Rings of Power talk!

[Puddleglum]

Originally Posted by jallanite

The quotation Puddleglum correctly attributes to me applies to the period when Puddleglum’s explanation was unlikely to have happened, just before the final separation of Galadriel and Celeborn and their followers from Frodo and his party when from what we are told none of the three bearers of Elvish rings then bore them openly, though Galadriel produced a glow from her ring from a distance.

But the text DOESN'T tell us that at that time.

Except for the statement of Galadriel's farewell flash, the text at this time doesn't tell us ANYTHING about whether the rings were worn on hands, were visible or invisible, were locked in luggage or attached to chains of flashing, multi-colored lights (ok, I'm being silly with that last option). Since the text doesn't tell us, we don't know - we can only speculate.

We know that prior to the destruction of the One they were not worn openly - but as Galadriel wore hers in Lorien without Sam realizing she even HAD a ring this "not worn openly" doesn't necessarily mean "not worn".

But we don't explicitly know whether, AFTER destruction of the One, they continued to "not wear openly", or whether it was now a moot point and they "could" wear them openly.

Either are fair speculations. My only objection was what appeared to be an absolute statement that Frodo "WAS unaware" about Elrond & Galadriel.

He "might" have been unaware, or he "might" have known by then. After all, he spent a lot of time with Gandalf in Minas Tirith from mid-April to MidSummer (Unfinished Tales tells us they shared a house), and he reasonably could also have spent time with Elrond as well.

My "explaination" (or reason for why I thought what I did) was based upon

• Frodo's long, intimate connection with Rings of Power - which predated the flash from Galadriel's ring at the parting.
• Frodo's having spent time with Gandalf in Minas Tirith (and having at least the opportunity to spend time with Elrond there as well) - which also predates the parting flash from Galadriel.

So, while my speculation may be either right or wrong, I do think it is predicated upon conditions as they were at the time referenced (the parting near Moria).