The Ring & Bilbo

[SonofUgluk]

Interesting responses guys thanks - so the 'wraith world' and sensory enhancement aspects are more than likely related to proximity to the nazgul themselves and/or sauron ? I was pondering that maybe the 'wraith' aspect came in to play once the 9 left minas morgul and crossed into the shire , but if physical proximity to the wraiths and sauron had this effect , why did bilbo not experience it while using the ring in the elf-kings dungeons in the Hobbit , when sauron was dwelling close by in Dol Guldur ?

[Galadriel55]

Welcome to the Downs, SonofUgluk! (nice nick! )

Originally Posted by Inziladun

Another thought struck me: what about Gollum's time in the wraith-world? Does repeated wearing of the Ring for a long period, as was the case with him, lead to such a change in the senses, giving a somewhat permanent affinity for the shadow-world just as a wound from a Morgul-blade? That would explain Gollum's apparent extraordinary abilities of sight, smell, and hearing.

Even if the Ring had no such effect on his senses, he still lived in almost complete darkness (with a couple odd goblin torches here and there, perhaps) for... how many years? Living in the dark is just as sense-sharpening as living in fog.