[Child of the 7th Age]

Thank you everyone, for your perspectives on this question. I have a case of the creeping crud (Houston style), and haven't gotten back before.

Is it a natural process caused by a soul being trapped too long in a body, or rather the actual domination by the Ring itself, perhaps strongly influenced by the use of that Ring by the person in question?

Is it possible that more than one factor could have been in play? Neither Bilbo or Frodo turned into "wraiths" yet they were both affected and in need of healing. Aragorn, for example, seemed to inicate it was possible for hobbit to turn into a wraith.

Let's look first at Bilbo, It seems that his "stretching" of the soul had more to do with longevity beyond the normal hobbit lifespan rather than any conscious decision to use the Ring for something beyond invisibility. The exact opposite was true of Frodo who was only 50 or so years when he began the Ring quest, having inherited the thing some 17 years before. He too was in danger of turning into a wraith for different reasons. He, unlike Bilbo, was consciously aware of the potential of the Ring, at least to some small degree, and presumably more subject to its temptation, to say nothing of the fact that Sauron was now more actively scouring about for it. So perhaps there was one more than one particular way of corruption.

Squatter of Amon Rudh --LOL. I love your vignette with Sauron squashing the mortal.

Helen-- Your point of tying this whole process to Tolkien's Catholicism and that view of man is well taken. I was kind of hinting at that as I initially typed out my question (not Catholicism per se, but our concept of the fall), but didn't have the grace or words to state it as well as you did!

I still have many questions about how the hobbits themselves relate to the great fall (since they themselves are supposed to be men), and may do a thread on that some day.

sharon, the 7th age hobbit