It was only then that the ring - as it is presented in the LotR - got its powers.įor the record. Its first chapter, A Long Expected Party has been written early in 1938, (note: The first part of The Lord of the Rings was first published 1954!) and the story went on as another Hobbit-adventure, the ring was not given all that much further thought and finally Tolkien lost interest in it until at some point he began to integrate his story into the mythology he had been working on for some 20 years by that time. And when Tolkien began to write a sequel of the Hobbit things had not yet changed. So, when Bilbo found the ring it was no more than a token of the storyline for the Hobbit (intentionally a childrens book) very similar to the magic-hats dwarfs in nordic or german mythology often had. However, if you are interested in a little more background information about the events going on by the time Frodo set out for his quest, you could read The Hunt for the Ring in the Unfinished Tales if you can get hold of a copy.īut as you correctly mention by the time the Hobbit was written, Tolkien had no idea he would write something like the LotR at all. though I have never seen it documented).Įlgee and Smeagol both gave good explanations (with Smeagol it's no surprise, the somewhat unpleasant memories of Sauron's hospitality in Mordor sure left some traces behind, so that the memory of the events of that time is still vivid and fresh ). (Just conjecturing the knife in his shoulder on WT might also make things worse. Throughout the book he is going closer and closer to Sauron who is growing greater and greater. On Amon Hen the hill itself draws him closer to Sauron because it is all and all a powerful hill. In the Prancing Pony it does draw the Nazgul, but I am guessing that they were not far away. On Weathertop he is in close contact with the Nazgul so that is bad for him. This is because the Nazgul are distant and Bombadil gives him protection. The Nazgul weren't released for awhile.įrodo does use it almost as a prank in the House of Bombadil without any obvious side effects. Then, as Smeagol says, things started to happen. He took Gandalf's advice and I'm not sure if he used it a few times or not much. The first twenty years Frodo had the ring, it was fairly harmless, though he didn't really use it. Why could the Nazgul not be attracted to the ring when Bilbo wore it before Gollum told them ' Shire, Baggins'? Unless it is simply attributed to the fact that Sauron had begun his work again recently, and was 'out of service' during Bilbo's/ Gollum's ownerships, how was this explained away when first brought along? And if Sauron was 'out of service' during those years, how did he return? I understand Sauron was 'killed', but if there was an energy connected to the ring, why was it not there all the time? What is this relationship about? Is it simply because Sauron became aware of the rings condition/location? Or was Bilbo somehow immune to these affects? Frodo did not get even one use of his ring in the manner Bilbo did (that is to say, to pull a prank with no regrets). Right away you can tell this is not a happy, wonderful ring (even had Gandalf not warned you about it's powers).

It becomes a state of being you wouldn't find so cute. The mention of the Nazgul's ability to be drawn towards the ring comes along. It is not just a matter of invisibility anymore. When Frodo first puts on the ring, everything is different. Of course Bilbo is very 'appreciative' of his ring and would rather keep it than lose it, but certainly no signs at all of anything evil directly related to the ring had emerged. Bilbo finds the ring, puts it on, and says something along the lines of 'what's this! How wonderful!'.Įven during his 111th birthday party, he puts it on, walks away, and takes it off with a smile as he considers how cute the prank he pulled on his guests was. I am curious how the following was explained using 20/20 hindsight.

From what I understand, when The Hobbit was written, little or no thought was being put into LoTR.

Bilbo and frodo