[Roccotari Eldandil]

Eurytus, that was amazing. But I feel compelled to disagree with you on one point: Faramir. You claimed that he was not tempted "at all" by the Ring. It could be that perhaps he was, and maybe greatly. However, he might have been able to keep the struggle internal and unseen. There is obvious tension between him and his father--maybe Faramir has experience at masking his emotions from Denethor. People can keep a very calm face but still have emotional turmoil inside. As to his speech on "if this thing were lying by the road, I would not pick it up..." etc., he may have been saying that stuff partially as a promise to Frodo and partially to make himself believe that he wouldn't do it. Speech, when you consider it, is a powerful thing; and in my own (admittedly very limited) experience, if you say something enough you tend to believe it. Faramir's repeated verbal refusals might have helped strengthen his will, so that he would not take it. <BR>I hope that was coherent. My semi-rants can turn into rambling more quickly than a flying Nazgûl's reaction time (oh wait, that isn't too quick, is it? )