Quote:
Originally Posted by Inziladun
'Success' in what respect? Again: how does one establish true ownership of the Ring without overthrowing its original master? Surely Sauron would have the opportunity to fight his rival to establish dominance. I simply don't see anything to convince me that someone, even of the stature of Gandalf , merely declaring the Ring to be his would cause Sauron to roll over and die.
And really, by claiming the Ring, haven't you actually been conquered by Sauron already, in a sense?
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This is an invisible struggle that is exactly like the Ring's exertion of its will over its bearer, but in reverse. Gandalf or Galadriel would have perceived much more of Sauron than even Frodo did when wearing the Ring, and the will of the Ring/Sauron would be plain to them, either to be submitted to or overcome. A successful claimant would overcome the Ring's will and enslave its power to his own. This invisible struggle never took place with Frodo, Isildur, Bilbo, and Gollum, as all of these were easily and perhaps imperceptibly bent to
its will.
These spiritual duels are not uncommon: Aragorn v. Sauron via Palantir; Gandalf's words of binding and command to the Balrog; Gandalf's overthrowing of Saruman; Melian's Girdle. To resist and assert oneself in the face of, say, Melian's Girdle, would be to prove one's power greater than hers--or, at least, greater than that which she put into the spell. Similarly, the Ring has a will that exerts power and to claim it one must overcome that power. (Melian, of course, would not be overthrown by someone who breached her protective spell, but the nature of Melian's Girdle is different from that of the Ring in that the Girdle was not a repository for a great portion of Melian's sustenance.)