Quote:
Originally Posted by Priya
Hi Rune Son of Bjarne
When I say “change size” - I mean something more radical than a loosening or tightening. Those minor fluctuations, of course, might be attributable to a biological factor and/or sudden local temperature variations which affect metals - and Gandalf doesn’t seem to have been overly concerned by them. Indeed, we must note it was Bilbo who suggested the chain and not the wizard.
It appears to me that Gandalf never extrapolated the significance of the loosening/tightening phenomena. If Gandalf had truly suspected that the Ring could grow from aptly fitting the “long slender brown fingers” of a typical hobbit - to the girth of Sauron’s (seemingly of stature greater than even a 7 ft tall Isildur), then it’s probable that a third piece of evidence would have come into play.
Namely - Bilbo’s ‘little’ ring was not only gold, and unadorned (i.e. without a gem), but size-wise it could fit Sauron’s hand. Upon such a realization, alarm bells ought to have sounded in Gandalf’s head.
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I think it is quite apparent from the section quoted, that Gandalf thinks this is significant, and definitly not something he would have attributed to biological factors.
This is the essense of what is problematic with this part of the book. Gandalf seems very concerned, and yet he does nothing for ages.