Arnthro
Active Member
Interesting bits:
(from The Shadow of the Past)
"Then why didn’t he track Bilbo further?” asked. “Why didn’t he come to the Shire?”
“Ah,” said Gandalf, “now we come to it. I think Gollum tried to. He set out and came back westward, as far as the Great River. But then he turned aside. He was not daunted by the distance, I am sure. No, something else drew him away. So my friends think, those that hunted him for me.
“The Wood-elves tracked him first, an easy task for them, for his trail was still fresh then. Through Mirkwood and back again it led them, though they never caught him. The wood was full of the rumor of him, dreadful tales even among beasts and birds. ….
…. “What he (Gollum) had been doing he would not say. He only wept and called us cruel, with many a gollum in his throat; and when we pressed him he whined and cringed, and rubbed his long hands, licking his fingers as if they pained him, as if he remembered some old torture. But I am afraid there is no possible doubt: he had made his slow, sneaking way, step by step, mile by mile, south, down at last to the Land of Mordor.”
…. “Yes, to Mordor,” said Gandalf. “Alas! Mordor draws all wicked things, and the Dark Power was bending all its will to gather them there. The Ring of the Enemy would leave its mark, too, leave him open to the summons. And all folk were whispering then of the new Shadow in the South, and its hatred of the West. There were his fine new friends, who would help him in his revenge!
“Wretched fool! In that land he would learn much, too much for his comfort. And sooner or later as he lurked and pried on the borders he would be caught, and taken – for examination. That was the way of it, I fear. When he was found he had already been there long, and was on his way back. On some errand of mischief.” …
…"For even the very wise cannot see all ends. I have not much hope that Gollum can be cured before he dies, but there is chance of it. And he is bound up with the fate of the Ring. My heart tells me that he has some part to play yet, for good or ill, before the end; and when that comes, the pity of Bilbo may rule the fate of many – yours not least. In any case we did not kill him: he is very old and very wretched. The Wood-elves have him in prison, but they treat him with such kindness as they can find in their wise hearts.”
(from the Council of Elrond)
“He is in prison, but no worse,” said Aragorn. “He had suffered much. There is no doubt that he was tormented, and the fear of Sauron lies black on his heart. Still I for one am glad that he is safely kept by the watchful Elves of Mirkwood. His malice is great and gives him a strength hardly to be believed in one so lean and withered. He could work mischief still, if he were free. And I do not doubt that he was allowed to leave Mordor on some evil errand.”
“Not through lack of watchfulness,” said Legolas; “but perhaps through over-kindliness. And we fear that the prisoner had aid from others, and that more is known of our doings than we could wish.”
Gloin rose and bowed, and Legolas continued. “In the days of fair weather we led Gollum through the woods; and there was a high tree standing alone far from the others which he liked to climb. Often we let him mount up to the highest branches, until he felt the free wind; but we set a guard at the tree’s foot. One day he refused to come down, and the guards had no mind to climb after him: he had learned the trick of clinging to boughs with his feet as well as with his hands; so they sat by the tree far into the night.”
“It was that very night of summer, yet moonless and starless, that Orcs came on us at unawares. We drove them off after some time; they were many and fierce, but they came from over the mountains, and were unused to the woods. When the battle was over, we found that Gollum was gone, and his guards were slain or taken. It seemed plain to us that the attack had been made for his rescue, and that he knew of it beforehand. How that was contrived we cannot guess; but Gollum is cunning, and the spies of the Enemy are many. The dark things that were driven out in the year of the Dragon’s fall have returned in greater numbers, and Mirkwood is again an evil place, save where our realm is maintained.”
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All of these excerpts have me thinking that even if Gollum has a potential plan in place pertaining to Shelob, Sauron and a battalion from Mordor was responsible for freeing Gollum in Mirkwood, Gollum was contacted and the escape arranged via the many dark things and fell creatures that have returned to Mirkwood since the Dragon's fall. All of the references to the fear of Sauron that was put on Gollum upon his capture in Mordor, how Mordor draws all wicked things, the draw of the Ring on Gollum ("open to the summons") for possessing it for so long, and his presumed release from Mordor lead me to believe that Sauron has dreadful faith that Gollum would return to Mordor if Gollum were to find the Ring again.
(from The Shadow of the Past)
"Then why didn’t he track Bilbo further?” asked. “Why didn’t he come to the Shire?”
“Ah,” said Gandalf, “now we come to it. I think Gollum tried to. He set out and came back westward, as far as the Great River. But then he turned aside. He was not daunted by the distance, I am sure. No, something else drew him away. So my friends think, those that hunted him for me.
“The Wood-elves tracked him first, an easy task for them, for his trail was still fresh then. Through Mirkwood and back again it led them, though they never caught him. The wood was full of the rumor of him, dreadful tales even among beasts and birds. ….
…. “What he (Gollum) had been doing he would not say. He only wept and called us cruel, with many a gollum in his throat; and when we pressed him he whined and cringed, and rubbed his long hands, licking his fingers as if they pained him, as if he remembered some old torture. But I am afraid there is no possible doubt: he had made his slow, sneaking way, step by step, mile by mile, south, down at last to the Land of Mordor.”
…. “Yes, to Mordor,” said Gandalf. “Alas! Mordor draws all wicked things, and the Dark Power was bending all its will to gather them there. The Ring of the Enemy would leave its mark, too, leave him open to the summons. And all folk were whispering then of the new Shadow in the South, and its hatred of the West. There were his fine new friends, who would help him in his revenge!
“Wretched fool! In that land he would learn much, too much for his comfort. And sooner or later as he lurked and pried on the borders he would be caught, and taken – for examination. That was the way of it, I fear. When he was found he had already been there long, and was on his way back. On some errand of mischief.” …
…"For even the very wise cannot see all ends. I have not much hope that Gollum can be cured before he dies, but there is chance of it. And he is bound up with the fate of the Ring. My heart tells me that he has some part to play yet, for good or ill, before the end; and when that comes, the pity of Bilbo may rule the fate of many – yours not least. In any case we did not kill him: he is very old and very wretched. The Wood-elves have him in prison, but they treat him with such kindness as they can find in their wise hearts.”
(from the Council of Elrond)
“He is in prison, but no worse,” said Aragorn. “He had suffered much. There is no doubt that he was tormented, and the fear of Sauron lies black on his heart. Still I for one am glad that he is safely kept by the watchful Elves of Mirkwood. His malice is great and gives him a strength hardly to be believed in one so lean and withered. He could work mischief still, if he were free. And I do not doubt that he was allowed to leave Mordor on some evil errand.”
“Not through lack of watchfulness,” said Legolas; “but perhaps through over-kindliness. And we fear that the prisoner had aid from others, and that more is known of our doings than we could wish.”
Gloin rose and bowed, and Legolas continued. “In the days of fair weather we led Gollum through the woods; and there was a high tree standing alone far from the others which he liked to climb. Often we let him mount up to the highest branches, until he felt the free wind; but we set a guard at the tree’s foot. One day he refused to come down, and the guards had no mind to climb after him: he had learned the trick of clinging to boughs with his feet as well as with his hands; so they sat by the tree far into the night.”
“It was that very night of summer, yet moonless and starless, that Orcs came on us at unawares. We drove them off after some time; they were many and fierce, but they came from over the mountains, and were unused to the woods. When the battle was over, we found that Gollum was gone, and his guards were slain or taken. It seemed plain to us that the attack had been made for his rescue, and that he knew of it beforehand. How that was contrived we cannot guess; but Gollum is cunning, and the spies of the Enemy are many. The dark things that were driven out in the year of the Dragon’s fall have returned in greater numbers, and Mirkwood is again an evil place, save where our realm is maintained.”
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All of these excerpts have me thinking that even if Gollum has a potential plan in place pertaining to Shelob, Sauron and a battalion from Mordor was responsible for freeing Gollum in Mirkwood, Gollum was contacted and the escape arranged via the many dark things and fell creatures that have returned to Mirkwood since the Dragon's fall. All of the references to the fear of Sauron that was put on Gollum upon his capture in Mordor, how Mordor draws all wicked things, the draw of the Ring on Gollum ("open to the summons") for possessing it for so long, and his presumed release from Mordor lead me to believe that Sauron has dreadful faith that Gollum would return to Mordor if Gollum were to find the Ring again.