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  • Updated 20 December 2018
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Nine-fingered

A title given to Frodo Baggins after the Quest of Mount Doom

"Now comes the story of Nine-fingered Frodo and the Ring of Doom"
Sam Gamgee's imagined telling of the tale of Frodo Baggins
The Return of the King VI 4
The Field of Cormallen

In the Chambers of Fire in the heart of Mount Doom, Frodo Baggins finally succumbed to the temptation of the Ring and placed it on his finger, claiming it to himself. Gollum was lurking nearby, however, and though the Ring made Frodo invisible, Gollum was able to grasp him and bite his finger from his hand. Thus Gollum briefly reclaimed the One Ring after years of searching, but he bore it only briefly. He tumbled into the Fire of Mount Doom, bringing an end to himself and to the Quest to destroy Sauron's Ruling Ring.

So Frodo lost one of his fingers (the third finger of his right hand, on which he had been wearing the Ring). After he and Sam escaped onto the slopes of the Fire-mountain, now in the midst of a violent eruption, their deaths seemed certain. Awaiting their end, Sam imagined a tale-teller in the future relating the story of their Quest imagining Nine-fingered Frodo as its hero. In the event, they were rescued from Mount Doom by the Eagles, and after they had recovered for a time in Ithilien, a bard of Gondor announced a new tale. His title for the piece was almost identical to the one that Sam had imagined, except that he used a minor variation in phrasing: instead of Nine-fingered Frodo he sang instead of Frodo of the Nine Fingers.


See also...

Ring of Doom

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About this entry:

  • Updated 20 December 2018
  • Updates planned: 1

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