Lobelia Sackville-Baggins

[This analysis is the first in a series that examines the portrayal of female characters in The Fellowship of the Ring.]

 

The Fellowship of the Ring begins in the Shire, home to Bilbo, Frodo, and their fellow hobbits.

The hobbits of the Shire are largely unconcerned with the wider world, but very much concerned with the affairs of their hobbit neighbors.

The Shire is a place of gossip, rumor, and at times, petty grievances.

No one better demonstrated the self-absorbed nature of the Shire than Lobelia Sackville-Baggins.

Lobelia, one of Bilbo’s relatives who desired to inherit Bilbo’s home at Bag End, is portrayed as a jealous and entitled woman who was disliked by her extended family and others in the Shire.

While Lobelia isn’t a likable character, her presence helps establish the narrow-focused culture and sensibilities of the Shire, which Tolkien contrasted with the larger struggle against the Dark Lord the Shire was largely oblivious to.

  

 

 

An Unexpected Auction

 

Bilbo returned from his heroic journey in The Hobbit to learn that he was presumed dead and that his possessions were being sold at auction.

While Lobelia isn’t mentioned by name, the Sackville-Baginses were preparing to inherit Bilbo’s home, known as Bag End.

 

“It was now nearly lunch-time, and most of the things had already been sold, for various prices from next to nothing to old songs (as is not unusual at auctions).

Bilbo's cousins the Sackville-Bagginses were, in fact, busy measuring his rooms to see if their own furniture would fit. In short Bilbo was "Presumed Dead," and not everybody that said so was sorry to find the presumption wrong.” (The Hobbit, Chapter 19)

It came as quite a surprise when Bilbo showed up at his old home, very much alive.

 

“The people who had got specially good bargains at the Sale took a deal of convincing; and in the end to save time Bilbo had to buy back quite a lot of his own furniture.

Many of his silver spoons mysteriously disappeared and were never accounted for. Personally he suspected the Sackville-Bagginses. On their side they never admitted that the returned Baggins was genuine, and they were not on friendly terms with Bilbo ever after. They really had wanted to live in his nice hobbit-hole so very much.” (The Hobbit, Chapter 19)

 

Bilbo’s return prevented the Sackville-Bagginses from inheriting Bag End, and they weren’t gracious upon learning that their cousin had returned alive and well.

 

 

 

Frodo inherits Bag End

 

Upon his return, Bilbo wasn’t on visiting terms with the Sackville-Bagginses.

The hopes of the Sackville-Baginses to inherit Bag End were thwarted once again when Bilbo adopted his younger cousin Frodo as his heir.

Bilbo used his invisibility ring to dramatically vanish during a speech at his 111^th birthday party, ahead of his planned departure from the Shire.

Bilbo left several sarcastic presents for Frodo to give away to friends and family following Bilbo’s disappearance.

Bilbo even left a gift for Lobelia Sackville-Baggins.

 

“For LOBELIA SACKVILLE-BAGGINS, as a PRESENT, on a case of silver spoons. Bilbo believed that she had acquired a good many of his spoons, while he was away on his former journey. Lobelia knew that quite well. When she arrived later in the day, she took the point at once, but she also took the spoons.” (The Fellowship, Book One, Chapter 1)

 

Lobelia and her husband, Otho, were quite rude during their visit with Frodo following Bilbo’s unexpected departure.

Frodo clearly didn’t look forward to seeing them.

 

“In the middle of the commotion the Sackville-Bagginses arrived. Frodo had retired for a while and left his friend Merry Brandybuck to keep an eye on things. When Otho loudly demanded to see Frodo, Merry bowed politely.

'He is indisposed,' he said. 'He is resting.'

'Hiding, you mean,' said Lobelia. 'Anyway we want to see him and we mean to see him. Just go and tell him so!'

Merry left them a long while in the hall, and they had time to discover their parting gift of spoons.

It did not improve their tempers.

Eventually they were shown into the study. Frodo was sitting at a table with a lot of papers in front of him. He looked indisposed — to see Sackville-Bagginses at any rate; and he stood up, fidgeting with something in his pocket. But he spoke quite politely.” (The Fellowship, Book One, Chapter 1)

 

The item in Frodo’s pocket was almost certainly the invisibility ring Bilbo had given to him. Frodo was likely determining whether to use the ring to escape his disagreeable visitors.

 

“The Sackville-Bagginses were rather offensive. They began by offering him bad bargain-prices (as between friends) for various valuable and unlabelled things. When Frodo replied that only the things specially directed by Bilbo were being given away, they said the whole affair was very fishy.

'Only one thing is clear to me,' said Otho, 'and that is that you are doing exceedingly well out of it. I insist on seeing the will.'

Otho would have been Bilbo's heir, but for the adoption of Frodo. He read the will carefully and snorted.

It was, unfortunately, very clear and correct (according to the legal customs of hobbits, which demand among other things seven signatures of witnesses in red ink).” (The Fellowship, Book One, Chapter 1)

 

Bilbo had made very clear that his home would be given to Frodo, rather than the Sackville-Baginses. To ensure it, Bilbo had properly prepared his will.

 

“'Foiled again!' he said to his wife. 'And after waiting sixty years. Spoons? Fiddlesticks!' He snapped his fingers under Frodo's nose and slumped off.

But Lobelia was not so easily got rid of. A little later Frodo came out of the study to see how things were going on and found her still about the place, investigating nooks and corners and tapping the floors.

He escorted her firmly off the premises, after he had relieved her of several small (but rather valuable) articles that had somehow fallen inside her umbrella.

Her face looked as if she was in the throes of thinking out a really crushing parting remark; but all she found to say, turning round on the step, was:

'You'll live to regret it, young fellow! Why didn't you go too? You don't belong here; you're no Baggins — you — you're a Brandybuck!'” (The Fellowship, Book One, Chapter 1)

 

Otho was rude and provocative. Lobelia was rude and persistent.

But Frodo and his friends did their best to take their disagreeable actions in good humor.

 

“'Did you hear that, Merry? That was an insult, if you like,' said Frodo as he shut the door on her.

'It was a compliment,' said Merry Brandybuck, 'and so, of course, not true.'” (The Fellowship, Book One, Chapter 1)

 

 

 

‘Ours at last!’

 

Seventeen years later, Frodo prepared to leave on his own journey with the Ruling Ring, which Gandalf had informed him was far more powerful, dangerous, and important than he could have ever guessed.

Frodo made arrangements to appear as if he was moving to Buckland to allow his departure to be discrete, to avoid detection by the minions of the Dark Lord.

Part of those arrangements was to sell Bag End… to none other than Lobelia Sackville-Baggins, who had coveted it for so long.

Lobelia was pleased to finally receive ownership of Bag End, even though she wasn’t particularly grateful towards Frodo regarding the sale.

 

“After lunch, the Sackville-Bagginses, Lobelia and her sandy-haired son, Lotho, turned up, much to Frodo's annoyance.

“'Ours at last!' said Lobelia, as she stepped inside. It was not polite; nor strictly true, for the sale of Bag End did not take effect until midnight.

But Lobelia can perhaps be forgiven: she had been obliged to wait about seventy-seven years longer for Bag End than she once hoped, and she was now a hundred years old.

Anyway, she had come to see that nothing she had paid for had been carried off; and she wanted the keys. It took a long while to satisfy her, as she had brought a complete inventory with her and went right through it.

In the end, she departed with Lotho and the spare key and the promise that the other key would be left at the Gamgees' in Bagshot Row.

She snorted and showed plainly that she thought the Gamgees capable of plundering the hole during the night. Frodo did not offer her any tea.

He took his own tea with Pippin and Sam Gamgee in the kitchen.

It had been officially announced that Sam was coming to Buckland 'to do for Mr. Frodo and look after his bit of garden'; an arrangement that was approved by the Gaffer, though it did not console him for the prospect of having Lobelia as a neighbour.” (The Fellowship, Book One, Chapter 3)

 

The Gaffer, Sam’s father, gave his approval for his son to leave for Buckland. But the Gaffer didn’t look forward to living so close to Lobelia.

Clearly, Bilbo and Frodo weren’t the only ones who held a negative view of Lobelia Sackville-Baggins.

 

 

In my next analysis, I will examine a very-different character, Goldberry, a joyful woman who lived alone with her husband, Tom Bombadil, surrounded by the beauty of the natural world.