The One Ring and invisibility

[Galendor]

So the consensus seems to be that invisibility was not an intended power of the One Ring, but rather a side effect of its true power - allowing the wearer into the wraith or "spirit" dimension. Mortal beings such as men, hobbits, and dwarfs would uncontrollably become invisible as a side effect of wearing the Ring, but certain beings such as Sauron, high Elves, and Gandalf would probably be able to control the shift into the wraith dimension and thus would not necessarily be invisible if wearing the Ring.

The Ring also confers unnaturally long life to the mortal wearer, I wonder if this is also just a side effect rather than an intended power. Perhaps a mortal stops ageing whenever in the wraith dimension (whenever wearing the Ring). I suppose just keeping the Ring in your pocket or on a chain would not confer long life. Gollum, I suppose, probably wore the ring for very long periods when living under the Misty Mountains. He probably wore it while sleeping.

Any light emitted by the wearer or an object they were holding would be visible.

Also I think the mortal wearer is not 100% invisible but very close to it - In The Hobbit, Bilbo found that when wearing the Ring in full sunlight, he still cast a faint shadow. So the wearer must absorb some light and thus not be completely transparent (invisible), agreed?

[Nerwen]

Originally Posted by Galendor

So the consensus seems to be that invisibility was not an intended power of the One Ring, but rather a side effect of its true power - allowing the wearer into the wraith or "spirit" dimension.

Originally Posted by Galendor

Also I think the mortal wearer is not 100% invisible but very close to it - In The Hobbit, Bilbo found that when wearing the Ring in full sunlight, he still cast a faint shadow. So the wearer must absorb some light and thus not be completely transparent (invisible), agreed?

Agreed. The faint shadow makes it sound as though the Ring is a sort of "cloaking device" that perhaps bends light rays around the wearer, and isn't 100% efficient. If we only had The Hobbit to go by, I'd interpret it that way. However, in The Lord of the Rings, the descriptions of what happens when one puts on the Ring support the idea of going into a parellel dimension. Besides, Gandalf specifically mentions the "wraith world" and "the other side".

Why the shadow, then? And why can someone wearing the Ring still see the real world, although dimly? It's simple: the Ring transports its wearer into the wraith world, but not all the way.

c.f. what Gandalf says to Frodo:

"You were in gravest peril when you wore the Ring, for then you were half in the wraith world yourself, and they might have seized you."

[Galendor]

Why the shadow, then? And why can someone wearing the Ring still see the real world, although dimly? It's simple: the Ring transports its wearer into the wraith world, but not all the way.

Good thinking, good find on the quote from Gandalf, and it makes sense. I guess to be all the way in the wraith dimension, one would have to be, um, dead. So the Ring shifts the wearer part way into that dimension. I suppose we can only speculate why this effect would be useful to Sauron.

When light interacts with matter, it is either reflected, refracted, or absorbed. Refracted light changes direction, and we can't really see that effect. Absorbed light we can see - objects absorbing light will appear darker, or a different color if they only absorb certain wavelengths (colors) of the visible spectrum. I suspect that the wearer of the Ring casts a faint shadow because he/she still absorbs some tiny amount of light. Under bright light, this would cast a faint shadow, and possibly also be seen by an observer as a slighly darkened form if the Ring wearer were standing between an observer and a light source. If the person wearing the Ring were not betwen the observer and the light source, they might appear as a faint "darkness" in front of whatever they were standing in front of.

As far as reflected light is concerned, I wonder if the wearer of the Ring were wearing something very reflective (such as a mithril coat), if light might be reflected from that and be visible to an observer, in a similar fashion as the visible light emitted from a magical glowing sword or vial.

On another note, it seems like the fact that Bilbo wore the Ring continuously for weeks or months while in the Hall of the Mirkwood Elves doesn't quite fit with later interpretations of the Ring's "wraithifying" effect on mortals.

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

Originally Posted by Galendor

On another note, it seems like the fact that Bilbo wore the Ring continuously for weeks or months while in the Hall of the Mirkwood Elves doesn't quite fit with later interpretations of the Ring's "wraithifying" effect on mortals.

I see no problem with that. There is the well known "Hobbit-strength" and I also believe even in the case of the Nazgul "wraithifying" did not happen in several weeks or months but in years. The Rings granted a mortal longer life, and I would say the "fading" occured only when the mortal exceeded his normal lifespan too much. The Nazgul appeared several hundred years after the mortal Men got their Rings. Bilbo was more or less okay. Gollum did not wear the Ring much in the latter days. Frodo was okay with the Ring itself, but there was the presence of Nazgul, the much stronger "awakened" will of Mordor, the will of Sauron focused contretely at him, and mainly, in the end, the Morgul-wound. The fact that Frodo almost faded at Bruinen (as Gandalf put it) was not an effect of the Ring, but mainly of the Morgul-wound.

Recommended literature: see Gandalf's words about effect of a Ring at mortal, FotR chapter 2: Shadows of the past; Also: Flight to the Ford, Council of Elrond.

[The Might]

One thing that you must not forget here is that the Ring did have a will of its own. We see Gollum seeing a wheel of fire on Mount Doom and hears the Ring speak. So clearly it could and would use the bearer to fulfill its needs.

‘Begone, and trouble me no more! If you touch me ever again, you shall be cast yourself into the Fire of Doom.’

So the Ring could, depending on the need, exert a stronger or weaker force over the bearer. For example it might have tricked Bilbo into thinking it was a good thing so as to escape from the Misty Mountains, but later tried to slowly wear him down and make him a wraith.
Fortunately, he proved to be quite resilient.

[Galendor]

Originally posted by Legate of Amon
There is the well known "Hobbit-strength" and I also believe even in the case of the Nazgul "wraithifying" did not happen in several weeks or months but in years.

Originally posted by The Might
So the Ring could, depending on the need, exert a stronger or weaker force over the bearer.

Both very helpful observations, which greatly improve my thinking on the Ring. Thanks!

Although the Ring had a will of its own, it didn't seem capable of not performing its primary function when worn - transport of the wearer part-way into the wraith dimension (i.e., the mortal wearer turns invisible, whether the Ring 'likes it' or not). I wonder if you slipped the Ring onto a dog's tail if it would become invisible. Heh.

I also wonder what would become of a mortal (or immortal, for that matter) if he/she were to put on all of the rings at once (9 for men, 3 for elves, 7 for dwarf lords, and One to bind them). Spontaneous combustion? Transformation into a higher being? Sorry for my entrance into the realm of pointless speculation. But as far as I know, we really don't know what primary or secondary effects most of these rings had, do we?

[William Cloud Hicklin]

One thing that you must not forget here is that the Ring did have a will of its own. We see Gollum seeing a wheel of fire on Mount Doom and hears the Ring speak. So clearly it could and would use the bearer to fulfill its needs.

Ah. you're opening up an old, old battle here. The other half of the readership insist that it is Frodo speaking, while Sam sees with 'other sight.'