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Old 05-30-2003, 09:38 PM   #24
The Saucepan Man
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Join Date: Jan 2003
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The Saucepan Man has been trapped in the Barrow!
Ring

Quote:
Somehow if I had to choose the most 'logical ringbearer' I'd consider Merry and Pippin (as a team).
Well said, akhtene. I'll second that. I think that I came to the same conclusion on another thread. Basically, for me it all comes down to the Hobbit's peculiar resistance to magic such as that imbued in the Ring. All the others were too vulnerable to its temptations. If Gandalf was afraid of taking it, then I would not trust any of the others with it either. Not Aragorn, Legolas or even Gimli (Dwarvish resistance notwithstanding - the Ring would have found away to tempt him away from his mission).

Hobbits seem to have this particualr strength which enables them to bear burdens such as the Ring more easily than other races (Smeagol being the obvious exception, and one that I have never quite been able to figure out). So, after Frodo, it's a matter of choosing between the remaining three Hobbit members of the Fellowship.

I go along with what others have said about Sam being a follower. He needed a purpose other than just the destruction of the Ring and being Frodo's companion to the end of the Quest provided that for him.

Which leaves either Merry or Pippin. Neither would have been ready to bear it at the start of the journey. They would have needed experiences similar to those that they underwent to mature them sufficiently to take it all the way into Mordor. But, as Ringbearers, they would no doubt have had those. If I had to choose between the two, I would plump for Merry as the more contemplative and mature of the two. But I agree with your idea, akhtene, of the two of them accomplishing the Quest as a team, although one of them (Merry?) would have had to have been the actual Ringbearer. The Ring does not lend itself to being shared.

Only problem, of course, is that none of them, according to JRRT, would have been able to toss the Ring into the fires of Orodruin. So Gollum had to be there, whoever it was. And, again, I think that Merry and Pippin would be the most likely candidates to take the same approach to Gollum that Frodo did, and so the most likely to accomplish the task.
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