(avg. read time: 45–89 mins.)
Book IV shifts the story back to the main Quest of Frodo and Sam. They are currently beyond their ken and without a guide. This is particularly problematic for them in the labyrinthine formation of the Emyn Muil. Frodo acknowledges that it is part of a higher purpose than his own to make it to Mordor, “It’s my doom, I think, to go to that Shadow yonder, so that a way will be found. But will good or evil show it to me?” (IV/1). The reconciliation between the ultimate goal of his Quest and the current disorientation is not something he can figure out on his own, and so he says something else will need to show it to him and that “a way will be found” rather than that he “will find a way.” He wonders if good or evil will show him the way, and in the mystery of Providence, it will so be that the answer is a mix of both.
Gollum and the Pity of Frodo
The unwitting instrument of Providence here is Gollum, once known as Sméagol. He had trailed the Fellowship in Moria and followed them to, but not far into, Lothlórien. He picked up their trail again as they went down the Anduin, and he had followed Frodo and Sam as they crossed the River and came into the Emyn Muil. Obsession and enslavement to his will to the Ring had driven him since he had lost the Ring almost seventy-eight years ago. Unbeknownst to him, he was only able to live so long and indirectly contribute to multiple aspects of the present Quest—from informing Sauron of the Ring being related to the Shire and the name Baggins, to the consequent pursuit by the Nazgûl, to Gandalf’s learning of his story, to Gandalf’s advice to Frodo about pity, to Gollum’s escape from the Elves of the Woodland Realm, to Frodo’s arrival in Rivendell in such time as he did, to the timing of the Quest, to his current pursuit of the Ringbearer—because of Bilbo’s pity that he had never known of. And while he intended reclaiming his Precious, his obsession with it will be directed to a different purpose when he meets the renewal of that pity, this time from Frodo.
For at this time, Gollum overtakes Frodo and Sam. After a struggle, Frodo subdues him, and Gollum begs not to be hurt. Frodo then hears in his mind part of his conversation with Gandalf from before his Quest began (I/2). Then, he could not imagine feeling any pity for Gollum, thinking him deserving of death. Now, after seeing Gollum and replaying the words of Gandalf about how he should not be too eager to deal out death and judgment, not knowing all ends to which such decisions will go, he declares, “For now that I see him, I do pity him” (IV/1). Frodo has had the Ring in his possession for less than eighteen years at this point and has borne it (and even used it) for a few months. But such experience has helped change his perspective on one who had the Ring for centuries and has thereby been reduced from a Hobbit like himself to what he is now, complete with a permanently split and enslaved will. It would have been advantageous to Frodo in some ways to kill Gollum, as it would have removed another potential obstacle in his Quest, one who was himself pursuing the Ring, and it would have saved him some treachery from one who as not particularly trustworthy. But Frodo restrains himself and wills the good for Gollum as wills the good for himself. As Bilbo’s pity would rule the fate of many—as Gandalf thought—so too will Frodo’s pity.
This divine virtue of pity envelops the story of Gollum at its key points from his encounter with Bilbo to his end. It is, in fact, what makes his end possible. But we will need to return to that later, at which point we will also lay out Tolkien’s own theological-ethical framing of the story.
Hope and Courage
With Gollum as their guide, Frodo and Sam are finally able to leave the Emyn Muil and make their way through the Dead Marshes. Gollum appears in turns to be attempting to earn the trust of the Hobbits, since he is able to sit by for hours or go off for hours and come back without harming them while they sleep, and to be scheming against them, as Sam learns while furtively lying awake as Gollum talks to himself. Frodo wanted him to take them to the Black Gate of Mordor, but it appears that Gollum is devising for them to go another way.
But besides this issue, Sam takes thought of whether or not they have enough lembas to last the rest of the way to Mount Doom and perhaps some way back. He never really thought about what comes after the Ring is destroyed, and neither has Frodo. Frodo is convinced that there is no use in concerning themselves with that part. For him, “To do the job as you put it – what hope is there that we ever shall? And if we do, who knows what will come of that?” (IV/2). This is the hope that is equivalent to amdir, for there is no discernible reason, based on what the Hobbits know, that they can succeed in this Quest. If there is any hope, it is the hope of estel, the hope that lies beyond their knowledge. Without the latter, there could be nothing for the capacity of hope to cling to. The former, however, is not strictly necessary. In its absence, one can still operate by courage to do what must be done, regardless of the obstacles of fear and doubt. That is ultimately what the Norse did in the absence of their hope for a final victory, which did not come to them until the gospel did. And so it is for Frodo and Sam, although their Quest will provide a glimpse or echo of final victory.
Likewise, once Frodo, Sam, and Gollum arrive at the Black Gate, Frodo resolves that, despite how impassable the gate may be, he will go where he is commanded to go, “If there is only one way, then I must take it. What comes after must come” (IV/3). Sam knows it is no good to gainsay Frodo here, for neither of them know any better at the moment, “And after all he never had any real hope in the affair from the beginning; but being a cheerful hobbit he had not needed hope, as long as despair could be postponed” (IV/3). Sam thus also resolves that, no matter how unlikely the success in this adventure is, he will stick to his master. His is the indomitable courage of the servant, and he is the Wiglaf to Frodo’s Beowulf. We will have more to say about that later.
Providence Foreshadowed
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