The Judgement on Smeagol - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

littlemanpoet · 07-08-2002, 08:18 AM

Wow! The lighthearted tone this had in AYWSF is totally absent! [img]smilies/eek.gif[/img] [LMP puts on his seriousness cap and steps up to the podium - <ahem>]

Thinking out loud here: Although not part of the Legendarium per se, "Leaf By Niggle" is, perhaps, helpful in understanding Tolkien's approach to the afterlife. Everything in the mythos proper carries with it a sense that death does not bring an end, a completion - in Xian protestant terms 'a final rest'. Rather, there is time of waiting in the Halls of Mandos for ALL sentient creatures (I think) - aka elves, dwarves, humans, hobbits - and from there the fates vary. Getting back to Leaf By Niggle, Niggle wound up in purgatory after leading a somewhat wasted life. Gollum's life was to a large degree wasted also, though it could be said that through the odd twists of fate or providence, the fact that he was instrumental in the destruction of the Ring could conceivably be grounds for saying that he had a HIGH PURPOSE; and that, perhaps, through the twisting and turning, circuitous paths where creaturely free will and Eru's sovereign will meet, Gollum saved himself/was saved from utter doom.

woops I almost slipped in philosophical and theological stuff that would just open a can of worms I'd just as soon see left in the Trilogy and Bible thread. Anyways..... so maybe Gollum just has a long, long, realllly long purgatorial stay, the repetitive obedience over years and years producing verrrrry slowly in him the change of mind and heart seen in Niggle. Just a thought...

[ July 08, 2002: Message edited by: littlemanpoet ]

07-08-2002, 08:18 AM	#18
littlemanpoet Itinerant Songster Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: The Edge of Faerie Posts: 7,066	Wow! The lighthearted tone this had in AYWSF is totally absent! [img]smilies/eek.gif[/img] [LMP puts on his seriousness cap and steps up to the podium - <ahem>] Thinking out loud here: Although not part of the Legendarium per se, "Leaf By Niggle" is, perhaps, helpful in understanding Tolkien's approach to the afterlife. Everything in the mythos proper carries with it a sense that death does not bring an end, a completion - in Xian protestant terms 'a final rest'. Rather, there is time of waiting in the Halls of Mandos for ALL sentient creatures (I think) - aka elves, dwarves, humans, hobbits - and from there the fates vary. Getting back to Leaf By Niggle, Niggle wound up in purgatory after leading a somewhat wasted life. Gollum's life was to a large degree wasted also, though it could be said that through the odd twists of fate or providence, the fact that he was instrumental in the destruction of the Ring could conceivably be grounds for saying that he had a HIGH PURPOSE; and that, perhaps, through the twisting and turning, circuitous paths where creaturely free will and Eru's sovereign will meet, Gollum saved himself/was saved from utter doom. woops I almost slipped in philosophical and theological stuff that would just open a can of worms I'd just as soon see left in the Trilogy and Bible thread. Anyways..... so maybe Gollum just has a long, long, realllly long purgatorial stay, the repetitive obedience over years and years producing verrrrry slowly in him the change of mind and heart seen in Niggle. Just a thought... [ July 08, 2002: Message edited by: littlemanpoet ]