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Originally Posted by davem
Of course, from a more practical point of view it could be argued that, as the Ring cannot actually bestow any 'extra' power on an individual, only corrupt them to mis-use the 'power' they already have, putting it into the hands of a Hobbit was the samrtest thing Eru caould have arranged.
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Originally Posted by SpM
It was suggested on a thread which considered this question (and which I unfortunately cannot now find) that the best "B-Team" for the journey into Mordor would have been Pippin/Merry, with Merry playing Sam to Pippin's Frodo. I tend to agree.
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Hmm, good points! When the Fellowship was being 'set up' at Rivendell it's almost inevitable that a Hobbit will be chosen to be Ringbearer. How fortunate for the 'powers that be' it was that Bilbo found the Ring, or Hobbits may have never been considered. Different races turn up for the Council, including Dwarves, Elves and Men but Hobbits are the one race which until Gollum, had never been involved with Rings of Power.
It's interesting how someone from each of these races is chosen to join the Fellowship but the majority group is of Hobbits. That cynical voice inside tells me that Gandalf noticed the potential of Hobbits right away, and he took every opportunity/advantage he could, including getting Sam to join in. I agree that it seems Merry/Pippin did make up a good B team.
Thinking about Bilbo, he set a good example with his period bearing the Ring; it was a lengthy time, but he survived relatively well. Gollum held it for much longer and he used it to hide from those he preyed upon whereas Bilbo seems to have kept the Ring to use simply to hide from his neighbours when he wanted privacy. Maybe goodness of heart (or at least lack of malicious intent) has something to do with the Ring not corrupting certain individuals quite as much as we might think it would. Maybe it is the humility of the bearer which is important?
It does make me shudder to think of what would have happened had Aragorn decided to take the ring.
