Líndaletaro
Frodo deserved all honour because he spent every drop of his power of will and body, and that was just sufficient to bring him to the destined point and no further. Few others, possibly no others of his time, would have got so far. The Other Power then took over: the Writer of the Story (by which I do not mean myself), 'that one ever-present Person who is never absent and never named' (as one critic has said).
So, it was by the grace of Eru, that the Ring did end up getting destroyed, he intervened. But often this quote is taken out of context and you do not see the true meaning unless Letter 181 is quoted with it:
’But at this point the ’salvation’ of the world and Frodo’s own ’salvation’ is achieved by his previous pity and forgiveness of injury. At any point any prudent person would have told Frodo that Gollum would certainly betray him , and could rob him in the end. To ’pity’ him, to forbear to kill him, was a piece of folly, or a mystical belief in the ultimate value-in-itself of pity and generosity even if disastrous in the world of time. He [Gollum] did rob him and injure him in the end- but by a ’grace’ that last betrayal was at a precise juncture when the final evil deed was the most beneficial thing anyone could have done for frodo! By a situation created by his ’forgiveness’ , he was saved himself, and relieved of his burden
Pity and Mercy are big themes throughout the books, and it was Frodo's act of pity towards Gollum that Eru decided to intervene. Frodo did not have the strength of will to destroy the ring (as we are told no one had that will power), but because of his previous act of pity towards Gollum, Eru decided that earned Frodo his salvation and he stepped in destroying the Ring, relieving Frodo of it.
So, I think Gollum plays a very influential part in the destruction of the Ring. Not just in the sense of leading and guiding the Hobbits to Mordor, but also as Tolkien says for the very sake of Frodo, Gollum plays a part.
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