[The Saucepan Man]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR> From what I understand the power of the ring was not that it made the wearer invisible, but that it amplified certain strengths that the wearer had, ie hobbits could be sneaky creatures and therefore the ring amplified this ability. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>I disagree. Among the many powers that it conferred, the Ring made the wearer invisible. My interpretation is that the Ring takes the wearer out of the physical world and into the wraith world. Accordingly, Frodo was able to see the Nazgul (creatures of the wraith world) in their true form when he put on the Ring at Weathertop.<P>The power of the Ring to confer invisibility applied not just to Hobbits, but also to Men - Isildur for example. It was also a feature of the other Rings of Power, at least the Seven and the Nine. The Men who were to become the Nazgul were able to use the Nine Rings to become invisible at will (which suggests that the power could be controlled by the wearer). Once they succumbed through the Nine to Sauron's will, however, they became permamently invisible (under their cloaks and armour), becoming creatures of the wraith world. <P>There is a recent thread somewhere in Books discussing whether Dwarves were affected by the power of the Rings to confer invisibility, given that they were able to resist domination by Sauron through the Seven (unlike Men through the Nine). On balance, I see no reason why Dwarves would not become invisible when wearing one of the Rings.<P>There is even more debate over whether invisibility would affect Elves and Maiar (such as Gandalf). Personally, I doubt whether it would affect any who had once resided in Valinor and who already existed partially in the spirit world (Frodo sees Glorfindel in his "spiritual" shape in the (Book) scene at the Ford of Bruinen).<P>As for why Sauron was not invisible when he wore the Ring, I suspect that this is because he did not want to be invisible. Even if he was affected by its power to confer invisibility, which I doubt, he would most certainly have been able to control that power.