# Tolkien Geeks--A few questions about "The Hobbit" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 4, 2004, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tolkien-geeks-a-few-questions-about-the-hobbit/222676 "2004-01-04T18:24:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![The\_Griffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@The\_Griffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Griffin)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2004, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tolkien-geeks-a-few-questions-about-the-hobbit/222676/41 "2004-01-06T15:49:47Z")
So why did Sauron collapse when the ring was destroyed? Surely it wouldnt affect him, he just couldnt get his old strength back? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Griffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@The\_Griffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Griffin)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2004, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tolkien-geeks-a-few-questions-about-the-hobbit/222676/42 "2004-01-06T15:54:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Colibri \* > \*\*Given your sig, I’m sure you must know where it’s from. For the benefit of others, it’s Dildo Bugger’s words upon missing Goddam in _Bored of the Rings_. \*\* _bored of the rings_ is cheap trash. I mean, _Goddam???_, come on, they could have tried harder than that surely? ---
**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2004, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tolkien-geeks-a-few-questions-about-the-hobbit/222676/43 "2004-01-06T16:11:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by The Griffin \* > So why did Sauron collapse when the ring was destroyed? Surely it wouldnt affect him, he just couldnt get his old strength back? Sauron had to invested so much of his own power into the ring for it to be able to control the other rings that when it was destroyed, that power was lost. ---
**Author:** ![lee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lee/32/7455_2.png) [@lee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lee)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2004, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tolkien-geeks-a-few-questions-about-the-hobbit/222676/44 "2004-01-06T18:26:12Z")
Farmer Giles of Ham had a blunderbuss, but there is no indication that he is meant to be in Middle Earth. ---
**Author:** ![ed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c77e96/32.png) [@ed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ed)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2004, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tolkien-geeks-a-few-questions-about-the-hobbit/222676/45 "2004-01-06T18:43:13Z")
> [@](#): > > So why did Sauron collapse when the ring was destroyed? Surely it wouldnt affect him, he just couldnt get his old strength back? Just because he doesn’t physically posess the ring doesn’t mean there’s not an intense connection. Sauron’s very _being_ was used to create that thing, so now he cannot exist without it being intact. The mistake made by Isildur, of course, was to allow it to exist, which essentially is allowing Sauron to continue existing, even if temporarily weakened. Putting his power into the ring was a two edged sword: on the one hand, it made him more powerful and bound him to a near-indestructible object, thus making it very very tricky to actually get rid of him. On the other hand, it ended up making him very vulnerable to separation from the ring or it’s eventual destruction. ---
**Author:** ![Weird\_AL\_Einstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c67d28/32.png) [@Weird\_AL\_Einstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weird_AL_Einstein)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2004, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tolkien-geeks-a-few-questions-about-the-hobbit/222676/46 "2004-01-06T19:05:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by The Griffin \* > \*\*_bored of the rings_ is cheap trash. I mean, _Goddam???_, come on, they could have tried harder than that surely? \*\* Calling him “Goddam” absolutely was _not_ a cheap joke. And don’t call me “Shirley”! ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2004, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tolkien-geeks-a-few-questions-about-the-hobbit/222676/47 "2004-01-07T17:38:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by The Griffin \* > \*\*_bored of the rings_ is cheap trash. I mean, _Goddam???_, come on, they could have tried harder than that surely? \*\* Howzabout you come up with a better one, bub, so we can critique it? A lot of BOTR is hilarious, some is weak, but it ain’t bad for a couple of recent college grads who admitted they were just trying to make a few bucks by ripping off a best seller. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tolkien-geeks-a-few-questions-about-the-hobbit/222676.md?page=2)