What is Frodo's Harem?

Most long time Tolkien readers would probably laugh at the idea of Frodo having a harem.  

Preposterous.  What would he do with them?  

I even thought so when I first heard of it.  Frodo wasn't that kind of hobbit... a harem?  Certainly not...

...And yet...

On a whim, I decided to read some of the thread... 

There were stories written in it.  Lovely little short pieces the posters called 'vignettes'.  There was one of a haremite (unnamed so she could be anyone... even ME!) who was cleaning the library... and who was there to catch her when she slipped on the stepladder?  Frodo, naturally.  There was another scathingly funny piece about a 'Diminutive Dark Lord' and how he had actually kept the one ring, and it was due to the power of this mighty weapon that he was able to keep a bevy of lovelies contented in the Blessed Lands.  The sketches detailed  such provocative moments that I found myself racing through the thread to find more.

I was hooked...

The quality of the writing, the witty repartee, the wide range of topics that flew from inanely silly to dead serious in the course of two posts, the blinding intelligence and compassion of the ladies who posted on the harem captivated me.  Then I read the piece that offered me my first glimpse of what the harem really 'was' and suddenly everything made sense.

Here was a way I could do what I had wanted to do since I was 14 years old... be a comfort to Frodo Baggins... love him as desperately as I had done all of my adult life, and share that passion with others who felt as deeply and as passionately as I did.  I could envision myself as one of the lovely hobbit lasses who waited on and loved Frodo in the Undying lands and in this way, I could give him peace and comfort for the rest of his days.  It was the wish my heart made nearly 30 years ago, and here, on a website in cyberspace, was the answer to it. 

OK... maybe it does sound a bit silly from the outside.  Grown women (some even grandmothers!) pining for a 3'6' character from a fairy story who isn't even human?  Well, maybe it is.  Maybe it is the most inane hobby a grown woman could have.  But in the past three years of my haremite-hood, I have had more fun than I have had since I was a kid.

I love the harem.  It is the answer to my fondest wish.  I hope it lasts as long as Frodo lives in our hearts.

Ariel
1/1/2004
Haremite

Last Updated: 01/22/2005