Who would have fallen? - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

davem · 08-25-2005, 03:23 PM

The Ring is at once the single most powerful object in Middle-earth & the least powerful, because it can do nothing on its own - it needs a wearer to corrupt to its will. It would 'choose' to corrupt the most powerful person, because its questionable how much power it could actually bestow on an individual. It seems to work by twisting the individual's mind so that they mis-use their own innate 'power'. If everyone was to take Faramir's approach & leave it by the wayside, it would be the single most useless thing in M-e. (Inspired by the essay 'Tolkien, King Alfred & Boethius' in Tolkien Studies vol 2).

In other words, like Gandalf, it cannot 'burn snow'. It has to find someone with the potential to be corrupted. As Bb states, its down to the self knowledge of the individual. Neither Faramir nor Aragorn are seducible because of this. Not because they are incorruptible, but because, like Gandalf, Galadriel & Elrond, they know they are & so would not listen to its call. As I said, if everyone was as wise as them the Ring could just be thrown away. It has to be destroyed because not everyone is.

View Poll Results: Who would have been the first of the Fellowship to succumb to the One Ring?
Sam	0	0%
Merry	1	1.89%
Pippin	17	32.08%
Gandalf	7	13.21%
Aragorn	13	24.53%
Legolas	6	11.32%
Gimli	3	5.66%
Frodo	6	11.32%
Voters: 53. You may not vote on this poll

08-25-2005, 03:23 PM	#11
davem Illustrious Ulair Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: In the home of lost causes, and forsaken beliefs, and unpopular names,and impossible loyalties Posts: 4,240	The Ring is at once the single most powerful object in Middle-earth & the least powerful, because it can do nothing on its own - it needs a wearer to corrupt to its will. It would 'choose' to corrupt the most powerful person, because its questionable how much power it could actually bestow on an individual. It seems to work by twisting the individual's mind so that they mis-use their own innate 'power'. If everyone was to take Faramir's approach & leave it by the wayside, it would be the single most useless thing in M-e. (Inspired by the essay 'Tolkien, King Alfred & Boethius' in Tolkien Studies vol 2). In other words, like Gandalf, it cannot 'burn snow'. It has to find someone with the potential to be corrupted. As Bb states, its down to the self knowledge of the individual. Neither Faramir nor Aragorn are seducible because of this. Not because they are incorruptible, but because, like Gandalf, Galadriel & Elrond, they know they are & so would not listen to its call. As I said, if everyone was as wise as them the Ring could just be thrown away. It has to be destroyed because not everyone is. __________________ “Everything was an object. If you killed a dwarf you could use it as a weapon – it was no different to other large heavy objects."