Quote:
Originally Posted by Alfirin
It might have taken a lot more than a moment. We're talking about a loose ring (remember the WK dissolved when he died so it's not like a matter of "find the WK's body and pull the ring off his finger") on a battlefied that is still somewhat active; in a place that would have been trod over by the people who bore Eowyn, Merry and Theoden off the field, and possibly by others (remember the reason Eomer is willing to sacrafice troops to carry Theoden away mid battle is that he thinks it's quite likely that the tide of battle could flow over the spot.) If the ring had not been taken by someone, it would likey be already trodden into the mud beyond visibility if not accidentally burined under Snowmane (who the men would have had to move to get Theoden out) or the Fell Beast (who they could have had to move to get the people out, or whose corpse could simply have been pushed by something). Unless Gandalf posseed Sauron's ability to sense the rings (and he doesn't) finding it would likey be akin to finding a needle in a haystack.
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You make very good points and I agree it may have taken more effort and time then what Gandalf was willing to put in to find the ring. Now the WK did dissolve but I'm assuming his clothing was left behind or his gauntlet if he had one? Also there are the dead mounts on the ground like you said, so it wouldn't be extremely hard for Gandalf to find the scene if he so desired it. I'd still like to believe that Gandalf did do a quick search for the ring even though it wasn't mentioned in the book, he might have even picked it up and kept it safe. I also don't think Gandalf would've spent a lot of time in searching for it ether way.