I'd noticed it long ago, when I was researching hobbit surnames, and learned that there were very few "occupation names" among them. But while doing a bit of math on the family tree yesterday, this just struck me.
I don't the average hobbit ever understood what Frodo did, although I think his role was probably appreciated by the Tooks, Brandybucks and Gamgees of that first generation (and it doesn't appear that there were anymore Bagginses; the last Baggins appears to have been Ponto's daughter Angelica). But once those who had known the Travellers personally were no more, Frodo's role would have been completely forgotten except for the rare scholar who read the Red Book.
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Date: 2015-03-08 08:28 pm (UTC)I don't the average hobbit ever understood what Frodo did, although I think his role was probably appreciated by the Tooks, Brandybucks and Gamgees of that first generation (and it doesn't appear that there were anymore Bagginses; the last Baggins appears to have been Ponto's daughter Angelica). But once those who had known the Travellers personally were no more, Frodo's role would have been completely forgotten except for the rare scholar who read the Red Book.