The Ring and the other races

[Noxomanus]

Now we all know Men,Maiar and Hobbits wore the One Ring and how it worked out it's power on them.
We also have an idea of what it would do to the Dwarves, should they have gotten hold of it.

But do we have any idea about what would happened if an Elf, an Eagle, an Ent, a Warg, a Troll,an Orc, a Dragon had been a Ringbearer? How would the Ring have worked out on them?

I guess Orcs, Trolls and Wargs would have given it to Sauron, as he was their master. An Elf might have tried to use it for the good of Arda,failing in the effort.
An Ent might have tried to use it's power to restore nature a la Sam's vision of what he could do with the Ring when he wore it.

Now Dragons and Eagles are very interesting. Both of them are unlike the humanoid races so may have reacted in a very different way. With Dragons, I don't really know if they'd give the Ring to Sauron...for one, they were not that close to each other, then the Dragons have a rather strong personality and last but not least, an extra powerful, invisible(!) Dragon might be a very dangerous enemy. As for Eagles..I have no clue.

Any thoughts?

[Boromir88]

Well we know Elrond and Galadriel wanted the ring to flock armies to their banner and overthrow Sauron. They both knew well about the ring, and knew that the ring in the end would cause nothing but destruction, so they threw those thoughts away and did their own part to help Frodo, good job you two .

What was interesting that was brought up in a "Chapter-By-chapter" discussion was it appears that "unconscious" beings of who has the ring, are yet drawn to that person. For example the Watcher in the Water, the Orc Captain in Moria, are both drawn to Frodo, yet they are unaware that he has the ring. The Ring works to draw creatures like that, to the ring-bearer, for it's own purposes, rather manipulative that little golden ring works.

I would think if an Ent had gotten the Ring, I don't know they would have used it to bring back the Entwives? Or maybe, use it to seek out the Entwives, who knows.

[Rimbaud]

An interesting thought; speculatively, I would conject that the Ring appeals to a base greed in the afore-mentioned creatures, a facet of the Ents it might find difficult to 'awaken'.

[obloquy]

I would think if an Ent had gotten the Ring, I don't know they would have used it to bring back the Entwives? Or maybe, use it to seek out the Entwives, who knows.

How could the Ring be used to do this?

The Ring had a specific design: to dominate others, and to exalt its master. The Ring didn't do anything, outside of this. If a bearer did not understand this purpose, and tried to keep the Ring without using it to this specific end, he would be "destroyed" by the Ring and enslaved, like Smeagol, or, to lesser degrees, Bilbo and Frodo. If the bearer was aware of the Ring's power (its sole power, mind you) and tried to use it, I can see three possibilities: 1) he would be proven naive and have the same fate as the ignorant one; 2) he would be fooled into thinking he was achieving his ends, only to be betrayed by the Ring; 3) the bearer would utterly break Sauron's imbued power/spirit and become the Ring's new master. Under these last circumstances, it's hard to say what would happen. Could the bearer enslave Sauron's power to use as his own? Or would the Ring just "die" with Sauron and become useless? I would guess the latter, and Tolkien says in Letters that an individual successfully claiming the Ring would be tantamount, as far as Sauron is concerned, to destroying it: that is, Sauron would be reduced to impotence. He doesn't say whether the Ring's power could persist even after Sauron's destruction, but I doubt it.

I doubt a dragon or an eagle would care much for the Ring. Why would a dragon need it? What would it do with it? The Ring is unlikely to make its way back to Sauron sitting in a dragon's hoard, so if it found itself there, it probably wouldn't stick around long. Eagles don't seem to have much to do with any world but their own, and I would be surprised if they cared enough for kingdoms and riches and subjects for the Ring to appeal to them. Kinda like Bombadil.

[Boromir88]

But the ring would no doubt offer the Ents back their Entwives. There is no way the Entwives will just reappear, only logical reasoning is they are either extinct or just wondered away somewhere. However, the Ring would feed off the Ents desires of getting back the Entwives, so it would offer the Entwives back to the Ents, as a way of manipulation.

[obloquy]

But the ring would no doubt offer the Ents back their Entwives.

Yes doubt. :P

There is no way the Entwives will just reappear, only logical reasoning is they are either extinct or just wondered away somewhere. However, the Ring would feed off the Ents desires of getting back the Entwives, so it would offer the Entwives back to the Ents, as a way of manipulation.

Manipulation to what end? Mischief?

The Ring didn't just offer whatever. Those affected by it envisioned themselves achieving greatness, or becoming mighty, or possessing/ruling something. I don't think it would have offered me a turkey sandwich unless there would be something to be gained by me desiring to claim it. My whole point was that it had designs and used its influence to further them, not just as an indiscriminate cry for attention.

[Boromir88]

I mean, even if Treebeard had the Ring on his twig and was totally convinced that it would yield some hot tree babes, the most the Ring could hope to achieve is alerting Sauron to its whereabouts and revealing to him the thoughts of a tree-person who was largely unconcerned with the goings-on of the outside world.

So you admit there's a possibility. That's all I've been trying to say. I'm not saying that's what will happen, for you may be right, I don't see Ents ever coming into possession of the Ring. I'm just simply saying, theoretically, if Treebeard happened to stumble upon it, I would think the Ring would use the Entwives to lure in the Ents. Now, what could the Ring accomplish by doing this?

Well you've said...

the most the Ring could hope to achieve is alerting Sauron to its whereabouts and revealing to him the thoughts of a tree-person

Which goes back to what I stated in my first post.

What was interesting that was brought up in a "Chapter-By-chapter" discussion was it appears that "unconscious" beings of who has the ring, are yet drawn to that person. For example the Watcher in the Water, the Orc Captain in Moria, are both drawn to Frodo, yet they are unaware that he has the ring.

If the Ring feels it can get back into the hands of Sauron, by being in the hands of an Ent, then it would do so. Since the Ents would most likely be dumbfounded, and not know how to use such a thing, none the less, they would take it because of what the Ring has to offer them (if anything). Or, they could pull a Bombadil and just not care and throw it away. IF the Ring saw any use in being in the possession of an Ent, it would use the Entwives, is all I'm saying.

[akhtene]

I really can’t remember anything the Ring directly OFFERED to Its bearers. It simply kindled their deepest desires, the will to achieve what they wanted (by ways the Ring chose for them). So IMHO with an Ent / or Ents It would probably have set them chasing their Entwives coming ever closer to Mordor or any place where they could be intercepted.

BTW, wasn’t Gandalf himself then ensnared by the Ring, as it was his idea to send the Company east? The pattern seems the same – the uttermost desire to save the world, but in the direction most convenient for the Ring and Its Master.

[Gurthang]

I don't think the ring had any effect on Gandalf sending the ring towards Mordor. Gandalf did not possess the ring for very long, in fact not at all is about as accurate, and so it could not have attached itself to him. His thought was only to end Sauron's campaign quickly, and the only way was to unmake the ring.

But as far as other's possessing the ring, it would depend on how strong their will was. The ring had a will of its own, we know that. So when someone, or something, puts it on, it becomes a battle of wills. It will be a losing battle for bearer, for the ring will never tire and is from the beginning very strong. Eventually, the ring would overcome anyone. If something has a very weak will, such as a warg or a troll, they would be defeated by the ring quickly and would give it to Sauron. Others might last longer, but in the end they would all become trapped by the ring's power.

[obloquy]

No, it was possible to overcome The One Ring and become its master. Doing this, however, would defeat Sauron just as effectively as destroying the Ring. The only question is whether the Ring, in this scenario, would maintain any of its power (since it stems from Sauron's own spirit) or if it would be rendered useless. I believe Tolkien speculates at one point that if Gandalf had mastered the Ring and overthrown Sauron in this manner, the end would still be a corruption of his power and intentions, but I'm not entirely sure that this should be considered anything more than speculation, albeit weighty. Were Tolkien able to discuss it, I would ask him if it was inconceivable for a power like Gandalf to thoroughly enslave the remnant of Sauron's power anchored in the Ring to his own righteous will. If so, wouldn't we then have to ask if Sauron's created nature was evil, rather than a free moral agent, since his power cannot be harnessed for good?

[Gurthang]

I remember a discussion(I'll see if I can find it) that concluded that even if one could master the Ring, it would still end up on top. The will of the ring can only be destroyed by destroying the ring. Otherwise it would never stop pushing against its bearer's will. Even if the bearer was not completely consumed by the ring, as Gollum was, it would still have a strong influence, as in Bilbo's case. So as time goes on, the ring would have a stronger and stronger influence as the bearer's will becomes weaker. Finally the bearer's will would be mostly obedient to the ring.