The Darkside of the Ring
Lars Christensen
When Sauron made the ring, he did so with a clear purpose: to use
it to subdue the other rings to his power. It was not the ring that
made Sauron evil, rather it was created for an evil purpose in the
first place. Sauron is master of the ring, not the other way round.
Neither did Sauron become invisible when he wore the ring, or loose
physical shape because of it. He had worn the ring for a very long
time before Isildur cut the ring from his finger, and he was certainly
both visible and had physical form then.
I agree that a very important property of the ring is the corruption
of the mind of the wielder, because this ensures that it can only be
used for evil purposes. But the temptation to wield the ring is not
a false one. It did indeed have some 'real' powers. Remember when
Frodo wielded it on top of Amon Hen. He was able to see far and wide,
as if the world was laid on a table in front of him.
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Lars Christensen | This only was wanting. Now comes the night.
fl...@inet.uni-c.dk | - Turin Turambar
Jason Kraushar
>I can't follow the argument that Sauron was corrupted by the ring.
>When Sauron made the ring, he did so with a clear purpose: to use
>it to subdue the other rings to his power. It was not the ring that
>made Sauron evil, rather it was created for an evil purpose in the
>first place. Sauron is master of the ring, not the other way round.
I agree totally. The Ring does not influence or control he who can
*master* it to his will. Sauron was the master of the Ring before, during
and after its creation. It was his, after all. It was his own will that
filled the Ring, so it is nonsensical to assume that he could fall slave
to his own will.
>Neither did Sauron become invisible when he wore the ring, or loose
>physical shape because of it. He had worn the ring for a very long
>time before Isildur cut the ring from his finger, and he was certainly
>both visible and had physical form then.
I would imagine he could tell the Ring to make him invisible if he
wanted though.
>a false one. It did indeed have some 'real' powers. Remember when
>Frodo wielded it on top of Amon Hen. He was able to see far and wide,
>as if the world was laid on a table in front of him.
This was a property of Amon Hen, not the Ring. Aragorn had planned to
go up there as well, to have a look about the world, as you may recall.
Neil Woodhouse
: remember when Frodo wielded it on top of Amon Hen. He was able to see
: far and wide, as if the world was laid on a table in front of him.
I spent the last couple of days browsing through HOME 7 and in the chapter on
the breaking of the fellowship Tolkien seems unsure as whether to imply that it
is the power of the ring which gives Frodo the visions atop Amon Hen or whether
it is the power of the high seat itself built as a look out post by the
Westernease exiles, or finally whether it was a combination of the power of
Frodo while wearing the ring and the seat's power. I think Cristopher Tolkien's
discussion finished with the conclusion of it was the power of the seat of Amon
Hen.
yours Neil
Louis Epstein
: On 21 Feb 1995, Giedke wrote:
: > Neil Woodhouse (ma9...@brunel.ac.uk) wrote:
: > : Lars Christensen (fl...@inet.uni-c.dk) wrote:
: > : : remember when Frodo wielded it on top of Amon Hen. He was able to see
: > : : far and wide, as if the world was laid on a table in front of him.
: >
: > : I spent the last couple of days browsing through HOME 7 and in the
: > : chapter on the breaking of the fellowship Tolkien seems unsure as
: > : whether to imply that it is the power of the ring which gives Frodo the
: > : visions atop Amon Hen or whether it is the power of the high seat itself
: > : built as a look out post by the Westernesse exiles, or finally whether
: > : it was a combination of the power of Frodo while wearing the ring and
: > : the seat's power. I think Christopher Tolkien's discussion finished with
: > : the conclusion of it was the power of the seat of Amon Hen.
: >
: > Then, why couldn't Aragorn see anything when he went up there a couple
: > of minutes later?
: > He should have been much more apt to employ the Power of Westernesse.
: > My bet is on the Ring being the reason for the sight (of course being
: > combined with the position (and maybe power) of Amon Hen.
: > In my opinion the fact that Sauron nearly spotted Frodo is further
: > evidence that Frodo was really _using_ the power of the Ring this
: > time.
: >
: That and the fact the the Lidless Eye passed over when Frodo took it off
: at Gandalfs urging (clarified as him in Two Towers). Also, recall that
: he was siitng on Amon Hen, not just up there, so it added to the vision.
: Aragorn was not sitting there, so he wasn't able to employ it's power.
See the first page of the first chapter of TT..."Aragorn hesitated.He desired
to go to the high seat himself,hoping to see there something that would guide
him in his perplexities;but time was pressing.Suddenly he leaped forward,and
ran to the summit,across the great flagstones,and up the steps.Then sitting
in the high seat he looked out."
Seems pretty clear to me...