Welcome to the Downs, AstraeusPhoebus. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img] And what a great topic for your first post. Very thought-provoking questions, indeed.
As I understand it, Sauron imbued the One Ring with part of his own spirit, so that it became an extension of him. With it, he was more powerful than before, but without it, he was less so. While the Ring remained in existence, that part of Sauron's spirit that he had poured into it remained in existence too, even though he was unable to draw on it while parted from it. But, when the Ring was destroyed, that part of Sauron that was within the Ring was destroyed too. And I would speculate that, once that happened, the remainder of Sauron's spirit was unable to survive. The destruction of the part led to the destruction of the whole (or, more accurately, its banishment to the void).
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Saruman thought that with the ring, he would have Sauron's power. Although this is illogical, because there is only one lord of the rings, Saruman was corrupted by power and wasn't thinking straight.
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I do not think that Saruman was wrong on this point, Olorin. After all, both Galadriel and Gandalf anticipated that they would supplant Sauron if they were to take the Ring. So why not Saruman? I tend to think that Galadriel might have been wrong on this, but not Gandalf and probably not Saruman.
We are given little information on the specific powers of the Ring. It rules the other Rings of Power and so enables Sauron to dominate the bearers of the Nine Rings of Power, enslaving them as the Ringwraiths. Clearly, it bestows invisibility (allowing the bearer to cross over into the wraith world) and incredible longetivity. It also has the power to corrupt (again, both Gandalf and Galadriel recognise that they would, in time, have become corrupted by it).
However, I am not altogether clear how it would have enabled the bearer to overthrow Sauron. Perhaps a more powerful bearer (such as Gandalf or Saruman) would be able to defeat that part of Sauron's spirit that dwelt within the Ring and thus defeat him entirely. Certainly, I doubt that the less powerful would be able to use it against Sauron. Boromir clearly thought that it could be used for this purpose, but he was probably deluded. Possibly it would give the bearer dominion over his servants, such as the Orcs and the Nazgul, but I doubt this as neither Bilbo or Frodo (or Gollum for that matter) were able to use it in this way.
As for your final question, it appears that Sauron (and his minions) are only drawn to the Ring when it is worn by the bearer. But you are right. There is a certain illogicality here, for the Ring does seem able to exercise its own power of corruption irrespective of whether it is being worn. This is apparent from its influence on Boromir and from the fact that Smeagol is driven to kill for it when Deagol is simply holding it in his hands.
Possibly it is correct to say that Sauron did not have sufficient power to deal with Gondor (fearing the returning King) while at the same time searching for the Ring, but that paints a rather weak picture of Sauron. The significance of Aragorn challenging Sauron via the Palantir is that it forces him to act earlier than he otherwise might have done and empty Mordor of his armies. Similarly with the march to the Black Gate, although this does also have the effect of distracting him. Nevertheless, I think we have to accept that Sauron simply cannot locate the Ring with any accuracy unless it is worn by the bearer.
[ May 11, 2003: Message edited by: The Saucepan Man ]