In this biweekly series, we’re exploring the evolution of both major and minor figures in Tolkien’s legendarium, tracing the transformations of these characters through drafts and early manuscripts through to the finished work. This week’s installment takes a look at Rosie Cotton.
“
Absolutely essential.” There are a number of characters and relationships that I’d immediately tag as “absolutely essential” to my understanding of
The Lord of the Rings. Frodo and Sam’s, of course, along with that of Merry and Pippin, and perhaps at a pinch the four of them together. The Legolas Gimli dynamic seems to me to be central to at least one of the book’s projects, and that of Aragorn and Arwen to another. Faramir’s relationship to his brother and father is important if you want to really understand his deal though of course for the book as a whole, the most important familial dynamic might be the one between Bilbo and Frodo.