Frodo may be Bilbo’s actual adopted nephew, but Merry and Pippin are his
younger cousins, and Sam is his old gardener’s son whose family he
clearly has a soft spot for and who he taught to read and write, and
Gimli is the son of one of his old adventuring friends, and Legolas is,
similarly, the son of the Elvenking who named him an elf-friend, and we
know Aragorn is canonically his friend as well, who he very possibly
could have met as a small child in Rivendell when he passed through, so
really, like 7/9 members of the Fellowship are people he can employ
weird elderly relative (or the honorary equivalent thereof) energy on if
he wants to and I think that’s very powerful.
the fellowship is 7 people who Bilbo Baggins can employ weird elderly relative energy onto PLUS 1 person who can employ weird elderly relative energy onto Bilbo Baggins PLUS Boromir.
i wish i could reblog the notes of this post every one is gold
