Skip to main content

tolkiens legendarium - Why didn't Gollum grow old and die after he lost the One Ring to Bilbo?


Gollum had his life largely extended because he possessed the One Ring. He appeared to be an old, deformed, and twisted creature.


According to this list, he had the Ring for 478 years. His loss of the Ring and the events of The Lord of the Rings are separated by around 77 years.



Did the Ring continue to extend his life after he lost it?



Answer



Yes, the Ring continued to extend Bilbo and Gollum's lives after they stopped bearing it up until the destruction of the Ring.


Gandalf himself alludes to this when talking about Bilbo:



it might take a long while for the influence to wear off. ... he might live on for years, quite happily: just stop as he was when he parted with it.



Since neither Gollum nor Bilbo appear to age significantly after losing the Ring, despite their already extended ages, that's a reasonable assumption.


Bilbo had deteriorated significantly by the time he left Middle Earth, which concurs with this conclusion. The Ring had been destroyed by then so any legacy effect it had on him would have ended. Arwen would have only left Rivendell a few weeks after the Ring was destroyed to travel to Minas Tirith, but when she got there she commented




Do you wonder at that, Ring-bearer? For you know the power of that thing which is now destroyed; and all that was done by that power is now passing away. But your kinsman ... is ancient in years now, according to his kind; and ... he will not again make any long journey save one.



Obviously the destruction of the Ring was already having the effect that Gollum also alluded to when he said



when Precious goes we’ll die, yes, die into the dust.



We never got to witness this because of his encounter with the interior of Mount Doom instead.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

futurama - How much time is lost in 'Time Keeps on Slippin''

In time Keeps on Slippin' , Farnsworth creates a basketball team which he matures by abusing Chronitons. This leads to time skipping forward by random, but ever increasing amounts. How much time was skipped in this way? Answer Unfortunately, I don't think a good estimate can be made for this, for two reasons: Many of the time skips move forward by an indeterminate amount of time. At one point, the Professor mentions localized regions of space skipping forward much more than others. We then see two young boys on the street below complaining about having to pay social security, only to suddenly become senior citizens and start complaining about wanting their money. Thus, each individual could have experienced a different amount of time skippage.
Post a Comment
Read more

game of thrones - Is Syrio Forel dead?

In the episode 'The Pointy End' (Season 1 Episode 8) when Arya runs from the Lannister guards you hear the sound of a sword being dropped (around 4:56): [embedded content] After that neither Syrio or Ser Meryn Trant is never mentioned or seen in the show again, except when Arya mentions to the Hound that Ser Meryn Trant killed Syrio. Is there any mention in the books that Syrio actually dies?
Post a Comment
Read more

tolkiens legendarium - Difference between elves and dwarves blacksmithing in the Lord of the Rings

Both the elves and the dwarves were famous for their metal work in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but what is the difference between what they made, and which one had the better skill of making amours and swords? Answer James Christopher's answer sums up the second part of your question well, but as to the difference in what they made, a little more detail is needed. Once the Elves learned to forge with steel, the shape of the sword changed, now being able to take on the form of a great broadsword or a light and agile curved sword. Additionally, they took great pride in decorating their swords. As we see in the Lord of the Rings , some swords like Sting had magical properties such as glowing blue when orcs are near. As far as the use of Mithril, lotr.wikia has two contradictory passages: Thus, Elven blades became renowned as great weapons, capable of performing deeds beyond the skill of their handlers and were even more glorious when the use of Mithril was allowed to the Elves. ...
Post a Comment
Read more

How do Pokemon trainers collect their winnings?

According to Bulbapedia , Prize money is the money that a Trainer pays out at the end of a battle. So we know that the money comes directly from the trainer that just lost, and not some third-party committee or sponsor. But how is this done? It can be easy seeing the random trainers who challenge you along the way wanting to wager and then, after admitting defeat, sticking to their word and handing over their hard-earned pokebucks. Then there are the likes of Team Rocket and Giovanni, who also give money once they lose. This doesn't seem like something people in a criminal organization would willingly do. From this it appears that trainers have no say in whether or not they cough up the dough after losing, but I can't find anything on how exactly the funds are transferred from loser to winner. So how do Pokemon trainers receive their winnings?
Post a Comment
Read more