that seems to be sworn by the ring itself. It seems to me that oaths have an
economy of their own.
...Sam saw these two rivals with other vision. A crouching shape,
scarcely more than the shadow of a living thing, a creature now wholly ruined
and defeated, yet filled with a hideous lust and rage; and before it stood
stern, untouchable now by pity, a figure robed in white, but at its breast it
held a wheel of fire. Out of the fire there spoke a commanding voice.
'Begone, and trouble me no more! If you touch me ever again you shall be cast
yourself into the Fire of Doom." (emphasis mine)
The oath does not come from Frodo, but from the fire.
Yes Ilúvatar makes the best of the oath gone wrong, but oaths (words?
language?) go wrong because they speak beyond their own ken so the same words
spoken worlds and contexts that have not yet happened mean something
different. The ring swears its oath against Gollum not knowing its own
fate is tied to that creature's. The words take on a terribly different meaning
as Gollum dances on the edge of the abyss.
Tolkien doesn't merely give us a lesson on the good or evil of oaths, but
rather on the folly of expecting words to remain locked in the meaning given
them when spoken. Yes the speaker is not aware of the extremes to which
an oath might go before it is fulfilled, but that is more simply because what
the oath itself means will change as contexts change.
And yet, oaths seem unreliable only when observed in their immediate and
earthly finality. Ilúvatar keeps oaths (language?) from deteriorating
completely so that in a realm beyond the life of the oathmaker it's all
eventually
good.
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Fair seagull on the seething tide, like snow or the white moon in colour, your beauty is unsullied, like a patch of sunlight, gauntlet of the sea; lightly you skim the ocean wave, swift proud bird ...
Welsh; Dafydd ap Gwilym, 1325-c. 1380
