My Brother's Keeper: The Spiritual Kinship of Frodo and Sméagol

After Frodo and Sam spot Gollum slinking down the cliff, the creature provides the answer to the Ring-bearer’s earlier wondering whether good or ill would guide him to the next part of his Road. More than anyone else, Sméagol walks in the worlds of both Dark and Light almost as much as Frodo but in opposite ways.

After Gollum slips off the wall, Sam jumps on him. Gollum attacks him, and Frodo draws Sting on their spy to save his friend’s life. The gardener advocates leaving the creature tied up with the rope to die a slow death. Frodo says that they cannot kill him for as yet no ill had been done to them. Sam disagrees and points out that further injury is most likely intended. Frodo does not argue. They both know that Gollum is undoubtedly up to no good. Nonetheless, the Ring-bearer bases his decision on present reality rather than on future possibility. Just because Gollum might, probably even will, harm them is simply not enough for Frodo to condemn him for a crime not yet committed.

During Frodo’s battle between fear and mercy, he recalls Gandalf’s words at Bag End about Bilbo’s pity and his own lack of it. He had made it perfectly clear that he wished his uncle had killed Gollum, but Linda Greenwood observes what happens as the Ring-bearer faces the creature himself.

"As these remembered words internally ring forth, Frodo lays down his sword. His desire for justice dies and he spares Gollum’s life. What is his motive? It seems to be a pure act of pity. His act is motivated by compassion. He acts with a mercy that demands and expects nothing in return, with the ‘Divine Gift-love’, which [C.S.] Lewis explains, enables a man ‘to love what is naturally unlovable . . .’ (Four Loves 128)" (“Love,” 179).

Frodo then speaks aloud to Gandalf, who, as far as he knows, is dead, and assures him that no harm will come to Gollum. The fear that caused the Ring-bearer to wish the wretched being dead has not left him, but what the wizard planted in the hobbit’s heart months earlier now bears fruit. Frodo sees Gollum for the first time, not only with his own eyes but with those of Bilbo’s and Gandalf’s. Fleming Rutledge beautifully makes note of another set: “Sam and Frodo both ‘see’ Gollum, but only Frodo is enabled to see him as God sees him. That sort of sight, as all the Gospels make clear, can be granted only by the grace of God” (Battle, 198). The Ring-bearer’s view of Gollum completely changes at this moment, and he wants Gandalf to know it. With such testimony, Frodo proves what Gimli said at Rivendell about the giving of one’s word strengthening a trembling heart. Pity softens the Ring-bearer’s former hostility, stays his hand, and enables him to give his oath. In some dim way, he realizes “There but for the grace of God go I,” as St. Philip Neri said. Like Bilbo, Frodo has no idea how momentous this decision is for himself and for all Middle-earth.

Through the sacrificial experience of carrying the Ring, Frodo gains insight into compassion for the tormented that he did not have before. The endurance of the painful presence of the demonic object, borne like a crown of thorns, makes possible the tremendous spiritual growth that the hobbit gains on the Quest. Helen Keller observed, “Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experiences of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired, and success achieved.” Adversity has indeed cleared Frodo’s sight. Safe in the Shire, well fed, innocent, and happy, the Ring-bearer did not understand how or why pity should be shown to Gollum. Now affected and infected by the same evil that has so long ravaged Sméagol and continues to do so, Frodo understands in the growing dark what was incomprehensible in the bright sunlight. He realizes he has met a kindred spirit, where before the idea that Gollum could be anything like hobbit-kind angered and offended him. Rather than to continue to call for his enemy’s blood, the younger Bearer begins to love his adversary as God instructs us all to do. In his acceptance of his role as his “brother’s guardian” (Gen. 4:9), he dedicates himself to easing the agony of one whose violation by evil is much greater than his own and to guiding him back to the Light.

To Sam’s surprise, Frodo tells Gollum of their intent to enter Mordor and asks for his aid. After Sméagol relieves the torture he had suffered there, Frodo says that if the creature helps him, such would also give the ruined hobbit freedom from Sauron’s domination. An interesting little bit of dialogue takes place toward the end of this conversation.

“Poor, poor Sméagol, he went away long ago. They took his Precious, and he’s lost now.”

“Perhaps, we’ll find him again, if you come with us,” said Frodo. (LOTR, 602).

Indeed, Sméagol does begin to re-emerge from Gollum through Frodo’s care. The younger Ring-bearer treats his brother hobbit with a dignity and compassion the tormented being has lacked for centuries. Frodo is careful to call him by his given name and, as God is the one who names, connects Sméagol once more to his Creator. Roger Sale notes, “Sméagol loves the specialness that is Frodo’s care of him” (“Tolkien and Frodo Baggins,” Tolkien and the Critics, 287). The dawning love Frodo receives in return is “the tentative unbelieving response to a caring so unlikely it seems heroic even to the Gollum” (ibid.).Even though the Ring’s corruption has held sway over Sméagol for so long, a little bit of his hobbit nature remains to respond to Frodo, as a flower reacts to sunlight. Though this particular flower is horribly deformed and even pale moonlight is painful to it, it still cannot help but to turn to Frodo’s light. The friendship of Frodo and Sam wonderfully exhibits many of the fruits of the Holy Spirit, which are outlined by St. Paul as “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, trustfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Gal. 5:22-23). But this is perhaps even more moving in the “scarred and beautiful relationship” (“Baggins,” 287) of Frodo and Sméagol. It is within this most unusual love story that Bradley J. Birzer observes the “most telling example” (Sanctifying Myth, 59) of the grace that abounds in Middle-earth. Ralph C. Wood notes, “Frodo calls forth Gollum’s best traits by refusing to focus on his worst ones. Tolkien thus echoes what, in his Confessions, St. Augustine says about God’s own love for him: ‘In loving me, You made me lovable’” (Gospel, 132). After hundreds of lonely years, Sméagol returns this care with as much strength as his atrophied goodness can. Though not speaking of Frodo, Servant of God Fr. John A. Hardon sheds light on the hobbit’s care for his fellow Ring-bearer: “By charity we are empowered to love others not only as much as we love ourselves. We are enabled to love others more than ourselves; to love others even as Christ has loved us, by suffering and dying on our cross out of love for others; to love others out of love for God constantly, patiently and generously beyond all human power and expectation” (“Baptism”).

Frodo first expressed this in his refusal to kill without need. He also shows it after Sméagol begs for release from the Elven rope that Sam gently tied around his ankle. The spiritual agony of evil coming into contact with goodness causes the physical pain that Gollum feels. Frodo says that he will not free him unless the creature gives him a trustworthy promise. Sméagol says that he will do what Frodo wants and insists on validating this on the Ring. The younger Bearer demonstrates another part of the discernment, wisdom, and grace that grows in him as he warns his brother hobbit about the peril of doing this. He remains in the Light even as night deepens around and in him. From this perspective, he guides his fellow Bearer and understands what is happening in both their souls. Frodo stands ever more in the same crucible as Sméagol, but he is still outside the prison that traps the latter, though his back is to the gate.

Frodo asks what vow the wretched hobbit wishes to give. Sméagol promises to be good and never to let Sauron regain the Ring. Again the miserable creature says that he must swear on the Precious. Frodo refuses because they both know worse madness would result if the already ruined hobbit sees and touches the demonic object that unites and later divides them. Frodo speaks here of the stage every addict reaches when the craving utterly possesses its victim. After all the time that Sméagol spent searching for it, what exquisite torment it must be for him now to have it so near and still not claim it. Even though Frodo knows the dangers of the terrible thing that he has held against his heart these many months, he is becoming increasingly consumed by it as well. In some ways, only an addict understands another addict.

Frodo accepts Sméagol’s promise and tells Sam to release the creature. The younger hobbit does so reluctantly. He cannot comprehend why his master is so kind, but the Ring-bearer sees more than his Sam does. Behind Gollum stands the suffering soul of Sméagol, and this is who Frodo frees.

After Sméagol chokes on the lembas bread, Frodo says, “I think this food would do you good, if you would try. But perhaps you can’t even try, not yet anyway” (LOTR, 608). In the magnificent BBC Radio adaptation, his voice is sad but also hopeful that one day liberation would come to Sméagol’s soul and enable him to partake of the blessed bread. Frodo recognizes the horrific damage done to Sméagol’s soul by the Ring, for he feels it happening in his own. But he also knows on a deeply intuitive level that the Eucharistic properties of the lembas would have a good effect on his wretched guide if Sméagol’s own spiritual journey advanced further. Gollum’s rejection of the food shows how much those who live in darkness hate anything to do with God. Yet Frodo keeps hoping and trying to “find some sort of entry into [Sméagol’s] imprisoned soul” (Rutledge, Battle, 199).

After Frodo, Sam, and Sméagol come to the Black Gate, the news that the present Ring-bearer intends to enter Mordor this way greatly frightens Sméagol. He begs Frodo not to and offers three alternatives: to keep the Ring, to give it back to him, or to use a more hidden path that he found long ago. After seeing the armies marching to the Gate, Frodo announces that he will trust his guide again in recognition of the fate binding them together. He warns Sméagol once more about the danger that threatens the ruined hobbit’s soul. After Gollum acknowledges the peril that they all face, Frodo says that he does not refers to this but to something particularly connected with Sméagol himself. Frodo goes on to caution his brother Bearer about the choke-hold that the Ring has on the wretched creature’s soul, of the futility of wishing to have the Precious back, and that lust for it may cause Sméagol’s death. Frodo foretells the exact nature of this, though he is unaware that he has done so. Possessive jealousy is perhaps also in play, as he twice tells his would-be rival that the Ring will never be Sméagol’s again. The younger Bearer continues to grow more spiritually attuned to the Ring himself, even as he warns Sméagol of its dangers.

After the Ithilien Rangers find Sméagol enjoying some fish at the Forbidden Pool, Faramir shows restraint in not immediately slaying a possible adversary. The man first seeks out Frodo, who begs for his guide’s life. He says the creature is not aware of the peril he is in and is in some mysterious way connected with the great task of the Ring. Frodo asks Faramir to allow him to go down to Sméagol and offers his own life in exchange if Gollum gets away. The Ring-bearer is so essential to the Quest, yet he is willing to put himself in danger to save another who is also vital.

Richard Purtill remarks, “One of Christ’s least popular commandments has always been that which tells us to ‘love our enemies, do good to those who hate you’ (Lk 6:27). But in Frodo’s treatment of Sméagol, the hobbit who has become Gollum, the monster, we can see this commandment at work in a situation we can believe in” (Lord of the elves and eldils, 2^nd ed., 194).

Even after Frodo’s plea, he still faces the temptation to have Gollum killed after hearing his guide talking. He longs for freedom from this voice, but he fights against the desire and instead saves the wretched creature’s life by the only way available. Frodo knows Sméagol’s ruined mind will probably not understand this and will consider it a betrayal instead. The Ring-bearer feels miserable about this, perhaps partly because he knows how close to reality it is, not only in outward appearance but also in quashed inward wish. It grieves him to deal such a bitter blow to Sméagol’s heart, which had been making tentative steps back to the Light. “[Frodo] despises using treachery even against the treacherous. . . . Even the faithless should be shown faith” (Wood, Gospel, 133).

After the Rangers capture Gollum and bring him before Faramir, the man says that he has so far spared him because of Frodo’s plea. But he adds that he has to know for himself whether the creature is worthy of escaping with his life. Bilbo, Frodo, and Faramir all look into Gollum’s soul and recognize the evil that dwells there, yet they all give mercy nonetheless. This gives the wretched hobbit further opportunity to repent and be cured.

After the interrogation of Gollum ends and Rangers take him away, the ensuing dialogue between Faramir and Frodo brings home the importance of keeping one’s word even if there is a possibility that it will bring harm to oneself. The Captain attempts to persuade his friend against following Gollum for the man has read Gollum’s dark heart. But the Ring-bearer has fully embraced Gandalf’s hope of a cure for his guide and defends him as not completely evil. Ralph Wood notes that

". . . Frodo has a strange respect for Gollum. He discerns, in a deeply intuitive way, that Gollum is divinely destined to play his crucial role. . . . Far more importantly, Frodo believes that Gollum is not fixed in evil, but that he has the capacity to overcome the addictive effects of the Ring. He wants, therefore, to extend at least minimal friendship to this miserable fellow hobbit. There is a tiny ray of light peeking into the prison cell of Gollum’s life, making him long to leave his wretched isolation and to find companionship with another creature of his own kind" (Wood, Gospel, 131).

Frodo speaks of his promise to look after Sméagol and to travel where he goes. The Ring-bearer does not want to go back on this, even after Faramir has warned him that Gollum will betray him. After the Ring-bearer asks if the man would advise him to be false to his guide, the Ranger refrains from giving into the fear and concern which has him long to give this counsel. In their preference for an untainted spiritual life over a compromised one, both Faramir and Frodo show they value being morally upright over physical safety and prize their soul over their body.

From the time they meet, Frodo and Sméagol travel in opposite directions: Frodo into deepening shadows and Sméagol away from them. On the Stairs they meet in the twilight, but the younger Bearer is asleep and does not realize the meeting had come. They travel then into increasing darkness. Their final sundering comes at Mount Doom.

After Sam carries Frodo out of the Sammath Naur, the Ring-bearer demonstrates once more the growth in grace that came from his fearful but willing embrace of his calling. He recalls Gandalf’s words that Gollum would have a special role. The Ring-bearer is intimately aware of the ability of evil to twist one, so his last words about his wretched guide, brother, and betrayer are a plea for forgiveness. This he does from his heart despite the treacheries that were mysteriously necessary parts of his journey.

Works Cited

Birzer, Bradley J. J. R. R. Tolkien’s Sanctifying Myth: Understanding Middle-earth. Wilmington, DE: ISI Books, 2003.

Greenwood, Linda. “Love: ‘The Gift of Death’.” In Tolkien Studies Volume II: An Annual Scholarly Review. Edited by Douglas Anderson, Michael D.C. Drout and Verlyn Flieger. Morgantown,WV: West Virginia UP, 2005: 171-195.

Hardon, John A., S. J. “Baptism, the Sacrament of Regeneration and the Supernatural Life.” http://www.therealpresence.org/archives/Sacraments/Sacraments_008.htm

The Jerusalem Bible Reader’s Edition. Ed. by Alexander Jones. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1968.

Purtill, Richard. Lord of the elves and eldils. 2^nd edition. San Francisco: Ignatius, 2006.

Rutledge, Fleming. The Battle for Middle-earth: Tolkien’s Divine Design in “The Lord of the Rings.” Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2004.

Sale, Roger. “Tolkien and Frodo Baggins.” In Tolkien and the Critics: Essays on J. R. R. Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings.” Edited by Neil D. Isaacs and Rose A. Zimbardo. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1968: 247-288.

Tolkien, J. R. R. The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien. Edited by Humphrey Carpenter. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2000.

———. The Lord of the Rings. 2^nd edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1965-66.

Wood, Ralph C. The Gospel According to Tolkien: Visions of the Kingdom in Middle-earth. Louisville, KY: Knox, 2003.

This is excerpted in great part from my book, Moments of Grace and Spiritual Warfare in The Lord of the Rings (WestBow Press). Want to read more? Don't miss out! Order your copy at:
http://ow.ly/ez2dT. This was published in Amon Hen, the Bulletin of the Tolkien Society.