Frodo Lives!
Encyclopedia
"Frodo Lives!" was a popular counterculture
slogan in the 1960s and 1970s, referring to the character Frodo Baggins
from J. R. R. Tolkien
's fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings
. The term was used frequently in graffiti, buttons, bumper-stickers, t-shirts, and other materials. It was commonly associated with the hippie movement
. Other examples of use include a Frodo Lives album released by Smash Records
and merchandising items for the New Line Cinema
The Lord of the Rings film trilogy
. The phrase was also displayed during the activation of a computer virus in the early 1990s, in which the text 'Frodo Lives!' was displayed in large letters with a moving border.
The term first became popular because of an increase in the availability and number of readers of the novel (which, up until that point, had been subject to rather mixed reviews) following release of the Ballantine Books
paperback edition. While no longer as pervasive as it once was, the term continues to appear regularly in newspaper articles and popular culture related to Tolkien's stories.
The term was often related to a mistaken belief that Frodo's journey into the West at the end of Tolkien's novel meant that he would live forever. In fact, Tolkien maintained that Frodo would still die, and travelled West only for healing. Another meaning ascribed to the term, especially in later usage, is that Tolkien's work remains alive and popular.
Others say that the phrase refers to the drama of the Third Age itself and those harrowing days of The War of The Ring. The only hope of the free peoples of Middle-earth lay with Frodo. But that was a slim hope and Frodo's whereabouts and fate were unknown - even on the dawn of battle. To say that Frodo Lives is to show faith that all is not lost and some slim small hope will yet win out over the forces of Shadow that threaten to engulf us.
Counterculture
Counterculture is a sociological term used to describe the values and norms of behavior of a cultural group, or subculture, that run counter to those of the social mainstream of the day, the cultural equivalent of political opposition. Counterculture can also be described as a group whose behavior...
slogan in the 1960s and 1970s, referring to the character Frodo Baggins
Frodo Baggins
Frodo Baggins is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium.He is the main protagonist of Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. He was a hobbit of the Shire who inherited Sauron's Ring from Bilbo Baggins and undertook the quest to destroy it in the fires of Mount Doom...
from J. R. R. Tolkien
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...
's fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings is a high fantasy epic written by English philologist and University of Oxford professor J. R. R. Tolkien. The story began as a sequel to Tolkien's earlier, less complex children's fantasy novel The Hobbit , but eventually developed into a much larger work. It was written in...
. The term was used frequently in graffiti, buttons, bumper-stickers, t-shirts, and other materials. It was commonly associated with the hippie movement
Hippie
The hippie subculture was originally a youth movement that arose in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to other countries around the world. The etymology of the term 'hippie' is from hipster, and was initially used to describe beatniks who had moved into San Francisco's...
. Other examples of use include a Frodo Lives album released by Smash Records
Smash Records
Smash Records is an American record label. It was founded in 1961 as a subsidiary of Mercury Records by Mercury executive Shelby Singleton and run by Singleton with Charlie Fach. Fach took over after Singleton left Mercury in 1966...
and merchandising items for the New Line Cinema
New Line Cinema
New Line Cinema, often simply referred to as New Line, is an American film studio. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye and Michael Lynne as a film distributor, later becoming an independent film studio. It became a subsidiary of Time Warner in 1996 and was merged with larger sister studio Warner...
The Lord of the Rings film trilogy
The Lord of the Rings film trilogy
The Lord of the Rings is an epic film trilogy consisting of three fantasy adventure films based on the three-volume book of the same name by English author J. R. R. Tolkien. The films are The Fellowship of the Ring , The Two Towers and The Return of the King .The films were directed by Peter...
. The phrase was also displayed during the activation of a computer virus in the early 1990s, in which the text 'Frodo Lives!' was displayed in large letters with a moving border.
The term first became popular because of an increase in the availability and number of readers of the novel (which, up until that point, had been subject to rather mixed reviews) following release of the Ballantine Books
Ballantine Books
Ballantine Books is a major book publisher located in the United States, founded in 1952 by Ian Ballantine with his wife, Betty Ballantine. It was acquired by Random House in 1973, which in turn was acquired by Bertelsmann AG in 1998 and remains part of that company today. Ballantine's logo is a...
paperback edition. While no longer as pervasive as it once was, the term continues to appear regularly in newspaper articles and popular culture related to Tolkien's stories.
The term was often related to a mistaken belief that Frodo's journey into the West at the end of Tolkien's novel meant that he would live forever. In fact, Tolkien maintained that Frodo would still die, and travelled West only for healing. Another meaning ascribed to the term, especially in later usage, is that Tolkien's work remains alive and popular.
Others say that the phrase refers to the drama of the Third Age itself and those harrowing days of The War of The Ring. The only hope of the free peoples of Middle-earth lay with Frodo. But that was a slim hope and Frodo's whereabouts and fate were unknown - even on the dawn of battle. To say that Frodo Lives is to show faith that all is not lost and some slim small hope will yet win out over the forces of Shadow that threaten to engulf us.