The Lord of The Rings Universe

Tolkien creates the ring as the epitome of evilness to give it a mind of its own. With this symbolism, the ring is able to maneuver itself and corrupt whom it pleases. It takes on the evilness of the beholder and enhances their evil thoughts to the point in which evilness is the only thought that consumes them. As described by another hobbit, Frodo, the ring has “an unwholesome power that sets to work on its keeper at once.” In Sméagol’s instance, the ring is able to take a strong hold of his soul with just a look at “the bright and beautiful” gold that it entails. Such evilness is personified by Tolkien because Tolkien sees it as something that takes action, not something that is acted upon. The power that the ring possesses eats away at him until he is an entire different creature. The ring destroys Sméagol and creates Gollum, an outcast and a murderer. The theme of temptation displayed by Tolkien coincides with the temptation that evilness

In The Hobbit, Tolkien created cultures and values that are represented often in certain characters and groups of characters. These translate to character traits, which can be positive or negative. After reading up to this point in the story, one can infer that Tolkien considers focused to be a positive character trait, greed to be a negative character trait, and he also feels intelligence more important than physical strength.

In observing congruencies between The Lord of the Rings and Christian thought, Colin Gunton notes, "Evil is an essentially alien power which corrupts and destroys the work of God, and so has to be destroyed" (Gunton 128). This critic believes that God is present in some form in The Lord of the Rings, and that evil in the story is a force against God. He is saying that where there is evil, there is also God, and that in The Lord of the Rings, evil is a power against God that God must eradicate. Because there is evil, and a demigod, Sauron, representative of it, there must be an opposition for the side of good, and this entity must eradicate the evil.

But when Gollum stole it, Frodo remembered something Gandalf had told him' "'But do you remember Gandalf's words: Even Gollum may have something yet to do? But for him, Sam, I could not have destroyed the Ring. The Quest would have been in vain, even at the bitter end.'" Gollum was so mentally warped, his mind could not perceive the danger between him and the ring. His lack of foresight coupled with his obsession with the Ring brought about the ultimate end of both himself and the One Ring. Smeagol is an allegory for the depravity of Man because he puts all of his focus on a physical object with absolutely no eternal value, Gollum's devotion to the One Ring led to major physical and mental transformations, and Gollum's eventual obsession with the One Ring brought about the terrible end of both himself and the

evil. An example of when Gollum was evil is found on page 105. The text say’s “and still sometimes he put it on … when he was very, very, hungry, and tired of fish. Then he would creep along dark passages looking for stray goblins.” You can see in this quote that Gollum uses the rings power for evil. Gollum hides in the shadows until he finds a right target to capture and eat. This also shows that Gollum is very sly. Another example of when Gollum was evil is found on page 96. The text say’s “He was anxious to appear friendly, at any rate for the moment, and until he found out more about the sword and the hobbit, whether he was quite alone really, whether he was good to eat ...” Gollum thought. You can tell by the tone of Gollum’s thought that he was trying to be sly, and evil. Gollum was trying to get to know more information about Bilbo, so then perhaps he can eat Bilbo. One more example of Gollum portraying evil and greed can be seen on page 108. The text say’s “Bilbo could not guess what had maddened the wretched creäture, but he saw that all was up, and that Gollum meant to murder him (Bilbo) at any rate.” You can see by the tone and mood of the atmosphere and the narrator that Gollum was so attached to his precious ring, that he got so angry and; wanted to kill Bilbo. As he thought that Bilbo had his ring in his

“One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them,” (55). The One Ring controls Gollum, Bilbo, Boromir, and Frodo in attempts to return to Sauron, Its Creator, the Lord of the Rings, and the utmost evil present in J.R.R. Tolkien’s novels. But the Ring never achieves Its goal because each character possesses a unique set of skills which resist the evil temptations of the Ring. Gollum is the first victim of the Ring, with no knowledge of Its powers or guidance away from Its control. Bilbo is the second ring bearer, with an almost complete knowledge of the Ring’s power still has difficulty resisting the Ring’s temptation. Gandalf guides Bilbo to constantly resist the evil of the Ring.

“How do you pick up the threads of an old life? How do you go on, when in your heart you begin to understand...there is no going back. There are some things that time cannot mend. Some hurts that go too deep, that have taken hold.” In The Lord of The Rings, Frodo’s journey is one of persistent sorrows. His mind is conflicted between his will to do the right thing and the Ring’s seductive call. Towards the end of his journey, his will breaks and he gives in to the Ring’s power. While he ends up succeeding on his quest, it is a pyrrhic victory. He returns home a shell of a person. The things he used to love he now scorns. The places where he found rest are now alien to him. In the aftermath of trauma, he no longer knows where

The inspiring novel, The Hobbit, written by J. R. R. Tolkien, definitely deserves the right to be considered a timeless classic. Tolkien uses the main character, Bilbo Baggins, a well respected hobbit, to explain how fast one’s life can change. Mr. Baggins doesn’t believe he will go on an adventure through Middle-Earth the day Gandalf comes to Bag End to tell him so. Nor does he think the many races he only heard of in stories, will face him in the mountain pass. As the expedition takes the reader through the marvelous sights, the author drags them through the horrid forest of Mirkwood and traps them in the Elvenking’s dungeon. Tolkien’s excellent word choice enhances the novel further, indicating that it is a tale told long after the journey finishes. Through the use of dwarves, Tolkien describes the fact that all races show their true colors at one point or another, but it does not define them to be the same as all the others of that race. Mr. Tolkien beautifully intertwines the underlying messages and powerful statements in the wild settings and creative characters.

Furthermore, Gollum and Smaug are two fiendish lonesome characters with shared traits of evil. Gollum, a small slimy creature, has been corrupted by evil after finding and becoming obsessed with a precious magical ring to the point where he does not care about harming others for his own benefit. For example, he stated in a riddle contest to

Gollum, previously known as Smeagol, is one of the first bearers of the ring of power, and when he comes into the ring’s presence for the first time, the power makes him so corrupt that to get his hands on it he kills his friend Deagol. “‘ Smeagol had been watching him from behind a tree, and as Deagol gloated over the ring, Smeagol came softly up behind. “Give us that, Deagol, my love,” said Smeagol, over his friend’s shoulder. “Why?” said Deagol. “ Because it’s my birthday, my love, and I wants it,” said Smeagol. “I don’t care,” said Deagol. “I have given you a present already, more than I could afford. I found this, and I’m going to keep it.” “Oh, are you indeed, my love,” said Smeagol; and he caught Deagol by the throat and strangled him, because the gold looked so bright and beautiful. Then he put the ring on his finger’” (Tolkein Pg. 52). This text shows that Gollum, or Smeagol, is corrupt due to the rings power only by being around it. The need for the ring was so great that it pushed him to kill, a devastating act on its own, but he kills his own friend. This proves that with the power of the ring Gollum becomes immensely corrupt. After Gollum first obtains the ring he grows to feel a great hatred

In ancient times the Rings of Power were crafted by the Elven-smiths, and the Dark Lord, forged the one ring, filing it with his own power so that he could rule all other. But the one ring was taken from him, and though he sought it throughout Middle-Earth, it remained lost to him. After many years it fell into the hands of Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit of all creatures. In a sleepy village in the Shire, young Frodo Baggins finds himself faced with an immense task as his elderly cousin entrusts the ring to his care. Frodo must leave his home and make a perilous journey across Middle-Earth to the Cracks of Doom, there to destroy the Ring and foil the Dark Lord in his evil purpose. Gandulf,

From the passage we see that Gandalf is informing Frodo of its great, yet treacherous power. And then Gandalf mentions that the good will of the person nor the good intention behind the use of the ring will keep its owner from being consumed by evil. We see from this passage that there is a theme of the battle between good and evil. The good being the character

Frodo is just a simple hobbit, meaning that he has never left the Shire until he comes into possession of the Ring, so he has little to no knowledge of the outside world. Being a hobbit also means that he has little to no ambitions or desires outside of who he is as a being. This allows for the Ring to have very slight effects on Frodo. For example, near the end of the novel, Frodo overcomes the forces of the Ring and was “free to choose” (Tolkien, 451) on whether to remove the Ring from his finger or not. This is very formidable, in that the Rings powers are often too vigorous for its bearer to have a choice whether to remove it and remain themselves or keep it on and become corrupted. Frodo eventually “took the Ring off his finger” (Tolkien, 451), which shows that the way Frodo’s mind and consciousness are constructed leaves him to be rather resistant to evil impacts. The Ring does have subtle destructive effects on Frodo, in the way of causing Frodo to become dependent and protective over the Ring. Frodo often thinks of “his Ring” (Tolkien, 83) and he desires “to get it out of his pocket” (Tolkien, 83). Frodo often feels “that he had only slip it on, and then he would be safe” (Tolkien, 83). This instance, with many other similar ones, shows the Rings effects on Frodo. It implements a desire within Frodo to use the Ring, which can lead to detrimental occasions if Frodo becomes

Even Bilbo, the protagonist of The Hobbit, experiences some personality changes due to the ring. The ring stands for the sin in the world. Many types of sin lure people constantly throughout life: coveting, hating, and lying are some of these. If one succumbs to sin, one will experience spiritual changes right away, then mental changes, then possibly physical changes.

Fantasy and reality have an immense amount of differences. But, could the two very well be the same? The answer is obvious. JRR Tolkien, the author of the well known series, “ Lord of the Rings’ states “ It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near him.” Tolkien significantly overwhelms the quote to portray a similar message. As plans and tactics are placed into action, one must severely and crucially be as detailed as possible.