Welcome to the Downs, ilon and nils!
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If Frodo hadn't said what he did there, and if he hadn't claimed the Ring as his own, would he still have had to leave ME for Valinor?
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I think, rather, that he went to Valinor
in spite of his weakness, not because of it.
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Had he just casted the Ring into the Cracks of Mount Doom, could he have returned to his life in the Shire without being haunted and in pain? Could he have had a 'normal' life there in the Shire instead of having to leave?
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I think the morgul blade wound, as nils mentioned, was part of the extended pain Frodo felt. But I also think the sheer burden of bearing the Ring -- the physical/mental/spiritual trauma that it put him through as the primary Ringbearer at the height of Sauron's powers -- was something that would have prevented him from any semblance of a 'normal' life, regardless of his moment of weakness. So yes, he "had" to leave the Shire, but it was for reasons of priviledge, not punishment.
[ October 12, 2002: Message edited by: Evenstar1 ]