Paired characters in LotR

[radagastly]

This is a topic I have thought about a great deal over the last several months, though I forget which thread here inspired it. It may well have been Fordim's Monsters thread. Since the book is called The Lord of the Rings, my focus in thinking about this centered around the Ring itself. The one thing that seemed to catch my attention the most on this topic of pairs (or foils as Boromir88 mentioned) lay in the list of ringbearers, more specifically in how they acquired or lost the ring. So, as a quick review, here are the ringbearers in order:

Sauron
Isildur
Deagol
Smeagol
Bilbo
Frodo
Sam
Frodo
Smeagol

While others may have handled the ring, they never declared possession of it either out loud or in their heart. They were therefore not actual Ringbearers. On this list, there are many pairings, as I said, especially in the acquisition and/or dispensation of the ring.

Two times the ring was acquired through a deliberate act of violence (Smeagol both times)
Two of them found it by some kind of chance (Deagol and Bilbo)
Twice it was given freely to the bearer (Frodo received it both times in this fashion)
and twice it was taken-on more or less 'from scratch' after the previous bearer was dead. (Isildur cut it from Sauron's dead body and Sam took it thinking Frodo was dead).

There are also some interesting pairings in how the bearers lost the ring.

Two of them lost a finger when it was taken from them. (Obviously Sauron and Frodo)
Two of them died (but were not really dead in either case) when it was taken from their body (again Sauron and Frodo)
Two of them were abandoned by the ring itself (Isildur and Smeagol)
Two of them gave the ring away freely (Bilbo and Sam)
Two of them were deliberately killed over of it (Sauron and Deagol)

I realize that some arguments could be made of these kinds of pairings. One might argue that Isildur's death came as an attempt to take the ring, but according to "The Disaster of the Gladden Fields" in Unfinished Tales, the marauding orcs did not attempt to pursue Ohtar when he escaped the battle with the shards of Narsil. If they were deliberately after anything of value, other than simply attacking men for it's own sake, they would certainly have sent a sortie to sieze Ohtar and his companion as they fled, thinking that they may be taking away something of great value.

Be that as it may, what does one learn when seeing this list and the obvious pairings laid out like this, knowing the history and personality of each character that bore the ring?

One of the first things I notice is that Frodo is the only character to receive the ring freely given, and he did so twice. And what's more, he received it from the two people in the world who loved him the most (and the only two people to give up this burden willingly). What similarity lies in the pairing of Bilbo and Sam that each of them would lay this unbearable burden onto someone they loved so dearly? This is to me one of the most obvious Christian references in the entire book.

Another obvious pairing lies in the fact that two of the bearers bore the ring twice; Smeagol and Frodo.

Frodo received the ring twice freely given to him. Smeagol acquired it twice through deliberate acts of violence. Frodo went to an ultimate reward in the West (or perhaps penultimate would be a better word) while Smeagol perished in flame. What does their respective means of acquiring the ring say about their ultimate fate as foils of one another? What do the other Ringbearer pairings on the list have to say about Tolkien's philosophy or theology? Can a similar list be drawn up centered around the demeanor in which each of the bearers kept the Ring? Can other similarities besides what I mentioned be found in the lists I've created above and what would that add to the mix of this discussion on pairings?

I feel as though I'm getting a little long-winded so I will post more on this later, after I see what some of you think.

[Nilpaurion Felagund]

Here's HerenIstarion's idea for a pair (well, not exactly a pair . . . ):

http://forum.barrowdowns.com/showthr...1271#post21271

If you scroll down, you'll see his FSG (Frodo-Sam-Gollum) idea, and then the Aragorn-Arwen pair. Quite a good read. For that matter, read the rest of the topic (though it has nothing to do with pairs!) Perhaps I've said too much . . .

[Evisse the Blue]

That was a really fascinating post, radagastly!

Two times the ring was acquired through a deliberate act of violence (Smeagol both times)
Two of them found it by some kind of chance (Deagol and Bilbo)
Twice it was given freely to the bearer (Frodo received it both times in this fashion)
and twice it was taken-on more or less 'from scratch' after the previous bearer was dead. (Isildur cut it from Sauron's dead body and Sam took it thinking Frodo was dead).

I would have included Isildur in the first category, therefore breaking the 'balance'. But I agree that Elrond's account of how the Ring came in Isildur's possesion is ambiguous and could very well prove your point:

Sauron himself was overthrown and Isildur cut the Ring from his hand(...)

This does indicate that Isildur cut the Ring after Sauron fell, but it is not clarified if Sauron was overthrown by Isildur, or by someone else, in order to be removed of the Ring.
If you're right, and Isildur falls in the same category as Sam, then this offers and interesting possibility of redemption for Isildur, if only he had released the Ring from his keeping. At one point he is ready to do that:

"It needs one greater than I know now myself to be. My pride has fallen. It should go to the Keepers of the Three."

. But it was too late, because the Ring apparently had other plans. Redemption was thus denied to him, maybe because it was not yet the time for it.

What similarity lies in the pairing of Bilbo and Sam that each of them would lay this unbearable burden onto someone they loved so dearly? This is to me one of the most obvious Christian references in the entire book.

I agree.
My thoughts on this: They seem to place the fate of many above the fate of a single individual, whom they happen to love very much. And they do it on account of their faith that everything will turn out alright, this faith which seems to many no more than 'a fool's hope'. They do it because they sense there is no other way. It appears to me that they would rather let themselves governed by the flow of events, by fate, if you will, then will things into happening. All the other Ringbearers (except Frodo) willed things into happening, and only harm came of it.

[Boromir88]

Evisse wrote:

This does indicate that Isildur cut the Ring after Sauron fell, but it is not clarified if Sauron was overthrown by Isildur, or by someone else, in order to be removed of the Ring.

Here is a quote from The Shadow of the Past, this is what Gandalf said:

"But for the moment, since most of all you need to know how this thing came to you, and that will be tale enough, this is all that I will say. It was Gil-Galad, Elven king and Elendil of Westernesse who overthrew Sauron...

So if Gandalf is correct in this (because sometimes the account/stories of people are inaccurate) I think this is what happened...

This does indicate that Isildur cut the Ring after Sauron fell

So, if Gandalf's story is accurate, I think Gil-Galad and Elendil overthrew Sauron, then Isildur cut the ring after Gil-Gald, Elendil, and Sauron were all "overthrown." I think I can trust Gandalf's words, especially if it has the backing of Elrond.

Sauron himself was overthrown and Isildur cut the Ring from his hand

[radagastly]

Boromir88--Thanks for those quotes about the overthrow of Sauron. From "The Silmarillion" I would add this:

and he wrestled with Gil-galad and Elendil, and they both were slain, and the sword of Elendil broke under him as he fell. But Sauron also was thrown down, and with the hilt-shard of Narsil Isildur cut the Ruling Ring from the hand of Sauron and took it for his own.

This seems to emphasize more clearly that Sauron was already dead.

Evisse the Blue:

But it was too late, because the Ring apparently had other plans. Redemption was thus denied to him, maybe because it was not yet the time for it.

I tend to think that his redemption came when he recognized that the Ring was more powerful than he was, and set out to seek council from Elrond in Imladris. He simply didn't get that far. If he had, he might have become the third character to give the Ring away freely (though I doubt he would have succeeded in actually giving it away.) Compare this to Sam, on the edge of Mordor outside the Tower of Cirith Ungol:

As Sam stood there, even though the Ring was not on him but hanging by its chain about his neck, he felt himself enlarged, as if he were robed in a huge distorted shadow of himself, a vast and ominous threat halted upon the walls of Mordor. He felt that he had from now on only two choices: to forbear the Ring, though it would torment him; or to claim it, and challenge the Power that sat in its dark hold beyond the valley of shadows. Already the Ring tempted him, gnawing at his will and reason. Wild fantasies arose in his mind; and he saw Samwise the Strong, Hero of the Age, striding with a flaming sword across the darkened land, and armies flocking to his call as he marched to the overthrow of Barad-dur. And then all the clouds rolled away, and the white sun shone, and at his command the vale of Gorgoroth became a garden of flowers and trees and brought forth fruit. He had only to put on the Ring and claim it for his own, and all this could be.

In that hour of trial it was the love of his master that helped most to hold him firm; but also deep down in him lived still unconquered his plain hobbit-sense: he knew in the core of his heart that he was not large enough to bear such a burden, even if such visions were not a mere cheat to betray him. The one small garden of a free gardener was all his need and due, not a garden swollen to a realm; his own hands to use, not the hands of others to command.

Sam's realization of his own weakness compared to the Ring certainly comes about more quickly and is spelled out more plainly than it is with Isildur, but the sentiment is the same. It is just too big and powerful for either of them. I realize this does not quite count as redemption in and of itself, but in both cases, it is a step in the right direction.

The difference, I guess between Sam and Isildur in this case, is that Sam actually succeeds in giving the Ring away:

In that hour of trial it was the love of his master that helped most to hold him firm;

I think there lies the faith of which you spoke, Evisse.