So I was reading Tolkien et la mémoire de l'antiquité, or Tolkien and the Memory of Antiquity. It's a recent very interesting book by Isabelle Pantin and Sandra Provini on Tolkien's reception of Greek and Latin sources like Vergil's Aeneid.
"il s'agisse ... pour Frodo d'accepter le fardeau de l'Anneau plutot que de jouire d'une existence paisable dans le Comte."
"for Frodo ... it is a question of accepting the burden of the Ring rather than enjoying a peaceful existence in the Shire."
The word fardeau means burden. That's what caught my eye. It made me think of a line in the famous "To be, or not to be" soliloquy in Hamlet Act 3 Scene 1. Hamlet asks "who would fardels bear?" That is, "who would bear burdens?" (if they didn't have to).
Me being me, I immediately began reimagining crucial moments in The Lord of the Rings.
At Rivendell:
"I will bear fardels," [Frodo] said, "though I do not know the way."
And on the slopes of Mt Doom:
"Come, Mr. Frodo!" he cried. ‘I can’t bear fardels for you, but I can bear you."
