[The Saucepan Man]

Originally Posted by Bêthberry

It isn't a question of power, either physically or politically. It is a question of self-knowledge, or rather, lack of self-knowledge.

Mental strength (whether that be self-knowledge, wisdom, strength of will or whatever) is relevant to the degree to which a member of the Fellowship might be able to resist the lure of the Ring were it to call to him. Physical and/or political power is relevant to the question of what the Ring might be able to achieve once one of them had succumbed to it. If we are considering which "victim" the Ring would be likely to select, all of these qualities are relevant. I consider Aragorn to be a prime target.

Originally Posted by Bêthberry

Is the Ring's delight in the sport or in the victory?

I would say that the "sport" would be incidental to the victory - a bonus, if you like.

Originally Posted by davem

If everyone was to take Faramir's approach & leave it by the wayside, it would be the single most useless thing in M-e.

But Tolkien tells us that (with the exception of Tom Bombadil) there is no such person in Middle-earth. Given sufficient time and exposure, no one could resist the lure of the Ring. I suppose that you could draw a distinction between the Ringbearer and those who accompany him, but that is merely a matter of degree to my mind. The Ringbearer's exposure is (significantly) greater and therefore requires a greater strength of will to resist. But we can see from what happened to Boromir that it can work effectively on those who are with the Ringbearer for prolonged periods.

Originally Posted by davem

Neither Faramir nor Aragorn are seducible because of this. Not because they are incorruptible, but because, like Gandalf, Galadriel & Elrond, they know they are & so would not listen to its call. As I said, if everyone was as wise as them the Ring could just be thrown away. It has to be destroyed because not everyone is.

It had to be destroyed because no one is. I am not saying that Aragorn lacked self-knowledge, wisdom or strength of will. He had all of these qualities in spades. But each member of the Fellowship had qualities that could assist them to resist the lure of the Ring. They would all have been able to resist for a good length of time, perhaps even sufficient time to get them to Mount Doom. The question is which of them, after Boromir, would have buckled first.

There are a two things in particular about Aragorn that make him the most vulnerable in my eyes. First and foremost, he was a Man (albeit one with Elven blood). And time and time again, Tolkien makes the point that, of all the (originally good) races, Men are mentally the weakest. It was Men who were persuaded to serve both Morgoth and Sauron and it was Men who succumbed to the Rings of power. Not Elves and not Dwarves. (Although some Dwarves are said to have served Sauron, I see this as less because they could be bent to his will and more because they believed that they could get something out of it.) As for Hobbits, they are noted for their indomitability of spirit and their particular resistance to the kind of temptation that the Ring represented. And it was Aragorn's forefather who was unable to destroy the Ring when he cut it from Sauron's finger and who instead kept it for himself.

Secondly, Aragorn's wisdom, most particularly his knowledge of the nature and power of the Ring, made him vulnerable to it. Gandalf recognised this, and that is why he refused to bear the Ring. But would he have been able to do so, to resist the lure of the Ring, had he accompanied Frodo on the last stages of his Quest? Perhaps Gandalf would have been able to resist. But I do not think that Aragorn would have been able to.