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***Mithadan*** · 10-13-2000, 01:08 PM

<font face="Verdana"><table><TR><TD><FONT SIZE="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Wight
Posts: 206</TD><TD></TD></TR></TABLE>
<img src="http://www.barrowdowns.com/images/posticons/sting.jpg" align=absmiddle> Re: Aragorn's Dilemma

OK, now this goes back to a thread I was involved in months ago. Was Frodo supposed to merely bear the Ring or destroy it? Gandalf could not have foreseen that Smeagol/Gollum would bite off Frodo's finger. Nor could he realistically believed that Frodo could, of his own free will, cast the Ring into the Cracks of Doom (Frodo couldn't even toss it into the fireplace in Bag End and didn't want to show it to Bilbo at Rivendell). Isn't this one of the reasons to give Frodo companions, to assist or, if necessary, force him to part with the Ring? So,no Aragorn, no Smeagol, but Gollum wasn't intended to be part of the party anyway. Aragorn's responsibility was to the Quest. By abandoning Frodo and Sam to chase Merry and Pippin, Aragorn abandoned the Quest and deprived Frodo of needed assistance to destroy the Ring, absent the "happenstance" of Gollum's intervention. So I ask again, without benefit of hindsight, did Aragorn make the right decision?

--Mithadan--
"The Silmarils with living light
were kindled clear, and waxing bright
shone like stars that in the North
above the reek of earth leap forth." </p>Edited by: <A HREF=http://www.barrowdowns.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_profile&u=00000004>Mithadan </A> at: 10/13/00 3:09:29 pm

10-13-2000, 01:08 PM	#10
*Mithadan* Spirit of Mist Join Date: Jul 2000 Location: Tol Eressea Posts: 3,393	<font face="Verdana"><table><TR><TD><FONT SIZE="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Wight Posts: 206</TD><TD></TD></TR></TABLE> <img src="http://www.barrowdowns.com/images/posticons/sting.jpg" align=absmiddle> Re: Aragorn's Dilemma OK, now this goes back to a thread I was involved in months ago. Was Frodo supposed to merely bear the Ring or destroy it? Gandalf could not have foreseen that Smeagol/Gollum would bite off Frodo's finger. Nor could he realistically believed that Frodo could, of his own free will, cast the Ring into the Cracks of Doom (Frodo couldn't even toss it into the fireplace in Bag End and didn't want to show it to Bilbo at Rivendell). Isn't this one of the reasons to give Frodo companions, to assist or, if necessary, force him to part with the Ring? So,no Aragorn, no Smeagol, but Gollum wasn't intended to be part of the party anyway. Aragorn's responsibility was to the Quest. By abandoning Frodo and Sam to chase Merry and Pippin, Aragorn abandoned the Quest and deprived Frodo of needed assistance to destroy the Ring, absent the "happenstance" of Gollum's intervention. So I ask again, without benefit of hindsight, did Aragorn make the right decision? --Mithadan-- "The Silmarils with living light were kindled clear, and waxing bright shone like stars that in the North above the reek of earth leap forth." </p>Edited by: <A HREF=http://www.barrowdowns.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_profile&u=00000004>Mithadan </A> at: 10/13/00 3:09:29 pm __________________ Beleriand, Beleriand, the borders of the Elven-land.