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Old 12-03-2012, 08:31 PM   #4
Morthoron
Curmudgeonly Wordwraith
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cellurdur View Post
All the great rings confer invisibility. Gandalf tells us this and logically they would have to. Or else the Wise would be very foolish indeed not to realise than Bilbo had the One Ring.
No, they did not all confer invisibility. You are using a character in a book without complete knowledge of the subject to bolster your point. I prefer the author himself:

Quote:
Originally Posted by J.R.R. Tolkien, Letter #131
The Elves of Eregion made Three supremely beautiful and powerful rings, almost solely of their own imagination, and directed to the preservation of beauty: they did not confer invisibility.
If one considers that the Dwarves, too, were mortal and did not disappear, I would say Gandalf did not know what he's talking about. But that's okay, he makes false assumptions elsewhere in the book. He is not infallible. In any case, the Three Elven Rings were made solely by the Elves, and Sauron had no hand in their making; therefore, none of the powers conferred by Sauron were upon them.

The men who held the Nine Rings did not vanish instantly either. They could, if they wished, turn invisible, but they could remain visible wearing the Rings:

Quote:
Originally Posted by The Silmarillion
"...those who used the Nine Rings became mighty in their day, kings, sorcerers, and warriors of old. They obtained glory and great wealth...They had, as it seemed, unending life, yet life became unendurable to them. They could walk, if they would, unseen by all eyes in this world beneath the sun, and they could see things in worlds invisible to mortal men..."
In regards to Beren and his son, both of whom held a Silmaril unscathed, I would suggest Varda must not have been very good with spells.
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