Heh. I came in to say this.
The movie does him no favors, either. His line “Eight there are here, yet… nine there were,” is delivered in the movie in such a way as to make it really look like he’s (very slowly) counting up to see if he can actually get to nine without using his fingers. mr. hunter and I often quote that line when we would like to express that we’ve had a “duh” moment.
> ASK THORIN ABOUT THE ARMOR
I don’t know how to do that.
Thorin sits down and starts singing about gold.
That brings back memories of my youth!
Fair enough, fair enough, about the difficulties of communication… but are you really saying that Gandalf looked over the population of Bree and Butterbur was the best option?! 
Sadly it is possible.
I don’t think making it OIF was the problem: Sauron was recovering quite nicely without it. I’d suggest that making it Independent was the problem, because when it got destroyed, Sauron completely lost all those points.
What does OIF mean? What does Independent mean in this context?
It is some sort of gaming term that even an old gamer like me does not understand.
I would think that means Independent in that it doesn’t just think “Get back to Sauron as quick as possible”, but rather “Hey, it’s fun to fuck with these creatures and make them ALL want me!” even when this acts counter to the first idea.
It’s Hero System jargon, guys. Let me see if I remember it correctly.
OIF = Obvious Inaccessible Focus = A visible (Obvious) object that is the source of some/all of your powers (Focus), which cannot easily be removed from you (Inaccessible).
Iron Man’s armor would be an OIF–it’s highly visible, the source of his powers, and very difficult to take of off him against his will. The Shade’s cane would be an OAF (Obvious Accessible Focus)–it gets taken away pretty often without disabling him first.
Independent is another limitation. It does not, as I recall, refer to the ability of the item to act on its own, but to the fact that it functions independently from its creator/owner. That is, anyone can use it. The limitation is generally applied to unique and irreplaceable foci. (A non-unique focus that any one could use would be a Universal focus.)
Maybe not the widest, but certainly the thickest…
I think Theoden gets an honorable mention for trusting someone named Grima Wormtongue.
Grima was his real name and Wormtongue was probably some nickname given to him by some of his detractors.
Wormtoungue is what almost everyone but Theoden called him.
Arguably Independent – someone else could take the armour and use it, but probably OIF because Stark could make another copy.
Seeing as how Sauron couldn’t remake The One Ring it could arguably be Independent rather than OIF, but it didn’t seem that someone else using it would derive the full benefits; hence OIF in my original post.
Sorry Skald, was just making a silly joke in gaming terms about Sauron trying to “play” the system and ending up investing way too many points in an object that could be lost. 
Independent also means that if the focus is destroyed, the character points you’ve spent on the focus item are permanently lost. A normal Focus can typically be rebuilt or replaced by the character if destroyed - for example, Tony Stark can build a new Iron Man suit if he has to. If an Independent focus is destroyed, it’s gone forever.
If they had weapons before Smaug was killed (spoiler!) they likely would have used them in a way that got them all killed. The Hobbit had problems that were solved by opportunity meeting wit. Even when they were barricaded in the Lonely Mountain they were not formidable at all. They were fourteen against an army in a siege.
It’s my understanding that they would, but it would take a lot of time to fully master the Ring. And that once they did so, Sauron would be reduced to impotence just as he was by destroying it. Basically, the Ring contained most of the essence of what made Sauron what he was. Which is also why you can’t master it without being corrupted even if you are a Gandalf or Galadriel; the more you master it, the more by definition you essentially become Sauron Mark II. You are making Sauron’s essence part of you.
Keep in mind that it took what amounted to a (possibly literal) Act of God for the Ring to be destroyed. Without Gollum just happening to attack Frodo at just the right moment and then falling in the lava, Sauron would have gotten his Ring back and won. Yes, the Ring could be lost temporarily, but his belief that it was effectively indestructible was justified. It was a risk (the biggest risk was that someone of sufficient strength would find it and master it, not that it would be destroyed); but it was as far s we know the only way he had to power himself up that way. In fact, that made him smarter than Morgoth, who invested his power in the world and his servants and unlike Sauron ended up personally much weaker, not stronger.
[minor nitpick ]Thorin was entombed, not en-graved. I had thought the Arkenstone had been set on top of the tomb, with the sword, but checking shows it was put in the tomb with him. So still out of sight, but at least not in the dirt. [/minor nitpick ]
about the sword, was the sword made to hurt the Witch-king?