LotR -- Book 6 - Chapter 2 - The Land of Shadow

[Kuruharan]

Could the Ring hear?

Uhhh...obviously not like we do. However, I don't think it would be pushing too far to say that it could pick up a "vibe" from things said around it.

[Estelyn Telcontar]

Picking up a "vibe" is definitely not the same thing as hearing - and understanding - the contents of words that are spoken in one's presence! Methinks the Ring is being given more credit than behoves its actual abilities. Intuitive, yes; influential, yes; but not nearly as much an active participant in events as some have assumed.

[Kuruharan]

I'm not sure you understood what I meant. And your second sentence is interesting because...

Intuitive, yes; influential, yes; but not nearly as much an active participant in events as some have assumed.

...if the Ring is to be intuitive and influential then it has to have some understanding of what is going on around it. You will have to explain how it could possibly be otherwise.

[Estelyn Telcontar]

Originally Posted by Kuruharan

...if the Ring is to be intuitive and influential then it has to have some understanding of what is going on around it. You will have to explain how it could possibly be otherwise.

I'm not sure I can explain, but I'm thinking of intuition such as is found in animals. For example, my dog can understand what's going on, but not my exact words. She knows we're going to drive in the car, but though she hears when I mention the goal, she does not know what the words mean. This is not precisely the same thing, but I hope it illustrates the general idea.

[Aiwendil]

Estelyn wrote:

I'm not sure I can explain, but I'm thinking of intuition such as is found in animals. For example, my dog can understand what's going on, but not my exact words. She knows we're going to drive in the car, but though she hears when I mention the goal, she does not know what the words mean. This is not precisely the same thing, but I hope it illustrates the general idea.

Yes, I think this is what I was trying to get at earlier. I don't believe that the Ring can think or know or decide. It does not take in information and analyze it as we do. It has only a will and no mind; it can feel but it can't observe.

[Kuruharan]

It has only a will and no mind

Now you're going to have to explain how that is possible. Having a will implies direction and a certain level of independence. Having direction implies having some ability to make choices.

Now, obviously, the Ring does not have a literal mind, but I believe Tolkien described the Ring as existing on the spiritual plane at least as much as it existed on the physical. All this "thinking" comes from the part of Sauron that was placed in the Ring at its beginning.

[Formendacil]

T'would seem to me that Esty is arguing that while the Ring could sense roughly where it was going (closer to Mordor, closer to Sauron), and could sense and manipulate the feelings of its wearers and those around them, it could not necessarily understand speech.

To elaborate, the Ring clearly knew it was going to Mordor. It could sense (magnetically, in a way) the tug of Sauron getting stronger as they got closer. It would also sense the greater sense of dread and fear, on its bearer at least, if not those around, as they drew nearer to the Dark Land. Chances are, the Ring could also sense that Frodo was steeling himself to do something. The question is WHAT?

I doubt, myself, if the Ring knew they were going to Orodruin, at least not before they were practically on the mountain's foot. Before that, they were going steadily in the direction of Barad-dur, which suited the Ring fine. As for how it would have interpretted Frodo's "determination to go on", who knows what the Ring made of his plans? Certainly, just going to Mordor, regardless of destroying the Ring, would take a pretty big act of willpower. And once in Mordor, Frodo's main feeling is To Keep Going On, which seems like a fitting feeling for travelling in Mordor.

Perhaps the Ring didn't know where they were going, until they reached Mt. Doom.

[davem]

This has me wondering about the Ring-inspired fantasies of Gandalf, Galadriel, Boromir & Sam, et al. Where do those fantasies arise? Is the Ring putting those specific fantasies into their heads, or are they creating the whole thing themselves - what I mean is, is it a case of 'If I claim the Ring I can do X', so that the power trips are invented by the individual? Which would mean that Gandalf & the rest on some level had thought about doing some such thing anyway. Sam actually had those power fantasies already on some subconscious level, rather than the Ring constructing that fantasy & putting it into his head.

Is this another example of Sam being 'torn in two'? Part of him wants to be a simple gardener while another part of him wants to be 'Samwise the Strong, Hero of the Age', so that rather than his refusal being a rejection of the Ring, it is actually a refusal & rejection of his own desire. The conflict is an inner rather than an outer one, between aspects of oneself. Only one who is 'torn in two' in such a way, fighting an inner conflict, will be tempted by the Ring. Faramir & Aragorn, it would seem, are not tempted by the Ring because they are not so psychologically 'divided against themselves. The Ring would then only be a temptation to those with this inner 'split' (either actual or in potentio). When we look at Smeagol/Gollum we seem to see that inner split made manifest.

[drigel]

Picking up a "vibe" is definitely not the same thing as hearing - and understanding - the contents of words that are spoken in one's presence! Methinks the Ring is being given more credit than behoves its actual abilities. Intuitive, yes; influential, yes; but not nearly as much an active participant in events as some have assumed.

I tend to agree, although we may be in the minority here. I think more towards the use of personification as a literary device, rather than taken literally, although the writing style leaves a lot to the imagination (Balrogs "flying", "wings" of shadow etc).
I may be alone here, but I am thinking the ring picked a vibe on a bearer as much as my power saw picked up a vibe from the electrical current as I plugged it in.