Phantom, I agree with you that, to the extent that Elrond and Galadriel suggest that they would be able to master the Ring and supplant Sauron, they were deluding themselves. And I think that holds true for Saruman too. Alas, I do not have the Letters, but I recall that, in a similar discussion, (BW) Legolas posted excerpts from the Letters which (convincingly, as far as I was concerned) suggested that Gandalf was the only one (in Middle-earth) who was Sauron's equal and who would therefore be able to successfully wield the Ring against him. But I seem to recall that those excerpts also suggested that Gandalf would be able to destroy Sauron with the Ring.
As I said, I do not unfortunately have the Letters. Does anyone recognise the passages that I am referring to?
[ September 19, 2003: Message edited by: The Saucepan Man ]
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