Or, an excuse to read a post from Qadgop and our other illustrious LotR fans
I have a bunch of questions, but since they all deal with the One Ring, I hope it’s ok if I just bunch them together here.
First, what was the effect of the ring on animals? For example, if a chimpanzee put the Ring on, would it gain power according to its stature? Would it disappear and gain super powers or just be a monkey that holds the fate of the world on its finger? For an animal to wear the ring, does it require a hand? What if a snake crawled through but then got stuck in the middle. I know I just asked a million questions, but I think they all stem from the same question in theory.
Ok, so now time for part two. Why did a person have to carry the ring to Mordor? We all know the Eagles are out of bounds, but why not, for example, have a small pet falcon carry it? It’s smart, obedient, and can fly away a short distance if any Ringwraiths attack. They hunt their own food also. Even Mordor has mice I would imagine. Maybe it would get shot down though and then you would be in a real pickle!
Well, what about a fish? Stick the ring inside the fish, and then put the fish inside your backpack. Now you’re carrying the ring but it’s not as easily wearable. Frodo could have avoided the entire bar mishap, because the ring would not have fallen out of the fishes stomach onto his finger.
One LAST question, why not put the ring inside a small, lightweight, chunk of concrete? Then nobody can wear it without some major effort. They didnt have concrete back then?
Wooh, anyone who can answer any or some of these questions gets major brownie points from me. Free sushi if you come to my restaurant! (I wish I could…)
Sincerely Insincere,
Auto
Why are the Eagles out of bounds? They carry Bilbo when he has the ring on him in The Hobbit, and they fly to Mt Doom at the end of the books (granted that the Wraiths are rather distracted at the time, it would probably be impossible to get past them without a similar diversion), so it doesn’t seem like it would be that hard to put the two togeather.
But then we don’t know what Gandalf’s plan was past getting through Moria, perhaps he was going to take the Hobbits to Minas Tirth, get Aragon to create a distraction and then throw Frodo on the back of an eagle for a quick trip to Mt Doom.
The eagles were agents of Manwë and aided the folks of middle-earth only at his bidding. And he wasn’t going to bid them to act as a regular taxi service. JRRT stated that rather explicitly in his correspondence more than once.
Much has been written about the effects of the ring on other living creatures, if they had worn the ring. But none of that was written by JRRT, so it’s rather irrelevant.
Small pet falcons are well known to be susceptible to the glamour of the nazgul, and they’re allergic to volcanoes anyway.
Mice are right out, given their tendency to be eaten by falcons.
All travelers to Mordor were screened at the border for fish which might contain rings of power.
The secret of making concrete was lost when King Arvedui drowned.
Silly! Concrete is a Roman technology, whereas the confected Red Book tradition is decidedly & exaggeratedly Northern European & tries to avoid anything smacking of the civilization of the Mediterranean.
Can anyone find that mashup - a slide show really - about Aragorn using a cataput to fling the Ring into Mt Doom from afar? It was pretty funny, IIRC …
Among Men, probably. But the Dwarves and the Noldor both had equivalent or better technologies at the time of Lord of the Rings. Remember, Gimli intended to take the lock of hair Galadriel gave him, and encase it in crystal. Presumably, the same process could be used to encase the Ring. My best guess as to why they didn’t is that would mean entrusting the Ring to an accomplished master artisan among the Dwarves or Elves, which is exactly the sort of person who would be most succeptible to the Ring’s power. Plus, if you have the Dwarves do it, you would have to go way out of your way to get to them.
As for the animals, would you really want the Ring to be on an independantly mobile, invisible creature who’s probably (thanks to the Ring’s influence) seriously reconsidering this whole “domestication” deal?
I like the chimp question. The chimp would have have even less effect than Samwise, the least of the Ring Bearers. However, Sauron may still be able to tune in on the ring when the chimp is wearing it. Besides can you imaging the havoc an invisible chimp could cause.
The Eagles were out of the question, as **Qadgop the Mercotan ** stated. Servants of Manwë and not to interfere.
I believe the impression was given that Gandalf planned to lead at least Frodo to Mount Doom himself before the Balrog changed the plans. Aragorn and Boromir were to split off to Minas Tirith and all the others were up in the air. We know Sam would have weent with Gandalf and Frodo, but we do not know what Merry, Pippin, Legolas and Gimli would have done. I suspect they would have stuck it out if given the chance.
Only Radagast would have had a chance at training a bird to deliver the Ring to Mt. Doom and he was not in the decision making to dispose of the ring. Even Gandalf could do know more that ask the birds a favor. What bird would have flown at his behest to the Cracks of Doom? Only an Eagle may have.
Gandalf did have some other plan for gaining access to Mordor, he never stated what the plan was. I seriously doubt he planned to go through the Gates.
Not interfere? they interfere all over the place, like 6 or 7 times over the course of the four books including taking place in two major battles. The War of the Rings would’ve had a far different ending if the eagles had kept themselves to themselves.
I think this is already in the canon. Did you miss the part where Aragorn says “I have had it with these motherfucking snakes on these motherfucking Plains of Mordor”?
Yes, but they could not deliver the ring. That would have been too much interference.
Eagles to the rescue:
Rescued from the flaming firs in “Out of the Frying Pan and Into the Fire” Hobbit
2: Battle of the Five Armies: Swept in the help destroy the Orcs. Decisive. Obviously Manwë likes Mithrandir a lot and is willing too help him along the way.
3: Rescued Mithrandir from Orthanc, as related by Gandalf at the Council of Elrond.
4: Carried the reborn Gandalf the White from Khazad-dum to Lothlorien.
Arrived for the battle at the Gates of Mordor
Flew the rescue mission to Mt. Doom to rescue the Hobbits.
That is every instance I can remember from memory. Please add more if you can think of one. Do not include the Silmarillion.
So saying, maybe Gandalf was planning to get close and then use the “Eagle Delivery System” [sup]trademark Pending[/sup].
I doubt he was planning to truck all the way around Mordor and come in via the east.
You forgot the part about The Eagles live concert in Minas Tirith the night before the Battle of Pelennor fields. It really lifted everyone’s spirits and undoubtedly helped turn the tide of battle.
If you want to hit me now, I completely understand.
Dude, that was the night they did the totally stoned version of “Hotel Osgiliath”.
They dedicated “New Kid in Town” to Pippin if IRC.
Who could forget “Wasted Time”, the biting critique of Denethor’s policies of delaying.
Who could forget “Life in the Fast Lane” about the hoped approach of the Riders of Rohan and of course “The Last Resort” about if only there was some magic talisman to destroy Sauron once and for all.
