# If Smeagol or Deagol didn't find the ring?



## Prissy_Hobbit (Feb 18, 2011)

What kind of a life would you say they would have had?


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## Bucky (Feb 18, 2011)

Dominated by Smeagol's grandmother.


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## Erestor Arcamen (Feb 18, 2011)

Well Deagol wouldn't have been murdered and Smeagol wouldn't have been thrown out of his home, crawl underneath the Misty Mountains for 2000 years and then get tortured by Barad-Dur, be captured and kept captive by the elves in Mirkwood, escape to follow the Fellowship (which probably wouldn't be the same they are now), meet up and lead Frodo and Sam and then bite off Frodo's finger and fall into lava, he would have lived an ordinary life and died, and probably never be recorded into any history books at all.

Along with that, Bilbo wouldn't have found the ring in the cave and the dwarves and Bilbo would have probably never made it to the Lonely Mountain, Bilbo would never have had the ring which means Frodo wouldn't and they would both live ordinary lives in the Shire...that is until someone else found the ring and probably failed to destroy it resulting in Sauron succeeding in getting it back and then from here I would direct you to this thread: http://www.thetolkienforum.com/show...-forces-won-the-battle-of-the-pelennor-fields


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## baragund (Feb 28, 2011)

Um, Erestor, the thread you attached refers to the Battle of Pelennor Fields and the siege of Minas Tirith. I'm missing the connection between that and the "what if" scenario that catriona88 suggested of Deagol not finding the Ring.

The short answer to the original question is that Deagol and Smeagol would probably have gone on to lead rather normal lives. The more interesting thing to wonder about is how the Ring could have been found otherwise and who would have found it.

One thought is that since Smeagol's people were river-dwellers then it would have been a matter of time before _somebody_ in that group would have stumbled upon it. Then you would have a similar chain of events but altered according to the base personality of the finder. Smeagol liked exploring the underground so it made sense that he would seek those places when he was exiled. Another hobbit may have sought refuge deep in the forest; say, Mirkwood or even (whoa!) Lothlorien! That would set up a completely different story line.

I've always wonders how the Ring could have basically stayed put in the vales of Anduin for some 2500 years. Why didn't it wash downstream? Surely, periodic floods would have pushed it down river to... Rauros? Osgiliath? Pelargir? Who knows what kind of knucklehead would have found it then??


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## Erestor Arcamen (Feb 28, 2011)

You're right, I wasn't thinking. The battle I was referring to happened _before_ Smeagol/Deagol, sorry.


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