I was watching the lotr films the other day and realized gollum is near 600 years old. To the best of my knowledge Smeagol "aquired" the ring when he was in his 50ies (which is youngish for hobbits and i assume the "River folk"). Went to the misty mountians for some 500 years(as the film says). Bilbo finds the ring and has it for 60 years,( doesnt look as if he's aged a day). Frodo takes the ring destroys ect. When we next see Bilbo, age has caught up with him and he actually looks his age(129years?,and i think he dies in the Valinor at 131, not too sure about that). So my basic point is when gollum "looses" the ring he would be over 500 years old, and dosent come in possesion of it for over 60 years which would be sufficent time for age to catch up with him and kill him. So my question is why didnt gollum die of old age?

p.s. i know gollum killed deagol for the ring and fled to the misty mountians because he was kicked out and because he hated the sun and the moon.
i know my information could be wrong, its been a few years since i read the books, so dont be afraid to correct me where my information is wrong. but my question remains the same shouldnt gullom have died from old age.

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By the blood of our people are your lands kept safe. Give Gondor the weapon of the enemy. Let us use it against him.

ok he's not 129 in the rotk, dont know where i got that from, i think hes like 115 years

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By the blood of our people are your lands kept safe. Give Gondor the weapon of the enemy. Let us use it against him.

Your information seems correct to me, and it's and interesting question. I have two answers (neither of which is particularly good) so you can take your pick: 1) Gollum had the Ring for a lot longer than Bilbo, and so the effects (i.e. long life) wore off a lot more slowly. 2) Gollum's "passion" for the Ring had some affect...

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"There are few left in Middle Earth like Aragorn, son of Arathorn." - Gandalf, Many Meetings

Elaborating on what GE said... maybe Gollum had been so warped by his obsession of the ring that it was enough to sustain him? When you think about it, Bilbo had enough self-control to not be obsessed over the ring as Smeagol was...

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Hmm... what would a chair look like if your knees bent the other way?

i thought it possibly had something to do with the fact that he was addicted to the ring, likehis fate was tied with the ring kinda like the same with Arwens life was bound to the fate of the ring

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By the blood of our people are your lands kept safe. Give Gondor the weapon of the enemy. Let us use it against him.

but i wasnt sure if i had missed something in the trilogy or it was explained in an other of tolkiens lotr related works

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By the blood of our people are your lands kept safe. Give Gondor the weapon of the enemy. Let us use it against him.

I don't think it ever was... I think it was implied, if you know what I mean.

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Hmm... what would a chair look like if your knees bent the other way?

oh i know what you mean... jk

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By the blood of our people are your lands kept safe. Give Gondor the weapon of the enemy. Let us use it against him.

well i do aprecieate the help that was one tolkien question that really got me while i readingthe books.

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By the blood of our people are your lands kept safe. Give Gondor the weapon of the enemy. Let us use it against him.

If the question is still bothering you, try asking it on this forum: http://www.lotrplaza.com , you should be able to get a better answer, as the forum is focused on Tolkien and his books.

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"There are few left in Middle Earth like Aragorn, son of Arathorn." - Gandalf, Many Meetings

it's because he had a task to fullfill, JRR didn't want him dead so fast

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donuthare - helmsdeepbuilder - love this site

Bilbo had enough self control over the Ring to actually even leave it at Bag End to Frodo, and in that way, he had more power over the ring than Sauron, Isildur, Gollum, and Frodo. I think the appropriate answer to this question lies in the mysterious power of the ring itself, and its dominating will over anyone who owns it; as has already been mentioned Gollum's life consisted only of his love for the Ring, and in that end, his desire for it progressed his will to live in order to find it.

Also about another thing that the OP said, as far as I am aware, when people go to Valinor they will live forever, not die, so Bilbo doesn't die. Correct me if I am wrong.

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(insert awesome signature here)

also one idea tht hasnt been mentioned yet is that the ring itself mayb wanted him kept alive cus it knew it would help it get back to sauron in some way if u think of the ring as sentient tht is much in the same way as stormbringer and mournblade)

@Maermaethor
Like i said i wasnt sure about some of my information its been a few since i read the books , but i do remember he lived longer than the old took

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By the blood of our people are your lands kept safe. Give Gondor the weapon of the enemy. Let us use it against him.

long ago I posted here :p

if this would have been true the attack of Ar-Pharazon on Valinor would have been justified

As the elves say: the gift of Illuvatar (death) cannot be taken away, neither by a continent, nor the vala themselves

Bilbo's 131th birthday was right before he left to Valinor, which is why it's mentioned in the books that Bilbo outlived te Old Took (even though he had some help, not unlike Merry and Pippin surpassing the Bulroarer by means of Entish water)

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It's not about our past.
It's about our future.

I belive the One ring gave him unatural long life as Galadriel said herself

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The Age of Men is over. The Time of the Orc has come.

The question is never really dealt with in the books, but Gandalf mentions that he had been "changed" by the ring. His orcish appearance and unnatural strength coupled with his unnatural life seem to be the work of the Ring.

I beileve that its not the fact that bilbo didnt have the ring that made the affect ware off but the fact that it(The Ring) was destroyed
so if gollum had lived the effect would also have worn off of him

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"a box without hinges key or a lid yet golden treasure inside is hid"
Bilbo to gollum underneath the misty mountains

No, Bilbo's aging was noticeable once Frodo reached Rivendell, before the ring was destroyed.