This is a composite of the dialogue of two scenes in The Fellowship of the Ring - Gandalf's talk with Frodo in Bag End in the beginning of the book, in the chapter entitled Shadows of the Past, and at the Council of Elrond, in the chapter so titled.
'You have seen Gollum?' exclaimed Frodo in amazement.
Do you know that?'
GANDALF:
'Not so clearly. What I have told you is what Gollum was willing to tell – though not, of course, in the way I have reported it. Gollum is a liar, and you have to sift his words. For
instance, he called the Ring his "birthday present", and he stuck to that. He said it came from his grandmother, who had lots of beautiful things of that kind. A ridiculous story. I have no doubt that Sméagol's grandmother was a matriarch, a great person in her way, but to talk of her possessing many Elvenrings was absurd, and as for giving them away, it was a lie. But a lie with a grain of truth.
'The murder of Déagol haunted Gollum, and he had made up a defence, repeating it to his "precious" over and over again, as he gnawed bones in the dark, until he almost believed it. It _was_ his birthday. Déagol ought to have given the ring to him. It had previously turned up just so as to be a present. It _was_ his birthday present, and so on, and on. I endured him as long as I could, but the truth was desperately important, and in the end I had to be harsh. I put the fear of fire on him, and wrung the true story out of him, bit by bit, together with much snivelling and snarling. He thought he was misunderstood and
illused...
...my search would
have been in vain, but for the help that I had from a friend: Aragorn, the greatest traveller
and huntsman of this age of the world. Together we sought for Gollum down the whole length of Wilderland, without hope, and without success. But at last, when I had given up the chase and turned to other parts, Gollum was found. My friend returned out of the greatperils bringing the miserable creature with him.
ARAGORN:
I, too, despaired at last, and I began my homeward journey. And then, by fortune, I came suddenly on what I sought: the marks of soft feet beside a muddy pool. But now the trail was fresh and swift, and it led not to Mordor but away. Along the skirts of the Dead
Marshes I followed it, and then I had him. Lurking by a stagnant mere, peering in the water as the dark eve fell, I caught him, Gollum. He was covered with green slime. He will never love me, I fear; for he bit me, and I was not gentle.
GANDALF:
'What he had been doing he would not say. He only wept and called us cruel, with
many a _gollum_ in his throat; and when we pressed him he whined and cringed, and
rubbed his long hands, licking his fingers as if they pained him, as if he remembered some
old torture.
ARAGORN:
Nothing more did I ever get from his mouth than the marks of his teeth. I deemed it the worst part of all my journey, the road back, watching him day and night, making him walk before me with a halter on his neck,gagged, until he was tamed by lack of drink and food, driving him ever towards Mirkwood.
I brought him there at last and gave him to the Elves, for we had agreed that this should
be done; and I was glad to be rid of his company, for he stank. For my part I hope never to
look upon him again; but Gandalf came and endured long speech with him.'
`Yes, long and weary,' said Gandalf, `but not without profit....'
This post is a counter response to THIS. One of my friends likens the ring to EIT's, which he believes to be torture, and he believes that EIT's are wrong and intrinsically evil. But, how can a person be 100% certain that EIT's are intrinsically evil?
As shown above, the scenes from Lord of The Rings show that hash techniques were used to obtain the TRUTH, or force the truth from Gollum. Gollum was withholding the truth, information that he was holding inside him to aid EVIL. Gandalf used harsh means to extract the truth from Gollum in order to stop evil. These scenes show that harsh techniques were used in LOTR to get at the TRUTH and stop EVIL which is an apt comparison to the use of EIT's on terrorists.
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