Quote:
Originally Posted by Galadriel55
Sauron has no need to tag the Ring, but he put a significant amount of power in such a small thing. How do you transfer your power to an object? I don't think there's a yes or no answer to this question; however, I highly doubt that Sauron just said, "Let it be done!", and it was done. In my opinion, he didn't just dump all his power at once into it, but rather etched that verse into the Ring's being. Not into the gold itself, but into its essence.
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The Ring itself was only a container though, a vessel to house a piece of
Sauron's essence. The writing was a physical part of the Ring, I think, though it could only be seen under certain conditions.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Galadriel55
And it was so potent that you could see it come through when you brought the Ring closer to fire. Hence, you do not only see some random inscription, but it tells you something about the nature of the Ring in ways other than words. The fire aspect simply reflects its "place of birth", so to speak. The Elven characters denote the contributors of the art that allowed such a Ring to be made. And lastly, the Black Speech - well, this one's pretty obviously pointing to Sauron and the Ring's will and purpose.
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I don't see the purpose behind the writing, though. That the inscription was a conscious act of Sauron's seems clear.
Again, he would not have considered though the possibility that any hand other than his own would ever touch the Ring, so to whom would the "message" from the Ring be addressed?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Aganzir
Words have power in Middle-earth. Gandalf had to say Naur an edraith ammen in order to light the fire at Caradhras - he couldn't just snap his fingers.
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I do see a possibility that an incantation was necessary to enable the One to take control of the other Rings of Power, hence Sauron's words when he put it on, as perceived by the wearers of the Three. Why else would he have spoken them?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Aganzir
There are also other instances of using writing/runes for magical purposes. I don't think the doors of Moria would function without the inscription, and I also seem to remember the dwarves put some runes on the troll hoard in the Hobbit. Perhaps they are needed to make an item remember the purpose for which it has been crafted.
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I think the Doors of Durin's markings were both a nod to their maker, and a sly way to have the password plainly visible. Necessary to open? Hm. I don't know.
As for the runes marking the place of the troll-treasure, I'd always thought them merely a means for recognizing the spot where it was buried, though it does say in
TH that "spells" were placed over it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Aganzir
Or then Sauron was just showy.
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Maybe it's as simple as that: sheer arrogance, with open disdain for the lesser beings he was going to enslave with his Ring.
Quote:
Originally Posted by William Cloud Hicklin
Words have power in Middle-earth.
Notice both the effect of, and the reaction to, Gandalf's uttering the ring-verse (in Black Speech) at the Council. One also gets the impression from the Moria episode that a Word of Command (whatever that is, but certainly a word) is about the most potent thing a Wizard can cast.
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Indeed. Gandalf speaking the inscription in the Black Speech is always a striking moment when I read that passage.