[LegolasLover]

This poll will be used in one of my stories.

[Leila]

Happy sis? I voted.

[Viv]

I'd vote for Gollum if he was on the list.

[Maram68]

[Tripsoverhercats]

In the end, I would have to say it was Sam. Sure Frodo carried the darn thing, and Gollum did the "whoopsie I slipped!", but it was Sam that got them all there, by never once giving up.

[NancyBrooke]

Yeah, this was a tough question. I ultimately went with Frodo because that was my first immediate thought, but Sam was my considered thought.

After more thought I believe it was due to no individual; neither Sam nor Frodo could have accomplished it without the other. In the first part of the story it's really the Fellowship that makes it possible for Frodo to get to Rauros, then Frodo takes charge in the second part, more unless until Cirith Ungol, then it's more Sam's encouragement that allows Frodo to make it the rest of the way. Still, even at that point, Frodo certainly rallies himself several times. The Fellowship is the strength, Frodo is the will, Sam is the heart.

[Robbie]

I give the credit to the fires in Mount Doom. But what do I know? I've not even got past Bombadill in the book.... And now I've given the ending away. Sob! Ruined it. Should have warned myself this post was a plot spoiler, then I could have avoided reading it.

Ah, it's a slow night. Let's upload some more smilieeeeeees.

[Robbie]

[Scribe]

[LegolasLover]

I guess I should have had Gollum on the list.

[Aratlithiel]

Gah!! Gollum?!?!? Oy! My first post here and I'm jumping in with both feet...

I have been knee-deep in Tolkien since I was ten (and I will not tell you how long ago that was - suffice it to say it's been awhile). I have read LotR countless times, own and have read HoME cover to cover (all volumes), read Silm, UT, Letters...basically all of the peripheral pieces plus biographies and analyses and such. Yes - I proudly admit to being a Tolkien FREAK (although I can appear as a normal wife, mom and intelligent professional person when the mood strikes me ).

I preface with the preceding so that you will know that I am not talking through my hat with the following...

NOT Gollum!! No, really...NOT Gollum. Not Sam, not Gandalf, not anyone but Frodo. Did Sam help Frodo along the way and act as Frodo's physical self for a good deal of the last leg of the journey? Of course. Was Gandalf the driving force in getting the Quest moving and the races of the free world to act? Absolutely. Was Gollum the one who actually took the blasted thing into the fire? Yep.

!BUT!

According to Tolkien himself, had Gollum not come along after Frodo slipped the Ring on his finger, Frodo would have plunged himself and It into the flames. Not only that, but Frodo's pity for Gollum on the Emyn Muil and his preventing Sam from killing Gollum is what allowed the success of the Quest. Had Frodo allowed Sam to strike Gollum down, Frodo would have thrown himself into the flames and Sam most likely would have jumped in after him.

Also, Frodo's invocation to Gollum as he swore on the precious was instrumental in Gollum's fall. Frodo warned Gollum that should he try to harm Frodo, the Ring would betray him and should he (Frodo) command him to cast himself into the fire, he would obey. So the Ring, in essence, had a hand in Its own destruction by twisting Gollum's promise not to harm Frodo.

PLUS

Frodo's hope and will never gave out. Yes, he needed Sam to carry him and yes, Sam was instrumental in the physicality of the end of the Quest, but it was Frodo's will and Frodo's enduring hope that drove them both. If Frodo, even once, told Sam to turn around and take them home, Sam would have done so.

NO ONE else could have gotten to Mt. Doom without succumbing to the power of the Ring. Frodo carried It while It was at Its height of power yet still managed to gather the strength to walk through the dark door. Once he entered the Sammath Naur, he no longer had a choice. He stood in the center of evil with all of that power concentrated against him and still put up a fight, but there was not a soul in all the world who could have resisted it.

Not only could Sam not have done it, Sam would never have accepted the responsibility in the first place. Note his refusal of that responsibility when Frodo was held captive in the Tower. He risked the entirety of Middle earth to go back into a company of orcs for what he thought to be a corpse. Naturally, it's a good thing he did, but is that someone who could be trusted with such an enormous task?

Obviously, I could go on ad nauseum about this but I will stop now and take a breath. Thank you for allowing me to vent.

EDIT: And how the heck do you actually vote, anyway?

[Viv]

Arat, that wasn't a vent: it was a lesson. And I feel suitably instructed. That was great info about Tolkien's intentions and what he considered the pivotal moments in the quest. Thank you much for all this info. Am still soaking it all in.

[Aratlithiel]

Thank you, Viv. I hope I didn't start off on the wrong foot with anyone. (Have you noticed that I've made an inordinate amount of foot references in these posts? )

Btw - I read 'Estel' today and was VERY impressed. I won't reiterate my rev here, but it was a lovely piece.

[Ariel]

Are you KIDDING?!? Sam?!?!?

You have GOT to be joking!

I am afraid Aratlithiel is far more eloquent but no less fervent than I in asserting without a single shred of a doubt that it was Frodo who was the MOST responsible for the descruction of the ring. Yes, many people helped, and the quest could not have been accomplished with out the aid of all mentioned, including Gollum, and most especially Sam, but it was FRODO's will and strength and pity that was the driving force behind the mission's success. At the very last moment NO ONE, not even Gandalf, would have had the strength to have cast the ring in at the Sammath Naur - so to call him a failure at that point is to blame him, a humble hobbit, for not being able to fly...

Yeah, how DOES one vote in this thing? Is it a closed poll?

Ariel

[LegolasLover]

The poll is now closed and it has been closed for awhile (I only had it going for a few days), but you can still say who you think deserves the most credit.