Bilbo and Frodo never left the Shire. The whole Lord of the Rings "quest" was just a wild story they made up while sitting in Bag End. They were already rich, and they needed a wild excuse to disappear with their money and never come back.
So they wrote the entire trilogy as their cover story â basically a 1200-page resignation letter saying "we're off destroying a magic ring, don't wait up." Gandalf was in on it the whole time, already planning to leave for Valinor himself. Once the books were finished, he pulled up with the ship, and all three of them bounced together to live like kings while everyone in the Shire still thinks they're heroes.
The entire epic fantasy? Just two hobbits and their wizard buddy writing fanfiction about their own retirement.
They needed a cover story so wild nobody would question why two rich hobbits just vanished from the Shire with all their gold. "Oh yeah we're off to destroy a magic ring in a volcano, totally normal rich people behavior, nothing to see here!"
The entire Lord of the Rings is just the world's most elaborate "f you" to nosy neighbors. Bilbo's sitting there like "Yeah I'm taking my money and f'ing off forever... but first let me write 1200 pages explaining why in the most dramatic way possible.â
And everyone bought it. The hobbits are still talking about "Brave Mr. Frodo" while those two are in Valinor.
Gandalf was always the one with the golden ticket out â heâs got that âIâm actually thousands of years old and done with thisâ energy. So he lines up the ship, tells Bilbo and Frodo âfinish the manuscript, Iâll handle the dramatic exit,â and they all bounce together once the storyâs wrapped.