GeekDavid
Auror
In chat tonite (and if you haven't participated in one of our evening chats yet, you should) the question came up, what would have happened if Sauron had sued to recover the One Ring?
This article pretty much answers that.
On a related note, Steerpike brought up this article on the contract between Bilbo and the Dwarves:
Finally, switching to medical issues, here's one of my favorite articles from a few years ago discussing Gollum's apparent medical and mental issues:
They're all three interesting, I recommend all of them.
This article pretty much answers that.
I'm not gonna tell you how it ends, you gotta read it. :Tongue:Consider the following facts which seem ripped from a first year property law exam:
- Sauron holds ownership in the Ring through accession, by working one thing (base metals) into a new thing (a ring of power)
- He is dispossessed by Isildur, who now holds possession in the Ring.
- Isildur loses the Ring (he has a manifest intent to exclude others but no physical control) when it slips off his finger as he was swimming in the Anduin river to escape from Orcs.
- Déagol finds the Ring.
- He is dispossessed by Sméagol (a.k.a. Gollum).
- Gollum loses the Ring and it is finally found by Bilbo.
- Bilbo gifts the Ring to Frodo. Later, Aragorn (the heir of Isildur) tells Frodo to carry the ring to Mordor, making Frodo his bailee.
- Sam, assuming that Frodo is dead, takes the Ring according to instructions to help Frodo with the Ring in grave circumstances. Sam is acting here as a (fictional) bailee and he returns possession to Frodo after finding him still alive.
- At the end of the book, Gollum restores his possession of the ring. Seconds later, he and the Ring are both destroyed. At this point all property held in the Ring disappears.
On a related note, Steerpike brought up this article on the contract between Bilbo and the Dwarves:
First, it seems fairly clear (to me, anyway) that Tolkien wrote the Shire (where hobbits live) as a close analog to pastoral England, with its similar legal and political structures. For example, the Shire has a mayor and sheriffs, and there is a system of inheritance similar to the common law. The common law fundamentals of contract law have not changed significantly since the time that the Shire is meant to evoke, so it makes sense that the contract would be broadly similar to a modern contract (and likewise that we could apply modern contract law to it).
Finally, switching to medical issues, here's one of my favorite articles from a few years ago discussing Gollum's apparent medical and mental issues:
Sméagol (Gollum) is a single, 587 year old, hobbit-like male of no fixed abode. He has presented with antisocial behaviour, increasing aggression, and preoccupation with the “one ring.”… …His forensic history consists of Deagol’s murder and the attempted murder of Samwise Gamgee. He has no history of substance misuse, although like many young hobbits he smoked “pipe weed” in adolescence….
Several differential diagnoses need to be considered, and we should exclude organic causes for his symptoms. A space occupying lesion such as a brain tumour is unlikely as his symptoms are long standing. Gollum’s diet is extremely limited, consisting only of raw fish. Vitamin B-12 deficiency may cause irritability, delusions, and paranoia. His reduced appetite and loss of hair and weight may be associated with iron deficiency anaemia. He is hypervigilant and does not seem to need much sleep. This, accompanied by his bulging eyes and weight loss, suggests hyperthyroidism. Gollum’s dislike of sunlight may be due to the photosensitivity of porphyria. Attacks may be induced by starvation and accompanied by paranoid psychosis….
They're all three interesting, I recommend all of them.
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