What was Frodo's temptation

[Pitchwife]

Originally Posted by narfforc

What promise did it give Isildur?

What about: the power to rebuild the glory of Númenor, unsullied by its Fall, in Middle-earth?

In Fordim's examples for the desires fed by the Ring, the common motive seems to me

• fulfillment of the deepest desire the respective person had independent of the Ring, plus
• a tendency to self-aggrandizement, the wish to be more important, to play a bigger part or to play their part more effectively / on a larger scale, to fulfil their desire all by themselves, to reshape reality to their liking.

The first desire may be completely selfless and for some greater good (indeed is so in all the cases cited except Gollum's, who had been under the Ring's influence for centuries); it's only with the second aspect that selfishness creeps in and begins to overwhelm whatever good there was in the first desire.
Where does this take us regarding Frodo? I once sketched an experimental scenario in this post (last paragraph, skip all the philosophical ramble), but that was more playful than serious, I think we have to dig deeper.

Anyway, Fordim, thanks for starting this thread! It was high time.