Frodo Baggins

Quiet hobbit handed an inheritance he did not want and cannot refuse; carries it toward Mount Doom across a wounded world; at the very edge cannot complete the act; the providence of Gollum and the long mercy of Bilbo bring the ring to the fire anyway; never fully heals from the wound; sails to the West. Failure mode: At the cracks, his own strength fails — but the failure itself is folded into the providence by long-prior mercy. Restoration path: Carry it as far as you can; trust that the mercies extended earlier still work at the end. Markers: inheritance one did not seek; wounded across the journey; companion (Sam) carries the carrier; fails at the final crack; mercy from years before finishes the work — Frodo Baggins, Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings (Literature)