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Does Barliman Have a Beard? And Other Important Fannish Issues - Page 2

© Michael Martinez

Tolkien went to considerable effort to make it clear that Frodo wasn't speaking, but once again the author's opinion doesn't matter. As Sam looks on with "other vision" he sees a figure robed in white (Frodo, although I've been told it could also have been Iluvatar) facing a cowering shadow (Gollum -- no one seems to dispute this identification). The robed figure clutches a wheel of fire at its breast -- precisely where the Ring hung on its chain about Frodo's neck, precisely where Frodo's hand is grasping his shirt, holding the Ring, when Sam sees with his "usual vision" once again. Tolkien has by this point in the story already identified the Ring with the wheel of fire -- twice. Nonetheless, some people question whether the wheel of fire that Sam sees with "other vision" can really be the Ring. Why is the identification so important? Because the voice Sam hears (while he is seeing with "other vision") comes from the wheel of fire (the text says "out of the fire there spoke a commanding voice", but since there is only one firey thing that Sam sees...well, some people have even argued that the voice didn't come from the wheel of fire). So, J.R.R. Tolkien tells us that Frodo sees the Ring as a wheel of fire...that the Ring becomes so burdensome to him that is all Frodo can really see. Sam then sees Frodo clutching a wheel of fire at his breast. It should seem fairly straightforward to identify the wheel of fire as the Ring. But that pesky commanding voice gets in the way of allowing the wheel of fire to be the Ring. One person went so far as to suggest that Frodo was literally holding the Ring to his mouth to speak through it to Gollum. When I asked how one should account for the fact that Frodo is suddenly clutching the Ring at his breast when Sam's normal vision returns, I was told that the "wheel of fire" was the size of a tire or wagon wheel while Frodo spoke. So, even though Tolkien never referred to this ability, the One Ring apparently has an incredible expanding and shrinking power. Note: I have been accused of sophistry on numerous occasions after merely citing the book. So, on the basis of such sound logic and reasoning, I must concede that given how irrelevant The Lord of the Rings is to any discussion of The Lord of the Rings, it may be misleading to actually consider what the book says....

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