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FarFromHome
Valinor
Feb 6, 2:05pm
Views: 105
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(to you and NoWizardMe) for your kind words!
I think I should add that I didn't intend my "solution" to sound as if it's some kind of "final answer" to the question of how Gollum did it (i.e. got out of Moria). It was just an attempt to see how far the actual text could help us if we want to come up with an explanation of the puzzle TolkienForever posed.
I like the idea of the shafts mainly because they are mentioned at just that part of the story where Gollum comes right up to the Fellowship. I can imagine him getting as close to Frodo as he dares in the great hall, but then deciding that he can't risk anything more at the moment and working out where to go from here. It's still early in the night when Frodo sees the eyes (he has the first watch), and by the time he wakes up to see daylight through the shafts, Gollum could be long gone.
As we find out later, Gollum is much more able to get around on sheer surfaces than the hobbits are, so I could imagine there being at least one shaft that he could get at. Of course, even if he does get out through one, he's still on the mountainside, higher up than the Gate, and will have to climb down, but again that's something he's pretty good at. The shafts could be completely impractical for the Fellowship (too high, too narrow, and leading to sheer mountainside) and still be okay for Gollum, I think.
But as dormouse says there are probably plenty of hidden tunnels and passages he could have used. I guess the main point here is that Gollum disappears after this, so there's plenty of time and scope for him to make his escape before things start hotting up!
They went in, and Sam shut the door.
But even as he did so, he heard suddenly,
deep and unstilled,
the sigh and murmur of the Sea upon the shores of Middle-earth.
From the unpublished Epilogue to the Lord of the Rings
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Subject
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User
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Time
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How'd He Do That?
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Tolkien Forever
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Jan 30, 8:34pm
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The orcs got out rather quickly
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CuriousG
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Jan 30, 8:57pm
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No Time...Plus....
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Tolkien Forever
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Jan 30, 11:00pm
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Assumptions
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Mim
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Jan 30, 11:24pm
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Silly Me
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Tolkien Forever
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Jan 31, 1:24am
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I'm very sorry that Tolkien didn't spell everything out for you.
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Kassandros
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Jan 31, 3:35pm
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My Reply
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Tolkien Forever
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Jan 31, 4:45pm
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explanations and speculation - something the Tolkiens started!
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noWizardme
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Feb 3, 1:18pm
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Other uses of the Bridge of Khazad-dum
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squire
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Feb 3, 2:30pm
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Nice one! I did say "tastes vary!"... //
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noWizardme
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Feb 3, 3:21pm
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A bit of textual backup...
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FarFromHome
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Feb 5, 11:06am
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Really like your post... literal versus literary aspects
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noWizardme
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Feb 5, 11:29am
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About the shafts
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CuriousG
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Feb 5, 2:50pm
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'Rope!' muttered Sam....
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noWizardme
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Feb 5, 5:06pm
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Thanks
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FarFromHome
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Feb 6, 2:05pm
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Excellent, as usual! //
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sador
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Feb 6, 2:34pm
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There are no final answers, but that one is a good one :) //
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noWizardme
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Feb 6, 6:23pm
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The mountain seemed to be riddled with tunnels and passages...
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dormouse
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Jan 30, 11:44pm
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So he beat them all out.
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Elizabeth
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Jan 31, 5:06am
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This +1 //
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Rostron2
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Feb 8, 5:03pm
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