The Ring's corruption forms

I am curious as to the nature of the One Ring's corruption. I know how the Ring corrupts, but it seems it corrupts in various ways and forms according to the bearer. Say for instance, why does Sméagol change into the creature called Gollum versus the Nine mortal Men changing into the Nazgúl? When Frodo was stabbed by the Witch-king at Weathertop, how does the WK's sword have any of the corrupting ability which the Nine Rings possess for Ringwraith transformation?

How is it that the Ring's will via Sauron changed Sméagol into Gollum? Does it have more to do with Sméagol's rogue-ish nature that defied Sauron's transformation of him into a useful minion? Because, as we know, Sauron never had any real control over Gollum.

What about Frodo? Excluding the wound he recieved from the WK, would have the Ring simply changed him into the Gollum creature?

Really, I am just curious as to WHY the Ring chooses different forms of corruption via the bearers.

Regards

[Boromir88]

Very nice and interesting questions Feredir.

Gandalf hints that the Ring has a will of it's own, and as Tolkien mentions in several places that the Ring does exude it's own lust, it's own 'pull.' I don't think I can explain the corruption of the Ring any better than Gandalf:

'No!' cried Gandalf, springing to his feet. 'With that power I should have power too great and terrible. And over me the Ring would gain a power still greater and more deadly.' His eyes flashed and his face was lit as by a fire within. 'Do not tempt me! For I do not wish to become like the Dark Lord himself. Yet the way of the Ring to my heart is by pity, pity for weakness and the desire of strength to do good. Do not tempt me! I dare not take it, not even to keep it safe, unused. The wish to wield it would be too great for my strength. I shall have such need of it. Great perils lie before me.'~The Shadow of the Past

The Ring uses the weaknesses of the individual against him/her. Boromir and Denethor both wanted to see the victory of Gondor over Sauron, arguably more than anything else, so the Ring appeals to them as a weapon that can be used to defeat Sauron. As Boromir (in his attempt to take the Ring from Frodo) speaks about armies flocking to his banner, and 'great victories.'

Sam, is a gardener, he loves it, and so when he is faced with the temptation of the Ring...

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 brough forth fruit. He had only to put on the Ring and claim it for his own, and all this could be.~The Tower of Cirith Ungol

The Ring appeals to the desires of the individual. But, even though the Ring does have this natural 'lust,' whether someone 'passes the test' (to steal some words from Galadriel ) has as much to do with the individual, as the Ring is not 'all-corrupting.'

Let's take Gollum and Faramir for instance. Gollum immediately falls to the temptation of the Ring, and even murders to get it. Sam on the other hand resisted the Ring and even gave it back to Frodo.

In his Letters Tolkien wrote that Gollum was 'mean-spirited' and the 'mean son of a thief' and also:

'The domination of the Ring was much too strong for the mean soul of Smeagol. But he would never had to endure it if he had not become a mean sort of thief before it crossed his path.'~Letter 181

Despite the ring being too strong for Smeagol to over come, Tolkien also points out that his easy fall to the Ring has just as much to do with the type of person Smeagol was even before coming across the Ring.

Than we have someone like Faramir, who rejects the Ring right from the start, because as he tells Frodo:

'But fear no more! I would not take this thing, if it lay by the highway. Not were Minas Tirith falling in ruin and I alone could save her, so, using the weapon of the Dark Lord for her good and my glory. No, I do not wish for such triumphs, Frodo son of Drogo.'~The Window on the West

Faramir understood the Ring quite well. He knew that using it as a weapon against Sauron would only, in the end, benefit Sauron. So, Faramir was able to flat out reject the Ring, where Smeagol could not. Not only does this show Faramir being much stronger than Smeagol, but he simply knew the Ring was deceiving; as Smeagol believed he was entitled to the Ring, because it was his 'birthday.'

Hopefully that mostly provides the answers to what you were looking for.

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

Maybe I could add something more. Concerning just the "result" of corruption, Gollum (or Bilbo, or Frodo) would ultimately become something similar to the Nazgul (only weak and somewhat - just shadows, not any "great pale kings of horror"). The thing is, that they - probably from a large part due to their halfling nature - never reached the state of ultimate consumption by the Ring. As we know, Gollum even almost repented. Gandalf says:

Originally Posted by FotR, Chapter 2: Shadows of the Past

Even Gollum was not wholly ruined. He had proved tougher than even one of the Wise would have guessed -as a hobbit might. There was a little corner of his mind that was still his own, and light came through it, as through a chink in the dark: light out of the past. (...) Alas! there is little hope of that for him. Yet not no hope. No, not though he possessed the Ring so long, almost as far back as he can remember. For it was long since he had worn it much: in the black darkness it was seldom needed. Certainly he had never "faded". He is thin and tough still. But the thing was eating up his mind, of course, and the torment had become almost unbearable.

So, Gollum is not fully "consumed" by the Ring (as we are told plainly in the movies); he is crippled, but "not wholly ruined". He did not wear the Ring as often later - only kept it close to him, and the Ring could not tempt him, because Gollum had no more ambitions at that time than not to be seen. And in the black darkness of the underground tunnels, the invisibility was not needed. If he did wear the Ring all the time, I'm convinced that he would become a shadow and once Sauron would have called for him. But he did not, nor Bilbo did, and so they eluded the "transformation", to use that word.

It is also important in some aspects that the "fading" the One Ring causes is somewhat different in nature from the "fading" caused by the Nine Rings (or the Seven, for that matter - btw, we know the Dwarven bearers also never "faded" due to their toughness). The Nine are meant to enslave the bearer, being "channels" to Sauron's will, but the One is that will that enslaves others. This is a slight difference and maybe some won't agree with me, but I believe it plays its part as well. What I want to say is, somewhat roughly speaking, that the Nine or Seven have the intention (now that the One was forged) to make you a Nazgul, while the One makes you fade just as a "side effect".

[William Cloud Hicklin]

With regard to 'fading' and Gollum's reaction as opposed to the Ringwraiths:

Tolkien (thru Gandalf) tells us in Chapter I/2 that a mortal who often uses the Ring to become invisible will eventually become fixed in that state permanently; T makes it clear elsewhere that Smeagol/Gollum never actually wore the Ring much under the mountains, it being dark and all. Over and above this is the fact that Smeagol is a Hobbit, and therefore "very tough in the fibre;" in a similar way Frodo endured a fragment of Morgul-knofe for seventeen days which would have "swiftly overcome" many mighty warriors of Men.

[Raynor]

Originally Posted by Feredir

What about Frodo? Excluding the wound he recieved from the WK, would have the Ring simply changed him into the Gollum creature?

It is implied in both the books and the letters that Frodo may come to master the one ring, at least to a certain degree:

Originally Posted by Mirror of Galadriel, FotR

Before you could use that power you would need to become far stronger, and to train your will to the domination of others.

Originally Posted by Letter #246

He needed time, much time, before he could control the Ring or (which in such a case is the same) before it could control him; before his will and arrogance could grow to a stature in which he could dominate other major hostile wills.

Therefore, becomeing a wraith/Gollum isn't the only possible/probable outcome for him.

Originally Posted by Legate

He did not wear the Ring as often later - only kept it close to him, and the Ring could not tempt him, because Gollum had no more ambitions at that time than not to be seen.

Hm, I am reminded of his words:

Originally Posted by The Passage of the Marshes, TTT

- See, my precious: if we has it, then we can escape, even from Him, eh? Perhaps we grows very strong, stronger than Wraiths. Lord Smeagol? Gollum the Great? _The_ Gollum! Eat fish every day, three times a day; fresh from the sea. Most Precious Gollum! Must have it. We wants it, we wants it, we wants it!

Besides this, I believe the ring tempted him with simply the idea of having it. The constant struggle between hating and being attached to the ring was taking its toll.

Originally Posted by The shadow of the past, FotR

But the thing was eating up his mind, of course, and the torment had become almost unbearable.

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

Raynor, I'm not so sure with what you present. Not speaking of the inner struggle between keeping and tossing the Ring, but the idea of "Gollum the Great", I believe, took shape only as a response to the humiliation and wrong treatment he suffered from everyone since he once again came to the "outside world": Sauron, Aragorn, Sam. And in response, the little spark of the idea to be the ruler in turn ignited in him, the idea to make revenge on all these folks in return for the treatment of "poor preciouss Gollum". This hatred for people around him will have no need to grow or even to appear in the underground cave where he was alone. After all, he probably felt similar about his countrymen when he was expelled from the Stoor village, but as we know, he did not (and the Ring did not make him to) make revenge on them, become "Lord Sméagol" - whatever you imagine under the term (and not speculating whether it would or wouldn't be successful), but he went to hiding.

[Raynor]

Originally Posted by Legate

the idea of "Gollum the Great", I believe, took shape only as a response to the humiliation and wrong treatment he suffered from everyone since he once again came to the "outside world"

In my opinion, this came much earlier:

Originally Posted by Letter #246

It was part of the essential deceit of the Ring to fill minds with imaginations of supreme power.

Also, as quoted already in this thread, even Sam fell to this, although he had the ring for a far lesser period of time than Gollum did. Insofar as what Gollum's induced temptation would actually imply for him, I believe it is evident from the context that it is by and large not related to ruling others, but limited to procuring/eating fresh fish three times a day.

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

Originally Posted by Raynor

In my opinion, this came much earlier:

Yup, as I said, maybe when he got possession of the Ring and came back to the Stoor village. But he did not succumb to this, because he did not have such ambitions - he wanted to hide and not to make himself a master.

Originally Posted by Shadows of the Past

[The Ring] could make no further use of [Gollum]: he was too small and mean; and as long as it stayed with him he would never leave his deep pool again.

However if he ever succumbed to this idea, I believe what he means here by "Lord Sméagol" is not just about eating fish three times a day, I imagine it the way that he (in his simple imagination of that, he probably could not think of politics or being a ruler, if it ever happened, some viceregent would probably rule instead of him) imagined himself sitting let's say in the Barad-Dur (or more probably Barad-Pool) and servants bring him fresh fish three times a day.

Perhaps we grows very strong, stronger than Wraiths. Lord Smeagol? Gollum the Great?

This does not seem to be as "simple" image of power as you said in your last sentence. "Stronger than wraiths" implies some basic assumption of becoming THE master.

[Raynor]

Originally Posted by Legate

This does not seem to be as "simple" image of power as you said in your last sentence. "Stronger than wraiths" implies some basic assumption of becoming THE master.

Given his highly reclusive and anti-social behavior, I personally doubt that. Considering what he likely went through while imprisoned in Mordor, I believe he simply desires to be in a position where he is no longer feeling threatened by powerful foes. If I may be allowed this comparison, he would be, to a certain degree, a sort of Master of his his own limited environment that Bombadil is, although neither have, arguably, any servants.

[Boromir88]

I like Raynor's comparison to Gollum's 'temptation' and Bombadil being the Master of his own environment. As Gollum's image of being 'Lord Smeagol' is different than that of Boromir, Sam's, and everyone else.

Boromir desires to use the Ring as a weapon, to overthrow Sauron. Sam's vision is using the Ring to defeat Sauron so he could make a beautiful garden out of the Gorgoroth. The three Elven ring bearers also contemplated using the Ring in the same way as Boromir.

To all those I've mentioned, Sauron was their big Enemy. They all wanted Sauron defeated, and so the Ring uses that to it's advantage. Kind of like 'put me on you can defeat nasty Sauron, plus you will achieve your greatest aims,' (for Boromir it was his own glory for Sam it was a fruitful and vast garden).

Gollum is a bit different though, as far as I remember he never wishes to destroy Sauron. Yes, Gollum hates Sauron, but I don't think he ever sees Sauron in the same regard that Sauron's enemies do. They want Sauron defeated, Gollum only goes so far to say that Sauron must not get the Ring back. So, the Ring doesn't tempt Gollum with the same vision as rallying a grand army to overthrow Sauron (and therefor getting lots and lots of fish), but to set up his own Bombadil-like environment; where Gollum is his own master and has an apparently unlimitted supply of fish.

The difference being Gollum's idea is one of hiding and simply keeping the Ring from Sauron (as well as everyone else). Where Boromir, Sam,...etc all want Sauron defeated and so the Ring's attempt to corrupt them is different.

The constant struggle between hating and being attached to the ring was taking its toll.~Raynor

Also reminds me of Isildur's words regarding the Ring:

'It was hot when I first took it, hot as a glede, and my hand was scorched, so that I doubt if ever again I shall be free of the pain of it...and maybe were the gold made hot again, the writing would be refreshed. But for my part I will risk no hurt to this thing: of all the words of Sauron the only fair. It is precious to me, though I buy it with great pain.'~The Council of Elrond

There are two seperate 'pains' that Isildur mentions in his scroll. The first being the pain of touching a hot ring that scorched his hand. But, the latter pain, is a different pain. The pain of bearing something that is yet, 'precious' to him. When Isildur departs Gondor, it's interesting that he plans a pit stop in Rivendell:

"Alas, it is not, senya. I cannot use it. I dread the pain of touching it. And I have not yet found the strength to bend it to my will. It needs one greater than I now know myself to be. My pride has fallen. It should go to the Keepers of the Three."~Unfinished Tales: Disaster of the Gladden Fields

What a coincidence that Isildur is then 'betrayed' by the Ring and killed...hmm that evil evil thing.