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Old 06-15-2009, 12:51 PM   #1
Inziladun
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Ring A Question of Loyalty

All right. It's pretty well settled, to my mind, that if any of the Nazgûl had found the One Ring they would have returned it to Sauron.
They would have done so, regardless of whether Sauron physically held the Nine, because their wills were captive to the Nine, which in turn were in thrall to the One.
However, what about the lesser servants of Sauron, specifically the Orcs? They served Sauron and usually followed his orders without question, but there were some indications their loyalty to him was far from perfect.
Grishnákh of the Red Eye seemed to have an interest in the Ring that lay beyond simple attention to duty when Merry and Pippin gave out their hints about it.
Quote:
'Do I want it? Do I want it?' said Grishnákh, as if puzzled. But his arms were trembling.
Quote:
'Search you! I'll cut you both to quivering shreds. I don't need the help of your legs to get you away-and have you all to myself!'
(emphasis added)
Both quotes are from TTT The Uruk-Hai

Grishnákh was all business until he really considered the Ring. Then he apparently intended to turn his back on his fellows and do who knows what for his own ends.

Quote:
And deep in their dark hearts the Orcs loathed the Master whom they served in fear, the maker only of their misery.
Silm Of the Coming of the Elves

'Master' there refers to Melkor, but that quote seems equally applicable to Sauron's troops in later ages.

Quote:
'What d'you say? - if we get a chance, you and me'll slip off and set up somewhere on our own with a few trusty lads, somewhere where there's good loot nice and handy, and no big bosses.'
'Ah!', said Shagrat. 'Like old times.'
TTT The Choices of Master Samwise

That exchange between the Orc-captains Gorbag and Shagrat tells me the Orcs weren't all that thrilled with toiling under Sauron's thumb from birth to death.
The question is this: if Orcs, be it just one, or a band of them, had actually held the One in their hands, would they have returned it to Sauron? Could they have done so, being already in the mind of evil and seemingly specially vulnerable to lust of it?
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