The Treason of Isengard (= History of Middle-earth, VII), chapter XI, p. 208:
"Gollum is daunted by Frodo -- who has a power over him as
Ringbearer. (But use of Ring proves bad since it re-establishes power of
Ring over Frodo after his cure. At end he cannot willingly part with
it.)"
[Emphasis as in original; n.b. the words "use of Ring" -- which gives Ring
power over Frodo.]
I was very pleased to find that passage -- I had built up my entire
interpretation on this key supposition: Frodo's use of the Ring to control
Gollum gave the Ring power to control Frodo. Finding a passage that
attested exactly that -- Eureka!
I stand by old opinion. In Lorien Frodo asks Galadriel why, when he puts
the Ring on his finger, he cannot see the other Ringbearers' thoughts:
"'I would ask one thing before we go,' said Frodo, 'a thing
which I often meant to ask Gandalf in Rivendell. I am permitted to wear
the One Ring: why cannot I see all the others [i.e. the other rings] and know
the thoughts of those that wear them?'
'You have not tried,' she said.' Only thrice have you
set the Ring upon your finger since you knew what you possessed. Do not
try! It would destroy you. Did not Gandalf tell you that the rings
give power according to the measure of each possessor? Before you could use
that power you would need
to become far stronger, and to train your will to the domination of
others.'
(FotR, "The Mirror of Galadriel")
For Frodo to use the Ring fully he must first train his will to the domination
of others. Now look at the passage in which Frodo tames Sméagol; Gollum
has just made an offer to swear an oath on the Ring; Frodo refuses to
show him the Ring, but tells Gollum that he [Frodo] has the Ring and will let
Gollum swear by it.
"For a moment it appeared to Sam that his master had grown
and Gollum had shrunk: a tall stern shadow, a mighty lord who hid his
brightness in grey cloud, and at his feet a little whining dog. ...
Gollum raised himself and began pawing at Frodo, fawning at his knees.
'Down! down! ' said Frodo. 'Now speak your
promise!'
'We promises, yes I promise!' said Gollum. 'I will
serve the master of the Precious. Good master, good Sméagol, gollum,
gollum!'"
Oh, does Frodo ever train his will to the domination of another in this
scene! And, yes, he uses the
Ring. Of course you don't have to have the Ring on your finger to use it,
just as little as you have actually to wear the Ring for it to lengthen your
life. Merely holding the Ring is enough for it to affect you -- and for
you to use it. Frodo's holding of the Ring, and his figuratively holding
it over Gollum's head, allows Frodo to gain control over Gollum. Yet
using the Ring in any way -- and especially to dominate another -- gives it a
bit of control. From Letter Nr. 246, p. 331: "[Frodo] needed time, much
time, before he could control the Ring or (which in such a case is the same)
before it could control him; before his will and arrogance could grow to a
stature in which he could dominate other major hostile wills." When Frodo
trains his will to the domination of Gollum and uses the Ring to control Gollum
in the process, the Ring gains that much control over Frodo. Tolkien
would have hated the adversion to Wagner, but all the same it fits: Des Ringes
Herr ist der Ringes Knecht; the Ring's lord is the Ring's slave.
From this point onwards Frodo has to exert more and more energy in resisting
the Ring's attempts to control him. That is why Frodo is so much
more exhausted than Sam during the journey across Mordor -- Frodo is fighting
the Ring every step of the way, as the Ring's power grows.
At the end, "after long possession, months of increasing torment, ... when
starved and exhausted [when] Frodo had done what he could and spent himself
completely," the Ring takes over Frodo completely. (Quotation from
Letter, Nr. 246, p. 326)
Here is, I feel, the real trap into which Tolkien makes Frodo walk: For
Frodo even to get the Ring to Mordor, where it might be destroyed, Frodo needs
Gollum's help. The only way to get Gollum's help is to use the Ring to
control Gollum. Doing that gives the Ring power over Frodo -- and
ultimately makes it impossible for Frodo to cast the Ring in, sets up the
moment in which the Ring takes over Frodo's will. What a horrible choice
Frodo must make! For he knows, since Galadriel has told him so, what will
happen: "Do not try! It would destroy you." As Sam might have said,
"that's hard. Cruel hard."
Frodo makes his choice, lays his life and will open to the
Ring's power knowing full well that it may mean his own destruction -- and gets
the Ring to Mt. Doom. As he said he would: "I will take the Ring [to
Mordor] though I do not know the
way."
__________________________________
All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.
