[jallanite]

Originally Posted by Inziladun

Your idea would require a puzzling change of subject in Gandalf's words: moving from discussion of what happened to the other Rings of Power to the specific effect of the Nine on the Nazgûl. I see no reason for that abrupt shift.

I agree. The theory takes the sentence to be an inversion of an already inverted sentence. The sentence reads very awkwardly if interpreted by this theory, more so, I think, than any other sentence written by Tolkien, none of which calls for a supposed re-interpretation which reverses what Tolkien seems to write.

The most likely explanation is probably that it was merely a slip by Tolkien; a piece of earlier, rejected thoughts that inadvertently slipped into the final text. I was simply looking for something in-world that would explain it.

I agree here also. The sentence can be interpreted according to the theory, which might explain why Tolkien never noticed his miswriting. (If so, then that possible misinterpretation perhaps becomes the real interpretation, if it were Tolkien’s interpretation, Tolkien knowing what the sentence ought to mean.)

Unfortunately your former in-world explanation causes still more difficulties, which is why I don’t accept it as a valid in-world explanation.

I don’t recall who came up with this interpretation many years ago. Its sole advantage is that it works perfectly, if the reader is willing to accept that Gandalf is here speaking in an unusually awkward way. Perhaps that is easier to accept than that Gandalf is here simply wrong about something he was right about a few months back when explaining the fate of the rings to Frodo. One might also accept that Gandalf is here making a slip of his tongue such as people often do in real life. But in books generally speakers do not make casual slips of the tongue, except when they are supposed to be noticeably mentally disturbed to some extent which is not the case with Gandalf here.