[Dilettante]

Originally Posted by Inziladun

I do admire Isildur for one thing, though. He earlier (according to the words of his scroll as recounted by Gandalf at the Council of Elrond) had thought the Ring suitable as an "heirloom" for Arnor. Yet, he shows that he indeed fully realized the peril of it at that point at the Gladden Fields, and it apparently never crossed his mind to try and give it to Ohtar to be carried away. The argument is there that maybe Isildur was incapable of giving the Ring up. However, I think he could have done it, had he desired to do so enough. He had not had it in his possession for very long, and Sauron was vanquished and far away. I think Isildur knew he stood a good chance of dying before he could reach any help, and the thought of doing so in the wilderness, where the Ring was unlikely to be found for at least many long years, was the main reason he retained it when he left. Indeed, what other reason did he have for leaving? Why not die with the rest of his men?

Good point! Perhaps Isildur had the Ring just long enough that it was starting to take hold of him, but not quite long enough that he still had his own will. Maybe he saw what it was starting to do to him and realized what a terrible thing it would be, so he ran away with it in an attempt to keep his men and his descendants from the same fate.