The effect of the Great Rings upon Men

[Faramir Jones]

I was interested in what you said here, jallanite:

I have always thought that Elrond was referring to agreements among ruling Elves: Círdan, Elrond, Galadriel and Celeborn, and possibly a few others.

I did think the same, although I think Elrond presented it badly. Well, 'even Homer nods'; and we later see Aragorn refuse to leave his sword before entering Meduseld, despite this being a perfectly reasonable request for the King to ask.

I liked what you said here:

The real question it seems to me is why the identity of the bearers of the Elvish Rings is a secret at all. Originally they were held secretly and unused for fear of Sauron discovering them. But when Sauron was defeated at the end of the Second Age the secrecy remained.

Ever since I first read LotR, I've thought that it would have been very easy for anyone, not just Sauron, to figure out who those bearers might be. They would have to be prominent Elves, with the ability to wield the rings properly; so a simple process of elimination would narrow down the group of possible candidates. Galadriel, when she spoke to Frodo, after the latter wondered how he was not able to use the powers of the One Ring, pointed out that if he tried to do, it would 'destroy' him. After reminding him that Gandalf said the rings 'give power according to the measure of each possessor', she said, 'Before you could use that power you would need to become far stronger, and train your will to the domination of others'.