The conspiracy just doesn't work!

[Pervinca Took]

Originally Posted by William Cloud Hicklin

Ahh, but Merry also mentions the Enemy. Where did he learn about HIM? Not even the well-educated Frodo knew about him before his little Talk with Gandalf.

Also, what was the "lot of information" that Sam collected before he was "finally" caught? That's a bit like saying "Vasa did a lot of fighting before it was finally sunk."

The Red Book mentions the Necromancer, and Frodo had read that, or some of it. My understanding was that Frodo knew of Sauron, but not that he had arisen again.

Ian Holm's Frodo says 'But stories are told of Sauron's fall, long, long ago,' but that was probably an alteration, made to make it more of a conversation and load Gandalf with a little less exposition.