Rachel Port
Well-Known Member
Recent discussions have led me back to consider Gandalf's interrogation of Gollum as given both to Frodo and to the council at Rivendell. Thinking of this, I went back to episode 5 where you discuss Gandalf beginning to tell Frodo about the Ring, and why he starts with the danger to Frodo himself. The discussion turned to whether he could have known earlier that this was the One Ring, figuring that Gandalf's knowledge of the effect of the great rings comes from lore, especially what happened to the ring wraiths. But Gandalf has just come from spending several days with Gollum, whom he was meeting for the first time. And he had gone to that interview straight from finding Isildur's account of the One Ring and realizing that the ring that Bilbo found must be the One. So he must feel horror at seeing what possession of the Ring had done to Gollum over centuries - he must associate it in his mind with what he saw in Bilbo after the party. He probably has been checking on Bilbo over the 17 years as well as checking on Frodo's health. He must have told Elrond so Elrond could also assess the long-term affects on Bilbo after Bilbo went to live at Rivendell. So I think it makes sense that his first concern with Frodo would be the danger to Frodo. And it's vital that Frodo understand very clearly the danger to himself in deciding what to do. It's only in Gandalf's account at the council that this sequence in his researches that this becomes clear.