The Light in Gollum's Eyes

[Kuruharan]

But the Ring is the cause of both lights, nonetheless, and that's the connection I'm interested in. Any thoughts?

I'm not sure that I would say that it was just the Ring causing the "lights." It seems to be a combination of: the will of the Ring and its interaction with the will and/or spirit of the Bearer, the initial condition of the spirit of the Bearer, and the experiences that the Bearer has in relation to the Ring.

I wonder if it would be possible to draw a parallel between Gollum and the Nazgul. Both were ensnared by their lust for rings. Obviously, the Nazgul were brought to a far more terrible spiritual condition than Gollum, but I think that the process was similar. Gollum was a rather unsavory character in the beginning and he came by the Ring through murder. He used the Ring for his own purposes, which drove him to greater and greater isolation. The primary, and by the end almost the only, driving force in his life was the Ring. The Nazgul were ensnared by their lust for their Rings, and as a result they became creature more of spirit than the flesh. Gollum's will became chained to the One Ring and the "light" shining out of his eyes might be a part of the spiritual transformation into a wraith of some sort.

(Just a theory. [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img] )

Frodo inherited the Ring from a previous Bearer who laid it down of his own will. He did not use it to further his own ends, in fact he did not use it at all. His wounding on Weathertop seems to have had a great impact on his spiritual/emotional condition. It is after that Gandalf silently observes the growing "light" within Frodo. Although this was not the first misadvanture on the way (the Barrow-downs being perhaps the most important of the others) Weathertop was probably the most significant in beginning the spiritual transformation.

Unlike Gollum, Frodo's greatest drive was not to own the Ring, but (hopefully) rid himself of it. Because of this, his sufferings wrought a spiritual change that was different than that of Gollum, creating a visible manifestation of his clean spirit rather than that of a deformed wicked one like Gollum's.

(There, I hope that all makes sense! [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img] )