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Originally Posted by Galendor
So the consensus seems to be that invisibility was not an intended power of the One Ring, but rather a side effect of its true power - allowing the wearer into the wraith or "spirit" dimension.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Galendor
Also I think the mortal wearer is not 100% invisible but very close to it - In The Hobbit, Bilbo found that when wearing the Ring in full sunlight, he still cast a faint shadow. So the wearer must absorb some light and thus not be completely transparent (invisible), agreed?
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Agreed. The faint shadow makes it sound as though the Ring is a sort of "cloaking device" that perhaps bends light rays around the wearer, and isn't 100% efficient. If we only had
The Hobbit to go by, I'd interpret it that way. However, in
The Lord of the Rings, the descriptions of what happens when one puts on the Ring support the idea of going into a parellel dimension. Besides, Gandalf specifically mentions the "wraith world" and "the other side".
Why the shadow, then? And why can someone wearing the Ring still see the real world, although dimly? It's simple: the Ring transports its wearer into the wraith world,
but not all the way.
c.f. what Gandalf says to Frodo:
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"You were in gravest peril when you wore the Ring, for then you were half in the wraith world yourself, and they might have seized you."
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