Oxonmoot 2024

Though language has evolved, to be “Queer” folk has always been a process of being forced into the margins of society by cultural heteronormativity. It is in this forced marginality that the concept of “Chosen Family” has become intrinsic to the Queer community. It is through “Chosen Family” that people who have become alienated from their biological families, and society at large, find joy, love, acceptance and companionship in a hostile and difficult world. Though Tolkien may not have been intending so, the Bagginses of Bag-End exemplify this dynamic. It is in Bag-End that Bilbo and Frodo created a safe space for the queer folk of hobbit society. This paper will explore the features of both Bilbo and Frodo that mark them as marginal in their community and which contribute to their home being considered “a queer place, and its folk are queerer”. We can, through comparison to real-life “Chosen Family” dynamics, understand why the Bagginses of Bag-End resonate with queer readers.