Who do you think would be a good 'second' choice to bear the ring to Mordor.

[Turin Bane of Glaurung]

Just curious on who everyone that would be a good choice besides Frodo to carry the ring.

Thnx in advance. Turin

[Aiya]

Out of the Hobbits? Sam. But other than that... Aragorn?

Actually, if it could be -any- Middle-Earthan creature? An Eagle.

[Legolas]

This sort of opinion question are better suited for N&N where everyone can throw in their pick.

[Meela]

I always thought of Legolas as the sort of steadfast person who could resist the ring and carry it to Mordor.

And Aragorn would be good. and perhaps Elrond. Or Gandalf. Although they might be a bit too conspicuous for the job.

[Phervasaion]

I reckon Aragorn might have been good for for the job but he would have fallen for the ring in the end (mind you so did Frodo). Other than Aragorn i think Sam may have made a good attempt.

[Kalimac]

It would have to be a hobbit, first of all - they're by far the least prone to dreams of regaining past glories, and they're not very powerful in themselves, so the Ring would take longer to work on them than on any of the other races. Sam would be the logical choice, but I'm not sure that would work out in the end - he and Frodo added together were a force to be reckoned with, but neither could have done well on their own. Firstly, Sam has only a sketchy idea of Mordor's geography, which is a stumbling block. And secondly, when he was bearing the Ring, and knew that the Orcs were going to find Frodo's body, he was ready to run back and fight them with literally no chance of success; his devotion to Frodo at that moment outweighed his devotion to the quest itself. It was only by dumb luck that Sam wasn't caught and the Ring taken from him. So wonderful as Sam is, I would not pick him as a second-choice Ringbearer. Pippin is also out; he has many good points but he's a little young and light to be relied on, and he's also fatally curious about everything. The same mind that wanted just one look at the Palantir would also want to try the Ring on just one more time, even when he knew better.

My vote would have to go to Merry. He's a good planner and schemer (look how he arranged everything at Crickhollow, and while Sam was the chief spy of "Conspiracy Unmasked" there's a definite impression that Merry was the leader). He's observant, but can keep his mouth shut - he knew about Bilbo's Ring and the Red Book, but never let on for years. He's brave, if not idiotically so, in strange places - the Old Forest and so on. And of course, having studied all those maps at Rivendell, he probably has a pretty good idea of the layout of Mordor and how to get to the Cracks of Doom. The Gollum factor is a tricky one; I'm not sure I can see Merry managing him quite the way Frodo does. But maybe, if he'd been bearing the Ring for a while, he might have started to understand Gollum in the same way Frodo did.

[Enedbelethiel]

In response to... I always thought of Legolas as the sort of steadfast person who could resist the ring and carry it to Mordor. ...I always thought the same until I remembered that Legolas was an elf prince. As someone in a position of power, so to speak, Legolas would probably have eventually fallen prey to the ring and corrupted his race of elves. It's strange to think of Legolas in this manner, but I just figure that if anyone were to take the ring other than Frodo, it would still be one of the hobbits.

[Gashberz]

Gandalf would be the worst choice! He could easily be tempted by the ring and would become an abomination. He would become more powerful and evil, corrupted then ever. He would become a great foe to good and evil.

[Taterdamillion]

I don't think, even with his wisdom and all that, that Gandalf could've taken it. Aragorn might've been able to. Not sure about Legolas. I think it should have been Gimli, just out of the curiousity of what he would've done.

[Oroaranion]

If any of you have taken any attention to The Council of Elrond in the Fellowship (book version), Elrond and I believe Gnadalf, say that it was fate that Frodo was menat to carry the Ring, and that everything happens for a reason. No-one else would have been able to carry the ring.

Samwise reluctantly gave the One up after such a short time when he gave it back to Frodo in the tower of Cirith Ungol.

Any other hobbits would not have taken the situation seriously enough, naming no names. *cough*Merry and Pippin*cough*

Aragorn would have lost his will to the Ring, just like Isildur.

Legolas was not a good idea, can't think of a good reason why yet.

Boromir would have done the same as Aragorn.

Gandalf was offered the Ring, but if he had it, instead of a Dark Lord, the world would be subjected to extreme goodness everywhere.

Eagles would be to obvious, as would Elrond and any other Elf.

[The Dark Elf]

since elrond tried to tell isildor to destroy it, he could of joined the fellowship and take the ring to Mordor. Besides that, Gimli or Legalos. Tolkein said that men were really the only race corrupted by the ring. (Gimli would probably add the Ring to his jewelry piles) smilies/biggrin.gif

[Lalaith]

In response to the other closed thread, who would have got the ring if Frodo hadn't been around...surely it would have been passed to whoever was Bilbo's heir, and thus the answer lies in the Baggins family tree.
Bilbo would never have passed it to Lotho or any other Sackville-Baggins, so he would have found another cousin, presumably. Merry would thus be in with a strong chance.

[Thorongil]

Gandalf was offered the Ring, but if he had it, instead of a Dark Lord, the world would be subjected to extreme goodness everywhere.

This ring is pure evil. It could not have been used for good.Gandalf says so himself in the movie:

But through me, it would wield a power too great and terrible to imagine .

[Lyta_Underhill]

This ring is pure evil. It could not have been used for good.Gandalf says so himself in the movie
In Tolkien's Letter #246 (good old Letter 246! smilies/wink.gif ), he addresses briefly the idea of Gandalf as Ring Lord, saying that he would have been
...far worse than Sauron. He would have remained 'righteous', but self-righteous. He would have continued to rule and order things for 'good', and the benefit of his subjects according to his wisdom (which was and would have remained great). In the margin, Tolkien writes in this unfinished draft: 'Thus while Sauron multiplied [illegible word] evil, he left "good" clearly distinguishable from it. Gandalf would have made good detestable and seem evil.' So, yes, it would have been a very bad thing for Gandalf to be exposed to the Ring for a long time and unthinkable if he should be caught out at the Sammath Naur bearing it!

Of all the choices, I'd have to say Kalimac's idea of Merry is the soundest one in my opinion. He has the best chance of the remaining Fellowship to keep a level head about both the Ring and the practicalities of the journey itself. In fact, he knew of the Ring for years and never told anyone! (Of course he didn't know what it was, but he knew how to keep a secret! Good old Merry!)

Cheers!
Lyta

[Silmiel of Imladris]

Yeah I think it is also possible for there to be so much good that it is evil. Elrond would have probably would have been a worse choice than Gandalf. The power of Vilya (Elrond's ring) would diminish when the one ring was destroyed. He would take the ring with the intent to keep his realm strong but we would still end up with another Sauron. I think Galadirel truly had this intent to save her forest but luckily she was strong. As much as I love the elves I think all of them would be a bad choice because of the magical powers most or all of them possess. It would be safer if the chosen one had little or no magic.
What I didn't understand at first was why didn't Elrond just kill Isildur and throw the ring in himself? Then I thought that a war probably would have started between men and elves and who knows maybe just reaching for the ring to throw it in was enough to corrupt the Elf Lord. Although I still think that the reason Elrond didn't do it was because of war for I think he could withstand holding the ring for three seconds before he chucked it.

[Lenwe]

I think Tom bombadil could of with ease smilies/biggrin.gif

[Rocharwen]

i think that same would be a very good choice. i think he's the only other hobbit that could've. Pippin gave into the temptations of the palantir, so i doubt he could've withstood the powers of the ring. and merry, well, he'd be better than pippin but he'd still be more susceptable to the power. other than hobbits, maybe legolas or aragorn.

[Elanor the Fair]

I would have to say Sam. He has the purest of heart and I think that he could withstand Saron the longest. If Frodo asked him to and was with him the whole journy.