# question for LoTR nerds: **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 10, 2002, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-lotr-nerds/123225 "2002-08-10T01:51:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![robertliguori](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/46a35a/32.png) [@robertliguori](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robertliguori)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2002, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-lotr-nerds/123225/1 "2002-08-10T01:51:43Z")
What would have been the effects of Gandalf strapping the One Ring to a Really Big Firework and launching it into the sun? We know that Middle Earth is, well, earthlike from a stellar point of view, given that the constellations are similar. ---
**Author:** ![Cyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a88e4f/32.png) [@Cyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyn)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2002, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-lotr-nerds/123225/2 "2002-08-10T04:20:15Z")
It was suggested the ring be dropped into the sea, but seas shift over time and they wanted a permanent fix----destroy the ring in a sure-fire way. Gandalf’s fireworks were pretty but… Did you READ LOTR? ---
**Author:** ![RTA](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b4bc9f/32.png) [@RTA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTA)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2002, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-lotr-nerds/123225/3 "2002-08-10T05:01:44Z")
My _Silmarillion_ asserts that the “Sun” is actually the last remaining fruit of Laurelin, one of the radiant Two Trees, placed in a magic ship and presented by the gods to be a lamp for the world. The pilot is Arien, a fire spirit with a fearsome burning gaze. Certainly it wouldn’t do for the Sun-driver to get her hot little hands on the Ring. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2002, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-lotr-nerds/123225/4 "2002-08-10T05:26:33Z")
If the ring were cast into the sun, would its power corrupt the light of the sun and cause untold horrors in Middle Earth? ---
**Author:** ![Babar714](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@Babar714](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babar714)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2002, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-lotr-nerds/123225/5 "2002-08-10T05:55:30Z")
Only the Fires of Mordor can destroy The One Ring- that’s kinda a major plot point of the story. Sure, the sun would be a good way to get rid of it, but it couldn’t actually destroy it. If the sun went supernova and the ring ended up on some other world… more bad joojoo, man. ---
**Author:** ![robertliguori](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/46a35a/32.png) [@robertliguori](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robertliguori)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2002, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-lotr-nerds/123225/6 "2002-08-10T11:42:24Z")
Fine then. Just launch the One Ring out into the inter-fruting body void. If it’s travelling fast enough, then no minions will be able to catch up to it, and it is effectivly out of Sauron’s reach forever. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2002, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-lotr-nerds/123225/7 "2002-08-10T12:04:09Z")
Don’t think that didn’t occur to me. But I don’t think we’re dealing with either a Newtonian or Einsteinian universe here. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2002, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-lotr-nerds/123225/8 "2002-08-10T20:43:21Z")
> [@](#): > > Fine then. Just launch the One Ring out into the inter-fruting body void. If it’s travelling fast enough, then no minions will be able to catch up to it, and it is effectivly out of Sauron’s reach forever. Well, there is just that little problem of Morgoth living there. How’d you like HIM to get his hands on the Ring? ---
**Author:** ![Genseric](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Genseric](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Genseric)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2002, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-lotr-nerds/123225/9 "2002-08-10T23:10:38Z")
Nope, sorry, it’s _Sammath Naur_ or bust. The magic of the place of it’s forging is bound into the ring, and Sauron’s continued existence is dependent on the ring. You could hide it, and keep it away from Sauron for a long time, but eventually he _will_ get it back. The only way to finality is to destroy the thing in the place of it’s creation. If the ring hadn’t been destroyed when it was, Sauron’s armies would almost certainly have prevailed over the forces of the West. If you launch the ring into the sun, or the void, you keep it away from Sauron for a time, but he still wins in the end. Sauron = Win You = Lose ---
**Author:** ![ataraxy22](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ataraxy22/32/307_2.png) [@ataraxy22](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ataraxy22)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2002, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-lotr-nerds/123225/10 "2002-08-11T01:26:21Z")
So, if the ring can only be destroyed by the fires of Mordor and as long as the ring exists, Sauron will eventually get it back, wouldn’t a good strategy for Sauron be to destroy Mordor? ---
**Author:** ![Genseric](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Genseric](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Genseric)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2002, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-lotr-nerds/123225/11 "2002-08-11T01:39:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ataraxy22 \* > \*\*So, if the ring can only be destroyed by the fires of Mordor and as long as the ring exists, Sauron will eventually get it back, wouldn’t a good strategy for Sauron be to destroy Mordor? \*\* Actually, the thought had never occurred to Sauron that anyone would attempt to destroy the ring. He thought the lure of the ring would eventually subvert the will of its bearer, and they would claim its power. As events in the book show, he was right. ---
**Author:** ![robertliguori](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/46a35a/32.png) [@robertliguori](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robertliguori)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2002, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-lotr-nerds/123225/12 "2002-08-11T14:19:09Z")
Alright. How, exactly can Sauron get to the one ring if it is flying through the void at escape velocity? ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2002, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-lotr-nerds/123225/13 "2002-08-11T14:32:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by robertliguori \* > \*\*Alright. How, exactly can Sauron get to the one ring if it is flying through the void at escape velocity? \*\* _Something_ would happen. A meteor would strike the rocket turning it back towards Middle Earth. A retro-rocket would misfire, turning the rocket back towards Middle Earth. A convienient sun would go super-nova, collapse into a black hole that the rocket gravity-sling-shotted around and headed back towards Middle Earth. Remember you’re dealing with a POWERFUL magic ring that _wants_ to get back to Sauron and has the power to do stuff like that. BTW: **Genseric** Sam wasn’t corrupted by the ring, was he? It offered and he pretty much yawned. (I always thought that was one of the cooler moments in the book) Fenris ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2002, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-lotr-nerds/123225/14 "2002-08-11T15:26:02Z")
Bilbo actually gave the ring away. It was hard and he was weakened and tempted, but he gave it away of his own free will. Many people turned the ring down (Aragon, Gandolf and Galadriel come immediately to mind) but only Bilbo had it and gave it up. ---
**Author:** ![Joe\_Cool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecb155/32.png) [@Joe\_Cool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joe_Cool)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2002, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-lotr-nerds/123225/15 "2002-08-11T16:04:54Z")
There was one other person who had it and willingly gave it up. (read Fenris’s spoiler) ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2002, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-lotr-nerds/123225/16 "2002-08-11T16:37:27Z")
I’ll have to pull out my book, **Joe** and check it out (I’ve only read it twice, so I don’t have total recall), but Fenris spoiler says “was offered”. Not the same as “gave it up”. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2002, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-lotr-nerds/123225/17 "2002-08-11T16:41:29Z")
O.K., the spoiler guy does carry it. When the ringbearer gets sick. (I’m trying to do this without spoiling it.) ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2002, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-lotr-nerds/123225/18 "2002-08-11T18:19:35Z")
And every person who carried it ended up going west. It just took Spoiler Guy an extra 60(?) years to do so. Fenris ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2002, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-lotr-nerds/123225/19 "2002-08-11T19:00:30Z")
The technology in _The Lord of the Rings_ looks to me to be approximately eighteenth century. No one in the eighteenth century on Earth had the ability to create a rocket that would reach escape velocity. But even that assumes that science works the same way in Middle Earth as it does here. Remember, on Middle Earth, magic works. There’s no reason to assume that any particular piece of ordinary science works there. ---
**Author:** ![Fingolfin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eada6e/32.png) [@Fingolfin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fingolfin)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2002, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-lotr-nerds/123225/20 "2002-08-11T19:24:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Genseric \* > \*\*Nope, sorry, it’s _Sammath Naur_ or bust. The magic of the place of it’s forging is bound into the ring, and Sauron’s continued existence is dependent on the ring. You could hide it, and keep it away from Sauron for a long time, but eventually he _will_ get it back. The only way to finality is to destroy the thing in the place of it’s creation. > > If the ring hadn’t been destroyed when it was, Sauron’s armies would almost certainly have prevailed over the forces of the West. If you launch the ring into the sun, or the void, you keep it away from Sauron for a time, but he still wins in the end. > > Sauron = Win > You = Lose \*\* Yes indeed. Sauron’s major blunder, and there were many, was not destroying Mount Doom! Yep, that’s right, destroy Mount Doom and seal off any access to the lava core! Think about it, if Mount Doom ceased to exist, the One Ring could never, ever, be destroyed! And if the One Ring could never be destroyed, Sauron is virtually guarenteed of eventually finding it, which means total domination over Middle-Earth is inevitable. Sauron is such an idiot for not thinking of it. 😉 **Seriously tho guys, was destroying Mount Doom, and preventing access to the lava shaft (?!), an option for Sauron?** Hmmmmm… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-lotr-nerds/123225.md?page=2)