But what went on in his wretched heart between the pressure of the eye, and the lust of the Ring that was so near, and his grovelling promise made half in fear of cold iron, the hobbits did not guess
So, I was reading the Two Towers and I came across this passage and got a little confused. To my understanding Gollum made his promise as a last ditch attempt to save his own skin, but this quote show this was only half his purpose. What I want to know is what other motivation would Smeagol have for making such an oath?
He made that oath to relieve himself of captivity. Also perhaps he thought somehow eventually he could have got the Ring off the Hobbits far more easily than if Sauron had it.
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Utúlie'n aurë! Aiya Eldalië ar Atanatári, utúlie'n aurë! Auta i lómë! Aurë entuluva!
The way I see it, Smeagol made the promise, but as he was, in effect, 2 seperate creatures sharing the same body with Gollum. Gollum broke the promise, which he didn't make in the first place, Smeagol did. Gollum won dominanc over Smeagol, and his lust for the Ring was too great.
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I am Anduril, who was Narsil. Let the thralls of Mordor fear me.
I think that Gollum has two "sides", as it were. One is the Smeagol that may have been a very nice creature once, and the other the creature that was awakened by the Ring. When he took the Oath, I think that Smeagol-side was talking, but then he had somewhat of an inner battle, each side erraticaly dominating and determining his actions.
