XPost: rec.arts.books.tolkien   
   From: the_stan_brown@fastmail.fm   
      
   On Sun, 05 Aug 2012 23:59:26 +0200, Troels Forchhammer wrote:   
   > I do agree that there is more to it than merely crying 'temptation',   
   > but I think the question is /how/ the Ring tempted Frodo, and how the   
   > greater power of the Ring changed the manner and strength of the   
   > temptation. In the end, Frodo gave in to the temptation to put on the   
   > Ring simply because he no longer had the strength of will to resist   
   > -- he was utterly spent.   
   >   
   > Sorry again -- as I said, this /is/ one of my favourite issues and I   
   > always tend to say far more than is necessary (or even wanted)  :-)   
   > Feel free to ignore the above.   
      
   I will confess that earlier today it did seem like just fuss over two   
   words that meant the same thing.  But when I thought about it I began   
   to see the difference: Frodo was overcome by something outside   
   himself; he did not embrace the Ring as say the Witch-King or Saruman   
   did.   
      
   I've compared it to a illness-induced fever, and Steve Morrison   
   pointed out Letter 191 where Tolkien compared it to brainwashing.   
      
   So don't apologize for being very precise on this point.  I for one   
   learned from this discussion much more about what Tolkien meant by   
   saying Frodo's was not a moral failing.  And that after all was a key   
   point in the book.   
      
   --   
   Stan Brown, Oak Road Systems, Tompkins County, New York, USA   
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