The Aging of Former Ring-bearers

Enoch_Arden_5

New Member
Last week you mentioned Gandalf's recognition of Bilbo's failure to age due to possessing the Ring of Power. This got me thinking about the affects of the Ring on possessors after they no longer have the Ring. I've heard people say (and this certainly seems to be the case in the movies) that once Bilbo loses the Ring he begins aging again, but I've been looking through the books and haven't been able to find anything that specifically shows this. In Rivendell, Bilbo only states that he doesn't go in for parties and such anymore, but rather prefers the quiet of the Hall of Fire. We also see Gollum, who is over 500 years old by the time that he loses the Ring, still alive and well (so to speak). Gandalf does tell Frodo that Gollum feels incredibly old after losing the Ring, but other than that Gollum does not appear to be suffering from old age. He lives more than 70 years after he loses the Ring, and he is still traveling around Middle Earth. Even if he were only 20 when he found the ring and for all intents and purposes stopped aging until he lost the Ring, he would still have lived at least 90 years without the Ring by the time Frodo and Sam meet him. Gandalf said to Frodo that the Ring would not leave any real lasting affects on Bilbo after he gave it up, so my question is this - do Ring-bearers continue not to age after losing the ring prior to it's destruction? It only appears to be after the Ring is destroyed that Bilbo looks and acts all of 130 years old (at least according to the books), and the same appears to be the case for Gollum. I have never found a direct answer to this question, and I was hoping you might be able to shed some light on this? Thanks!
 
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