What's the Worst Thing Characters had to Face in Middle Earth?

[Lalwendë]

Originally Posted by lmp

I think it comes down to a rather simple difference. Frodo and Sam set their wills against the Ring whilst they possessed it. Bilbo never did, and Gollum never did, and Isildur never did. So I'm going to rate these five Ring bearers in terms of most to least culpible.

1. Gollum. He murdered to get the Ring, and it owned him.
2. Isildur. He had a chance to destroy it at Mount Doom, was exhorted to throw it away by Elrond (or was that just the movie?), but fell to the temptation of possessing it, making of it a family heirloom.
3. Bilbo. He happened upon it innocently, but used it readily. He didn't know it was evil, and succumbed to the effects of using it at all.
4. Sam. He did what was necessary to save the Ring from falling into the hands of the Dark Lord, setting his own will aside, ready to do what he believed to be right, even though he didn't want to; he held the Ring for a short while.
5. Frodo. He held the Ring for a long time, and set his will against it as long as he could, and sought its destruction for as long as he could.

That's an interesting way of looking at it, but looking at it the same way, but rating characters according to the level of their suffering, you get a different result:

1. Frodo. Broken by the Ring, and possibly also by his inability to destroy it. He achieves the (almost) impossible by getting it to the very brink but receives no other reward than to have to leave the place he loves, the Shire.

2. Gollum. Driven mad by the Ring, his whole existence after losing it is centred on regaining it. So much so that when he does regain it, he leaps for joy and falls to his death.

3. Isildur. Although not much is known of the detail, we do know that bearing the Ring caused him to become less of a King, and eventually to get himself killed (due to his over-confidence?) - this could possibly be the root of the downfall of Gondor too.

4. Bilbo. Not terribly affected by the Ring at all apart from his unnaturally long life. He retires to Rivendell but seems excited by this, as though it is very much a conscious choice. He is reluctant to give up the Ring, but does so relatively easily.

5. Sam. He seems to be barely affected at all. He is able to return to The Shire and not only fully participate in life, but to increase his social position and to father a huge family. His departure (as far as we know) for the Undying Lands is more of a reward than a necessity.


If Frodo and Sam set their wills against the Ring, wouldn't they have experienced the same level of suffering in the end? Even if Sam had been the Ringbearer for as long as Frodo, I still do not think he would have suffered to the same degree; as seen in the differing reactions when each Ringbearer wears the Ring, I still believe that it has different effects on each wearer.