ps. My LOTR crewneck was gifted to me from @shopwildwoven and I couldn’t be more in love with his soft and cozy it is!
#gollum #jrrtolkien #middleearth #tolkien #lordoftherings
a day agorobs_misadventures
I need to read these letters and supplemental materials that Tolkien left. I think it’s so interesting to have insight into how he thought about the evolution of the story. Particularly when he mentions the logic of the story. That implies to me that by this point, the tale had established a forward trajectory all its own, which even the author could not change.
7 days agohobbithobbyist
Tolkien said the most tragic part of the story was that scene between Sam and Sméagol. The idea that good can do evil is such a heavy duality that he showcased through the published story. That alternate ending makes me cry though because I love a good redemption arc.
11 days agocorporal_jalopie
I would love to be able to read that redemption story. Maybe Tolkien wrote it in some alternate reality. Maybe someone could write it appropriately.
12 days agogalev7887
I think Smeagol sacrificing himself could have given the wrong message. The Ring is very much a metaphor (intentionally or not) for addiction. The message that redemption is only through suicide is not a good one. But in the original sotry we get a cautionary tale that tells us how destructive greed or addiction can be and also warns about the importance of compassion, because the tragedy makes us wonder "what could have been, if Samwise was kinder". I think that sentoment is more impactful and important as a question for the reador to ponder and consequently want to be better IRL than to see that redemption is possible but still leads to tragedy.
12 days ago21st_century_bridgewright
The book of letters, though hard even for me to grasp as to why, has long been among my favorites in all of the many thoughts Tolkien put to paper - 246 is part of why. With how universal it is to question our own choices, that he did so so openly, made someone almost unapproachable in stature, somehow quite the opposite and almost everyman.
12 days agokiwinabbo
Well, in the actual version there is a highly symbolic part that I think it would be missed in the alternative version. When it's time to toss the ring, Frodo fails. Tolkien wrote that this was meant to show that even the most well-intentioned person still has a human limit, and that Fodo's human limit was reached there. This could still have been included somehow, however another thing he said is that the Gollum slipping and falling has to be intended as the final intervention of Eru. Tolkien clarified that this was his vision: when the best effort of men fails, the divine intervenes. Not that I personally agree with this vision irl, but it is consistent with Tolkien cosmic view and it is feels just right as a conclusion if you keep the legendarium in mind. Maybe he would have found a way to include this as well, however is seems to me that this nuance would have been missed
12 days agoreal_ksg
Sméagol casting himself into the fire is a more modern take than what Tolkien’s generation would have appreciated. I think JRRT got it exactly right. It is fun to think about though. Would Bilbo’s original mercy have come to naught if Sam’s mercy were differently timed?
13 days agoall.caps.but.backwards
I really don't like the idea of Smeagol sacrificing himself after reclaiming the ring. I don't say this as fact in the sense of the lore or anything but I FEEL that getting back the ring would've erased any strength of will to be like selfless and sacrificing for the good of others. The ring broke Frodo's will to destroy it once he reached Sammath Naur although he only carried it for a comparable short time. Smeagol carried it for hundreds of years so the effect of overpowering the ringbearers free will must be much more instense on him. Also I don't like the idea of Smeagol being redeemed in the first place. I think the tale as it was published has a much stronger psychological punch in that we as readers feel so much pitty for an evil being who is basically responsible for a lot of bad things happening in the previous story. And we feel that way because the ring turned him evil when he was actually a normal everyday guy. Its a mirror to what could happen to everyone of us
13 days ago15charissa15grace
Very thought provoking and well done. My own opinion is the first is the only one that works and remains consistent with the original conceit that the Ring utterly corrupts...if a "redeemed Smeagol" then stole the ring, that crack of wrong would have been wide enough for the Ring to then come back into him full blown and any sense of sacrificial love would be gone. Sacrificial love is something that in many ways is like a muscle that needs to be used in order to BE of use. Gollum did not have those muscles, and if he'd had "the will", then he would not have stolen the ring, and if he stole the ring, then even if he HAD the will his "muscle" would not have been up to the task. We're exhorted to make good use of time in these difficult days...and that simply hadn't happened for Gollum. The notion that I always held is that Gollum got some sort of last decision chance before the Valar
13 days agojohn.salkeld
I think it’s interesting that the alternative also includes the results of frodos curse on Gollum he is cast from a high placê into a firey pit - doing so by choice because say the wraiths were descending and the eye was on him would have been better for Gollum.
13 days agomattp_4722
It is one of Sam's few flaws that he hated and mistrusted smeagol. That turning point has always pulled at me. Frodo also gives smeagol a final chance after he attacks him on the slopes of mount Doom. Invoking the ring and saying. "Begone, and trouble me no more! If you touch me ever again, you shall be cast yourself into the Fire of Doom." Sam chooses to let him go and smeagol in his madness is unable stop himself from following them, thus dooming himself.
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