Current Events > How was Gollum still alive in Lord of the Rings?

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I heard Gollum held the ring for 500 years. Then he lost it for decades. Bilbo held it for decades and he gave it away on his 111th birthday. Next time we see him he is very very old. The decades came crashing down on him without the ring to sustain him

Why was Gollum able to have 5 centuries crash down on him without the ring, and then decades later he is still able to run around?

Because it's a fantasy book

TMOG posted...

Because it's a fantasy book

It still has its own internal logic

Bilbo became very old when he lost the ring. Gollum did not

Residual effects probably lasted longer from having and using it a lot longer.

The effects remained. Even for Bilbo.

It stopped when the Ring was destroyed. Not lost.

I think Gollum was completely warped by the ring so his body underwent a lot of changes compared to Bilbs

EmbraceOfDeath posted...

Residual effects probably lasted longer from having and using it a lot longer.

I'd argue this. He had the ring for so long, some of its magic rubbed off on him or something.

I'd even go as far to say that his soul became intertwined with the magic of the ring and just the fact he existed in the same realm as it allowed him to feel its magic. Or aomething.

He had the ring for 500 years and lost it for about 60 years. Also bilbo wasn't twisted and corrupted by the ring like gollum was. I'm assuming bilbos aging was kinda normal maybe a bit fast after he gave the ring to frodo.

Literal magic

That's the answer.

archedsoul posted...

The effects remained. Even for Bilbo.

It stopped when the Ring was destroyed. Not lost.

Yeah Bilbo didn't start withering away quickly until the Ring was destroyed

scar_the_1 posted...

Yeah Bilbo didn't start withering away quickly until the Ring was destroyed

Well he looks very haggard at Rivendell

In the movie

https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/13519/why-didnt-gollum-grow-old-and-die-after-he-lost-the-one-ring-to-bilbo

He was tainted by the magic

Bilbo didn't have it close to 500 years. Its longevity aftereffect was not as ingrained in his soul and his penis.

I guess.

MC_BatCommander posted...

I think Gollum was completely warped by the ring so his body underwent a lot of changes compared to Bilbs

This

scar_the_1 posted...

Yeah Bilbo didn't start withering away quickly until the Ring was destroyed

And this, at least in the books

According to Gandalf's explanation at the beginning of the book, the longer you have the ring and the more you use it, the less human you become. Bilbo has the ring for a few decades, and by the time you see him in Rivendell he's older but it wasn't like he instantly hit a wall or anything. It's more like time is slowly catching up with him. In the book it's been like 20 years at that point between giving up the ring and them running into him again, so it isn't an instant process. He's still a hobbit, he's just been prolonged by the ring but hasn't had it long enough or used it enough to get truly fucked up.

Gollum meanwhile has had the ring for centuries upon centuries and used it frequently. You can even just look and listen to him to see that the stuff the ring does to you has more or less hollowed him out and he isn't anything close to the creature he once was. Gandalf says eventually if you use it enough you'll just become permanently part of the realm of shadows, and although this seems like it must take a reeeeeeeeeeally long time if it didn't happen to Gollum, it clearly twisted him enough that he must have been about as close as you can get before that happened.

DeadBankerDream posted...

Its longevity aftereffect was not as ingrained in his soul and his penis.

Are you saying Bilbo had small dick energy

TMOG posted...

Are you saying Bilbo had small dick energy

No, the opposite. Gollum is a posterboy for SDE.

Ok good because I was gonna call you wrong lol

Fish diet

No sun over-exposure

Tom Bombadil did it.

The problem is the movies don't convey time as well as the books. There are some scenes that are like decades apart

Irony posted...

The problem is the movies don't convey time as well as the books. There are some scenes that are like decades apart

I know a little about this. I know that in rhe book when Gandalf leaves the ring initially with Frodo at the Shire, he doesn't come back for like 20 years, and Frodo is just relaxing all that time

The movie makes it seem like only a month maybe goes by

Zikten posted...

Well he looks very haggard at Rivendell

In the movie

He looks very spry compared to the Grey Havens scenes though

Irony posted...

The problem is the movies don't convey time as well as the books. There are some scenes that are like decades apart

The scene when Gandalf leaves Frodo with the ring at Bilbo's farewell party and the next time they see each other is something like 25 years apart. In the movie it looks like it might be a few months.

Irony posted...

The problem is the movies don't convey time as well as the books. There are some scenes that are like decades apart

The pacing in the books also makes it feel like the scenes are decades apart tbh

I wonder if Sauron taught Gollum about alloys while he was torturing him?

Zikten posted...

I know a little about this. I know that in rhe book when Gandalf leaves the ring initially with Frodo at the Shire, he doesn't come back for like 20 years, and Frodo is just relaxing all that time

The movie makes it seem like only a month maybe goes by

Bilbo leaves on Frodo's 33rd birthday (also Bilbo's 111st). Frodo leaves close to his 50th.