Lord of the Rings book

[Melusine]

Originally posted by Tancred: Gollum's the anti-hero, to my mind. Or rather Smeagol; Gollum contributes an awful lot to the destruction of the rigng, showing Frodo and Sam a way into Mordor at least. Admittedly he betrayed them, but he helped them in his own curious way. An intriguing old document I once read spoke of Lord of the Rings, some of the original versions. The original scene of Frodo standing before the Cracks of Doom is seen from Frodo's viewpoint, not Sam's, and has Sauron speaking to Frodo through the Ring, offering anything, anything - the Shire to rule as his own, powers beyond his imagining, anything - if he will give up the Ring. To which Frodo replies, as in the book, 'The Ring is MINE!" The same version sees the battle between Smeagol and Gollum - the battle fought in Gollum's own mind - actually won, as Smeagol looks down on the fallen and wounded Frodo, much like Bilbo once looked upon Gollum. The desire for the Ring is beaten back by Smeagol's hatred of it and what it has done to him; Smeagol's hatred of Sauron and his works,; and, strangely, the very curse Frodo has laid upon him - "If you try to take the ring from me again, you shall be cast yourself into the fire of Doom!" All this Gollum weighs up in his mind, and with that, instead of tripping over his own feet and falling into the chasm, he leaps - and with that one leap, a last act of defiance by his rational mind, he wins the day, ends the dominion of Sauron and saves Frodo from himself. The only reason this idea was not implemented by Tolkien, it seems, is that Tolkien was a devout catholic, and so to have a suicide win the day might seem blasphemous. Tancred

Wow... that was very interesting, Tancred! Thanks for posting that!



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Melusine, High Queen of Fluffies, Archbabe of the OHF, the LH
and the HADB &
Sultry Elflet

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