I think that Frodo was sick from lots of things, not just Shelob's poison. It was also the Ring, and being stabbed by a Morgul blade by the Witch-King. Elrond and Gandalf did say that he would carry it the rest of his life.
Poor Frodo!!

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"Hogwarts will always be there to welcome you home."

Also think about all the things he has gone through can you imagine the shock?!

*sigh* I feel sorry for the poor little hobbit. He's a very resilient guy though.

When you think about it, Smeagol carried the Ring for hundreds of years, Frodo only had it for about a year. But the Ring left it's mark on Frodo, consuming him much the way it consumed Smeagol, even when it was destroyed. Also, Elrond and Gandalf DID say the Morgul wound was one he'd keep for the rest of his life. I always thought that When Frodo spoke of 'Wounds that would not heal' he spoke of the mark that the ring left on him. I dunno. I never actually considered that Shelob's sting would have affected him later. that, i admit, never really occured to me, sonce she only rendered him unconscious for a while, i just supposed he could get on with life the way someone would after a normal spider bite, supposing they survived. XD But that then brings up the problem of Shelob not being a normal spider . . . .anyways, lol, my opinion. ;P

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I LOVE JONHHY DEPP!


Snow white, snow white, o Lady clear,
O Light to us that wander here.

Yeah. When you get bitten by a decendent of Ungoliant......I mean, for crying out loud, she killed the shiney trees!

I definately think that it was a combination of all of them. Also, I think Frodo kind of.... aged really fast. Not physically, but just felt as if it was time to be at peace. Like he just felt really tired, and weary. He had been through so much, and he needed to rest in a way. Just a guess, and I don't know if that makes a whole lot of sense...

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"Hogwarts will always be there to welcome you home."

yeah, i think it makes sense. I think personally that Tolkien may have been aiming for the Morgul wound to be the problem when he was sick - "It's been a year since that night on Weathertop, Sam" but i think the reason he left Middle-Earth was the mark the ring left on him. But it seems likely that it was a mix of all of them.

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I LOVE JONHHY DEPP!


Snow white, snow white, o Lady clear,
O Light to us that wander here.

Shelobs sting wasn't supposed to kill him, or make him ill. That was just a tranquilizer. And about the Nazgul blade: Elrond removed the last splinter on october the 23th to be exact , but then Gandalf took a closer look at Frodo when he woke up in Rivendell and this is what the book said:

***Gandalf moved his chair to the bedside, and took a good look at Frodo. The colour had come back to his face, and his eyes were clear, and fully awake and aware. He was smiling, and there seemed to be little wrong with him. But to the wizard's eye there was a faint change, just a hint as it were of transparency, about him, and especially about the left hand that lay outside upon the coverlet.

"Still that must be expected," Said Gandalf to himself. "He is not half though yet, and to what he will come in the end not even Elrond can foretell. Not to evil I think. He may become like a glass filled with a clear light for eyes to see that can."***

I think we can assume from this part that Frodo got sick or 'Transperent' as Tolkien puts it, because of the stabbing ringwriath. And the ring had not very much to do with his illness. The ring extends life, not shorten it... Gollum looked that way because he was hundreds of years old! And Bilbo stayed healthy and untouched by age untill he got rid of the ring. After that is just became old, as he was supposed to have been years earlyer.

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But doesn't that just prove that the Ring helped make him feel "transparent"? Like Bilbo said "I feel like butter, scraped over too much bread." Bilbo had the Ring for a lot longer than Frodo, but when he had it Sauron wasn't looking for it.



Bilbo started to age after he got rid of the Ring - Frodo got rid of it too.

And of course, Bilbo wasn;t stabbed by a Ringwraith and stung by a decendant of Ungoliant, who killed the shiny shiny trees.

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I LOVE JONHHY DEPP!


Snow white, snow white, o Lady clear,
O Light to us that wander here.

Bilbo started to age after he got rid of it, because hobbits aren't supposed to be that old! He was 111 years old!!! And he didn't look any day older then when he left to Smaug. So when he lost the ring, time just gained in on him. That's why he said he felt 'scraped over too much bread'.

Another piece of evidence that is said here before: He told Sam "It's been a year since Weathertop."

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Yes i know, I'm not saying this is SOLEY due to the ring, BUT Bilbo STILL. HAD. THE. RING. when he said he was scraped thin.

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I LOVE JONHHY DEPP!


Snow white, snow white, o Lady clear,
O Light to us that wander here.

Well Mar 13 is my birthday! I always feel proud that Frodo is always sick on my birthday.

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well, I think it was altogether better for him to sail to Valinor than to linger in the Shire in pain. He (probably) got also mentally traumatised of the terror of his quest. He also got stabbed by the witch king, the troll pushed him with a spear, shelob poisoned him and he suffered weariness and hunger throughout the journey. that's what I think..

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I revisited AU on Jan 14th after an almost 10-year break! The nostalgia..!

Yes, I agree that it was not just ONE overall thing that made him sick. It was majorly getting stabbed by the Witch-King, yes, but it wasn't ONLY that. There were so many different things along with it such as Shelob's poisoning- remember, he would get sick each year on the aniversary of that as well- the burden of the Ring, the general exhaustion of the long and hard journey, etc.

Here's a quote from the book that Arwen says to Frodo:

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"Hogwarts will always be there to welcome you home."

so he went instead of Arwen? interesting, I didn't remember that, it's some time since I read rotk.. heh

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I revisited AU on Jan 14th after an almost 10-year break! The nostalgia..!

Yes. Arwen gave up her place on the ship to Valinor for Frodo.
I always feel so bad when I read/ watch the parts where Frodo is still in pain. I mean, the poor hobbit has been through enough! At least let him heal properly, so that the pain can go away!
Someone said earlier that it seemed like Frodo aged really fast, not physically, but that he justy got really tired and wanted to find some peace. Whoever you are( ), I think you're definitely right. There is a strong contrast between the Frodo at the beginning of the tale who is a happy, carefree hobbit of the shire, and the Frodo at the end of the story who is weighed down by his pain and his sorrow. Remember, the quest of the Ring was fulfilled in about a year. It only took that one year to make so many irreversible changes in Frodo.
My only comfort is that I belive that Frodo finally found peace in Valinor, and that his pains and cares passed away there. Then the hobbit who saved Middle Earth (yes, with help from his friends before everyone pounces on me.) could finally have peace.