261a57dd   
   XPost: rec.arts.books.tolkien   
   From: no.spam@no.spam   
      
   On 9/12/2011 11:29 AM, tenworld wrote:   
      
    > I think Elrond still held a grudge (maybe not the right word) that   
    > Aragon's ancestor did not destroy the ring when he could.   
      
   Surely, by the time of the War of the Ring, Elrond understood   
   that Isildur had no choice in the matter.   
      
   Among other properties the Ring had incredibly strong mind-control   
   powers when matters came down to its self-preservation.   
      
   Isildur wrote, "But for my part I will risk no hurt to this thing:   
   of all the works of Sauron the only fair. It is precious to me,   
   though I buy it with great pain."   
      
   When Frodo was called upon to try melting it, "The gold looked very   
   fair and pure, and Frodo thought how rich and beautiful was its colour,   
   how perfect was its roundness. It was an admirable thing and altogether   
   precious."   
      
   Frodo hadn't the strength of will to throw it even into his small fire.   
   Gandalf did have, but by his own admission even he, a powerful Wizard   
   would be mastered by the Ring's evil power before he could drop it   
   into the Crack of Doom, had he tried to wield it.   
      
   So no, I don't think Elrond held it against Isildur. Nor do I think   
   Elrond himself could have destroyed it either, if Gandalf speaks   
   the truth, and I think Elrond was wise enough to know it. Otherwise   
   he might have undertaken the Quest himself.   
      
   This wasn't just an plain old garden-variety magic ring; it had   
   the "best part of the strength that was native" to a powerful   
   and evil Maia, second only to Morgoth the Enemy.   
      
   For instance if I somehow bought Thor's hammer at a yard sale   
   in Oslo and tried using it to tap a picture-hanging tack   
   into the wall, I'd be lucky if the thing didn't demolish   
   the whole building. See _Farmer Giles of Ham_, where merely   
   brandishing a magic sword at a dragon was "quite enough"   
   to unleash its true power. Whereupon it delivered (or caused   
   the wielder to deliver) a crippling blow beyond his own   
   first intention.   
      
   How to neutralize such a magic token? It wasn't enough merely   
   to squirrel it away somewhere; Sauron was too powerful and   
   threatening even without the Ring on his hand.   
      
   Since it couldn't be destroyed by any strength of will, the Wise   
   had no choice but to rely on a long shot. A very long shot,   
   it seems, a fortuitous accident. However, the Wise, or at least   
   Gandalf, knew "There was more than one Power at work...   
   something else, beyond any design of the Ring-maker."   
      
   All they could do was give that other Power the best possible chance   
   to do its work. So they chose a "witless Hobbit", one with small   
   stature and therefore the one least vulnerable to corruption.   
      
   They knew even he would ultimately succumb. But it would be enough   
   if his free will took him only as far as the *Brink* of Doom before   
   claiming it as his own.   
      
   SQ   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)