Of Mount Doom

Beren3000 · 05-27-2006, 02:41 PM

If we take the Ring to represent sin and evil; couldn't the journey up Mount Doom to get rid of the Ring be comparable to a journey up Mount Purgatory? Would Sam's carrying Frodo up the mountain be seen as the guiding influence of a friend to help you get rid of sin? Any thoughts?

jammi567 · 05-27-2006, 03:00 PM

so all the trials (gollum, shelob etc) were there to mentally prepare Frodo for dramatically ridding the world of evil.

durinsbane2244 · 05-27-2006, 03:03 PM

but frodo failed...he was broken...he succumbed...

jammi567 · 05-27-2006, 03:08 PM

i know that, but what i'm saying is that they were there so that he could do it in the first place, regardless of what happened afterwards.

durinsbane2244 · 05-27-2006, 03:38 PM

oh, well than, true enough!

Curubethion · 05-27-2006, 04:15 PM

That's a cool idea, an allusion to Purgatory.
But the destruction of the Ring was on March 25, the traditional date of the crucifixion. So I think it's more likely it represents the "descent into Sheol" that's traditionally been accepted by Catholocism.

Landroval · 05-27-2006, 03:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by durinsbane2244

but frodo failed

I wouldn't say so; according to letter #246, "his real contract was only to do what he could, to try to find a way, and to go as far on the road as his strength of mind and body allowed." Seeing things from that point of view, he didn't fail, and Tolkien states several times that he justly received all honors.

05-27-2006, 02:41 PM	#1
Beren3000 Fëanorophobic Join Date: May 2004 Location: Between the pages of a book Posts: 1,417	Of Mount Doom If we take the Ring to represent sin and evil; couldn't the journey up Mount Doom to get rid of the Ring be comparable to a journey up Mount Purgatory? Would Sam's carrying Frodo up the mountain be seen as the guiding influence of a friend to help you get rid of sin? Any thoughts?

05-27-2006, 03:03 PM	#3
durinsbane2244 Dreamweaver Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: The Misty Mountains, where the spirits go... Posts: 3,560	but frodo failed...he was broken...he succumbed... __________________ Lord, what fools these mortals be! ---------------- We are the music-makers, And we are the dreamers of dreams, Wandering by lone sea-breakers, And sitting by desolate streams; World-losers and world-forsakers, On whom the pale moon gleams: Yet we are the movers and shakers Of the world for ever, it seems. ---------------- Shanti, shanti, shantih...

05-27-2006, 03:08 PM	#4
jammi567 I'm Eru, and lord of Arda. Join Date: May 2006 Location: southampton, hampshire Posts: 2,609	i know that, but what i'm saying is that they were there so that he could do it in the first place, regardless of what happened afterwards. __________________ Vote for me, Jammi567, in the 2008 Entmoot elections, and you will get many of the things we need: free, unbiased, newspapers; a strong alliance with many countries, so that war doesn't start over someone breaking their nose on a doorframe; etc, etc This forum is lonely. It's new and confused, and doesn't have many friends yet. Help today by joining for free, posting, and posting this message and link in your sig. So please, join and help make it feel welcomed and loved.

05-27-2006, 03:38 PM	#5
durinsbane2244 Dreamweaver Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: The Misty Mountains, where the spirits go... Posts: 3,560	oh, well than, true enough! __________________ Lord, what fools these mortals be! ---------------- We are the music-makers, And we are the dreamers of dreams, Wandering by lone sea-breakers, And sitting by desolate streams; World-losers and world-forsakers, On whom the pale moon gleams: Yet we are the movers and shakers Of the world for ever, it seems. ---------------- Shanti, shanti, shantih...

05-27-2006, 04:15 PM	#6
Curubethion Fenway Ranger, Lord of Red Sox Nation Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: College! Posts: 1,976	That's a cool idea, an allusion to Purgatory. But the destruction of the Ring was on March 25, the traditional date of the crucifixion. So I think it's more likely it represents the "descent into Sheol" that's traditionally been accepted by Catholocism. __________________ Adventure...betrayal...heroism... Atharon: where heroes are born. My wife once said to me—when I'd been writing for ten or fifteen years—that I could always go back to being a nuclear engineer. And I said to her, 'Harriet, would you let someone who quit his job to go write fantasy anywhere near your nuclear reactor? I wouldn't!' (Robert Jordan)

05-27-2006, 03:00 PM	#2
jammi567 I'm Eru, and lord of Arda. Join Date: May 2006 Location: southampton, hampshire Posts: 2,609	so all the trials (gollum, shelob etc) were there to mentally prepare Frodo for dramatically ridding the world of evil. __________________ Vote for me, Jammi567, in the 2008 Entmoot elections, and you will get many of the things we need: free, unbiased, newspapers; a strong alliance with many countries, so that war doesn't start over someone breaking their nose on a doorframe; etc, etc This forum is lonely. It's new and confused, and doesn't have many friends yet. Help today by joining for free, posting, and posting this message and link in your sig. So please, join and help make it feel welcomed and loved.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
They'd never say that! (part 2)	jammi567	Middle Earth	126	01-17-2014 06:03 PM
She Alone Stands Between Thee and Thy Doom	Valandil	The Silmarillion	8	03-24-2008 04:33 PM
Metal: Death, Black & Doom	Last Child of Ungoliant	Entertainment Forum	2	02-20-2006 02:13 PM
Doom or Gift?	Telcontar_Dunedain	Middle Earth	5	02-25-2005 06:06 PM
You as Cirdan/Elrond at Mount Doom	afro-elf	Middle Earth	27	03-22-2002 05:10 AM