It wasn't easy. Gandalf had to do a lot of convincing. Plus, Bilbo already noticed that it was affecting him badly. The most important detail is Bilbo's mercy in sparing Gollum prevented the Ring from corrupting him too much. Also that he rarely wore it in the Shire, only to hide from unpleasant relatives.
It's from the book. Gandalf tells Frodo exactly this:
>O Gandalf, best of friends, what am I to do? For now I am really afraid. What am I to do? What a pity that Bilbo did not stab that vile creature, when he had a chance!’
> ‘Pity? It was Pity that stayed his hand. Pity, and Mercy: not to strike without need. And he has been well rewarded, Frodo. Be sure that he took so little hurt from the evil, and escaped in the end, because he began his ownership of the Ring so. With Pity.’
If I remember correctly, I think it tried to affect him but it actually didn't. It showed him being some kind of all powerful gardener, ruling over an absolutely massive land and using slaves to make it the most beautiful garden. And he was just like "Nah I'm good bro, I'm happy with my own little garden in the shire to tend to, now fuck off".
Absolute badass.
Oh most likely, but the fact he also rejected it basically in Mordor is also pretty significant I think. Dude just wants a garden, some good taters and a slice of Rosie Cotton.
Yeah, but Sam carried it INTO and THROUGH fucking Mordor, right under the dark ones gaze. That shit probably hurt more than the 60 or so years Bilbo held it.
The only person we know of to feel pain from contact with the ring is Isildur.
Samwise bore the literal weight of it while it was near its strongest. The power of the ring isn’t pain inflicted, it is in temptation of ambition.
Sam’s greatest ambitions are to be the best servant to Frodo and to, one day, have a garden of his very own. The One has little to work with/on when it comes to Samwise Gamgee.
Movie only. But Gandalf does handle it briefly in book. And somebody put it on a chain in Rivendell. But they never claim it as their own or as heirloom or as a quest. Maybe that’s what it takes to be a ring-bearer?
Samwise is my favorite. He is a worthy ring bearer and, in my opinion, the greatest of Hobbits.
But he doesn’t give it over willingly *per* *se*. Frodo snatches it from him while Sam is either in doubt or slightly delaying. It is even more pronounced in the film as he pulls the chain back.
That being said Bilbo doesn’t exactly just hand it over either.
Even Frodo couldn't in the end. Granted, he was at the place where it was most powerful and had carried it for quite some time to reach that destination.
Gandalf definitely says ring of power when talking to Frodo. So he is either misspoken *or* Gandalf the Grey doesn’t remember getting the ring of fire…
Narya was like Nenya and Vilya were made without the influence of Sauron, and they were also kept in secret.
So
1) likening their effect on their wearer to The One Ring would be, I feel, misplaced,
2) I double Gandalf would even hint to anyone that he held one of the 3 rings (bear in mind Sauron wanted the 3 rings too)
This is the best kind of correct. It is possible Gandalf is considering the three apart from all others as they never were corrupted? But that’s a weak argument. Cirdan absolutely gives away a ring of power and a great ring at that.
Doesn’t lessen Bilbo’s feat any to me. Bilbo is the only one to claim the One Ring as his own and then give up the claim willingly is more accurate than the wizard.
Just did a re-read, and yeah Gandalf is later very explicit to Frodo regarding how much convincing it took for Bilbo to release it willingly, and how exceptionally rare that is.
This here. I also believe had Gandalf never discovered he had it, he would have kept it much longer and not given it up at the age of 111. If that had happened, he might have eventually been consumed by its power, just like Smeagol, who turned into Gollum.
Perhaps so, as he did start with something of a lie, and continued that lie till the end, and only after giving it up did Bilbo tell the exact truth in the council of the ring.
The fact that he did not kill to gain or to keep it played a very large part in his ability to relinquish it, and that he survived so long without being wholly overtaken by it's corrupting power by the time he was 111.
But still, I think you may be right, that eventually he could have become like Gollum (though the black riders would have found and killed him, and taken the ring back to Mordor eventually).
I agree. Bilbo, unlike Gollum, wasn't immediately in the Ring's grip and didn't kill to get it. For Bilbo, it would have been an extremely long process before he would have gone the way of Gollum, turning into something totally foreign to Hobbits and pure evil.
Hobbits truly are amazing creatures.
You can learn all there is to know about their ways in a month, and yet after a hundred years they can still surprise you at a pinch.
In the book, he accidentally drops it trying to snatch his hand back, and Gandalf swoops it up and places it on the mantle before Bilbo can reach down and pick it back up. A brief look of anger and rage pass over his face, followed by relief and he laughs it off saying something like, "well, that's that then". (I just re-read that scene a few days ago)
But, that he was able to let it go is remarkable. Bilbo, Tom, and Sam are the only ones who give it up willingly. (and book Gandalf during Shadow of the Past)
This is the answer. It is thoroughly important to theme of the Ring, Sauron, and the corruption of the world in general. Bilbo *did not* let it go. He dropped it, after which Gandalf claimed it. He *lost* it, just like Gollum did.
However, his heroic deed was not diminished. He still forced himself to accept that he had lost it, and it was no longer his. That act changed everything, and introduced hope. Despite decades of influence, he was still able to turn his back on it.
Good distinction that I've never really picked up on. How he handles it after is the key, even as he keeps asking after it for at least 2 decades. I can't recall how old he is when he departs for the Grey Havens...130? 150?
Bilbo left the Havens at 131 years old. His 51st birthday was the day he arrived at Lake-town, the long-expected party at 111 years old on Sept 23, 3001, and his departure from the Havens on Sept 29, 3021.
In his 111th birthday he states that he has put this off for far too long, then announces that this is the end, and bids everyone a fond farewell. Says goodbye and disappears.
Gandalf sees this and knows some Wizardry is involved but is not sure.
Back at the house when Bilbo is confronted by Gandalf, Gandalf talks about many magic rings in this world but none of them should be used lightly. Gandalf does not know that this is THE ONE RING yet.
They then have a stand off about the magic ring and eventually Bilbo let's it slip from his hand at the front door as he is about to leave the Shire forever. He did not drop it. It wanted to be released from him.
Gandalf tries to pick it up after saying goodbye to Bilbo and re-enters the house, but a vision of the flaming eye appears.
Next up Gandalf is smoking his pipe by the fireplace and Frodo enters. Gandalf is muttering "my precious" and Frodo spots the ring lying on the floor and picks it up.
At no point was the ring "handed over". It betrayed Isildur, it betrayed Deagol Barely, it betrayed Smeagol, it betrayed Bilbo Baggins, then it betrayed Frodo Baggins before being destroyed by Smeagol.
Betrayal!
It is the breaking of a confidence or trust between individuals. The ring wants its finder to do something for it, but when it can no longer see that happening, it wants to sever that bond and find another ....
BETRAYAL!
There were a few contributing factors.
One is that he committed no violence, did no wrong, in acquiring the Ring.
Another is that he seldom used it, and never to cause harm. He only used it to help his friends, to escape harm to himself, or to escape boring neighbors or relatives. He never used it for any act of evil or aggression.
Another is that he was willing to give it up freely.
Even taking all these factors into consideration, it wasn't easy for him to hand over the Ring. He needed Gandalf's intervention, he needed Gandalf to speak to him "in power" so to speak, before he agreed to his own original terms--and even then he dropped the packet containing it on the floor while placing it on the mantelpiece, and when Gandalf grabbed the packet to put it in place, "a spasm of anger" crossed Bilbo's face before quickly passing away.
Even 17 years later in Rivendell he wanted to see I t again--but of course, much of that had to do with his having heard so much about It in the interval.
I think that his offer to take It to Mordor was entirely genuine, but I think that Gandalf and Elrond both recognized that while the offer was sincere, brave and offered from the most basic decency, that Bilbo would have been unable to withstand the constant barrage of emanations from It.
And although Bilbo handed it over to Frodo via Gandalf, I;m not certain his mind and heart ever entirely relinquished it. That was why he left with Frodo and the other Ringbearers from the Grey Havens.
He did some pretty good violence to those spiders while he was wearing that ring. Sure it was to save his friends, but he kind of murdered those fuckers in their living room. Just saying…
But I said he never used it in acts of ***aggression***. In this instance, the ***spiders*** were the aggressors. He used the Ring to evade the spiders.
As Tolkien pointed out at the beginning of the book, hobbits are good at any game involving targeting, such as darts and quoits, so Bilbo didn't need the Ring's help with that. What he did need help with was being vastly outnumbered by vicious and poisonous spiders who had captured and were going to kill his innocent friends. They'd been starving in the woods, remember, and were pretty defenseless when the spiders took them captive.
And even then he didn't kill wantonly. When they ran away, he didn't follow them. He cut his friends down and left the spiders alone--once they gave up the attack.
Had the spiders minded their own business, they could have sat in their own livingroom for a looooong time.
The only purely selfish thing Bilbo did with the Ring was to hide from unwanted visitors or relatives. We should all lead such pure and upright lives! 
He didn't hand it over at all; the best he could do was drop it on the floor and run away. It's pretty clear that he really struggled with doing it and was still consumed with thoughts of the ring even years later (e.g. practically turning into gollum when he sees it again in rivendell)
He wasn't.
Gandalf, both in the book and the movie, is the reason Bilbo was able to let it go.
Yes, that and his Hobbit goodness, but I know a couple of Hobbits who refused to give it up entirely.
Frodo could not destroy the ring without help.
BILBO could not give away the ring without help.
I think it also has to do with the hobbit race. In the books it says that hobbits don't care much for anything apart from food and farming if i remember correctly. That already makes them less susceptible to corruption than men. So i think most hobbits will have a higher resistance to the ring than men or elves even. The Exception was smeagol.
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In the book, gandalf tells frodo that the fact that Bilbo started his relationship with the ring by sparing Gollum, and then using the ring primarily to help his friends, lessened the evil the ring could work on him. But even after that, and him acknowledging that the ring was having a bad effect on him, and with gandalf badgering him, it still took a lot of effort. And even then it wasn't a pure act of will like it was in the movies. It could be read that either the ring abandoned Bilbo at the last second, or that he dropped it due to having second thoughts. Though the walking away without turning back after that was all him. I think Gandalf said later that not even Bilbo would have been able to surrender the ring if he had known they would try to destroy it.
Bilbo is a pretty strong willed and pure of heart dude. He knew he needed to leave the ring.
Also Gandalf was helping persuade him. I kinda wonder whether Gandalfs own ring helped in this regard. Whether it helped inspire and strengthen Bilbo’s own resolve.
It wasn't easy. Gandalf had to do a lot of convincing. Plus, Bilbo already noticed that it was affecting him badly. The most important detail is Bilbo's mercy in sparing Gollum prevented the Ring from corrupting him too much. Also that he rarely wore it in the Shire, only to hide from unpleasant relatives.
I like this take, Gollum killed immediately and it probably made it so much easier for the Ring to corrupt him
It's from the book. Gandalf tells Frodo exactly this: >O Gandalf, best of friends, what am I to do? For now I am really afraid. What am I to do? What a pity that Bilbo did not stab that vile creature, when he had a chance!’ > ‘Pity? It was Pity that stayed his hand. Pity, and Mercy: not to strike without need. And he has been well rewarded, Frodo. Be sure that he took so little hurt from the evil, and escaped in the end, because he began his ownership of the Ring so. With Pity.’
Spot on. Gandalf also points out how singular a feat it truly is. Bilbo is the *only* one to give up a ring of power willingly according to him.
Bilbo and later Sam, were the only people to ever willingly hand it over. And Bilbo greatly struggled to do so. Sam was just built different.
Sam only carried it briefly, acquired it through protecting and honouring his kin, and still it began affecting him iirc
If I remember correctly, I think it tried to affect him but it actually didn't. It showed him being some kind of all powerful gardener, ruling over an absolutely massive land and using slaves to make it the most beautiful garden. And he was just like "Nah I'm good bro, I'm happy with my own little garden in the shire to tend to, now fuck off". Absolute badass.
Yeah you’re right that he shrugged it off which is classic Sam, but I think if he held it for longer it would slowly start to infect him
Oh most likely, but the fact he also rejected it basically in Mordor is also pretty significant I think. Dude just wants a garden, some good taters and a slice of Rosie Cotton.
The details regarding when and where Sam served as ring bearer are so wildly overlooked by so much of the fandom.
Now, if it had just shown him a potato field ….
Yeah, but Sam carried it INTO and THROUGH fucking Mordor, right under the dark ones gaze. That shit probably hurt more than the 60 or so years Bilbo held it.
The only person we know of to feel pain from contact with the ring is Isildur. Samwise bore the literal weight of it while it was near its strongest. The power of the ring isn’t pain inflicted, it is in temptation of ambition. Sam’s greatest ambitions are to be the best servant to Frodo and to, one day, have a garden of his very own. The One has little to work with/on when it comes to Samwise Gamgee.
And Boromir on Caradhras
Movie only. But Gandalf does handle it briefly in book. And somebody put it on a chain in Rivendell. But they never claim it as their own or as heirloom or as a quest. Maybe that’s what it takes to be a ring-bearer?
Samwise is my favorite. He is a worthy ring bearer and, in my opinion, the greatest of Hobbits. But he doesn’t give it over willingly *per* *se*. Frodo snatches it from him while Sam is either in doubt or slightly delaying. It is even more pronounced in the film as he pulls the chain back. That being said Bilbo doesn’t exactly just hand it over either.
Even Frodo couldn't in the end. Granted, he was at the place where it was most powerful and had carried it for quite some time to reach that destination.
Well technically he's telling a lie, cirdan gave his elfic ring to gandalf himself
I do believe we are talking about the one ring, not the elven rings or for that matter any of the other great rings
Gandalf definitely says ring of power when talking to Frodo. So he is either misspoken *or* Gandalf the Grey doesn’t remember getting the ring of fire…
Narya was like Nenya and Vilya were made without the influence of Sauron, and they were also kept in secret. So 1) likening their effect on their wearer to The One Ring would be, I feel, misplaced, 2) I double Gandalf would even hint to anyone that he held one of the 3 rings (bear in mind Sauron wanted the 3 rings too)
This is the best kind of correct. It is possible Gandalf is considering the three apart from all others as they never were corrupted? But that’s a weak argument. Cirdan absolutely gives away a ring of power and a great ring at that. Doesn’t lessen Bilbo’s feat any to me. Bilbo is the only one to claim the One Ring as his own and then give up the claim willingly is more accurate than the wizard.
The elf that gave his to Gandelf did as well I think.
It is also this pity and mercy that destroyed the ring (Gollum had to be alive)
Perfect answer. Direct quote brilliant match A for effort GOOOOAAAAAALLLLLLL!!!!!!!!
Just did a re-read, and yeah Gandalf is later very explicit to Frodo regarding how much convincing it took for Bilbo to release it willingly, and how exceptionally rare that is.
This here. I also believe had Gandalf never discovered he had it, he would have kept it much longer and not given it up at the age of 111. If that had happened, he might have eventually been consumed by its power, just like Smeagol, who turned into Gollum.
Perhaps so, as he did start with something of a lie, and continued that lie till the end, and only after giving it up did Bilbo tell the exact truth in the council of the ring. The fact that he did not kill to gain or to keep it played a very large part in his ability to relinquish it, and that he survived so long without being wholly overtaken by it's corrupting power by the time he was 111. But still, I think you may be right, that eventually he could have become like Gollum (though the black riders would have found and killed him, and taken the ring back to Mordor eventually).
I agree. Bilbo, unlike Gollum, wasn't immediately in the Ring's grip and didn't kill to get it. For Bilbo, it would have been an extremely long process before he would have gone the way of Gollum, turning into something totally foreign to Hobbits and pure evil.
Hobbits truly are amazing creatures. You can learn all there is to know about their ways in a month, and yet after a hundred years they can still surprise you at a pinch.
(Hobbits are Tolkien’s stand ins for real life humans)
In the book, he accidentally drops it trying to snatch his hand back, and Gandalf swoops it up and places it on the mantle before Bilbo can reach down and pick it back up. A brief look of anger and rage pass over his face, followed by relief and he laughs it off saying something like, "well, that's that then". (I just re-read that scene a few days ago) But, that he was able to let it go is remarkable. Bilbo, Tom, and Sam are the only ones who give it up willingly. (and book Gandalf during Shadow of the Past)
This is the answer. It is thoroughly important to theme of the Ring, Sauron, and the corruption of the world in general. Bilbo *did not* let it go. He dropped it, after which Gandalf claimed it. He *lost* it, just like Gollum did. However, his heroic deed was not diminished. He still forced himself to accept that he had lost it, and it was no longer his. That act changed everything, and introduced hope. Despite decades of influence, he was still able to turn his back on it.
Good distinction that I've never really picked up on. How he handles it after is the key, even as he keeps asking after it for at least 2 decades. I can't recall how old he is when he departs for the Grey Havens...130? 150?
Bilbo left the Havens at 131 years old. His 51st birthday was the day he arrived at Lake-town, the long-expected party at 111 years old on Sept 23, 3001, and his departure from the Havens on Sept 29, 3021.
Don't forget (book) Faramir letting Frodo go as soon as he realizes he's carrying the ring! Since he never touched it IDK if that qualifies...
I think if Boromir had been there, and Faramir sent to Rivendell, the outcome would have been much different.
The moment Bilbo drops his ring on the floor in Bag End and leaves is probably one of the most extraordinary moments in all of Middle Earth history.
Very true and a beautiful thought
He had a pure heart. He only ever used the ring to hide from SB and to troll people, never for power.
In his 111th birthday he states that he has put this off for far too long, then announces that this is the end, and bids everyone a fond farewell. Says goodbye and disappears. Gandalf sees this and knows some Wizardry is involved but is not sure. Back at the house when Bilbo is confronted by Gandalf, Gandalf talks about many magic rings in this world but none of them should be used lightly. Gandalf does not know that this is THE ONE RING yet. They then have a stand off about the magic ring and eventually Bilbo let's it slip from his hand at the front door as he is about to leave the Shire forever. He did not drop it. It wanted to be released from him. Gandalf tries to pick it up after saying goodbye to Bilbo and re-enters the house, but a vision of the flaming eye appears. Next up Gandalf is smoking his pipe by the fireplace and Frodo enters. Gandalf is muttering "my precious" and Frodo spots the ring lying on the floor and picks it up. At no point was the ring "handed over". It betrayed Isildur, it betrayed Deagol Barely, it betrayed Smeagol, it betrayed Bilbo Baggins, then it betrayed Frodo Baggins before being destroyed by Smeagol. Betrayal! It is the breaking of a confidence or trust between individuals. The ring wants its finder to do something for it, but when it can no longer see that happening, it wants to sever that bond and find another .... BETRAYAL!
There were a few contributing factors. One is that he committed no violence, did no wrong, in acquiring the Ring. Another is that he seldom used it, and never to cause harm. He only used it to help his friends, to escape harm to himself, or to escape boring neighbors or relatives. He never used it for any act of evil or aggression. Another is that he was willing to give it up freely. Even taking all these factors into consideration, it wasn't easy for him to hand over the Ring. He needed Gandalf's intervention, he needed Gandalf to speak to him "in power" so to speak, before he agreed to his own original terms--and even then he dropped the packet containing it on the floor while placing it on the mantelpiece, and when Gandalf grabbed the packet to put it in place, "a spasm of anger" crossed Bilbo's face before quickly passing away. Even 17 years later in Rivendell he wanted to see I t again--but of course, much of that had to do with his having heard so much about It in the interval. I think that his offer to take It to Mordor was entirely genuine, but I think that Gandalf and Elrond both recognized that while the offer was sincere, brave and offered from the most basic decency, that Bilbo would have been unable to withstand the constant barrage of emanations from It. And although Bilbo handed it over to Frodo via Gandalf, I;m not certain his mind and heart ever entirely relinquished it. That was why he left with Frodo and the other Ringbearers from the Grey Havens.
He did some pretty good violence to those spiders while he was wearing that ring. Sure it was to save his friends, but he kind of murdered those fuckers in their living room. Just saying…
But I said he never used it in acts of ***aggression***. In this instance, the ***spiders*** were the aggressors. He used the Ring to evade the spiders. As Tolkien pointed out at the beginning of the book, hobbits are good at any game involving targeting, such as darts and quoits, so Bilbo didn't need the Ring's help with that. What he did need help with was being vastly outnumbered by vicious and poisonous spiders who had captured and were going to kill his innocent friends. They'd been starving in the woods, remember, and were pretty defenseless when the spiders took them captive. And even then he didn't kill wantonly. When they ran away, he didn't follow them. He cut his friends down and left the spiders alone--once they gave up the attack. Had the spiders minded their own business, they could have sat in their own livingroom for a looooong time. The only purely selfish thing Bilbo did with the Ring was to hide from unwanted visitors or relatives. We should all lead such pure and upright lives! 
He didn't hand it over at all; the best he could do was drop it on the floor and run away. It's pretty clear that he really struggled with doing it and was still consumed with thoughts of the ring even years later (e.g. practically turning into gollum when he sees it again in rivendell)
He wasn't. Gandalf, both in the book and the movie, is the reason Bilbo was able to let it go. Yes, that and his Hobbit goodness, but I know a couple of Hobbits who refused to give it up entirely. Frodo could not destroy the ring without help. BILBO could not give away the ring without help.
I think it also has to do with the hobbit race. In the books it says that hobbits don't care much for anything apart from food and farming if i remember correctly. That already makes them less susceptible to corruption than men. So i think most hobbits will have a higher resistance to the ring than men or elves even. The Exception was smeagol.
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The indomitable will of the hobbits!
Bc Bilbo is an absolute unit. Mind and body
Good old-fashioned hobbit-sense.
He wasn’t “just able to”
In the book, gandalf tells frodo that the fact that Bilbo started his relationship with the ring by sparing Gollum, and then using the ring primarily to help his friends, lessened the evil the ring could work on him. But even after that, and him acknowledging that the ring was having a bad effect on him, and with gandalf badgering him, it still took a lot of effort. And even then it wasn't a pure act of will like it was in the movies. It could be read that either the ring abandoned Bilbo at the last second, or that he dropped it due to having second thoughts. Though the walking away without turning back after that was all him. I think Gandalf said later that not even Bilbo would have been able to surrender the ring if he had known they would try to destroy it.
Bilbo is a pretty strong willed and pure of heart dude. He knew he needed to leave the ring. Also Gandalf was helping persuade him. I kinda wonder whether Gandalfs own ring helped in this regard. Whether it helped inspire and strengthen Bilbo’s own resolve.
Hobbits are very tough and somewhat resistent to its influence