Timeline Event
Gollum holds a debate with Sméagol in the Desolation of the Morannon
Event Type: General
Age: 3rd Age - Ring War
Date: March 4, 3019
Description:
Suddenly Sam woke up thinking that he heard his master calling. It was evening. Frodo... had fallen asleep, and had slid down nearly to the bottom of the pit. Gollum was by him. For a moment Sam thought that he was trying to rouse Frodo; then he saw that it was not so. Gollum was talking to himself. Sméagol was holding a debate with some other thought that used the same voice but made it squeak and hiss. A pale light and a green light alternated in his eyes as he spoke.
'Sméagol promised,' said the first thought.
'Yes, yes, my precious,' came the answer, 'we promised: to save our Precious, not to let Him have it — never. But it's going to Him yes, nearer every step. What's the hobbit going to do with it, we wonders....'
'I don't know. I can't help it. Master's got it. Sméagol promised to help the master.'
'Yes, yes, to help... the master of the Precious. But if we was master, then we could help ourselfs, yes, and still keep promises.'
'But Sméagol said he would be very very good. Nice hobbit! He took cruel rope off Sméagol's leg. He speaks nicely to me.'
'Very very good, eh, my precious? Let's be good, good as fish, sweet one, but to ourselfs. Not hurt the nice hobbit, of course, no, no.'
'But the Precious holds the promise,' the voice of Sméagol objected.
'Then take it,' said the other, 'and let's hold it ourselfs! Then we shall be master, gollum! Make the other hobbit, the nasty suspicious hobbit, make him crawl, yes, gollum!'
'But not the nice hobbit?'
'Oh no, not if it doesn't please us. Still he's a Baggins, my precious, yes, a Baggins. A Baggins stole it. He found it and he said nothing, nothing. We hates Bagginses.'
'No, not this Baggins.'
'Yes, every Baggins. All peoples that keep the Precious. We must have it!'
'But He'll see, He'll know. He'll take it from us!'
'He sees. He knows. He heard us make silly promises — against His orders, yes.... The Wraiths are searching. Must take it.'
'Not for Him!'
'No, sweet one. See, my precious: if we has it, then we can escape, even from Him, eh? Perhaps we grows very strong, stronger than Wraiths. Lord Sméagol? Gollum the Great? The Gollum! Eat fish every day...; fresh from the sea. Most Precious Gollum! Must have it. We wants it...!'
'But there's two of them. They'll wake too quick and kill us,' whined Sméagol in a last effort. 'Not now. Not yet.'
'We wants it! But' — and here there was a long pause, as if a new thought had wakened. 'Not yet, eh? Perhaps not. She might help. She might, yes.'
'No, no! Not that way!' wailed Sméagol.
'Yes!.... We wants it!'
Each time that the second thought spoke, Gollum's long hand crept out slowly, pawing towards Frodo, and then was drawn back with a jerk as Sméagol spoke again. Finally both arms, with long fingers flexed and twitching, clawed towards his neck.
Sam had lain still, fascinated by this debate, but watching every move that Gollum made from under his half-closed eye-lids. To his simple mind ordinary hunger, the desire to eat hobbits, had seemed the chief danger in Gollum. He realized now that... Gollum was feeling the terrible call of the Ring. The Dark Lord was He, of course; but Sam wondered who She was. One of the nasty friends the little wretch had made in his wanderings, he supposed.... [Things] had plainly gone far enough, and were getting dangerous.... [He] roused himself with an effort and sat up. Something warned him to be careful and not to reveal that he had overheard the debate. He... gave a huge yawn.
'What's the time?' he said sleepily.
Gollum sent out a long hiss through his teeth. He stood up for a moment, tense and menacing; and then he collapsed, falling forward on to all fours and crawling up the bank of the pit.... 'Nice Sam!' he said. 'Sleepy heads, yes...! Leave good Sméagol to watch! But it's evening. Dusk is creeping. Time to go.'
'High time!' thought Sam. 'And time we parted, too.' Yet it crossed his mind to wonder if indeed Gollum was not now as dangerous turned loose as kept with them.
The Two Towers, LoTR Book 4, Ch 2, The Passage of the Marshes
Contributors:
Elena Tiriel 3Mar08
