|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dreamdeer
Valinor
Aug 13 2008, 10:58pm
Views: 7624
Shortcut
|
Actually, hobbit society has complex rules which dictate who owes the birthday celebrant a present, and who the birthday celebrant owes a present to. Kinfolk who live within twelve miles of the birthday celebrant do owe him a present, except for parents, who already gave the celebrant the gift of life, and in token of this annually the celebrant gives the parents a present, even if it is only a handful of fresh-picked flowers. Which only goes to show that Deagol was Smeagol's cousin or brother. He might have been older, of a wage-earning age.
It just seems to me that Smeagol/Gollum behaves so consistently childishly that Tolkien might have intended him to have been a child when he took the Ring. A child with 500 years of cunning, who has not acquired any maturity. (True, he did live quite some time after losing the Ring, where growth again became possible, but by then the habits of immaturity would have become hopelessly entrenched.) It might also explain his physical abnormalities, such as bulging eyes and flappy feet; if he acquired the Ring while not yet fully formed to his adult stage, he might have persisted in growing anyway, being a hobbit, but grown all wrong.
The inability to grow or obtain new life, after all, does not entirely hold true for hobbits. Bilbo froze in age, and yet he grew in wisdom through his adventure. This growth had its warped side, in that he became something of a curmudgeon who had a hard time relating to his peers, but his will to love them (as evidenced by his generosity on his eleventy-first birthday, and by his strained but well-intentioned parting speech) prevailed. Similarly, the Ring seemed to interfere with his ability to marry (both Bilbo and Frodo were highly unusual for hobbits in their perpetual batchelorhood) yet his adoption of an orphan rescued his capacity to love.
Frodo, too, did not age while he had the Ring (I don't know why people keep saying Elijah Wood was too young to play him--that's precisely the age-equivalent that book-Frodo froze into) and his persistent immaturity (or at least unsettledness) acquired much attention from the rest of the Shire, not to mention the fact that he preferred the company of friends much younger than himself. And yet on his adventure he also grew--in a perilous way that nearly destroyed him, but he did.
So I guess that the Ring acted like a rock set on top of a sprout. It might kill all growth in the weak, but a strong heart could warp around it like a pallid tendril stretching out in search of light.
My website http://www.dreamdeer.grailmedia.com offers fanfic, and message-boards regarding intentional community or faerie exploration.
|
|
|
|
Subject
|
User
|
Time
|
Journey to the Crossroads: The King has a Crown Again
|
a.s.
|
Aug 10 2008, 1:20am
|
King Lear?
|
N.E. Brigand
|
Aug 10 2008, 6:10am
|
|
maybe
|
Modtheow
|
Aug 10 2008, 3:56pm
|
|
Oh, Gollum...
|
batik
|
Aug 10 2008, 4:47pm
|
|
Rings of trees
|
orcbane
|
Aug 10 2008, 8:29pm
|
|
Could there be a more appropriate crown for Aragorn?
|
Beren IV
|
Aug 11 2008, 4:33am
|
|
More than that
|
sador
|
Aug 11 2008, 11:37am
|
|
Smeagol's Word-Choices
|
Dreamdeer
|
Aug 12 2008, 4:22pm
|
|
Interesting
|
Elros
|
Aug 12 2008, 5:17pm
|
|
This is the fitting place to welcome you back
|
sador
|
Aug 12 2008, 9:30pm
|
|
Thanks!
|
Dreamdeer
|
Aug 12 2008, 11:41pm
|
|
I meant the "more than I can afford" sentence
|
sador
|
Aug 13 2008, 9:30pm
|
|
Birthday customs
|
Dreamdeer
|
Aug 13 2008, 10:58pm
|
|
Nice point about Elijah Wood! //
|
sador
|
Aug 14 2008, 5:27am
|
|
Well
|
Darkstone
|
Aug 14 2008, 8:31pm
|
|
"Garlands to the god"
|
Darkstone
|
Aug 12 2008, 4:39pm
|
|
You never cease to amaze and impress, Darkstone //
|
ElanorTX
|
Aug 13 2008, 2:36am
|
|
Well
|
Darkstone
|
Aug 13 2008, 5:34pm
|
|
|
|
