Exploring Tolkien

53. The Path to Gollum’s Redemption | Tolkien Discusses What May Have Happened

30 May 2023

Audio

Description

With the release of the new Gollum game, we decided to take a deeper dive at this character--not his motivations or history, but what Tolkien specifically said about him in his letters. Tolkien indicates that the most moving scene in all of the Lord of the Rings was Gollum's near repentance on the stairs of Cirith Ungol, as he looked on Frodo and Sam sleeping: "Gollum looked at them. A strange expression passed over his lean hungry face. The gleam faded from his eyes, and they went dim and grey, old and tired. A spasm of pain seemed to twist him, and he turned away, peering back up towards the pass, shaking his head, as if engaged in some interior debate. Then he came back, and slowly putting out a trembling hand, very cautiously he touched Frodo’s knee – but almost the touch was a caress. For a fleeting moment, could one of the sleepers have seen him, they would have thought that they beheld an old weary hobbit, shrunken by the years that had carried him far beyond his time, beyond friends and kin, and the fields and streams of youth, an old starved pitiable thing." Tolkien believed that Gollum was on the precipice of redemption, and quite nearly found his love for Frodo competing with his desire for the ring! Join us in our extended episode where we discuss the best Lord of the Rings games made, and--if we were given the opportunity to make a game--what game would each of us create in Tolkien's world. To get the extended episode, become a member at https://www.theonering.com/members ($4/mo and free for the 1st month)! BECOME A MEMBER! Get access to the extended edition of this podcast, our private Discord chat, and live chats. Click here! Episode Links Gollum Game (only buy this at a deep discount) Game Livestream #1 Game Livestream #2 ???? Subscribe to our Podcast Get the Extended Podcast Subscribe on Apple Subscribe on Google ???? If You Like Tolkien The Silmarillion The Fall of Númenor The Fall of Gondolin The Children of Hurin The Atlas of Middle-earth The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien

Transcription

This episode hasn't been transcribed yet

Help us prioritize this episode for transcription by upvoting it.

0 upvotes

🗳️ Sign in to Upvote

Popular episodes get transcribed faster

Other recent transcribed episodes

Transcribed and ready to explore now

3ª PARTE | 17 DIC 2025 | EL PARTIDAZO DE COPE

01 Jan 1970

El Partidazo de COPE

13:00H | 21 DIC 2025 | Fin de Semana

01 Jan 1970

Fin de Semana

12:00H | 21 DIC 2025 | Fin de Semana

01 Jan 1970

Fin de Semana

10:00H | 21 DIC 2025 | Fin de Semana

01 Jan 1970

Fin de Semana

13:00H | 20 DIC 2025 | Fin de Semana

01 Jan 1970

Fin de Semana

12:00H | 20 DIC 2025 | Fin de Semana

01 Jan 1970

Fin de Semana

Comments

There are no comments yet.

Please log in to write the first comment.

Report any issue

Exploring Tolkien

53. The Path to Gollum’s Redemption | Tolkien Discusses What May Have Happened

This episode hasn't been transcribed yet

Other recent transcribed episodes

3ª PARTE | 17 DIC 2025 | EL PARTIDAZO DE COPE

13:00H | 21 DIC 2025 | Fin de Semana

12:00H | 21 DIC 2025 | Fin de Semana

10:00H | 21 DIC 2025 | Fin de Semana

13:00H | 20 DIC 2025 | Fin de Semana

12:00H | 20 DIC 2025 | Fin de Semana

Sign in to Audioscrape

Share this moment