Thread: Gollum..
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Old 02-05-2008, 02:10 AM   #5
Boromir88
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Quote:
*The suspended aging process caused by the ring might have affected Gollum more profoundly than it did Bilbo since he had it for much longer and (presumably) used it more frequently. The effect might have lingered on even after he lost it.
I think this reasoning from skip spence is a sound answer. As it is evident Bilbo was not "bound" to the ring in the way that Gollum was:

Quote:
"It may slip off treacherously, but its keeper never abandons it. At most he plays with the idea of handing it on to someone else's care - and that only at an early stage, when it first begins to grip. But as far as I know Bilbo alone in history has ever gone beyond playing, and really done it. He needed all my help too."
Quote:
"Yes, sooner or later - later, if he is strong or well-meaning to begin with, but neither strength nor good purpose will last - sooner or later the dark power will devour him."
Quote:
"Pity? it was Pity that stayed his hand. Pity, and Mercy: not to strike without need. And he has been well rewarded, Frodo. Be sure that he took so little hurt from the evil, and escaped in the end, because he began his ownership of the Ring so. With Pity."
(All quotes are from A Shadow of the Past)

Bilbo acquired the Ring because of his pity for Gollum, and he also didn't have any knowledge about the power/nature of the Ring. As Gandalf explains, Bilbo blamed himself for all the wierd things happening (like the Ring slipping off Bilbo's finger at times), not on the Ring. Where Gollum, on the other hand, instantly murdered to get the Ring, and he goes on to possess it for 500 years.

The Ring was "just getting a grip" on Bilbo, where Gollum had become completely enthralled to the Ring (I believe it is Gandalf who goes on about Gollum's fate being tied to the Ring).
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Last edited by Boromir88; 02-05-2008 at 04:19 PM.
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