Why all the Fuss over the One Ring?

[WayneLigon]

Also, the elven rings at least DID stuff I think.

They did, but the power was very subtle and vague. The Encyclopedia of Arda lists the three Elven rings (Nenya, Narya and Vilya; the Rings of Water, Fire and Air) as being the only rings wholly made out of Sauron's influence (He taught them Ring-craft, but did not make their Rings, unlike the gifts to dwarves and Men; Sauron helped make 16 other magic rings of the Elves, but these three - the greatest - were made by the elves alone). The Three have some ability to maintain the Elven lands in some way. Interestingly enough, when the One is destroyed not only are all the other rings rendered powerless, so are these three. That is probably the main reason all the remaining elves leave at that time.

 

[Squire James]

Sauron definitely feared that someone would use his Ring against him. In fact, he pretty much assumed that was what his enemies were doing with it! He had no idea that they were trying to destroy it until it was way too late.

It appeared the Ring corrupted its users by getting its users to give into temptation (like Evil often does). Elrond, Gandalf, and Galadriel, for all their goodness, had their Grand Dreams that the Ring could use to tempt them with. The hobbits (including Gollum) had more modest dreams, and the Ring's attempts to turn them into Grand Dreams were rather pathetic. The Ring must have been quite frustrated with all its wielders after Isildur!

The reason they didn't do the "Eagle air raid" is pretty simple. The Eagles never presented themselves as available at times the Good Guys could have done this! The Good Guys weren't always under one unified command. There was no "anti-Sauron" controlling them all. The Eagles obviously had their own ideas about the matter, and their main idea was apparently to help only when they could avoid danger.

 

[Alzrius]

It's been a bit since I read the books (I'll read them again after Return of the King, but don't want to be all nit-picky about the movies like some people), but did Isildur turn invisible in the books as well?

He does in the movie, so that makes Invisibility an intrinsic quality of the ring, though I'd assume it's an on/ off option for people of Sauron's ability.

He does? No he doesn't. All we see of Isildur with the ring is him taking it out of Mt. Doom, then riding with it on a chain, then floating dead in a river. We never see him put the ring on in the movie.

 

[Ziggy]

He does? No he doesn't. All we see of Isildur with the ring is him taking it out of Mt. Doom, then riding with it on a chain, then floating dead in a river. We never see him put the ring on in the movie.

If I remember correctly, in the extended version (DVD) they use the "I'm invisible" special effects when he jumps into the river.

.Ziggy

 

[Gizzard]

If I remember correctly, in the extended version (DVD) they use the "I'm invisible" special effects when he jumps into the river.

This is true.

Actually, it shows Isildur going invisible and running for the river as the Orcs attack. Then it shows him becoming visible as the treacherous Ring falls off his finger in the water.

The effect on the riverbank doesnt quite work; the shot of him putting on the Ring is so quick its easy to miss and then the problem of how to show an invisible man running comes up. (You see some reeds and grasses moving.)

The shot in the river is very nice though; the look of surprise and desperation on Isildurs face as he grabs for the escaping Ring just before the Orcs jack him.

 

[Salthanas]

The one ring seemed to confer invisibility on all mortals that wore it. The way that invisibility worked was that the wearer was transported to the Shadow Realm. I'm pretty certain in the books that Isilder tries to escape that Gladden Fields by using the invisibility power but the ring slips from his finger revealing his location and resulting in his death. The Ringwraiths exist almost exclusively in the Shadow Realm (which is why they can see Frodo much more clearly when he wears the ring) and I think Tolkien said somewhere that the nine also transported the wearer there where they were much more vulnerable to the influence of Sauron. The reason the Ringwraiths exist in the shadowworld is because they wore their rings of power for so long IIRC and its possible that Frodo would have ended up that way if he had forsaken the quest and used the ring at great length.

With regards to the power of the Ring not only does it amplify the capabilities of the wearer it also provides huge powers of command, A Ringbearer who had trained his mind to the domination of others could not only command and see the effects of the other rings of power but could also prove almost irresitiable with his urgings for people to follow him. Even Saurons own armies would be hard pressed to avoid the call of the ringbearer which was probably what he feared the most.

As for why everyone wants the One Ring this is because the Ring has a will of its own, and being evil in nature it tempts and corrupts those around it. Tolkien seemed to suggest that everyone is tempted by power in some way which is why the ring is so hard for anyone to ultimately give up and why it can wreck havoc on those around the bearer as it urges them to sieze that power for themselves. The ring does this by mainly showing its victims what they desire most and suggesting that through it they can achieve this. Sam imagines himself as a great gardner,who turns the ash land of Mordor into a rolling valley of flowers, Boromir imagines himself as a great leader who could use its influence to destroy the armies of Sauron and save his people, Gollum simply imagines that with the ring he can eat fish everyday and escape from all those that pursue him etc etc.



yours Salthanas

 

[Umbran]

I'm pretty certain in the books that Isilder tries to escape that Gladden Fields by using the invisibility power but the ring slips from his finger revealing his location and resulting in his death

Not in the Lord of the Rings Trilogy itself, he doesn't. Perhaps such a scene exists in some Tolkien apocrypha, but there's no detailed description of Isildur's death in the trilogy. We are told that he's ambushed by orcs, and the ring ends up in the river. Details are left to the reader's imagination.

And, as for the discussion in general - the powers of an artifact of such power need not be entirely consistent, especially when the artifact in question has a will of it's own.

 

[shilsen]

Not in the Lord of the Rings Trilogy itself, he doesn't. Perhaps such a scene exists in some Tolkien apocrypha, but there's no detailed description of Isildur's death in the trilogy. We are told that he's ambushed by orcs, and the ring ends up in the river. Details are left to the reader's imagination.

Right. The detailed description is in Tolkien's "The Book of Lost Tales", which incidentally also goes into some detail about Isildur's son (can't recall the name) who sacrifices himself in covering his father's escape. Apparently Elrond and others had thought that he might be the greatest king of the Dunedain, and there were later claims that Aragorn was him reborn, since the two resembled each other more than Aragorn did any of his predecessors. Just a little Tolkien trivia.

 

[Storm Raven]

I note that "power by stature" is equivalent to "hidden power" if nobody of stature ever has the ring. In the books, the ring goes from Sauron to Isildur to the bottom of a river, to Smeagol to Bilbo to Frodo. After Isildur, nobody of stature ever has the thing, and there are few to no records of Isildur's time with it. All notions on what powers the ring actually has are thus speculative.

Not quite. Several elves who appear in the book were alive in Isildur's time: Galadirel, Celeborn, Elrond, Legolas, Gildor, Thingol, and Glorfindel were all alive at the time of the Last Alliance. It may be ancient history to men, but it is current events to elves.

 

[Umbran]

Not quite. Several elves who appear in the book were alive in Isildur's time

Yes, but it seems that they didn't know much. Gandalf knows those elves personally, is great friends with many of them, and could have simply gone and asked. But instead, to find the best source around, he went to consult written records in Minas Tirith, and came back with very little.

Being alive is no guarantee that you know anything