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What did Sam see under the eaves of the Emyn Muil and why is Frodo a figure robed in white?

Then suddenly, as before under the eaves of the Emyn Muil, Sam saw these two rivals with other vision. A crouching shape, scarcely more than the shadow of a living thing, a creature now wholly ruined and defeated, yet filled with a hideous lust and rage; and before it stood stern, untouchable now by pity, a figure robed in white, but at its breast it held a wheel of fire. Out of the fire there spoke a commanding voice.

'Begone, and trouble me no more! If you touch me ever again, you shall be cast yourself into the Fire of Doom.'

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    Did the Ring Speak to Gollum on Mount Doom?
    – Valorum
    Commented May 31, 2021 at 22:06
  • @Valorum: Wow, I think this might be the only time I disagree with Martinez- I think it’s clear Frodo was using the power of the Ring (inadvertently) to dominate a non-major will. Seems like a stretch to say the Ring is speaking in the other scene where Frodo hears himself saying the words!
    – Shamshiel
    Commented Jun 3, 2021 at 20:27

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In "The Taming of Sméagol," Chapter 1 of Book 4 (published as the second half of The Two Towers), Frodo and Sam capture Sméagol and he swears to aid them. This is the scene referenced in your quote, and takes place on the border of Emyn Muil after Frodo and Sam have been a few days on their own after leaving the rest of the Fellowship.

Sméagol insists on swearing his oath on the One Ring:

"Sméagol," said Gollum suddenly and clearly, opening his eyes wide and staring at Frodo with a strange light. "Sméagol will swear on the Precious."

But Frodo is firm that he may swear by it, but Sméagol will not see it or touch it:

"No! not on it," said Frodo, looking down at him with stern pity. "All you wish is to see it and touch it, if you can, though you know it would drive you mad. Not on it. Swear by it, if you will. For you know where it is. Yes, you know, Sméagol. It is before you."

For a moment it appeared to Sam that his master had grown and Gollum had shrunk: a tall stern shadow, a mighty lord who hid his brightness in grey cloud, and at his feet a little whining dog. Yet the two were in some way akin and not alien: they could reach one another's minds. Gollum raised himself and began pawing at Frodo, fawning at his knees.

As in the scene you quote, Frodo is seen as a strong figure dominating Sméagol, who is pictured as desperate and broken.

The article found by Valorum is an excellent read and it argues that the evolution of Frodo from a figure in grey to a figure in white is driven by the purification of his soul by his labour and suffering in delivering the One Ring to Mount Doom.

Why Sam is able to perceive what is apparently the wraith-view of the world (based in part on the appearance of the One Ring in the later vision) in these instants is not clear. It can't simply be because he was, for a period, Ring-bearer, because the scene in Emyn Muil takes place before that. But it is possible that, since except Sméagol, Bilbo and Frodo, Sam has spent the most time in proximity to the One Ring of anyone in thousands of years, he has become somewhat attuned to it as well.

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  • "a tall stern shadow" isn't what I visualize when I think of a soul purified by labour and suffering.
    – RonJohn
    Commented Jun 1, 2021 at 17:47
  • @RonJohn "a tall stern shadow" was the phrase used before the labor and suffering.
    – Brian McCutchon
    Commented Jun 1, 2021 at 18:32
  • I think Sam seeing these things was kind of his "simple" perception of things greater than his station. Kind of like seeing a "star" through the fingers of Galadriel. My guess is that he might have seen himself as something like a dog (in his humbleness) compared to Frodo with the Great Ring during Frodo's rebuke (if he was watching from the outside)
    – Quasi_Stomach
    Commented Jun 1, 2021 at 19:03
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    Notably, not the only character in the story to change from grey to white - I wonder if that was an intentional parallel? Gandalf's change was a bit more explicit of course.
    – Darrel Hoffman
    Commented Jun 1, 2021 at 19:19
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    One of the few concrete statements of what the ring can do relates to the wielder's ability to sway the wills of others. And Sam perceiving Frodo in this way (I always thought) is more in keeping with the power over others that the ring purportedly imparts to the bearer. I expect such a power would manifest itself as other people's perceptions. Kind of like marketing.
    – Yorik
    Commented Jun 1, 2021 at 20:00
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It's a reference to the Book Four, Chapter 1: "The Taming of Smeagol" - where Frodo tells Gollum to swear by the Ring that he [Gollum] will not let Sauron have the Ring.

For a moment it seemed to Sam that his master had grown and Gollum had shrunk: a tall stern shadow, a mighty lord who hid his brightness in grey cloud, and at his feet a little whining dog. Yet the two were in some way akin and not alien; they could reach one another's minds.

This scene occurs shortly after the hobbits have escaped from the Emyn Muil via the rope, thus, under the eaves of the rocks essentially.

(page 618 of Kindle single volume edition)

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