03-02-2014, 03:02 AM | #1 | ||||
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The damnation of Gollum
The proposition is that Gollum subjects himself to his own damnation, both literally and figuratively.
There is no doubt that Gollum’s first promise to serve Frodo was made under duress. From Two Towers, “The Taming of Sméagol”, Quote:
In his encounter with Faramir (near the end of “The Forbidden Pool”), Faramir reinforced the promise, Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
The promise is accepted three times:
What says the ’Moot? Do you agree? does it matter? do you care? (As an aside, I further argue that Faramir’s malediction is strongly akin to Isildur’s malediction upon the Dead Men of Dunharrow, who broke their vow and refused to fight Sauron, dooming them to undeath until they fulfilled their vow.) Last edited by Alcuin : 03-02-2014 at 03:33 AM. |
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03-02-2014, 07:24 AM | #2 |
The Chocoholic Sea Elf Administrator
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Binding as Gollum saw the promise, he was soon thinking to get what he want without breaking it. The thought probably was present in some form by the time they met Faramir. He may not have decided on enlisting Shelob yet at that time, but he was probably already thinking how he could twist the promise to his own liking.
He would never voluntarily break it completely, it seems, for whatever reason. If Faramir possessed some of the power akin to the one Isildur used to damn the men at the Stone of Erech, then perhaps Gollum sensed the doom that lay in Faramir's words. Or perhaps there was some remnant of Hobbit-ness present in him that thought promises should be kept. Gollum also adhered to the rules of the guessing-game with Bilbo although he tried to cheat when things became obvious he might not win. When he refused to be released from the vow by Frodo, it probably mattered little since he had found a way (in his mind) to keep his promise and still get his Precious back. He may not have seen any danger in being kept by his words at the time. He would be the Master of Precious once again soon enough. He only fully broke his promise at Mount Doom when he attacked Frodo and perished soon after. So perhaps Tolkien considered only the last time - the full break, rather than the reasoning around the promise- damning enough. |
03-02-2014, 06:32 PM | #3 | |
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Quote:
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03-03-2014, 05:44 PM | #4 |
The Chocoholic Sea Elf Administrator
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But the Ring obeyed in most things his true master, and that was not necessarily the person wearing it. I had thought it unlikely that Frodo would possess the power to bend the Ring to his wishes and so to influence Gollum. But it is an interesting thought.
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03-03-2014, 06:03 PM | #5 |
Elf Lord
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According to Galadriel Frodo could be a true master. He just did not try hard.
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03-03-2014, 06:49 PM | #6 |
The Chocoholic Sea Elf Administrator
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For good reason, I'd say. There was definitely a 'gaze-into-the-abyss' thing going with the Ring. She did warn him about that too.
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03-08-2014, 10:47 PM | #7 | |
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Perhaps this should be a separate thread, but there are
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