Quote:
I disagree that the desire
For the Ring stems from the power of the Ring. I can easily imagine substituting some other major heirloom or powerful weapon and having the same response from the characters who were drawn to the ring without having touched it.
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I'm not so sure that Boromir, or even Gollum, would have been provoked into acting the way that they did simply for a valuable heirloom or powerful weapon. To my mind, there is power in the Ring itself which reaches out to the vulnerable and causes them to desire it, or perhaps enhances an existing desire. In Boromir's case, for example, maybe he started out simply desiring it as a powerful artefact, but the Ring's influence worked on that to cause him to attack Frodo for it. Something he would never have done otherwise.
Which brings me on to your second question. As I understand it, Sauron put part of himself into it when it was forged, so that it magified his power when he was in possession of it, but lessened him without it. It does have a will, but it is not an independent will - it is a part of Sauron's will. I think that this is suggested by the way Gandalf refers to the Ring. He talks of it trying to find its way back to its Master. For example, he suggests that it was the Ring that decided to part with Gollum, hoping to be picked up by a Goblin or the like (and not an unassuming Hobbit lost in the dark).
So, in my opinion, the Ring does have a will, and is able wilfully to use the power that Sauron infused it with to influence the acts of those who are most vulnerable to that power. Possibly that is those with the weakest wills, and it is only able to influence the stronger willed characters, such as Frodo and Sam, while they are Ringbearers.
[ February 07, 2003: Message edited by: The Saucepan Man ]