Frodo or the Ring?

[Cazoz]

At the moment I'm re-reading TTT and haven't got to book 4 yet. After that I'll probably skip to the Mordor bits.
(Guilty admission, the past 3/4 times I've read the books, I've skipped book 4 and the Mordor F&S bits, sorry!)

So I'm a bit rusty on this part of the story, but I just wanted to jump in an say how much I've enjoyed reading all of your posts, even totally conflicting ones have been steeped with insight and intelligent use of evidence.

But for what it's worth, I'd go for the middle-ground theory that it's the power of the Ring conpelling Frodo to talk more viciously and harshly than when he was previously uncorrupted by the Ring, and obviously less protective.

You'll hate me for this, but I'd compare this part from the book to that bit in the film where Bilbo goes all weird, grasping at the Ring in Rivendell. I know this is about the books and sorry for the movie reference, but this is how I'd see Frodo's Ring-induced flip-out mood swing.