Was if Frodo had thrown it in?

[samwiselvr2008]

Was if Frodo had thrown the one ring in, or if it was distroyed in some other way? Would Gollum have gone back to being a normal hobbit? After the ring is distroyed, Sam says that Frodo was like his old self (sorry that I can't quote that), so would Gollum have changed back into the Smeagle that he was? And would he change in apperence as well as his personallity?:confused:

[Dúnedain]

I doubt that he would fully. Gandalf remarks that he would regain some of his former self, but that he may have been too far gone...

[Valandil]

In talking to Frodo and Sam on Mount Doom, after they succeeded in stopping his attack, Gollum seems to think that when the Ring is destroyed he himself will crumble to dust. As the Ring had un-naturally extended his life, it sounds like a reasonable outcome. He may have simply attained the appearance of a 500+ year old hobbit... dust.

This didn't happen to Bilbo, of course, but he wasn't nearly so old. And while his ownership of the Ring undoubtedly extended his life, it was not yet beyond the farthest reaches of hobbit lifespans. He did seem to age somewhat after giving up the Ring, then aged sharply after the Ring was destroyed - so I think the same thing would have happened to Gollum... only he would have aged much more sharply since he was so far beyond his natural life span.

[katya]

I'd agree with Valandil. That makes perfect sense. Gollum certainly seemed to think he would die.
"And when the precious goes we'll die, yes. Die into the dust." He clawed up the ashes of the path with long fleshless fingers. "Dusst!" he hissed.
I always thought that was kind of a funny picture. Only not, because it's really sad.

[samwiselvr2008]

So let me see if I have this right...

When a bearer takes the Ring, then it stopps there ageing, but when they loose the Ring, then they continue to age as if they they had just slept like sleeping beuty for that long and had just woken up from the long sleep. if they are
were 15 when they got the ring, and lost it when they were 50, then they would start reageing as if they were 15, not 50. but, when the ring was distroyed, it made them start really be the number of years old that they were, thus, Gollum, instead of only being a hobbit slightly over 100, would be a hobbit over 500 years old.

So, if Isidor had lost the Ring, but was not killed, then he would have died wile Gollum had it.

Thus, when the Ring was distroyed, Bilbo changed into what a hoobit would be like at 130. is that right?

[LeniFreak]

"And when the precious goes we'll die, yes. Die into the dust." He clawed up the ashes of the path with long fleshless fingers. "Dusst!" he hissed.

I am now convinced of this Gollum-turning-into-dust bit; however, I was never clear before whether this passage implied that, or whether Gollum was simply so desperate for the Ring that he would die without it--after all, the last however many years of his life had been spent either with it or trying to get it back.

[katya]

So you're saying he would die because of emotional trauma? Well, if he were to survive as himself, I doubt he would want to go on living, except maybe to get revenge...or something.

[Attalus]

I had always thought that Gollum was just exaggerating, like when a girl tells her boyfriend (or vice versa) that they'll "just die" without him (or her). Now, I'm not so sure. I believe he would have died, indeed.

[Tuor of Gondolin]

Origally posted by SamwiseELVR2008
When a bearer takes the Ring, then it stops there aging, but when they lose the Ring, then they continue to age as if they they had just slept like sleeping beuty for that long and had just woken up from the long sleep. if they are
were 15 when they got the ring, and lost it when they were 50, then they would start reageing as if they were 15, not 50. but, when the ring was distroyed, it made them start really be the number of years old that they were, thus, Gollum, instead of only being a hobbit slightly over 100, would be a hobbit over 500 years old.
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I think there's a flaw there. If when the Ring was destroyed Gollum instantly began aging at 500 years, analagous to Bilbo, then since Bilbo began aging as soon as he gave the Ring to Frodo, Gollum should have become 500+ and died as soon as Bilbo left the mountain with the Ring in The Hobbit.
My inference, and its only that (from reading the book) is that Bilbo started aging again after he gave up the Ring at a somewhat accelerated rate, but not as rapidly as portrayed in the movie. But perhaps there is more definitive Ring lore information elsewhere (in the HOME series perhaps?).

[Thorin II]

My understanding is that Bilbo began aging rapidly when he gave up the Ring, but not so fast as to make up all the time he held the Ring.

That being said, Gollum would have begun aging again as soon as he lost the ring. Since he didn't die in the many (80-ish?) years without the Ring, its very existence must have been keeping him alive. In that respect, he may have become similar to a Ringwraith. I suspect Gollum would have died shortly after the Ring was destroyed, although maybe not immediately like the Nazgul.

[Tuor of Gondolin]

Originally posted by Thorin II
My understanding is that Bilbo began aging rapidly when he gave up the Ring, but not so fast as to make up all the time he held the Ring.

That being said, Gollum would have begun aging again as soon as he lost the ring.
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The above observations could be a way to deal with something that's puzzled me, that of Bilbo's/Gollum's apparently different aging when not in possession of the Ring. You could speculate that since Bilbo voluntarily "gave up" the Ring he was no longer linked to it and thus began his moderately accelerated aging. Gollum "lost" the Ring and hence was still connected to it and therefore would not show aging beyond that when he had the Ring?

[Dúnedain]

Don't forget Gollum had the ring for 478 years as opposed to Bilbo having it for 60 years.

That is a big difference in time and I suspect that it is because of the length of time that Gollum held the ring that it lengthened his life without quick aging as opposed to the short amount of time Bilbo had the ring...

[Wayfarer]

You know, I'm not so sure Bilbo did begin aging again after he gave up the ring...

[Tuor of Gondolin]

The Ring seems to have had some effect on Bilbo, but how much? If you're implying PJ exaggerated it in the movie, you could well be right. Bilbo was 52 when he got the Ring. He held it for 59 years and then 20 years later went to the Gray Havens. He would have been 72 (minus the Ring years), about mid- to late- 50s for men. But there are several references to him nodding off during conversations, more like a hobbit in his 80s or 90s.

In "Many Partings"
First of all, before they had eaten or washed or even shed their cloaks, the hobbits went in search of Bilbo. They found him all alone in his little room. It was littered with papers and pens and pencils; but Bilbo was sitting in a chair before a small bright fire. He looked very old, but peaceful, and sleepy......At first he pretended to take some notes; but he often fell asleep; and when he woke he would say: 'How splendid! How wonderful! But where were we?' Then they went on with the story from the point where he had begun to nod.

[Wayfarer]

You see, I think there might be some confusion... Bilbo /felt/ and /acted/ older-the falling asleep and general feelings of weariness, but he needen't have /physicallly/ looked much older.

[Nurvingiel]

I just read that part in RotK, and I got the impression that the Ring, when Bilbo possessed it, gave him energy and vigour of someone younger. When he gave it up, it stopped exerting its power on him. He didn't age, but merely felt his age. In "Many Partings" he's 129 years old, almost as old as the old Took. It makes sense that he would fall asleep in conversations etc.

[Thorin II]

Nurvingiel - so you think that Bilbo stopped aging when he got the Ring and didn't start again until the Ring was destroyed? Wouldn't that mean he would've lived for hundreds of years (maybe forever) had the Ring not been destroyed?

[Fimbrethil]

Are you all forgeting about the whole turn you into a Nazgul thing? Perhaps Gollum was so far gone that this was the reason he didn't die. He would have eventually died but he was so much like a ring wraith he would have lived a very long time, but since he wasn't he would have died. Bilbo aged much faster because he didn't have the Ring for as long and therefore wasn't as much like a wriath as Gollum was. But that brings up the question of how long did the Kings have rings, unless humans are so corupt that they didn't have to have them for very long but then you would have to base your conclusion on that qeustion on Isildor. And the fact that he wasn't showing any of the signs beside the the fact that the Ring was "precious" to him. 'Course all that's just my opinion.

[Wayfarer]

Nurvingiel - so you think that Bilbo stopped aging when he got the Ring and didn't start again until the Ring was destroyed? Wouldn't that mean he would've lived for hundreds of years (maybe forever) had the Ring not been destroyed? I think what she is saying (and what I have already said) is that he would have looked 50- he wouldn't have had grey hair or wrinkles or anything, but he would have 'felt' his actual age- hence the weariness and falling asleep.

[Nurvingiel]

Yes. And how when he still had the Ring, he felt thin and stretched.