I love that Sméagol brings 2 rabbits, one for him, one for Frodo -- none for Sam. Sam is mean and terrible, stuffed his face in front of Sméagol, said he should starve, he really deserves no foods from poor Sméagol.
But Frodo is kind and tried to feed him the bread, even if he couldn't eat it. He tried!
Frodo is his friend! He looks after Sméagol, and Sméagol wants to look after him too. He wants to provide for Frodo, feed him, eat together with him! Be friendly ~
It's very cute. Makes me think of young Sméagol catching fish to eat with Déagol!
I was wondering what you think about Smeagol/Gollum’s response to affection. For example, if someone were to hold and comfort him, how do you think he would react, emotionally, physically, considering his long isolation and traumatic past? Is it a silly question? Maybe, but I can’t help but wonder, because it’s the first thing I always want to do every time I see him.
Hello! That's a fun question. I think about it a lot, so I'm prepared.
My thoughts:
SMÉAGOL
Sméagol is touch-starved. He's very handsy and touchy. Touch means a lot to him. He'd be afraid of it, initially, for obvious reasons (being tortured), but more than he fears it, he is desperate for it. He craves kindness and affection, understanding and intimacy after so long of being without. If you were kind, and patient, and slow, and showed him that you are trust-worthy and mean no harm, he would be receptive to it. I think he would begin to obsessively seek out that form of affection.
I usually write Frodo as being the one to touch him after so long, and imagine it starting with Sméagol being confused and uneasy, tight and tense, then slowly easing into it, loosening and resting his head against the other. Sort of like lowering oneself into a hot tub after having been out in the cold all day. I imagine he would reciprocate (being as handsy as he is) with petting, gripping.
GOLLUM
Gollum would hate it. He is the protector, he keeps them safe from harm, and keeps Sméagol under his control, partly through avoidance. "Don't get close, don't get attached." After realizing Sméagol's desire for the affection, he'd (best case) try to convince Sméagol that you're terrible and that they should leave you behind. Worst case, he'd try to convince Sméagol that they should kill you (and then eat you if they have the chance).
Sméagol is so adorable, he's so worried for his Master! His new friend who was nice to him, reminded him of who he was, reminded him of Déagol!
I love too that it's parallel to young Sméagol worrying for Déagol when he is pulled out of the boat!! "Déagol...!"
(There's a lot of things that makes it clear to me that the Sméagol-Déagol flashback sequence was originally going to be in the Dead Marshes scene, they add in a lot of subtext in Two Towers thats is made to be compared to that flashback)
Sméagol and Frodo Music Video - Meet Me in the Woods
I made this as a tribute of Sméagol and Frodo's relationship. A lot of the time I am showing the similarities between them, how they went from living happy peaceful lives to being tormented by the Ring, having to leave their homes, seeing horrors, being overtaken by darkness.
Then they come together, and there is beauty and shared hurts and understanding... but they end up betraying each other.
Here it is on YouTube:
(More descriptive below if you want to know the meaning behind everything, I was very deliberate with the making of this music video:)
The intro: Frodo and Sméagol living peaceful lives. It's sad because this is what they lost. This shows ways they relate, part of what creates their understanding of one another.
I took a little journey to the unknown: Frodo's journey with the Ring. Traveling across Middle-Earth, to Mordor. Sméagol going to the Misty Mountains after being banished from family. Both leaving their peace and happiness because of the Ring. More showing why they understand one another.
I come back changed, I can feel it in my bones: Frodo returns to the Shire unable to fully heal. Sméagol begins his transformation. (If there was footage, I would have showed Sméagol returning home to his family, changed, but we didn't get that)
I fucked with forces that our eyes can't see: Sauron is the unseen force that they both are tormented by.
And now the darkness got a hold on me: Both succumbing to the power of the Ring.
Ooohh, ladadada: Sméagol chokes Déagol/Frodo puts a knife to Sam's throat.
Ooohh, ladadada: Frodo is tempted to put on the Ring/Sméagol puts on the Ring.
Similar experiences.
How long, baby, have I been away?: Sméagol at the edge of the mountains, having been banished from home.
It feels like ages, though you say it's only days: It's not been that long since Frodo left the Shire, but it feels so much longer.
There ain't language for the things I've seen, yeah: SméaGollum being violently tortured by orcs, by Sauron's Black Hand. Frodo witnessing the true forms of the Nazgul.
And the truth is stranger than my own worst dreams: Frodo sees the eye of Sauron once wearing the Ring. I'm sure that's stranger than any dream he's had, can't even think that sort of horrific thing up.
The truth is stranger than all my dreams: Same as above, they've faced horrors in the real life that are worse than I'm sure they could have imagined prior to the Ring. I showed both Frodo and Sméagol waking up from nightmares because I love the mirroring. That mirroring is peppered throughout the entire trilogy.
Oh, the darkness got a hold on me: The first time Frodo snaps at Sam, the darkness of the Ring beginning to poison him. Then the transition from Gollum to Sméagol.
They have practically the same exact experience.
I put the first chorus from Frodo's point of view.
I have seen what the darkness does: Frodo has indeed seen. Sméagollum is living proof. And he's experiencing it himself.
Say goodbye to who I was: Frodo is no longer that smiley Hobbit he once was.
I ain't never been away so long, don't look back them days are gone: Frodo weeps for his old life, weeps over the burden he now has. And he says don't look back, those days are gone. He has to let it go and move forward and destroy the Ring.
Follow me into the endless night: Frodo manipulatively leads Sméagol out of the Forbidden Pool...
I can bring your fears to life: ... resulting in Sméagol being captured by the men, to be beaten mercilessly. This was one of Sméagollum's biggest fears-- he needed protection, he trusted Frodo. Frodo said he'd look after him, and Frodo broke that promise. Betrayed by the only person he thought he could trust. The fear doesn't come just from being hurt, but from being betrayed by the only other person he had feelings for in over 500 years.
Show me yours, and I'll show you mine: A fear they both share -- the Ring.
Meet me in the woods tonight: I look at these particular lyrics as metaphorical more than literal, basically saying that all the lyrics that came before, is what he is offering. It's an invitation. "let us come together, meet me eye to eye. Let me see you, I'll let you see me, even if it will hurt us." So I used the footage of Frodo questioning Sméagol, Sméagol lowering his walls for Frodo. That very moment is THE MOMENT of their relationship. They were already bound, but that moment there is what sealed the deal. Frodo reminding Sméagol of who he is... Sméagol says his name for the first time in over 500 years...
Oooh, ladadada: ... and then Gollum speaks the name for the first time. Sssmmméagooolll.... He takes it over, and that moment Sméagol and Frodo shared is corrupted. All triggered by Frodo's betrayal.
Yeah, the truth is stranger than my own worst dreams: Frodo being sucked into Minas Morgal. Strange, horrific.
Oh, the darkness got a hold on me: The Ring takes Frodo over completely/Gollum is taken over and reaches for it.
The second chorus is from Sméagol's point of view.
I have seen what the darkness does, say goodbye to who I was: Sméagol knows what the darkness of the Ring did to him, what it turned him into, what it took from him.
I ain't never been away so long, don't look back them days are gone: been away from his home for so long, he looks back one more time, knowing he can never get back what he had, and then crawls into the cave, where he forgets.
Follow me into the endless night: Like Frodo lead him to get taken by the men, Sméagol leads Frodo to get taken by Shelob. It's a reciprocal act
I can bring your fears to life: Frodo's fear, being killed, unable to complete his mission, having the Ring stolen from him.
Show me yours, and I'll show you mine: Another of Frodo's fears -- being taken over by the Ring. Killing in the name of the Ring. That's why I showed Frodo choking Sméagol then stopping. And Sméagol's fear, the Ring being destroyed.
Meet me in the woods tonight: the same as how Frodo meant it. It's an offering, an invitation of coming together, whether it'll hurt them or not. And indeed it did.
Oooh, ladadada: Sméagol is taken over by Gollum. He can't allow the Ring to be destroyed.
Oooh, ladadada: Gollum attacks Frodo. Frodo chokes Gollum/Gollum chokes Frodo. Reciprocal, mirrored. Gollum's snarling face turns into Frodo's snarling face.
Oooh: They fight over the Ring, both their darkest selves. The last fight they'll have, the end to their relationship.
Meet me in the woods tonight, oooh: Flashbacks. Their offering, the invitation, their coming together, their bond, didn't only result in pain. Sméagol brings Frodo rabbits. They smile, they're happy together. Their was hope
Meet me in the woods tonight: And then it goes downhill. Frodo's perceived betrayal sets in motion a sequence of events that leads up to the end of their relationship. The rest of the song is "meet me in the woods tonight" repeated over and over. And I look at it as saying, "now the pain comes, it was in the offering"
Oh, meet me in the woods tonight: Sméagol's pain from the betrayal...
Oh, meet me in the woods tonight: Sméagol deciding to betray Frodo...
Oh, meet me in the woods tonight: Sméagol manipulating Frodo.
Then as the instrumentals fade out, we head back to Mordor, back to the present, where the two fall, and thus ends their relationship. Because, of course, poor Sméagollum fell. :(
i get annoyed people assuming that either Sméagol has no idea what love is or that he is homophobic. he knows what Frodo and Sam have, watching them sleep together was the reason he almost changed his ways. he remembered love, he knows what it is, and he himself loved Frodo (Tolkien says so and even refers to the 3 of them as a love triangle)
I had a dream that I was Frodo (I'm usually Sméagollum in my dreams, so that was interesting), and the Ring was tempting me, and I started to go into that dissociative state. Everything and everyone (including Sam) faded away -- all but the Ring and Gollum. Gollum was still clear to me, and even took on a golden hue. He was also feeling the call of the Ring (I could feel Sauron trying to home in on it). Gollum was staring very intensely at the Ring, while it was around my neck, and I knew that he and I were in the same state; more than that, it felt almost like we were in the same energy field. And I felt what he felt, because of our connection through the Ring ("and in the darkness bind them").
I thought it was interesting because this fits how it goes in the movies. Sam fades away, that relationship withers, and his relationship with Sméagollum grows stronger. I was thinking, not just because Frodo's faith/hope relies on Sméagol, but also, BECAUSE Sméagollum is also bound to the Ring, he begins to feel realer to Frodo than Sam.
Anyway, this is basically what it looked like in my dream (I'm impressed by how similar it looks, actually). I left the right side wide and open (I didn't center Gollum) because Sauron/Mordor was also a big part of it (which I suppose is a given).
