Frodo Baggins, son of Drogo Baggins, was a Hobbit of the Shire during the Third Age. He was, and still is, Tolkien's most renowned character for his leading role in the Quest of the Ring, in which he bore the One Ring to Mount Doom, where it was destroyed. He was a Ring-bearer, best friend to his gardener, Samwise Gamgee, and one of the three Hobbits who sailed from Middle-earth to the Uttermost West at the end of the Third Age.

Much of Frodo's youth was spent at Brandy Hall in Buckland, the ancestral home of the Brandybuck family, including his mother (Primula Brandybuck). Frodo was known as something of a rascal, befriending Meriadoc (Merry) Brandybuck and Peregrin (Pippin) Took and causing trouble wherever they went. They would often steal mushrooms from Farmer Maggot's farm Bamfurlong.

In TA 2980, when Frodo was only 12 years old, his parents drowned in a boating accident on the Brandywine River. An only child, Frodo stayed in Brandy Hall until his 99-year-old "uncle" Bilbo adopted him in TA 2989. Bilbo took Frodo to live with him in his home at Bag End and made him his heir.

Frodo with Bilbo during his 111th birthday

The two grew very close in the following years; Frodo learned much of the Elvish language during his time with Bilbo, as well as much of the lore of Middle-earth. The two shared the same birthday, September 22 by Shire Reckoning (around September 12–14 of our calendar), and a party of special magnificence was held at the beginning of The Fellowship of the Ring when Frodo came of age of thirty-three and Bilbo hit the peculiar year of 111.

Bilbo gave a memorable Birthday Speech before playing a joke on his fellow hobbits by using the One Ring to disappear, at which Gandalf quickly reacted and used his staff to create a blinding flash where Bilbo had been standing. The hobbits at the Party were left confused and disgruntled, and Bilbo was never again seen in the Shire.

Before departing for his journey to Rivendell, Bilbo had a long conversation with Gandalf, who finally persuaded him to voluntarily surrender the One Ring. Bilbo left it on the fireplace mantel with a note for Frodo, who would now become the next Ring-bearer.