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Originally Posted by Tuor in Gondolin
As for the Ring only being destroyed where it was made, it's curious that a Silmaril could be destroyed in apparently just about any volcano but not the Ring.
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Erm...
No.
Where are you getting this idea from? There's no evidence that ANY earthly force could destroy a Silmaril- except perhaps their maker, Fëanor.
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Was there any stated prohibition from the Valar not keeping the ring but chucking it into a part of the Void seperate from Morgoth? Or putting it on an island off Aman or in the middle of the encircling sea, not Aman per se. An indirect way to help out Middle-earth, and perhaps taunting Sauron and distracting him from Middle-earth conquests?
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I think that you- and a great many other theorists on this thread, for that matter- are succumbing to the idea that one merely has to prevent Sauron from acquiring the Ring to achieve victory. This is not the case.
The Ring, were Sauron to get it, would definitely assure him victory, since it would enhance his powers back to their full levels. However, Sauron was on the cusp of victory as it was. Aragorn and Gandalf were BARELY able to defeat Sauron's first invasion of the West. It was only a matter of time before Sauron's massively larger armies and deeper resources crushed the West, and Sauron was lord of all Middle-Earth.
Removing the Ring from Middle-Earth doesn't change that. If anything, dumping it somewhere where no one can find it is playing right into Sauron's hands, because it's now kept perfectly safe, and there's still no threat to his total dominion of Middle-Earth.
The main reason Sauron wanted the Ring back was not because someone might destroy it. It is very clearly shown in the book that Sauron didn't think that anyone could even contemplate that. No, he wanted the Ring back so that no one could use it to challenge him. That's what he feared: the use of his own power against him for his defeat. What did Sauron care that this new lord would be just as evil as him and would be possibly worse for Middle-Earth? Not a bit! Sauron was not interested in EVIL ruling Middle-Earth, but in SAURON (who just happened to be evil) ruling Middle-Earth.
Which is why the Ring had to be destroyed. In terms of military power, the West was, at best, fighting a holding action. The only hope they had to defeat Sauron in force was to use the Ring- a choice of action that would have assured victory, perhaps, but would have been a pyrric victory at best, since they may have defeated Sauron, but they would themselves have become evil.
Hiding the Ring would have been completely pointless. The Ring could not then be destroyed, destroying Sauron. Nor could it even be used against Sauron (an evil thing to do, but the only effective way of fighting him with force).
Therefore, it follows that any sort of chucking the Ring into the ocean, or the chasm of Moria, or the Void- no matter how completely irretrievable the Ring would have been after that action- would have been a pointless thing to do.