Gollum Doom, but was unwilling to destroy the Ring, claiming it for himself and putting it on. Gollum struck again, and struggled with the invisible Frodo. Finally, Gollum bit off Frodo's finger and seized the Ring. He gloated over his "prize", dancing madly, but stepped over the edge and fell into the lava, taking the Ring with him with a last cry of "Precious!" Thus, the Ring was destroyed and Sauron defeated. Sam cursed Gollum after his death, but Frodo urged his friend to forgive him, as without him the quest would have failed and the War of the Ring would
The Fellowship of the Ring the decision to publish "The Lord of the Rings" in three volumes was made, Tolkien had hoped to publish the novel in one volume, possibly also combined with "The Silmarillion". However, he had proposed titles for the individual six sections. Of the two books that comprise what became "The Fellowship of the Ring" the first was to be called "The First Journey" or "The Ring Sets Out". The name of the second was "The Journey of the Nine Companions" or "The Ring Goes South". The titles "The Ring Sets Out" and "The Ring Goes South" were used in the "Millennium