A Small Note About Men

amysrevenge

Well-Known Member
I don't have the exact quote available, but paraphrasing should suffice.

When Gandalf is telling Gollum's story, and makes note of the special resilience he shows against the total domination of the ring, he remarks that Gollum held out better than a Dwarf, Orc, or Elf might have held out.

What about a Man? Is the omission of Man from that list just an effect of Gandalf making a short list of examples and not making an exhaustive one (also not naming Trolls or Ents or Wizards or any other thinking creatures), or is it significant?

It strikes me that no Dwarf, Orc, or Elf ever possesses the One Ring - only Sauron himself, one Man, and a handful of Hobbits or Hobbit-like creatures. Technically 5 I suppose - Deagol, Smeagol, Bilbo, Frodo, and Sam (and then Frodo again, and then Smeagol again).

Anyway. It could easily be nothing - he lists three examples of peoples who might be taken more easily by the ring than Gollum was. He doesn't claim it to be an exhaustive list - it's conversational, and the list isn't even the point, Gollum's resilience is the point. It just seems noteworthy that Man was not on the list in the wider context - Men are kind of at the top of the list, after Hobbits, of what has been going on in the conversation so far.
 
I have long suspected that the reason Hobbits are able to resist the Ring longer than anyone is because they are not one of those subject to it. Men (the nine), dwarves (the seven), elves (the three), and Maiar (the One) are all covered or, perhaps, considered. Hobbits get left out of everyone's considerations -- even the Ents' lists. It's almost as if they are Illuvitor's secret project.
 
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