TiG: Sauron's own poem describing his Ring refers to it as Master of the other Rings, not as an independent power...
And if that is so, then Celebrimbor's denseness actively aided Sauron. He didn't even try to resist Sauron until he saw him in total "I am going to rule the world thanks to these suckers" mode and couldn't make an excuse not to.
__________________
<=== Lookee, lookee, lots of IM handles!
|