Lord Of The Rings from Gollum's perspective

It hurt when a certain detail was pointed out to me regarding the films. Three Eagles went to Mount Doom. One for Frodo, one for Sam, and presumably one for Smeagol. The implication that Gandalf had such belief in the possibility of that redemption hits hard.

I was surprised you skipped over the scene where Gollum finds the two hobbits asleep in the pass of Cirith Ungol and is moved to the very point of repenting of his plans, only to be interrupted when Sam wakes up at exactly the wrong moment and thoughtlessly snaps off an insult that brings the Gollum side back to the front. In his letters Tolkien himself described this as the pivotal scene in Gollum's story, and discussed the irony that it was a thoughtless remark by the most noble character in the book that cut Gollum off from redemption-- and yet, Tolkien noted, perhaps that too was part of Providence's plan, because "redemption, though always possible, cannot be that easy."

Not gonna lie, i sort of expected a 10 minute loop of “LOST! My precious is lost! they’re thieves, they’re filthy little thieves”

Gollum falling into Mt Doom was no accident. Subconsciously, I think it was Sméagol trying to end his torment. It is said that he hated the ring most of all.

I was around 7 when my mom read the books to me, and I cried so hard when Gollum died. I’d been holding out hope that he’d escape the Ring’s hold on him, and that after it was destroyed he’d be free. As I got older I realized that him falling in with the Ring was a mercy for him. He died quickly and was most likely not even aware he was falling, his only focus was the Ring and he was happy. If Frodo or Sam had managed to destroy the Ring, I fully believe Gollum would have jumped in after it. By that point it was the only reason he had to keep living and even if he’d never betrayed Frodo and Sam, the Ring’s destruction would have destroyed him. Even if the Smeagol persona had won out, he would not know what to do or how to live a normal life. And that’s the true tragedy of Gollum, that the only way to freedom from the Ring was death

“His victory is also his doom, and his doom is the saving of all of Middle Earth.” - My god, when you put it like that…

It's worth noting that Faramir's interrogation of Gollum does not involve kicking the everlasting shit out of him in the books. This change makes sense in the movies, since it quickly explains why Gollum falls back to the dark side soon after. But it does hurt Faramir's character quite a bit.

As tragic as his story ultimately was, I do take a little bit of solace in the fact that, in a really twisted way, he technically died happy.

As a recovering addict who has enjoyed this story since I was a kid, your take on gollum really moved me. Thanks for such great content.

A big part of Frodo and Gollum's mutual empathy is based on them both understanding the pull of the one ring, facilitated by both being, to different degrees, Hobbits. They could see in each other the loss of self and the pain of struggle caused by this external power. Frodo obviously pitied Gollum, but I think that Gollum pitied Frodo, too, in a small way not wishing that Frodo end up a pathetic creature like him. The lust for the ring, of course, was stronger than Gollum's pity. Or was it? I always felt that Gollum's demise was in no small part of his own agency. By dying he ensured that he would be the final owner of the ring, spared Frodo from becoming like him (his pity), denied the ring from Sauron (his vengeance), and he achieved this bliss while finally putting an end to his many centuries of living in torment, guilt, and hatred of the world and himself. Gollum is the ultimate winner of the books: he got everything that he wanted and, if one applies Tolkien's Catholic religiosity, everything he deserved. Gollum is the true Lord of the Rings.

"We are invited to pity him." Astute analysis. Love these, hope you never run out of material.

In the books, Sméagol demonstrated many times how he could have been just as wise and smart as some of the lore masters, like Bilbo or even Elrond. It was he who explained the dead marshes to Frodo and Sam.

I'm kind of glad one of the major themes-pity or empathy, and the 3 hobbit ring bearers understanding that if things were slightly different they could have turned out the same way gollum did. Something that is lost on most people.

I read the books as a 12 year old boy. I always pitied Gollum/Sméagol. I remember the impact of the scene where Sméagol comes so close to repentance until the hobbits awake near the pass into Mordor as heart wrenching.

There’s an idiom in Chinese 可怜之人必有可恨之处 “One who is worthy of pity must also have parts of them that are worthy of hate” Some things, it seems, transcend language, geography, culture, and even time.

I've always been under the impression that Gollum's ultimate end was the result of him breaking his sworn oath, which he swore on the very item which he ultimately broke his oath to reclaim. But far from it being a merciless judgement type thing, l think Tolkien shows us how pitiable he really was, and doubtless his fate was guided by whatever pity eminated from the powers who meted out such judgement. His end was quick and merciful, and it not only freed him from the Ring, but the whole world as well.

I always liked the idea that at the very end it is Smeagol that kills Gullum and destroys the ring, using the last strength that remains in him to do one good act and to end it all.

There was a huge difference between Aragorn and Frodo's situations: Aragorn did not have the ring, so Gollum/Smeagol had no reason to respect/obbey him, he was purely hostile in his view. But added to Frodo's gentile nature. the fact that he was carrying the One Ring made Gollum (while still wanting to steal it) kind of respect his authority as he was the Master of the Precious.

'So this guy breaks into my home, robs me and then gets his gang to chastise me...'

Where’s lotr from Bill the Pony’s perspective?