather Top, a great eye staring at him, and a homunculus called Gollum chasing him about, driving him to fits of terror.

Frodo came to me because he was distressed and wanted to be more normal for when the Gamgees move in with him. He is extra delighted about this event and has spent hours and hours preparing the many rooms and stocking the house with new clean things for the family. He also moved himself to the far back suite so he could be tucked away from the family affairs and not be too much trouble. He is just worried he too will be like a wraith, wandering the halls at night, and scaring the children and Rosie alike.

Treatment Plan:

Physically I can find nothing wrong but his sleeplessness and the tinge of discolor of Frodo's war wound bothers me. I wrote a letter to this healer Elrond of Rivendell and asked his advice and perhaps his consult and records on Frodo's treatment. Until then I am having my nurse apply a poultice of willow bark and comfrey roots and buds, cooked, then the heated poultice applied once a day. Also i'm prescribing a full cup of willowbark tea every time the pain wracks him.

Mentally I find that I know a few herbs that will prove helpful to Frodo's nervous condition. I am making a compound of Skullcap, Valerian, and Saint John's Worth for him to take three times a day. Finally to help calm him, Chamomile and Lavender Tea every night to help soothe his nerves and two pints of thick Stout to nutrify his waning soul

I am scheduling a session with us every two weeks for now so Frodo can read to me of his war experience and to reach into his hidden fears to draw out the issues truly driving his after war traumas. According to the manual recounting and reliving these past events may help Frodo slowly desensitize himself to the past events. Also I am to constantly reassure and remind him that those events are over and he can lower his sense of anxiety and vigilance in times of trials. I am hoping he will become mindful of his mind and behaviors and be able to function in our society with merely an addition of simple healthful herbs.