Gollum

[kimby1967]

I don't have too many "friends" here anymore, but I'll throw this question out to those of you on my list here. I haven't gotten an answer yet on Quora.

If Gollum had somehow been persuaded to voluntarily give up the Ring and survived Mt. Doom, do you think he would have been given permission to sail West in order to heal hundreds of years of

Comments

[shirebound]

I do believe he would have been invited along with the other hobbits, if only out of pity, but I doubt he would have agreed to go. He suffered pain when around Elves, and I don't think the idea of sailing West with Elves, to a land of Elves, would have brought him any peace. He was also incredibly old and worn out, and most likely wouldn't have survived long after the Ring's destruction. Giving up the Ring, especially after so long, should have been seen as a great deed, and hopefully acknowledged as such. It wouldn't, perhaps, balance out the murder he had done early in his life, but Frodo might even have insisted on taking him along as a condition of his own sailing. Who knows? What a lovely idea to ponder.

[lindahoyland]

My gut instinct says no as Bilbo and Frodo remained good despite the ring. Of course, I could be wrong. I believe Arwen gave her place on the ship to Frodo and Galadriel might have interceded for him.https://www.shmoop.com/return-of-the-king/gem-arwen-symbol.html

[lin4gondor]

I agree with shirebound - I think Gollum would have been granted permission to sail West, even if he did not in the end choose to take advantage of that permission. It does seem likely he would not be interested in going, unless he truly wanted to remain with Frodo. If his service and promise to Frodo was part of what helped him overcome the Ring and give it up voluntarily, then his desire to stay with Frodo might be enough to even go to a place where Elves live. Perhaps he would have recovered some of his "humanity" in this way and might find being among Elves more bearable than he would in his "gollumy" state.

I do believe that Gandalf went with Gwaihir and two other eagles into Mordor (after the downfall of Sauron) in the hopes that Gollum was to be saved along with Frodo and Sam, so I also think Gandalf would strongly support Gollum being allowed to sail West.