The damnation of Gollum

[Alcuin]

The proposition is that Gollum subjects himself to his own damnation, both literally and figuratively.

There is no doubt that Gollum’s first promise to serve Frodo was made under duress. From Two Towers, “The Taming of Sméagol”,

…Frodo sprang up, and drew Sting from its sheath. With his left hand he drew back Gollum's head by his thin lank hair, stretching his long neck, and forcing his pale venomous eyes to stare up at the sky.

“Let go! Gollum,” he said. “This is Sting. You have seen it before once upon a time. Let go, or you'll feel it this time! I'll cut your throat.”
…
“Sméagol,” said Gollum suddenly and clearly, opening his eyes wide and staring at Frodo with a strange light. “Sméagol will swear on the Precious.”

Frodo drew himself up... “On the Precious? How dare you?” he said. “Think!

One Ring to rule them all and in the Darkness bind them.

Would you commit your promise to that, Sméagol? It will hold you. But it is more treacherous than you are. It may twist your words. Beware!”
…
“We promises, yes I promise!” said Gollum. “I will serve the master of the Precious. Good master, good Sméagol, gollum, gollum!”

Promises made under duress are not binding among law-abiding folk, though the power in the One Ring might take little head of that, since it was not from a being who could be counted in any way “among law-abiding folk.” In the aftermath, however, even Sméagol Gollum clearly considered the promise binding, and said so himself. Sam heard the debate between Sméagol (“Slinker”) and the Ring-possessed Gollum (“Stinker”) in the pit in Dagorlad near the end of “The Passage of the Marshes” before they reached the Black Gate, and both sides of Gollum’s schizoid personality (see United States National Institutes of Health, “A precious case from Middle Earth”, Bashir et, al., British Medical Journal Dec 18, 2004) accepted the promise as binding.

In his encounter with Faramir (near the end of “The Forbidden Pool”), Faramir reinforced the promise,

[Faramir said,] “And now, do you take this creature, this Sméagol, under your protection?”

“I do take Sméagol under my protection,” said Frodo. …

“Then I say to you,” said Faramir, turning to Gollum, “you are under doom of death; but while you walk with Frodo you are safe for our part. Yet if ever you be found by any man of Gondor astray without him, the doom shall fall. And may death find you swiftly, within Gondor or without, if you do not well serve him. …”

Finally, attacking Sam at the exit from “Shelob’s Lair”, Gollum gloated,

O yes, Shelob will get him [Frodo], not Sméagol: he promised; he won't hurt Master at all.

However, there is another consideration. Before entering Torech Ungol (Shelob’s Lair), Frodo sets Gollum free. In other words, if Gollum pursues or seeks to harm Frodo directly or indirectly, he does so of his own volition. At the end of “The Stairs of Cirith Ungol”,

[Frodo said, “W]e … have come to the point … Sméagol. … Can we find the rest of the way by ourselves? We're in sight of the pass, of a way in, and if we can find it now, then I suppose our agreement can be said to be over. You have done what you promised, and you're free: free to go back to food and rest, wherever you wish to go, except to servants of the Enemy. And one day I may reward you, I or those that remember me.”

“No, no, not yet,” Gollum whined. “O no! They can't find the way themselves, can they? O no indeed. There's the tunnel coming. Sméagol must go on. No rest. No food. Not yet.”

Three times Gollum is doomed to the promise, I argue, and three times he accepts it.

The promise is accepted three times:

1. In the Emyn Muil, when the promise is made under duress;
2. In Dagorlad, when both of Gollum’s personalities accept the promise as binding (the debate Sam overhears); and
3. At the top of Cirith Ungol, when Gollum, gloating over Sam (whom he thinks he is about to murder) repeats his vow.

The three dooms are these:

1. In the Emyn Muil, when the promise is made under duress;
2. Before Faramir, who imposes a second injunction, a curse, “may death find you swiftly, within Gondor or without, if you do not well serve him.”
3. At the entrance to Torech Ungol, when freed from following Frodo and Sam, Gollum chooses of his own free will to follow them in order to murder them both, using Shelob as his weapon.

Of these dooms, I think the worst is the last: Frodo set Gollum free, but Gollum refused the opportunity and sought to murder him anyway.

What says the ’Moot? Do you agree? does it matter? do you care?

(As an aside, I further argue that Faramir’s malediction is strongly akin to Isildur’s malediction upon the Dead Men of Dunharrow, who broke their vow and refused to fight Sauron, dooming them to undeath until they fulfilled their vow.)

[Earniel]

Binding as Gollum saw the promise, he was soon thinking to get what he want without breaking it. The thought probably was present in some form by the time they met Faramir. He may not have decided on enlisting Shelob yet at that time, but he was probably already thinking how he could twist the promise to his own liking.

He would never voluntarily break it completely, it seems, for whatever reason. If Faramir possessed some of the power akin to the one Isildur used to damn the men at the Stone of Erech, then perhaps Gollum sensed the doom that lay in Faramir's words. Or perhaps there was some remnant of Hobbit-ness present in him that thought promises should be kept. Gollum also adhered to the rules of the guessing-game with Bilbo although he tried to cheat when things became obvious he might not win.

When he refused to be released from the vow by Frodo, it probably mattered little since he had found a way (in his mind) to keep his promise and still get his Precious back. He may not have seen any danger in being kept by his words at the time. He would be the Master of Precious once again soon enough.

He only fully broke his promise at Mount Doom when he attacked Frodo and perished soon after. So perhaps Tolkien considered only the last time - the full break, rather than the reasoning around the promise- damning enough.

[Olmer]

He would never voluntarily break it completely, it seems, for whatever reason.

For me the reason is clear. He was pledging allegiance to the owner of the Ring against his will, therefore he was looking for chances to get out and about.. The Ring could bend anyone mind, if the owner wishes to. At first Frodo did not realize that his, probably fleeting, thoughts to tame Gollum has been granted. But when he saw a sudden change in Gollum's demeanor, he jumped on the opportunity.

[Earniel]

But the Ring obeyed in most things his true master, and that was not necessarily the person wearing it. I had thought it unlikely that Frodo would possess the power to bend the Ring to his wishes and so to influence Gollum. But it is an interesting thought.

[Olmer]

According to Galadriel Frodo could be a true master. He just did not try hard.

[Earniel]

For good reason, I'd say. There was definitely a 'gaze-into-the-abyss' thing going with the Ring. She did warn him about that too.

[Alcuin]

Perhaps this should be a separate thread, but there are three four hobbits in this story who are released from their service. In fact, all five hobbits in Lord of the Rings are bound by some sort of oath excluding Bilbo, who is retired.

1. Gollum has already been discussed at the beginning of this thread.
   
2. Frodo is bound by his promise before the Council of Elrond. At the very last, like Gollum, he breaks his bond, though not of his own free will; but by an act of Grace, Gollum, the other oath-breaking hobbit (who did break his oath of his own volition), bites off his finger and falls into the Crack of Doom, thereby fulfilling Frodo’s Quest.
   
3. Sam is faithful to the very end. At the Havens, Frodo not only released Sam from service, but rewarded him with Bag End and the legacy of the Baggins family, all that would have passed or belonged to Frodo. Sam did not want to be released, but could not refuse Frodo’s generosity; and besides, he could not follow Frodo at that time.
   
4. Merry is released by Théoden and invited to serve Éowyn, whom he serves so faithfully that together, they defeat the Witch-king. Merry strenuously objected when Théoden released him, and willingly took up with “Dernhelm,” whom he did not recognize as Éowyn, to whose service Théoden had committed him.
   
5. Pippin is released by Denethor, but refuses release, and helps rescue Faramir. Later, Aragorn as King Elessar tells him:

   [D]o not forget, Peregrin Took, that you are a knight of Gondor, and I do not release you from your service. You are going now on leave, but I may recall you.

   Not only Pippin does not complain, when he returns to the Shire, he attacks the Ruffians as a knight of Gondor and in the name of the King.