XPost: rec.arts.books.tolkien   
   From: the_stan_brown@fastmail.fm   
      
   On Wed, 27 May 2015 11:22:46 -0700, Barry Schwarz wrote:   
   > If not stated outright it is strongly implied that if Sauron should   
   > reacquire the One Ring, he would be unstoppable and all would be lost.   
      
   It _was_ stated outright, at the Council of Elrond and probably other   
   places.   
      
   > Since the only power in the Ring was what Sauron put there himself, it   
   > follows that elves and men had no hope against a full strength Maia.   
      
   I don't think your premise is correct. Sauron put some of his power   
   into the Ring so that he could channel the much greater power in the   
   "Morgoth-element" of Arda. While he wore the Ring, he was much, much   
   greater than formerly. Without the Ring, as long as no one else   
   claimed it, he had all of his former power but none of the extra   
   power from the "Morgoth-element."   
      
   I wrote a fair amount about this, with quotes from JRRT, in the FAQ   
   of the Rings:   
      
   "Why would Sauron make himself vulnerable by transferring his power   
   to the One Ring?"   
   http://oakroadsystems.com/genl/ringfaq.htm#Q1-SauronWeaker   
      
   "In the Third Age, having lost the Ring, why wasn't Sauron weaker   
   than before he had made it?"   
   http://oakroadsystems.com/genl/ringfaq.htm#Q1-Rapport   
      
   --   
   Stan Brown, Oak Road Systems, Tompkins County, New York, USA   
                                     http://OakRoadSystems.com   
   Tolkien FAQs: http://Tolkien.slimy.com (Steuard Jensen's site)   
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   FAQ of the Rings: http://oakroadsystems.com/genl/ringfaq.htm   
   Encyclopedia of Arda: http://www.glyphweb.com/arda/default.htm   
   more FAQs: http://oakroadsystems.com/genl/faqget.htm   
      
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