[Mithadan]

A tip of the hat to posts by Belegorn, Faramir Jones and Inziladun at the end of the Longevity of Hobbits thread for inspiring this thread.

The Great Rings, the One and the Nine, greatly extend the lives of their Mannish wearers, perhaps indefinitely (and I am aware that an argument exists that the Nazgul did not wear the Nine any longer by the time of LoTR, but rather they were held by Sauron). I cannot include the effect of the Seven upon the Dwarves as there does not appear to be any discussion of this. The Nazgul "lived" thousands of years. Gollum lived for hundreds of years. Gollum's life was clearly linked to the Ring. Its death was his. If it had survived, might Gollum have lived indefinitely? We do not know.

However, death is the Gift of Eru to Men. Their feär seek beyond the boundaries of Arda. I recall from somewhere that the Gift could not be withheld even by the Valar. Yet the Great Rings seem to do so. Your thoughts?