# LOTR Question - Who else could have carried the ring? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 15, 2006, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotr-question-who-else-could-have-carried-the-ring/352810 "2006-04-15T21:47:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2006, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotr-question-who-else-could-have-carried-the-ring/352810/21 "2006-04-16T07:24:05Z")
Well a hobbit-type called Gollum hung on to the Ring for thousands of years, only using it to catch fish and dodge goblins. Which proves the point other made earlier about the Ring trying to tempt the owner in proportion to their powers and ambitions. Aragorn was noble enough to resist the Ring (but he knew what it would do to him :eek: ). Ditto Galadriel (when Frodo offers it to her). And Gandalf too… ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2006, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotr-question-who-else-could-have-carried-the-ring/352810/22 "2006-04-16T07:34:05Z")
> [@glee](#): > > Well a hobbit-type called Gollum hung on to the Ring for thousands of years, only using it to catch fish and dodge goblins. He only had it for about five hundred years. Perhaps an angry fish guarded it for thousands though. The very fish that pulled him in. Fish aren’t very ambitious. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2006, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotr-question-who-else-could-have-carried-the-ring/352810/23 "2006-04-16T08:07:28Z")
Maybe a good hackey-sack player? “I’m not touching the ring! I’m not touching the ring! Uh-oh, I’m touching it, I guess I’m doomed—no, nope, I’m not touching the ring again!” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2006, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotr-question-who-else-could-have-carried-the-ring/352810/24 "2006-04-16T08:26:26Z")
> [@Fern Forest](#): > > He only had it for about five hundred years. Perhaps an angry fish guarded it for thousands though. The very fish that pulled him in. > > Fish aren’t very ambitious. Ah yes. I was forgetting that the Ring lay in the Anduin for about 2461 years. ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2006, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotr-question-who-else-could-have-carried-the-ring/352810/25 "2006-04-16T12:08:00Z")
I think Radagast could have done it. Presumably he had power on the level of the other Istari, yet he seemed to exhibit remarkably little desire to control others. Instead he seemed entirely content to act in the humble role of messenger and intelligence-gatherer for Gandalf and his allies, an attitude which seems to have inspired a degree of contempt from his more ambitious peers. Indeed, Radagast was so disinclined to “meddle in the affairs of wizards” that there’s no indication he was even invited to the Council of Elrond. Certainly no one seemed too concerned about what he was up to during the War of the Ring. Yet the very fact that he was overlooked by everyone else seems to suggest that he was the sort of low-profile character who could have seen the job through. He seemed to combine an abiding love of Middle-Earth with a humble demeanor, without Bombadil’s fatally limiting Attention Deficit Disorder. You can just hear Sauron when his Ringwraiths try to warn him of the danger: _“RADAGAST?! You think they entrusted the ring to RADAGAST? PPHPPHH-BWAHAHAA!!! Oh no, PLEASE, not Radagast! I’m friggin terrified! Oh my god RADAGAST IS COMING TO GET ME!!! Please won’t somebody save me from Radagast?! Oh man, my Eye… I think I peed myself… Alright, good one, you knuckleheads. Very funny, now get back to work. Heh heh… Radagast…”_ ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2006, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotr-question-who-else-could-have-carried-the-ring/352810/26 "2006-04-16T12:20:49Z")
> [@Marlitharn](#): > > I’m intrigued. Tell me more? From Chapter 2, “shadow of the past” in FOTR. Gandalf is speaking: > [@](#): > > 'There was more than one power at work, Frodo. The Ring was trying to > get back to its master. It had slipped from Isildur’s hand and betrayed him; > then when a chance came it caught poor Deal, and he was murdered; and after > that Gollum, and it had devoured him. It could make no further use of him: > he was too small and mean; and as long as it stayed with him he would never > leave his deep pool again. So now, when its master was awake once more and > sending out his dark thought from Mirkwood, it abandoned Gollum. Only to be > picked up by the most unlikely person imaginable: Bilbo from the Shire! > ‘Behind that there was something else at work, beyond any design of the > Ring-maker. I can put it no plainer than by saying that **Bilbo was meant to > find the Ring, and not by its maker. In which case you also were meant to > have it. And that maybe an encouraging thought**.’ To wrestle with the full implications of the statement, one must know a bit about JRRT’s theological outlook, that of a devout Catholic. And one must also know some of the background mythology of Middle-Earth, to whit; there is no other power besides Sauron that could have influenced matters having to do with the ring save for Eru. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2006, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotr-question-who-else-could-have-carried-the-ring/352810/27 "2006-04-16T13:32:47Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > The eagles? 😉 Keep in mind; Sauron was aware of the fact that the great Eagles were servants of Manwe. He would be extra suspicious of Eagle activity anywhere near Mordor. **Terrifel** : That was hilarious. I think Radagast would have resisted the Ring longer than most others. He would try to use it to heal Birds and maybe restore the forest. Eventually he may have tried to stop human and orc incursions against wood and forest and used force to do it. The slippery slope would than begin and the soon there would be attacks straight out of “The Birds”. 😃 Jim ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2006, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotr-question-who-else-could-have-carried-the-ring/352810/28 "2006-04-16T13:53:42Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > Because the Nazgul would have noticed a bunch of big giant Eagles in a heartbeat. Or even one. The only advantage Frodo had was one of surprise. \ and fear (of what the Ring would do to him if he tried to use it). The two advantages Frodo had were surprise, fear and a total lack of selfish ambition… The _three_ advantages Frodo had were surprise, fear, a total lack of selfish ambition, and a quite unexpected power of resistance… The _four_ advantages Frodo had were surprise, fear, a total lack of selfish ambition, a quite unexpected power of resistance, and the ability to go unnoticed… I’ll come in again. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2006, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotr-question-who-else-could-have-carried-the-ring/352810/29 "2006-04-16T14:03:19Z")
All right, that’s enough. Nyah. ---
**Author:** ![Spatial\_Rift\_47](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a8b319/32.png) [@Spatial\_Rift\_47](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spatial_Rift_47)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2006, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotr-question-who-else-could-have-carried-the-ring/352810/30 "2006-04-16T14:40:03Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > All right, that’s enough. Nyah. What do you mean that’s enough? Nobody expects the Hobbit Expedition!! [sub]:: runs off giggling madly ::[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2006, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotr-question-who-else-could-have-carried-the-ring/352810/31 "2006-04-16T14:42:45Z")
Somebody get the comfy seat of seeing from Amon Hen! ---
**Author:** ![Civil\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d78d45/32.png) [@Civil\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Civil_Guy)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2006, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotr-question-who-else-could-have-carried-the-ring/352810/32 "2006-04-16T14:56:19Z")
> [@Qadgop the Mercotan](#): > > Sam wore the ring, after Frodo was poisoned by Shelob. > > IMHO, Sam lacked the will to carry on for the sake of the quest. He had more than enough will to carry on for the sake of Frodo, and if not for Sam, Frodo would have failed many times, many ways, which weren’t probably redeemable like his final failure was. And Sam was probably the only other one who could have worn the ring within sight of Mordor itself and not succumbed to it. But it was only later that he grasped just what being a ringbearer truly meant, and he was not willing/able to bear that thought long. > > Besides, it seems that Frodo was destined to be ringbearer by Eru himself. And as was posted above regarding Radagast, Sam proved that he had his own issues when Sam was looking into the mirror of Galadriel. He was safe enough with the Ring in Mordor where there was the distraction of the immediate job at hand, but maybe not elsewhere. If Sam had gotten the Ring in the Shire, particularly when there was some threat to the Shire, he would have been irresistably tempted to use the Ring in its defense, and that paradoxically would have been the beginning of hard times. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2006, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotr-question-who-else-could-have-carried-the-ring/352810/33 "2006-04-16T15:42:09Z")
Neo could have. He is The One. Captain Kirk would talk the Ring into destroying itself. \*What IS… your Prime Directive? Find … alltheotherrings Bring … themalltogether In … thedarknessbindthem You … have … failed … The other rings … don’t exist Aren’t used … Hiddenbyelvesanddragonswhat IS … your Prime Directive? You … have … failed!\* ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2006, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotr-question-who-else-could-have-carried-the-ring/352810/34 "2006-04-16T16:17:52Z")
The crew from _Monty Python and the Holy Grail_ could’ve done it. Would’ve been a lot funnier, too. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2006, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotr-question-who-else-could-have-carried-the-ring/352810/35 "2006-04-16T18:19:25Z")
> [@What Exit?](#): > > **Terrifel** : That was hilarious. I think Radagast would have resisted the Ring longer than most others. He would try to use it to heal Birds and maybe restore the forest. Eventually he may have tried to stop human and orc incursions against wood and forest and used force to do it. The slippery slope would than begin and the soon there would be attacks straight out of “The Birds”. 😃 I dunno; from the way he’s presented, it seems like it takes a lot to budge Radagast, but once he’s fixed his mind on a task there’s no stopping him. He seems like an outdoorsy, earth-tones kind of guy; the lure of the Ring would have been less likely to tempt him. Radagast’s concerns are allied most with the welfare of wild creatures, so that a thing of craft like the Ring would have held no appeal for him. I can’t see him being drawn to its use in the same way as Gandalf the fireworks distributor might have been, or even Galadriel, who after all was one of the Noldor (who were historically sort of chuckle-headed where such things were concerned). With his wisdom of nature’s ways, he would likely have realized that the Ring could never be used to heal, only to command; and every step toward Mordor would have only strengthened that resolve as the works of Sauron became more apparent. Besides, he doesn’t strike me as the sort of guy who goes in for flashy jewelry anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2006, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotr-question-who-else-could-have-carried-the-ring/352810/36 "2006-04-16T18:30:11Z")
Radagast would have seen the ring as a useful tool to restore harmony in Mother Arda. After all, it allowed the wearer to tap into Arda itself (AKA Morgoth’s Ring). And Radagast, being a Maia concerned with voles and bunnies and such, would have definitely succumbed to the temptation to use the ring to [del]restore balance to the force[/del] heal the hurts contained within Arda itself. And thus would he have fallen. After all, Radagast was the chief instrument of Iluvatar in the Second Theme, Fourth Movement, notes 93,346 - 96,129 of Ainulindalë, that segment which Eru raised to counter Melkor’s attack on the nitrogen fixation cycle. ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2006, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotr-question-who-else-could-have-carried-the-ring/352810/37 "2006-04-16T18:54:01Z")
> [@Qadgop the Mercotan](#): > > Radagast would have seen the ring as a useful tool to restore harmony in Mother Arda. After all, it allowed the wearer to tap into Arda itself (AKA Morgoth’s Ring). And Radagast, being a Maia concerned with voles and bunnies and such, would have definitely succumbed to the temptation to use the ring to [del]restore balance to the force[/del] heal the hurts contained within Arda itself. And thus would he have fallen. I find it impossible to believe that Radagast would have regarded “tapping into Arda” with Morgoth’s tool as in any way a good thing. Even phrasing it that way makes it sound filthy. > [@](#): > > After all, Radagast was the chief instrument of Iluvatar in the Second Theme, Fourth Movement, notes 93,346 - 96,129 of Ainulindalë, that segment which Eru raised to counter Melkor’s attack on the nitrogen fixation cycle. You don’t scare me with your fancy talk and your highfalutin umlauts. This would only have increased Radagast’s resolve to overthrow Sauron’s vastly destabilizing bean plantations on the plains of Nurn. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2006, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotr-question-who-else-could-have-carried-the-ring/352810/38 "2006-04-16T19:13:29Z")
> [@Terrifel](#): > > I find it impossible to believe that Radagast would have regarded “tapping into Arda” with Morgoth’s tool as in any way a good thing. Even phrasing it that way makes it sound filthy. Not at first he wouldn’t. But as the ring wormed it’s way into his psyche, it would have seemed like a better and better idea. What finer way to achieve Arda Unmarred? No need for Dagor Dagorath, just let someone who was there at the moment of creation and was devoted to how Arda was supposed to be, before Eru mucked it up with his “Children” thing, have a crack at it. 😉 > [@](#): > > You don’t scare me with your fancy talk and your highfalutin umlauts. This would only have increased Radagast’s resolve to overthrow Sauron’s vastly destabilizing bean plantations on the plains of Nurn. Don’t fear the umlauts! Use the umlauts! (alt + 0235 on most keyboards!) And Sauron’s beans were such poor food that they wouldn’t even make one fart! (HOMES XVI The Lays of Mercia and The Lays They Might Have Written Had Mercia Been More Like The Great Plains Chapter 17 “Notes on Oxford dining room custards and side-dishes” p. 457) ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2006, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotr-question-who-else-could-have-carried-the-ring/352810/39 "2006-04-16T19:37:33Z")
> [@Qadgop the Mercotan](#): > > Not at first he wouldn’t. But as the ring wormed it’s way into his psyche, it would have seemed like a better and better idea. What finer way to achieve Arda Unmarred? No need for Dagor Dagorath, just let someone who was there at the moment of creation and was devoted to how Arda was supposed to be, before Eru mucked it up with his “Children” thing, have a crack at it. 😉 Weelll… I’m still frankly dubious. If anyone in Middle-Earth would have been put off by the notion of using crafted tools to restore the landscape, it would have been Yavanna’s handpicked representative. Besides, as previously noted, Radagast identified most strongly with the birds. And no bird would have used the Ring. Why? _Because birds don’t have fingers._ > [@](#): > > Don’t fear the umlauts! Use the umlauts! (alt + 0235 on most keyboards!) Ahëm… Hey, thanks! I do feel a bit more knowledgeable now… wiser, more powerful… I see Terrifel the Terrible, Hero of the Age, striding across the land with a flaming umlaut in his hand… what the… _Hey!!!_ > [@](#): > > And Sauron’s beans were such poor food that they wouldn’t even make one fart! (HOMES XVI The Lays of Mercia and The Lays They Might Have Written Had Mercia Been More Like The Great Plains Chapter 17 “Notes on Oxford dining room custards and side-dishes” p. 457) Wow, I did not know that. No wonder Sauron’s Orcs were so humorless. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2006, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotr-question-who-else-could-have-carried-the-ring/352810/40 "2006-04-17T03:44:45Z")
> [@](#): > > Sam had even less ambition than Frodo, and I wonder if Sam would have thrown it away in the end easier. Also note, that when Frodo asked for the ring back, Sam just _gives it to him_. No cajoling, no trying to keep it, no forgetting the envelope was still in his pocket, not on the mantleplace. He just gives it up, easily and willingly. That’s a feat entirely unparalleled, and darn near unrivalled, in the sordid history of the Ring. As for the Eagles, well, One does not simply fly into Mordor! [sub][sub][sub]Now, if they were _ninja_ eagles…[/sub][/sub][/sub] > [@](#): > > After all, Radagast was the chief instrument of Iluvatar in the Second Theme, Fourth Movement, notes 93,346 - 96,129 of Ainulindalë, that segment which Eru raised to counter Melkor’s attack on the nitrogen fixation cycle. **Qadgop** , I must say. Anyone who doubts that this place is worth fifteen bucks need only reed this post. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotr-question-who-else-could-have-carried-the-ring/352810.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotr-question-who-else-could-have-carried-the-ring/352810.md?page=3)