First of all, hi everyone! I haven't visited the forum in a long time!
I'm sorry if this is already an existing topic, or if it's in the wrong place.
I'd just like your opinion on something. Several times throughout the Lord of the Rings, different people refer to Frodo as having a sort of elvish air about him. I am reading the Two Towers now, and yet again it occurs. In the chapter The Window on the West, soon after Frodo and Faramir meet, Faramir says, "There is something strange about you, Frodo, an elvish air, maybe."
Do you have an opinion on why everyone senses this about Frodo? Could it be that he speaks elvish, that he is called "Elf friend," or that he has seen Elrond and Galadriel? But Sam has been with him through the whole journey, and he doesn't have the elvish air....?
I'd just like your thoughts.

Interesting question.
I think Frodo is from the very beginning not so much a typical hobbit (as Sam, for instance). He is learned, has a deep interest in history, languages, starlight and the world that surrounds him, whereas most of the other hobbits are a bit narrow-minded and ignorant (I don't want to blame them for it, but still that's what they are). Frodo is different, he has a mind and heart for higher things than ordinary hobbit life. It is as if he has been given a very special gift that he will need one day to complete his quest. I think that is what other characters feel in him, and what they refer to as his "Elvish air" for loss of other words. It is as if they can feel that Frodo is "the chosen one" who has a special purpose to fulfill.
I think none of the other hobbits could have made it to Mount Doom. Merry, Pippin and Sam show a different kind of bravery. They overcome their fears and fight for the ones they love, but I think none of them could have suffered the long, painful way that Frodo went. He was the only one who could bear the constant torment of the Ring, because he knew what he was suffering for. With his mind set on higher things (on the "stars" you could say) he was able to grasp the full import of the Ring and its danger. He knew what was at stake, and so he could endure the way to Mordor. None of the other hobbits could have endured it, I think.

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Wow. Those are really great thoughts. I can see what you're saying; it definitely makes sense. I'll share this with my reading group!

I think partly because Frodo had an elvish air is because he was sometimes aloof and he was wise when he needed to be.

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Thanks Nurratiel, *Ennostiel*, PD, and Githoniel

And the other hobbits just used their own versions of the common tongue, where Frodo actually understood it like an art, so to speak.

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Formerly known as ESA or Arborlon Elf.
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