Current Events > Lord of the rings question about frodo. Spoilers

(+) Yeah! (+)

Was frodo succumbing to the ring because of the stab wound by the ringwraith in the first movie? It seemed to imply that he was poisoned with ring wraithness so that's why he was hearing Sauron more often and getting more detached from reality

No its because Frodo was precious

He was just getting worn down by the relentless pressure over time.

He was succumbing to the ring due to carrying the thing around all the time

The stab wound probably didn't help, but the Ring was a massive corrupting influence all on it's own.

It was mostly just the corrupting influence of the ring using the trauma and pain of the wound to warp his mind

Why didn't they just put the ring in a box

In the lore, nobody can supposedly carry it forever. Some people like Hobbits, can resist longer than others. I dont know if anyone in the lore has ever been confirmed to be immune to the ring. But it would be very interesting if such a person existed

The Ring breaks everything down, in time. Hobbits just show extraordinary resilience.
.or something to that effect.

The man had it for over 17 years! Cut him some slack.

him off screen

Zikten posted...

In the lore, nobody can supposedly carry it forever. Some people like Hobbits, can resist longer than others. I dont know if anyone in the lore has ever been confirmed to be immune to the ring. But it would be very interesting if such a person existed

That character does exist in the form of Tom Bombadil. That very reason is probably part of why Tom was excluded from the movies.

Zikten posted...

In the lore, nobody can supposedly carry it forever. Some people like Hobbits, can resist longer than others. I dont know if anyone in the lore has ever been confirmed to be immune to the ring. But it would be very interesting if such a person existed

At least in Middle Earth, Tom Bombadil is completely immune to any effects. The original plan was to give it to him since it won't do anything to him. Gandalf tells them the problem with that is that since it has no effects or power over him, he'd forget about it and lose it. So they decided with the Fellowship.

coolguyjimmy posted...

The man had it for over 17 years! Cut him some slack.

This.

Forgot about Tom Bombadil. Been so long since I read the books. What the hell was he anyways? The Old Ones pops into my head, for some reason.

Is it true the books never explain what kind of being Tom is?

Zikten posted...

Is it true the books never explain what kind of being Tom is?

Im pretty sure yeah

i think Tom is like a manifestation of the Creator of the World, and he's just vibing, having a grand old time

i base this on absolutely nothing

Tom is supposed to be Tolkien imo.

Tolkien himself has said that there's really nothing to explain. He's an enigma and goes against everything else.

Maybe another form of creation Eru made for elsewhere and just threw him on Arda.

I always felt like Tom came across as just Tolkien trying to pad the book's length without actually having any effect on the story. If LotR was an anime, Tom would have been a filler episode.

Tom is just an Easter egg

His stab would was cured at the house of healing in Rivendale, it wasn't an issue, other than I think it hurt when the Naz got close

TMOG posted...

I always felt like Tom came across as just Tolkien trying to pad the book's length without actually having any effect on the story. If LotR was an anime, Tom would have been a filler episode.

I don't think Tolkien was just trying to pad the length and felt there was a good reason to include it, but I do absolutely fucking hate the entire pointless segment.

Tom has become a bit of a fan favorite, but I also do not like his chapters in Fellowship, and am glad the movies cut him out lol

There are a few decent theories based on things in Tolkiens letters, but each one doesnt quite fit perfect on who Tom is supposed to be. Just have to pick your favorite theory and go with it

Spurner posted...

The Ring breaks everything down, in time. Hobbits just show extraordinary resilience.
.or something to that effect.

I thought it was the smaller the creature, the smaller the corruption? Which is why powerful beings like elves and Gandalf are afraid of carrying the ring, while a tiny little hobbit has less power to corrupt

Not entirely. The Morgul-blade turns those poisoned by it into wraiths and Frodo succumbing to it and slowly becoming closer to the dark "world" of Sauron made it all worse. He was eventually healed in Rivendell, but not fully. Frodo would fall ill on the anniversaries of his stabbing until he went into the west so it was a very awful thing to happen to him. The ring itself is a strong corrupting agent and only the inherent toughness of Hobbits against "magic" and such made it bearable for such a long time for them.

And Tom Bombadil's little story is so weird and out of place, but I still enjoy it. I think he's just there for world building and to make Middle Earth seem more fantastical and mysterious. Some say he's Eru/god, but I think Tolkien said he wasn't. He can't just be an ordinary Maia because they can be corrupted by the ring. No matter what Tolkien said, he has to be Eru, one of the Valar in disguise, or one of the many unexplained "spirits" like Ungoliant. He's almost a personification of Arda itself.

I always thought it was more along the lines of hobbits being content to sit around the Shire, drink beer and smoke weed, so the ring just had less to work with.

DarthAragorn posted...

I always thought it was more along the lines of hobbits being content to sit around the Shire, drink beer and smoke weed, so the ring just had less to work with.

Makes sense. It did try to tempt Sam with the idea of a massive garden that was all for him, but obviously Sam didn't fall for it.

It's been a while since I've read it but I thought getting closer to Sauron increased the rings hold which they were doing while going to mount doom. Frodo also had the ring for over 10 years before the quest to destroy it began so it had a bit of hold by that point.