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Originally Posted by Raynor
Now, it is interesting to note the capitalisation of Pity and Mercy - the ones who will bring about the saving grace in the end - also, the fact that Pity is rewarded, which, again, implies divine action.
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I have to add here that many Important Things are capitalised. In the UK the terms Government and Minister are capitalised too, but this does not imply divine action. The common Christian use of capitalisation too is to reserve it for naming or referring to God, and occasionally to Jesus and Mary, e.g. in His name, the lord our God, the Almighty, our Lady etc. so Tolkien capitalising the words in no way implies exclusively Christian virtues. It all depends if
you would use capitalisation or not; as matter of fact, I sometimes might myself, when discussing as a concept. Note that Tolkien also capitalises Ring, East and West.
Blake also uses a capitalised Pity in The Divine Image (where he also links virtues like Pity directly to humanity and says that it is in our fellow
humanity that we find God - something that also comes through in Tolkien's work to me - Frodo instinctively recoils from hurting Gollum, unlike Aragorn and Gandalf who treat him inhumanely, resorting to baser instincts - it is Frodo's innocence and recognition of himself in Gollum which I think stays his hand), but he like Tolkien also goes on to capitalise in an individualistic fashion, see Auguries of Innocence for some highly random capitalisation of simple
things which he found important to emphasise, as Tolkien also did.
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Originally Posted by Raynor
So, in the light of this, unless we consider Frodo to be mad, we are left with the spiritual explanation of his action.
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Again, only if you read that into it. Pity at times which might seem foolish can include any number of instances which have little to do with faith, and a whole lot to do with simple humanity, e.g. the many stories of soldiers in war not killing someone from the opposing army when they could, something which Tolkien would have been well aware of. Whether that urge comes from God is entirely a personal thing, but with or without God, humans do that kind of thing all the time.
Pity is a common theme throughout culture, e.g. a hero not killing a creature who at a later stage will prove to return and save them. And it is possibly an even stronger theme in Buddhism (and Confucianism), but who is going to say that Tolkien was giving us a Buddhist message here?