This thread:
http://forum.barrowdowns.com/showthr...997#post508997 got me thinking about an intriguing scenario...
What if the White Council had not driven Sauron from Dol Guldur? How would the trilogy be changed? How would the Fellowship's mission be affected? Gandalf mentions in Unfinished Tales that Sauron would most likely have attacked the North first... how would this have changed the unfolding story?
One thing that occurs to me right off is that Mt. Doom would be much more accessible, and thus the Ring easier to destroy...