Join the discussion board regulars as they consider the latest Middle-earth Conspiracy Theory:
What was Saruman’s real reason for wanting to get his hands on the One Ring?
[Discuss]
Category: LotR Books
Gollum is an addict of the One Ring. Gollum identifies with the Ring, calling both himself and the Ring “my precious”. Gollum’s personality has been nearly destroyed by possessing and being possessed by the Ring for hundreds of years.
I think most readers of The Lord of the Rings would agree with these characteristic statements about Gollum. They explain his extraordinary behavior and bizarre speech patterns. The identity of Gollum with the Ring is one of the driving forces behind the primary plot of the book: Frodo’s quest of Mt. Doom to destroy the Ring, in which he is guided for much of the way by Gollum, who treacherously hopes to recover it for himself. Gollum’s degradation and tendency to evil also shows us the danger that Frodo is in. If he succumbs to the Ring, he will become another Gollum – who was, originally, a hobbit!
But who remembers Gollum from the good old days? Back when the Ring was just a ring. Back when Gollum was just a scary but funny ghoul who ate passers-by, but loved riddles. Back when he would abjectly apologize for breaking a promise, and ever so politely show his guest the way out of his cavern. Who now has read the first edition of The Hobbit, written years before The Lord of the Rings was even thought of? In that quaint book, Bilbo’s ring is truly just a ring of invisibility, introduced into the story to better his chances of success as the world’s most unlikely burglar. And Gollum, as described above, was a lot more innocent – a mere figure of passing comic-horror in the same league as the three Cockney trolls, and the cattily hissing spiders. Continue reading ““It likes riddles, praps it does, does it?””
Just why do the Dwarves not teach their language to other races? Join us on the discussion boards to see what theories the members come up with! [Discuss]
Come join the discussion board members as they suggest wild answers to this week’s Middle-earth Conspiracy Theory: Just why did Fatty Bolger remain in Crickhollow when Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin went on their adventure?
Austin writes: Swarthmore College will host two Tolkien talks, both open to the public.
Both talks take place on Feb. 16th. The first talk occurs at 04:15 PM, entitled Tolkien Book to Jackson Script: the Medium and the Message. More..
The second happens at 08:00 PM, entitled: Rediscovering Middle Earth, the Roots of Tolkien’s Myths. More..
David writes: There is a brilliant extract in the Wall Street Journal today from A.N. Wilson’s recent book, “Our Times: The Age of Elizabeth II”. A.N. Wilson describes LOTR as “one of the great masterpieces of twentieth century literature”. He explains in detail why Tolkien and the Lord of Rings is so prophetic and resonant with our worries about the modern world. It is well worth reading and (from a personal perspective) encapsulates why I think LOTR is as powerful today as it was 55 years ago. More..
Order “Our Times: The Age of Elizabeth II” on Amazon.com