Wk 12 Bk6 Ch7: Frodo's Illness

[Stormrider]

From: Storrmrider (Original Message) Sent: 6/12/2003 10:50 PM

Frodo succumbing to the Black Breath after being stabbed
by the morgul blade on Weathertop on October 6th.
Elijah Wood as Frodo from FOTR movie

Gandalf stated that "Some wounds cannot be wholly cured."

Why would these wounds be incurable or take a long time in healing?

And why would they only cause Frodo pain and remind him of the darkness on the anniversary of receiving them?

Gandalf had said during the Last Debate that Sauron "will become a mere spirit of malice that gnaws itself in the shadows, but cannot again grow or take shape."

Can the "spirit of malice" have control over Frodo's wounds and cause them to re-occur? Is this how Sauron could be "getting even" with Frodo?

Or is this reoccurance caused by something else?

The day after he suffered his painful reminders, "Frodo was merry again as if he didn't remember the blackness of the day before".

Do you think Frodo did remember that pain and darkness or was it blocked from his memory as soon as it passed?

[Stormrider]

From: Storrmrider Sent: 6/23/2003 11:11 PM

Wound of Long Burden by Lissanne Lake

Wk14, Bk6, Ch9 DISCUSSION: Frodo's Illness - cont'd

Frodo is reminded every year by recurring pains from wounds he received and by troubled memories. These illnesses take place on the anniversary of certain events during his Quest to destroy the Ring. These are the dates that Tolkien references in the book:

Oct. 6th Wounded by morgul blade on Weathertop
March 13th Poisoned by Shelob and taken to the Tower of Cirith Ungol

Why would these particular events trigger these reminders?

Were there any other times during Frodo's Quest that you would expect to have triggered the illnesses as well?

I was surprised to see that on March 25th--the date Gollum fell into the Cracks of Doom with the Ring--that the fit had passed and Frodo had recovered. Wouldn't you think that this date would have triggered the worst of the illnesses? Why did Frodo recover on this day of all days?

As the FOTR starts out, Frodo is a happy hobbit who loves the Shire very much. Although he loves to hear of Bilbo's tales of travel, Frodo would much rather stay content, secure, and happy at home. Only because he has inherited the Ring is Frodo forced out into the world and ensnared in an important world saving quest. So it bothered me to see "Frodo dropped quietly out of all the doings of the Shire."

Shouldn't Frodo be relieved, glad, and unburdened because the Ring was destroyed rather than going through this sort of withdrawal?