I like how it was explained it in the LOTR RPG (I think). Basically Sauron was a level 1000 baddy. Then he poured alot of his powers in the Ring and became a level 250 baddy. But when he wears the ring he becomes a 2000 level baddy. When it was destroyed he becomes a level 0 non-combatant.
I would’ve liked to see how powerful he was before his body was destroyed in Neumanor. Being able to shape shift and having the one ring. Like he was diminished pretty bad when his body was destroyed in Neumanor. Like in Baron and Luthien how he was able to switch into a werewolf, Vampire, snake, and he made werewolves. Like I wonder if he would’ve been able to defeat Huan with the one Ring and it wasn’t already claimed that Huan would die in a battle with the strongest werewolf in middle earth. I mean I guess that would still work because maybe Sauron with the ring would be stronger than Carcharoth.
I love the idea the one ring was picked up by sam and was thinking "finally a new owner, lets hope he's a bit easier to control . . . I shall give you your greatest desire!! what? gardening? seriously?? omg fine then, you shall be the greatest gardener in all of middle earth" *sigh*
It's not that hard to imagine that over time the ring could even corrupt that into making Sam evil. Just feed his ego and make him feel like the best gardener who ever lived. Eventually work him up to feeling like Tom Bombadil himself. Then slowly start slipping in hints and suggestions that other people shouldn't garden since they aren't as good as you and anything they do would just damage the majesty of the Garden of Samwise. Eventually I'm sure you could just suggest if he gets rid of all the other gardeners he'd be able to help everyone see the beauty of his garden. Then from there you just have to make him disgusted absolutely in everyone and everything as if the world was his garden and that all those who share it are unworthy and as such tainted it with their presence. Now the only option is to erase it all and start again from scratch like Eru Ilúvatar. How does he do that? Take the ring to Sauron. He'll erase the world and Samwise can be by his side to make the best garden in the history of everything.
I love that Sauron's weakness is literally meekness. He was so closedminded that he couldn't imagine anyone just enjoying the simplest pleasures of life and not wanting more power.
My headcanon of why both Isildur and Frodo were unable to throw the ring into Mount Doom is that like you've said before, it is aware to a degree. Like a human about to die, it fights hardest there and managed to overwhelm both of them even with their strong wills. Also, the longer you have it, the more effect it has on you.
I think the same, I reckon its actually impossible for whoever holds the ring to willingly throw it into Mt. Doom. Not shown in the movies but it was by the literal god of the middle earth universe, Eru's, intervention that gollum fell into the volcano. The only other times Eru actually interfered with Middle Earth was destroying Numenor and bringing back Gandalf as Gandalf the White. The temptation is too strong to willingly drop it into the fire. Though Elroud begged Isildur to destroy it, he didn't stop him from leaving, possibly knowing if he took the ring from Isildur, he would also be unable to destroy it.
In the books Elrond never took Isildur to the Cracks of Mt Doom to destroy the ring, so he never failed to destroy it like he did in the film. Elrond encouraged him to, but Isildur didn't see any danger in it, and while the elves thought it was stupid, no one knew how dangerous it really was, so no one tried too hard to make him destroy it when they had the chance.
It's mentioned in the books that the Ring's power is directly proportional to how far it is from Mount Doom. There's a reason Sauron stayed in Mordor as there he could use his Ring to fullest effect and control other ring wielders that were farther away and whose rings didn't have the distance limitation of the One Ring.
We need a Lord of the Ring audiobook narrated by In Deep Geek! Beyond the quality of the production there is a great voice artist. I'm thinking of making a playlist for background sound to go to bed. 😊
The Phil Dragash versio is already amazing. Short of actually procuring all the actors from the movie (some of which are dead), it’s pretty hard to beat. If you haven’t listened to it, I strongly recommend you check it out.
@@u.sgrant7526 I never knew this existed until you mentioned it here, thank you, it is a fantastic production and I am listening to it as I write this ;)
Look, I'm a huge fan of the whole Legendarium, but that would become unwatchable REALLY fast, especially if you did it in the order the book presents. it would fit better in a dozen or so smaller shorts like the World of Ice and Fire trailers they ran for Game of Thrones.
Look, this isn't your fault, but its becoming a pet peeve of mine to see people suggest that a Silmarillion film could ever be good--I see it suggested a, frankly, staggering number of times, ie more than a couple times. It's essentially a bible.... so, are we prepared to say the Bible, as a whole, would make a good narrative for a film? Fuck no. The Silmarillion would do just as poorly. And in the format of the Fellowship intro? You want a feature length film of... what, Galadriel monologuing at us while things happen? My guy....
One idea that I truly enjoy is that the Ring's properties of increasing the power of its bearer is in part of what caused its destruction - for what greater strength do the Halflings have but their great mercy? After all, it was the pity of Bilbo (and later Frodo and Sam) for Gollum which ruled the fate of many... Could the Ring have been empowering that great sense of mercy? Just a thought ❤
I always thought something similar with Frodo where the ring enhances his already forgiving and kind nature but only because the ring is aware that if Gollum took the ring it would be stuck in a cave for hundreds of years again and so influenced Frodo to spare Gollum
@@sauntor Ring only enhances power. If you do not start your ownership that way, it just takes longer. Remember, it was said that Bilbo began his ownership with pity, so he had longer to go before succumbing. And he was able to give up the ring of his own accord, with help, which had never happened. But if he had kept it long enough, he would not have.
That’s a comforting thought, as Gandalf would say, but sadly untrue. The Ring doesn’t understand love and compassion. Metaphorically defining them as a “power” doesn’t make them less alien to it.
We have a pretty deliberate showcase of its powers ( as texted below ) when we see the effects of its destruction. To simply put, Sauron was using his Ring ( Tolkien says even while he is far away he still was able to use its power ) to corrupt, dominate and manipulate the minds and wills of his servants. He basically acts as the hive-mind for his servants. Thousands of hundreds of them even while he was away from them ( something Tolkien says makes ones ability to dominate the minds of others harder ) and even when he was pretty much diminished to this point. Tolkien even says that Sauron achieved level of domination and control over the orcs and men that even Morgoth couldn’t achieve. All of this powers can be attributed to the ring. So yes it is pretty powerful “As when death smites the swollen brooding thing that inhabits their crawling hill and holds them all in sway, ants will wander witless and purposeless and then feebly die, so the creatures of Sauron, orc or troll or beast spell-enslaved, ran hither and thither mindless; and some slew themselves, or cast themselves in pits, or fled wailing back to hide in holes and dark lightless places far from hope.” Return of the King
He did dump a lot of his own power and even parts of his own self into that ring in order to make it powerful enough though, so it was a gambit. And it eventually led to his destruction.
@@oguzhanenescetin5702 I guess he had not fully mastered its power when Isildur beat him, and cut the Ring from his hand. If he ever got it back, the plan would likely be : “I sit here, my minions do the fighting. No more of this silly personal combat nonsense.”
It's interesting though that the Dwarves were made by Aule and so likely thought in ways like him, mechanical and crafting ways; and Sauron was also a Maia of Aule waaay back in the day, who also loves order and machines and construction, so it seems like he if anyone would be able to understand the way that Dwarves think.
@@Pfhorrest This is a very good point! I'd never made the connection that both the dwarves and Sauron were, in a sense, students of Aule. I suspect that it isn't so much that Sauron found the dwarves unusually difficult to understand, but that they were too difficult to subdue and dominate by other powers, regardless of how well that power understood them.
@@JackHankeAnd I remember one theory that his attempts to dominate the Dwarves only enhanced their greed and isolationism, thus making them dig deeper, become less worldly, and more paranoid of control, thus making it that the more he tried, the more they resisted and the less chaos he could cause with them. In that sense they were in fact quite like him, the more he lost control, the more he fought to hold onto it.
Though sauron did not create the 3 elven rings, it was because of his knowledge that those rings were made. Those 3 rings (major thanks to sauron) were used against sauron (galadriel used it to defend lothlorien, elrond healed important characters and gandalf inspired everyone around him in the most dire moments in the fight against sauron. All effects that contributed majorly to his eventual defeat) These powers would be lost if sauron reclamed his ring, but he didn't. So, would it be reasonable to say that sauron's sharing of his knowledge of Craftsmanship played a major role in his own defeat? Maybe even more than it helped him, in the end?
I think it's interesting that Tolkien wrote in his letter that he considers the power of *all* rings to be "conservation" of some sort. The three elven rings definitely have this, but I hadn't considered the One ring in that light tbh. In hindsight it is clear that it is meant to preserve Saurons power, but since him losing it starts the story it cannot preserve anything so much as try and nudge the world back into a stable state again. If it weren't for that meddling Eru, the ring would probably have found itself back into Saurons posession again.
@@akiramasashi9317 Given how Sauron, Saruman and Morgoth often handicapped themselves (covering the world with clouds so you can't scan it or dispersing power into minions and corruption)...
@@mateuszslawinski1990 Also in the real world, viz the tendency of parasites to evolve into mutualist symbionts over evolutionary scales, because it turns out to be to your own evolutionary advantage to not kill the things you depend upon. Cf cooperation as the winning strategy in game theory.
It's not surprising. The "gods" created the Elves, Dwarves and Men and Morgoth and Sauron knew all about it. But where Hobbits come from, nobody knows. The did evolve somehow though there is no evolution in Middle Earth.
I have said this for years. I have brought it up to my friends who have enjoyed LOTR. Bilbo Baggins was the only character to surrender the ring of his own free will. That moment in the movie where he drops it, is a hugely underrated moment. He held it for decades and was actually able to let it go. All others either lose it or have it taken from them. However Bilbo dropped it willfully. Later he did want it back, it still had a hold on him. But that moment was HUGE. That Bilbo's will was able to overpower the ring, even just for an instant.
Its a philactory that permanent buffs for the dark lord. It enhances his powers and prevents him from passing on as long as the ring survives. Also the first half of the ring peom is continuously cast by the spirit in the ring to control the other rings. Well that's my opinion.
It was not phylactery and it did not make Sauron any more powerful than he already was. It unintentionally allowed Sauron's spirit to linger and command, but it was not intended purpose.
@@vksasdgaming9472 Sauron+Ring was more powerful than Pre-Ring Sauron, it just came with the caveats that should the ring be taken by someone else, he'd lose access to the bulk of his power, and should it be destroyed he'd be crippled
@@dreamcream3738 Sauron only became weaker over the time. Ring did not make him more powerful than he already was. Loss of Ring did weaken him more, but with caveat of making him impossible to permanently destroy. Destroying The Ring did destroy him as well.
Impressive writing on this. Very well done. This subject has been endlessly discussed but you elegantly, passionately and thoroughly explained it in a refreshing new way
I feel like the main power of all the rings of slowing undesirable change probably ties into the ability of the One Ring to make its wearer invisible and to see things that are invisible. The reason the Nine were turned into wraiths is that their rings, in order to slow their decay, basically pulled them into a sort of phase shifted state between life and death, and I'm guessing that the One Ring draws on this power to provide those other two powers, by pulling the wearer bodily into this same phase shift, just a little deeper so they vanish from view entirely, but not so far as to become intangible. Thus the wearer would also be able to see the spirit world, since he'd be part spirit himself.
In my headcannon, the One Ring accessed a power disseminated by Melkor: Morgoth's Ingredient. An evil energy present in the physical matter of Arda. In this way, Sauron could control certain natural phenomena (storms, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions) and the creatures of Melkor: Orcs, Trolls, Wargs. In addition to tempting (and corrupting) humanity. It reminds me of that biblical concept that the prince of the world is the devil. And the flesh is corrupt.
This is what I thought; the sixteen rings were antennas to harness Morgoth's remnant power in Arda. The Elven Rings created afterwards were emblematic of the most power of the Valar to combat that lasting pernicious influence?
"This channel is great because X, I enjoy listening because Y and I particularly enjoy your personal flavor of Z" is far less bland and more useful to the recipient than your lukewarm hyperbole found on every other UA-cam channel. If you truly appreciated his content you'd make an effort.
At the time, Sauron viewed the Elves as the greatest threat to his plan to rule Middle-Earth; that's why he targeted the Elves with the Rings of Power. My personal theory is that Sauron did not make a mistake with the first 16 Rings of Power and that it was only the initial wearers of the 3, which were created without Sauron's direct involvement, that detected Sauron when he used the One Ring for the first time. They then warned the others.
Elves? Just more to be made into orcs and used against the Elves later by. It's more about Elrond, than anything else. The One Elf (The Nexus of them all) that would be at the right place, at the right time............always.
The Seven just did not work. Tolkien says because they were made stubborn by Aulë. ( first time I ever heard of Aulë). Sauron miscalculated, gave all that power, got nothing. No wonder he wanted them back. The Nine worked all right, he controlled the Men, just as planned.
@@nickmcdonald3083 "The own the ip. Its cannon." 1) *They 2) *It's 3) *Canon, with one 'n' - the one with two 'n's is the one you fire a cannonball out of 4) Nobody owns Lovecraft's work, or Shakespeare's work, or the Odyssey, or the Bible: they're all in the public domain. Does this fact mean that these stories have no canon? Canon has absolutely nothing to do with intellectual property ownership (a legal concept that was invented several _thousand_ years _after_ the literary concept of canon). Canon is simply an amalgamation of what people _generally_ accept to be the true interpretation of a work.
@@nickmcdonald3083They do not, not wholy at least as the rights are fragmented. In fact, proportionally speaking, Warner has more rights that Amazon. And besides, ROP it's a (poor) adaptation of preexisting lore, it's existence doesn't rewrite the Silmarillion. That would be like saying that the Peter Jackson movies also rewrited the cannon of LOTR by just adapting the books to film. Or that GOT is now the cannon of ASOIAF. It doesn't make sense. But, please, do keep coping.
Thank you. In your video asking if the one ring was sentient, I ask a question in the comments to try to find out what were the powers of the one ring & whether there were any beings in ME who could have turned it to their bidding. I have a much better understanding of the power of the one ring & how it works now.
I found it quite interesting that the primary purpose of the ring is preservation and ceasing unwanted change for the bearer. It's fascinating how this ability would give its wielder a lust for power. We can even translate this into the modern age with how our minds cling to things of the past. Why is it so hard for people to let go of "the glory days" or to try to create a "legacy" for themselves to be remembered by? There is a function in the mind that clings to images of self-glory and when one pours their attention into those images they will dominate their thoughts, words, and actions. This is something I've been trying to uncover within myself and expose the absurdity of it. For the human mind is the most powerful known force and it has many ways of deceiving us...
You know Middle Earth might have been very wonderful under the power of Sam the All Powerful Gardener. We might have had a whole bunch of lovely flower gardens and well manicured lawns all over. Imagine the vegetable gardens under control of Sam The Gardner. Could make a lot of lovely soups out of all that wonderful broth !
Did Sauron ever win a war? What did Sauron actually acomplish? Besides creating a barren wasteland and filling it with filthy gobbs? The corrruption of the Rings seems to be only partly successful and what what the grand plan with them anyway? i wonder what his endgame was.
Probably Sauron's biggest win was corrupting Numenor, and I imagine he wanted to repeat that success if he could. He probably accomplished a lot as Melkor's 2nd, but I'm not familiar with that part of the story, but more recently he took Minas Morgul and the lands that surrounded it, brought all the eastern tribes of men under his command, and I think he's responsible ultimately for the fall of Moria but I'm not sure. But yes, when our heroes bring him down it's not that they've been beaten back into a corner and then fight him back to his home ala Star Wars, they're taking him down when he's about to tip the scales in his favor and his eventual victory would have been inevitable. He had just spent decades or longer building an army, Gondor was his strongest opposition and he was thiiiiis close to taking them down so the rest of the world would have gone down like dominoes. His ultimate goal is that he wants to be God-King, ruler of the world and ultimately the universe. He had tried to overthrow the gods once before, he'd try again and then if he ever could figure out way he'd probably go after the elder gods too.
Sauron won many wars. The part of Mordor we "see" was only a small part of his dominions, the part that was blasted and cursed by his presence. To actually feed the place and keep his armies alive, he had effective control over large swaths of very fertile and populated human territories with essentially infinite ability to raise armies. In those places, he was King and God. It's actually mentioned in a few places in LotR proper, and even more in the appendices and other lore. The West was honestly in a serious strategic bind long-term, and without his metaphysical weakness, they had, long-term, lost. Badly.
Thank you for all of your insights! I can see a clearer picture now, while I am slighty worried by the sheer amount of Pro-Sauron Replys in this thread!
@@Psylento I, at least, am not particularly pro-Sauron. The simple fact was, he was dangerous, and dangerous beings tend to be successful because they are dangerous.
Brilliant! So very well done good Sir! I cannot but agree with your considerations wrt The One Ring. With regards to the "Lesser Rings" I sometimes wondered if the Elves had elected to wear them (The 9, not the 3) if they would have suffered any of the similar fates as did Men, such as fading to the point of Wraiths or turning invisible? Personally, I think not, as the Elves were already living in both the Seen and the Unseen Worlds and also, like the Dwarves, not very susceptible to magic over body. Curious what others think in that regard though. :)
This plan wasn't a terrible one, provided Sauron had a better grasp of the character and motivations of others and was more patient. Before forging the One, or at least before wearing it, if Sauron had played a double game more like Palpatine in the Star Wars prequels, feigning to help the elves against his servants (setting up a trusted lieutenant in Mordor as the 'Dark Lord'), and encouraging the elves to use the rings to counter the threat and preserve their territories, it would be increasingly hard to remove the rings. I think especially true for the more prideful elves. The longer they used them, the more it would seem they needed them, the more of their hard work would wither without the rings. As Anatar he would already be gaining insight into the plans and works of his enemies and increasing dependence, and as a possible bonus, influence on the 3. It's hard to tell how this hypothetical longer game would have affected the downfall of Numenor, and I feel that it is still unlikely many elves would be enslaved, but I think it would break them and remove them from Middle Earth far sooner than in cannon.
I think it was just Sauron’s usual blind spot - not understanding others. He gave power to dwarves and men, and plotted to seize control of the existing elven rings and their wearers. Surely no one would give up power. So, he puts on the One! But the Wearers of the Three give up the power immediately, and take them off, rather than be controlled. He wasn’t expecting that. The Seven were different. The wearers did not take them off, but they knew what he did not - you can not bind a dwarf. So, his Ring did not work on them. He must have been peeved. The Nine did work as planned. They were using their rings, building kingdoms, feeling great - then the One comes into play. And they could not bear giving up their rings, like the elves, and fell under Sauron’s domination, unlike the dwarves. If Sauron had a better grasp of others, he would not be Sauron.
One of my go to answers to the inevitable “why didn’t they take the eagles?” question - beside the obvious “Mordor has air defenses” - has always been “the eagles are proud and powerful sapient beings. Frodo would have been thrown to his death inside of ten minutes while the ring was slipped onto the talon of the new Dark Lord of the Four Winds.” The usual rebuttal to this point is that Bilbo was carried by eagles while bearing the ring - but the ring was projecting far less power and temptation to anyone who noticed it at that point. It went into overdrive in that regard after Sauron declared himself and starting drawing darkness to him in Mordor.
From 1990 when I first read TLoTR till today, it still amazes me that Tolkien had the humility to have Frodo (the “hero” of the story that most authors aspire to) submit to temptation when he reaches the moment of truth. Obviously in lore, Frodo didn’t really have a choice but a lesser author would likely have had him win the day. Tolkien obeyed the lore he had created and chose not to make a “simple creature” extraordinary. This is the genius of the story. Having the bad creature (Gollum) actually save the world on accident. What a marvel of storytelling!
To put things in perspective, in the silmarillion, Morgoth put HIS power into his servants, instead of single tools such as the one ring. Thus he made dragons, and corrupted elves and bred them into orcs, And Morgoth being one of the most powerful Valar wrought terrible deeds in middle earth. This theme of power played out in Tolkiens legendarium. The istari were forbidden from using their power to control. They had to guide and direct as best they could with their wits. Obviously only gandalf succeeded in his mission.
Gandalf was only one who kept his focus. Saruman decided to take more direct route and Radagast saw natural life more important to keep safe. What happened to Blue Wizards is unknown, but to me they went east of Mordor with Saruman, scattered and kicked ass and smote evil as well as guided and directed. After Sauron's defeat they stayed as there was much cleaning up to do.
@@vksasdgaming9472 Hope so. Tolkien was pessimistic, thinking they might have founded magic cults that outlasted the fall of Sauron. But did not say for sure, don’t think he had worked it out.
Okay, Robert, allow me to pick a nit. Gandalf had his elven ring of power on in he was in the shire when Bilbo used the one ring at his birthday. So the question is: If the elves could sense the thoughts of the wearer of the One Ring. Why did Gandalf have to go and and do research? Gandalf mentions many magic rings to Bilbo. Were the other magic rings imbued with the same powers to transmit thought enough to confuse Gandalf?
The elves and Gandalf only recognized the one capable master of the one ring when he wore it... all its other bearers were not detectable to them... and none of the other wearers had mastered any part of it, not even Isildur. Sauron could detect that someone somewhere had put it on... and a vague sense of the general area where, but could not clearly perceive any detail. Contrast this to the Palantiri, the seeing stones.... Sauron clearly perceived Saruman, Denethor, Pippin and Aragorn for who they were through the stones, although it didn't give them any clear indication whether it was they who had the ring, and indeed Aragorn depended on this to bluff Sauron.
My older sister told me when i was younger some of this. I always questioned a lot of things about the ring and Frodo not being able to detroy it. She told me that the ring needed a sacrifice, someone who would die with it in order to be destroyed. That Gollum did exactly what he was supposed to do in order for it to finally be destroyed. I was a kid then, but she is so correct
I enjoy that Lord of the Rings online has included bits of this lore in the recent addition of Swanfleet/Cardolan and the Main Book Quests that run through them. It was a nice change from the original Book questline and seeing things like the elves being misled or the forging of the ring itself were satisfying.
12:58 The Ring is a fantastic case study in practical security. It could withstand any tool and any fire except for one single forge. Its corrupting power was so strong it had a 100% guarantee no one could willingly destroy it. Even my toothpaste can only boast killing 99.9% of germs. But at no point did Sauron think "ah but what if someone tripped?".
I aways love your essays. As the equally brilliant channel Darth Gandalf explained in his video exploring telepathy in Tolkien's world, the power of one's will is a huge part of the magic system in the story, and beings with stronger wills, such as elves (or men with elvish heritage such as the Dunedain) or Maiar, can exert their wills over spiritually weaker beings, such as men or especially orcs. This is the power which the Ring's powers of amplification are primarily meant to enhance, which would grant the weilder dominion over great armies, even the armies of Mordor, to overthrow Sauron. And of course it was linked to the lesser rings such as to give him near total dominion over their bearers.
The Ring also had the power to influence the minds of those nearby, not just those who wore the other rings. “For what it saw was not a small frightened hobbit trying to hold a steady sword: it saw a great silent shape, cloaked in a grey shadow, looming against the wavering light behind; in one hand it held a sword, the very light of which was a bitter pain, the other was clutched at its breast, but held concealed some nameless menace of power and doom.” @111:05 "When Sauron saw Aragorn..." Sauron assumed it was the Ring's influence on others nearby. Clearly the Ring has more power than just controlling the other rings wearers.
Would love to hear your take on how Sauron lost the ring in the first place. Thats one part of the story that never really made sense to me, if he was so powerful with the ring then how was it even possible?
He got beat by Isildur, part elf, part Maia. Sauron was just starting to use the Ring. He probably got over confident. His future plan was probably strictly ‘let the minions do it. More minions!’.
he was killed in battle by the king of the elves and humans . 2 on 1. they died too but killed sauron. then the human kings son isildur cut the ring from his hand
I would be really interested how Tolkien's experience in the war influenced his writing and ideas. I wonder if he saw the war as a consequnce of the ego of a handful of the elite and hence his appreciation for simple, humble creatures. The importance of forgiveness (Gollum) and peace really shines through all across the story of the LOTR
No. And he wrote of the second war, that he would probably be a better solider at 50 than 25. He did not blame both sides. He did however see the cruelty and destructiveness of war.
“I have respect for both the great and powerful and the small and humble. For the small could not endure without the great, but the great would have no reason to be without the small.” Basically, he valued both. As his story demonstrates, he thought that heroism can be found in the hearts of both great kings like Aragorn and humble gardeners like Sam. And those two kinds of people need each other, they are inspired by each other. The Sams by the Aragorns’ greatness, thus avoiding to grow lazy and complacent. And the Aragorns by the Sams’ humility, thus avoiding to grow superb, to forget who they’re fighting for.
This video made me somewhat change my opinions on how Durins ring works in Rings of power..the whole see the unseen thing made me wonder if this is what the writers were getting at but then again i feel like that would be giving them a credit.
Do you think that the Ring could not actually be used to overthrow Sauron? That someone corrupted by it, thinking to usurp Sauron, would be forced to return it to Sauron at the critical moment?
No, a sufficiently powerful being could certainly defeat Sauron with it. That is, Gollum or Frodo would stand no chance and would eventually need to hand it back. Gandalf, Saruman or Galadriel might defeat Sauron, but by then their motives would be so twisted that they might be even worse than Sauron himself. Power corrupts, etc, especially in the works of Tolkien.
@@Code_DeeI'd put it slightly differently: they are pretty sure they could use the ring to win, and _absolutely certain_ that if they succeeded, it would be terrible for everybody else.
Yes, with a strong enough will power, the Ring could be used to overthrow Sauron himself. However, Saurons essence is a part of the ring and he is immortal, so eventually he would return again to try and claim the ring for himself. Only by destroying the Ring can you destroy Sauron.
I think the One Ring is more sentient than you think. Near to the Volcano when Gollum attacks Sam and Frodo, Frodo stands up glowing in an ethereal light and "spoke with a voice that didn't sound like his." He warns Gollum not to touch him again or he will throw himself into the fire of the very volcano that they were at the foot at. I think this was the ring itself laying a curse upon Gollum.
As a guy who likes Dragon Ball Z, the One Ring reminds me first of Goku's kaio-ken ability (a force multiplier of his own power at the cost of greatly weakening him in the long run) or the Super Saiyin transformation (something like a perfected kaio-ken, without the deleterious effects of the former, and itself a much higher force multiplier than the previous ability). The only big difference is the malice and evil of the One Ring which is absent in both the kaio-ken and Super Saiyin transformations.
The Berserker Armor from Berserk; I think is a better example. It not only gives its users GodBrand level strength but also will ultimately kills and corrupt him with each use.
I was just searching for a video about the ring in your channel like an hour ago, I found it now and was wondering why I didn't see it before, how lucky am I!
I think I have a difficult question: just how simple/complex was smeagol? I dont mean the duality smeagol/Gollum, but his self pre obtaining the ring. Boromir or Gandalf would use the ring to save Gondor/middle earth but end up becoming tyrants. They dont seem "greedy" as you said here (I know It was a simplification) did Gollum simply... Want a shiny thing? Thats all he says, right? Precious, treasure....
I would think we can assume he was the same as other Hobbits, just much less "good " than Sam or Frodo. The way he acts is from 100s of years of having it.
@@evekurocieru however he did murder his cousin right away, no need to wait hundreds of years. I think I remember reading in the book that he was the lonely type, (which I sad for introverters but...) so he was indeed meant to be less of a good guy than Sam and Frodo. But my question remains (and can be extendeded to Bilbo, actually). Sam was tempted by turning the world into a Garden. Frodo felt powerful but didnt get a chance. Gollum and Bilbo had the chance to use the ring and didnt (I guess since they just didnt know how to. But, if able, what would they have done?) Sorry for the essay
@@ledanoir1239If I remember correctly, Sméagol was a thief who was very much hated by his community, and was eventually banished. Hence, the ring capitalised on Sméagol’s weakness of having no one.
Thought: The One Ring didn't inherently make the wearer invisible, but as a Hobbit Frodo tends to want to hide from the bigger world, and the ring enhances that to the point of complete invisibility (albeit via shunting him into the spirit world, which had other complications). ...I don't remember, but did the books say what happened to Isildur with the ring? In Peter Jackson's Fellowship, he puts it on and becomes invisible, but was that artistic license with the film or was that from the book? If the later, then my idea can be dismissed.
No, the Ring transports the wearer to the spirit realm. This is also the reason that Frodo is able to see the Nazgûl at Weathertop when he puts the Ring on, because their physical bodies have faded and remain only in that spirit world. I believe the reason that Sauron does not turn invisible when wearing the ring is that he occupied the physical as well as the spirit plane, so it doesn't make a difference.
That's a good theory. There's plenty of indication that it turned Bilbo invisible when he wanted it to, but that Bilbo put it on more, even if he didn't. Probably a combo of the only thing Frodo knew it could do and his greatest desire at the moment, which was concealment. He didn't put it on and start swinging away with his sword, superpower-fully, for instance. I don't think it always "transports the bearer to the spirit world!" Doesn't seem to have done so for Gollum at all.
@@originami9199 I guess I'm curious _why_ the ring transported him to the spirit plane, but at this point I may be asking questions that don't have an answer.
I'm thinking "humble" might be a better label than "powerless" for the Hobbits' key quality. Even though they don't seem like heavy hitters on paper, look at the respect and allegiance Frodo and Bilbo pull from kings and wizards. Frodo literally inspired an army to march on the black gate in his name _without trying._ So if he had any ambitions the ring could draw on, there are qualities there that it could use to make a great mess. It can't, not because Hobbits are so lacking in spirit, but because they're happy in the moment--lacking the elvish passion/fear to hold onto it and the human ambition to trade it for something better.
This was an informative watch👏👏 N the voice was just perfect...so aristocratic n polished😂 I'd like to see n hear more lore on artifacts buh from other franchises. For example the infinity stones of Marvel. Good job though ✌️
Elrond said that the one could be destroyed by either dragon fire or in the fiery pits of Orodruin and at the time when the one ring had been found there was on dragon we know about - Smaug. I do not recall the book but in the movie Smaug attempted to kill Bilbo with his fiery breath - ironically if he succeded the Smaug would have become Sauron slayer.
Watching this, I have a renewed appreciation for the story writers of LotRo. Poor Narmeleth, who forged her own ring, Narchuil, and ended up as Amarthiel.
It’s kind of important to note that Maiar can’t use all of their power on middle earth. Gandalf for example should theoretically be able to demolish everything he goes against (excluding other maiar) however he isn’t allowed or even able to use a lot of his power. Sauron needed the ring for that reason. He was limited to what he could do in middle earth and the ring sort of unlocked his entire power as a maiar
What I never understood about the one ring was, if it’s a chunk of Sauron and Sauron needs it so badly, why does it feel like at key moments it chooses not to make moves towards Sauron but actually away. Isildur at the river, Bilbo instead of a goblin etc. The films suggest it chooses its wearer, why then choose ones that would keep the ring from Sauron?
The only innate ability of the ring we know of is the ability to change size and resist fire and display its inscription. No matter how intelligent the ring is, all it can do is slip off the finger it's on at a specific time. Isildur died in the river which wasn't specifically caused by the ring. But sauron was gaining power in the nearby mirkwood, so it is reasonable that he would be able to find the ring eventually. With goblins we don't have definite knowledge of the structure of their society, it's not exactly certain that a goblin finding the ring would take it directly to sauron, massive goblin infighting would be the immediate result. Bilbo was in direct contact with Gandalf and the elves of Rivendell, so even without prescience the ring could foresee a path for the ring to reach sauron. Don't forget that the ring was then led into Mordor by Frodo, who refused to destroy it. If gollum didn't steal it, it would have been reunited with sauron so even if it seems illogical it did almost succeed in its objective.
Question: If it enhances the wearers strength and isn’t only loyal to Sauron why then destroy it and not do as Gandalf said he would “use it for the desire to do good”? Does the ring inherently corrupt the wearer to evil or does it only allow for evil dead’s?
Thank you for explaining what seemed a contradiction, that the eventual distribution of the rings were not known when Sauron made the One, so that verse of the poem, couldn't have been written on the One.
Serious question: Mt. Doom had the only source of heat great enough to destroy the ring. Why not build an induction furnace? You would not need traditional heat to melt it. Tech works in Middle Earth...we even see gunpowder used. Building an induction furnace wouldn't be beyond the knowledge of Gandalf. Just melt it with magnets. Boom. Done. Wait, they have *gunpowder,* why not blow the Ring up? That gets around the heat issue, and the pressure forces would rip the Ring asunder. There were so many options being a commando mission to Mt. Doom....
It isn't that mount doom is the only source of heat hot enough to destroy the ring, its that the cracks of doom is where the ring was made. Consider it as a magic item needing to be returned to the source of it's magic to be destroyed, not a certain temperature. I don't know where your getting this gunpowder stuff from since there is no gunpowder in Tolkien's work, so I'm going to guess that you're referring to some peter jackson bullshit, or something from that amazon trainwreck, and your question was not actually a serious one, but rather sarcasm.
Who has gunpowder? It’s the magic. Dragon fire is also mentioned, which is also magic. But they thought these creations of Morgoth are not strong enough anymore. Not to mention the problem of getting an evil worm to co-operate.
Gunpowder is a low explosive so it only burns quickly but doesn't detonate. It wasn't great for mining so I don't see how it could affect the ring. Gandalf is ancient and knows of the creation of the world, but that doesn't mean he can invent new technology any quicker than any man. When a game developer adds new features to a game they often have no idea about the way players will use it, and Gandalf already doesn't know every single thing about the world. Secondly, even if Gandalf could invent an induction furnace it would be unlikely it could be developed at a reasonable timescale. Technologies don't exist in a vacuum, implements require centuries of slow improvements in machining and precision. Middle earth is also not nearly as densely populated as medieval Europe, it would probably take many centuries of Gandalf as the sole ruler of a kingdom of men to get to that level, and that's not a position Gandalf ever had. That is also assuming that the heat of the fire required to destroy the ring isn't also magic.
Maybe this question is answered by the books, but what visions did the Ring cause in Frodo (or Bilbo, now that I think of it)? I think I have heard accounts for most people tempted by it, even sam, who only held it briefly. Or were they special in that they were unable to destroy it, but didn't hold any ambition?
About dwarves: "Hard to tame; they ill endure the domination of others and the thoughts of their heart's are hard to fathom, nor they can be turned to shadows" ok, I have some homebrew changes to do on my DND dwarves now.
00:34 Let me just say that the horrible creature that Frodo sees in Bilbo's face is actually some kind of hallucination Frodo has. It's as if the Ring is making Frodo see Bilbo as a greedy monster trying to rob him. It also happens when Sam gives the Ring back to Frodo in the Tower of Cirith Ungol.
I like how it was explained it in the LOTR RPG (I think). Basically Sauron was a level 1000 baddy. Then he poured alot of his powers in the Ring and became a level 250 baddy. But when he wears the ring he becomes a 2000 level baddy. When it was destroyed he becomes a level 0 non-combatant.
How can wearing the ring he put his own power into raise his power +1000?
@@heroicsquirrel3195 Magic ?
@@heroicsquirrel3195something about concentrating his spirit
If convoluted was a person
I would’ve liked to see how powerful he was before his body was destroyed in Neumanor. Being able to shape shift and having the one ring. Like he was diminished pretty bad when his body was destroyed in Neumanor. Like in Baron and Luthien how he was able to switch into a werewolf, Vampire, snake, and he made werewolves. Like I wonder if he would’ve been able to defeat Huan with the one Ring and it wasn’t already claimed that Huan would die in a battle with the strongest werewolf in middle earth. I mean I guess that would still work because maybe Sauron with the ring would be stronger than Carcharoth.
I love the idea the one ring was picked up by sam and was thinking
"finally a new owner, lets hope he's a bit easier to control . . .
I shall give you your greatest desire!!
what? gardening? seriously??
omg fine then, you shall be the greatest gardener in all of middle earth" *sigh*
"Sigh really you want a nice wife and kids and a garden... ok I guess..."
It's not that hard to imagine that over time the ring could even corrupt that into making Sam evil. Just feed his ego and make him feel like the best gardener who ever lived. Eventually work him up to feeling like Tom Bombadil himself. Then slowly start slipping in hints and suggestions that other people shouldn't garden since they aren't as good as you and anything they do would just damage the majesty of the Garden of Samwise. Eventually I'm sure you could just suggest if he gets rid of all the other gardeners he'd be able to help everyone see the beauty of his garden. Then from there you just have to make him disgusted absolutely in everyone and everything as if the world was his garden and that all those who share it are unworthy and as such tainted it with their presence. Now the only option is to erase it all and start again from scratch like Eru Ilúvatar. How does he do that? Take the ring to Sauron. He'll erase the world and Samwise can be by his side to make the best garden in the history of everything.
@@billbaggins7355 so basically it will make sam shit in everybody's garden
@meinspielzeugammobiltelefon yep lol
I was there 3000 years ago, when I watched the previous upload of the video 👍
thanks for redoing it in better quality 😊
That was the Second Age version of the video. This is the Third Age version. 🤣
No worries, I'll happily watch the Fourth Age version of this as well. They are always very good.
Lol, I thought it was me. That I confused Tolkien channels 😛
Well played💍🔥
🤣
Why did Sauron buy Hot Topic?...
He wanted to be Morgoth.
I'm here all week.
Take my like and scram, you bastard
boo
Nerdy Dad joke.
I thought he bought the Siters of Mercy instead.
You mean Moremo
Samwise: "Power? No thank you, I just want a happy little garden." Ring: "WTF!?"
That's me. All my life, it's been basically me hoping the Ring doesn't find a way of enslaving me through a happy little garden.
Sam will be the Garden Lord
Fair point, and eloquently put!
@@alextaunton3099 Ring: nah f that, give me back to frodo please
More like the ring was flipping through the pages in panic thinking "they didn't prepare me for this ahhhh"
I love that Sauron's weakness is literally meekness. He was so closedminded that he couldn't imagine anyone just enjoying the simplest pleasures of life and not wanting more power.
the meek shall inherit the earth
Deep
@@hm09235nd the (middle) earth
My headcanon of why both Isildur and Frodo were unable to throw the ring into Mount Doom is that like you've said before, it is aware to a degree. Like a human about to die, it fights hardest there and managed to overwhelm both of them even with their strong wills. Also, the longer you have it, the more effect it has on you.
I think the same, I reckon its actually impossible for whoever holds the ring to willingly throw it into Mt. Doom. Not shown in the movies but it was by the literal god of the middle earth universe, Eru's, intervention that gollum fell into the volcano. The only other times Eru actually interfered with Middle Earth was destroying Numenor and bringing back Gandalf as Gandalf the White.
The temptation is too strong to willingly drop it into the fire. Though Elroud begged Isildur to destroy it, he didn't stop him from leaving, possibly knowing if he took the ring from Isildur, he would also be unable to destroy it.
In the books Elrond never took Isildur to the Cracks of Mt Doom to destroy the ring, so he never failed to destroy it like he did in the film. Elrond encouraged him to, but Isildur didn't see any danger in it, and while the elves thought it was stupid, no one knew how dangerous it really was, so no one tried too hard to make him destroy it when they had the chance.
I mean you don't need headcanon Tolkien explains why....
@@justthinkingoutloud2538Yea, no one can willingly destroy it or give it up
It's mentioned in the books that the Ring's power is directly proportional to how far it is from Mount Doom. There's a reason Sauron stayed in Mordor as there he could use his Ring to fullest effect and control other ring wielders that were farther away and whose rings didn't have the distance limitation of the One Ring.
We need a Lord of the Ring audiobook narrated by In Deep Geek! Beyond the quality of the production there is a great voice artist.
I'm thinking of making a playlist for background sound to go to bed. 😊
The Phil Dragash versio is already amazing. Short of actually procuring all the actors from the movie (some of which are dead), it’s pretty hard to beat. If you haven’t listened to it, I strongly recommend you check it out.
@@u.sgrant7526 I never knew this existed until you mentioned it here, thank you, it is a fantastic production and I am listening to it as I write this ;)
Or maybe a LOTR version of "The Hitchhiker's Guide," where IDG does the narration... Don't Panic.
@@pastorjerrykliner3162 Now THAT I would definitely listen to 👍😎
That would be awful.
Sauron had awesome penmanship to make such small letters legible is amazing just fantastic
I think I'm going to get him a calligraphy set for Christmas.
Lol I was just thinking the same. How he could write beautifully with such a big clawed hand lol.
Remember what Bilbo used to say: "Hraaaaagh!"
Tells you a lot about his world view and emotions.
Nope, I don’t remember that.
Oh my gosh, had me dying...lolol
Saron could not conceive that someone would want to destroy the ring, because he could only conceive someone would want it for power.
Imagine a full length film of Silmarillion done in the format of the intro in Fellowship of The Ring. I’d pay $199.98 to see that
Look, I'm a huge fan of the whole Legendarium, but that would become unwatchable REALLY fast, especially if you did it in the order the book presents.
it would fit better in a dozen or so smaller shorts like the World of Ice and Fire trailers they ran for Game of Thrones.
Look, this isn't your fault, but its becoming a pet peeve of mine to see people suggest that a Silmarillion film could ever be good--I see it suggested a, frankly, staggering number of times, ie more than a couple times.
It's essentially a bible.... so, are we prepared to say the Bible, as a whole, would make a good narrative for a film? Fuck no. The Silmarillion would do just as poorly. And in the format of the Fellowship intro? You want a feature length film of... what, Galadriel monologuing at us while things happen? My guy....
Just what I needed, only stressful stuff was going up on my suggestions, then I found this.
One idea that I truly enjoy is that the Ring's properties of increasing the power of its bearer is in part of what caused its destruction - for what greater strength do the Halflings have but their great mercy? After all, it was the pity of Bilbo (and later Frodo and Sam) for Gollum which ruled the fate of many... Could the Ring have been empowering that great sense of mercy?
Just a thought ❤
You make a good argument!
I always thought something similar with Frodo where the ring enhances his already forgiving and kind nature but only because the ring is aware that if Gollum took the ring it would be stuck in a cave for hundreds of years again and so influenced Frodo to spare Gollum
Never thought about that angle. It makes sense and would be the ultimate irony.
@@sauntor Ring only enhances power. If you do not start your ownership that way, it just takes longer.
Remember, it was said that Bilbo began his ownership with pity, so he had longer to go before succumbing. And he was able to give up the ring of his own accord, with help, which had never happened.
But if he had kept it long enough, he would not have.
That’s a comforting thought, as Gandalf would say, but sadly untrue. The Ring doesn’t understand love and compassion. Metaphorically defining them as a “power” doesn’t make them less alien to it.
We have a pretty deliberate showcase of its powers ( as texted below ) when we see the effects of its destruction. To simply put, Sauron was using his Ring ( Tolkien says even while he is far away he still was able to use its power ) to corrupt, dominate and manipulate the minds and wills of his servants. He basically acts as the hive-mind for his servants. Thousands of hundreds of them even while he was away from them ( something Tolkien says makes ones ability to dominate the minds of others harder ) and even when he was pretty much diminished to this point. Tolkien even says that Sauron achieved level of domination and control over the orcs and men that even Morgoth couldn’t achieve. All of this powers can be attributed to the ring. So yes it is pretty powerful
“As when death smites the swollen brooding thing that inhabits their crawling hill and holds them all in sway, ants will wander witless and purposeless and then feebly die, so the creatures of Sauron, orc or troll or beast spell-enslaved, ran hither and thither mindless; and some slew themselves, or cast themselves in pits, or fled wailing back to hide in holes and dark lightless places far from hope.”
Return of the King
I've never seen anyone talk about that before, its pretty interesting.
He did dump a lot of his own power and even parts of his own self into that ring in order to make it powerful enough though, so it was a gambit. And it eventually led to his destruction.
That includes everything from shapeshifters to the not-dragon things the Nazgul rode right?
@@bustinarant Yup. Beasts, Men, sorcerer, wraith alike were all dominated by his will
@@oguzhanenescetin5702 I guess he had not fully mastered its power when Isildur beat him, and cut the Ring from his hand.
If he ever got it back, the plan would likely be : “I sit here, my minions do the fighting. No more of this silly personal combat nonsense.”
The reason he couldnt control the dwarves could possibly be the fact that they where not made by Eru during the singing of the song of creation..
Aule the Smith made them specifically, apart from wanting to teach them the crafts, to counter Melkor's corruption
It's interesting though that the Dwarves were made by Aule and so likely thought in ways like him, mechanical and crafting ways; and Sauron was also a Maia of Aule waaay back in the day, who also loves order and machines and construction, so it seems like he if anyone would be able to understand the way that Dwarves think.
@@Pfhorrest The question is - did the Mahal himself understood his creation?
@@Pfhorrest This is a very good point! I'd never made the connection that both the dwarves and Sauron were, in a sense, students of Aule.
I suspect that it isn't so much that Sauron found the dwarves unusually difficult to understand, but that they were too difficult to subdue and dominate by other powers, regardless of how well that power understood them.
@@JackHankeAnd I remember one theory that his attempts to dominate the Dwarves only enhanced their greed and isolationism, thus making them dig deeper, become less worldly, and more paranoid of control, thus making it that the more he tried, the more they resisted and the less chaos he could cause with them. In that sense they were in fact quite like him, the more he lost control, the more he fought to hold onto it.
Though sauron did not create the 3 elven rings, it was because of his knowledge that those rings were made. Those 3 rings (major thanks to sauron) were used against sauron (galadriel used it to defend lothlorien, elrond healed important characters and gandalf inspired everyone around him in the most dire moments in the fight against sauron. All effects that contributed majorly to his eventual defeat) These powers would be lost if sauron reclamed his ring, but he didn't. So, would it be reasonable to say that sauron's sharing of his knowledge of Craftsmanship played a major role in his own defeat? Maybe even more than it helped him, in the end?
I think it's interesting that Tolkien wrote in his letter that he considers the power of *all* rings to be "conservation" of some sort. The three elven rings definitely have this, but I hadn't considered the One ring in that light tbh. In hindsight it is clear that it is meant to preserve Saurons power, but since him losing it starts the story it cannot preserve anything so much as try and nudge the world back into a stable state again. If it weren't for that meddling Eru, the ring would probably have found itself back into Saurons posession again.
In Tolkien's world evil harms itself.
@@mateuszslawinski1990 It's less that and more that only god (eru) can destroy true evil.
@@akiramasashi9317 Given how Sauron, Saruman and Morgoth often handicapped themselves (covering the world with clouds so you can't scan it or dispersing power into minions and corruption)...
@@mateuszslawinski1990 Also in the real world, viz the tendency of parasites to evolve into mutualist symbionts over evolutionary scales, because it turns out to be to your own evolutionary advantage to not kill the things you depend upon. Cf cooperation as the winning strategy in game theory.
Sauron: "my Master Plan is flawless"
Also Sauron: "What the f*** is a Hobbit ?"
It's not surprising. The "gods" created the Elves, Dwarves and Men and Morgoth and Sauron knew all about it. But where Hobbits come from, nobody knows. The did evolve somehow though there is no evolution in Middle Earth.
I have said this for years. I have brought it up to my friends who have enjoyed LOTR. Bilbo Baggins was the only character to surrender the ring of his own free will.
That moment in the movie where he drops it, is a hugely underrated moment. He held it for decades and was actually able to let it go. All others either lose it or have it taken from them. However Bilbo dropped it willfully.
Later he did want it back, it still had a hold on him. But that moment was HUGE. That Bilbo's will was able to overpower the ring, even just for an instant.
Perhaps it was case of Bilbo having everything he had wanted AND more.
Didn’t Frodo offer it to Galadriel?
Its a philactory that permanent buffs for the dark lord. It enhances his powers and prevents him from passing on as long as the ring survives. Also the first half of the ring peom is continuously cast by the spirit in the ring to control the other rings.
Well that's my opinion.
It was not phylactery and it did not make Sauron any more powerful than he already was. It unintentionally allowed Sauron's spirit to linger and command, but it was not intended purpose.
@@vksasdgaming9472 Sauron+Ring was more powerful than Pre-Ring Sauron, it just came with the caveats that should the ring be taken by someone else, he'd lose access to the bulk of his power, and should it be destroyed he'd be crippled
@@dreamcream3738 Sauron only became weaker over the time. Ring did not make him more powerful than he already was. Loss of Ring did weaken him more, but with caveat of making him impossible to permanently destroy. Destroying The Ring did destroy him as well.
Robert: love your channel, and the work you do here.
Impressive writing on this. Very well done. This subject has been endlessly discussed but you elegantly, passionately and thoroughly explained it in a refreshing new way
I like the theory that Frodo cursed Smeagol and the Ring enforced that curse and caused Smeagol to fall and die. It's power was it's own undoing.
I feel like the main power of all the rings of slowing undesirable change probably ties into the ability of the One Ring to make its wearer invisible and to see things that are invisible. The reason the Nine were turned into wraiths is that their rings, in order to slow their decay, basically pulled them into a sort of phase shifted state between life and death, and I'm guessing that the One Ring draws on this power to provide those other two powers, by pulling the wearer bodily into this same phase shift, just a little deeper so they vanish from view entirely, but not so far as to become intangible.
Thus the wearer would also be able to see the spirit world, since he'd be part spirit himself.
Have been waiting for this video. Thanks Robert.
In my headcannon, the One Ring accessed a power disseminated by Melkor: Morgoth's Ingredient.
An evil energy present in the physical matter of Arda. In this way, Sauron could control certain natural phenomena (storms, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions) and the creatures of Melkor: Orcs, Trolls, Wargs. In addition to tempting (and corrupting) humanity.
It reminds me of that biblical concept that the prince of the world is the devil. And the flesh is corrupt.
" Canon " is the word you're looking for.
That's canon though.
Idk that sounds kinda gnostic...
This is what I thought; the sixteen rings were antennas to harness Morgoth's remnant power in Arda. The Elven Rings created afterwards were emblematic of the most power of the Valar to combat that lasting pernicious influence?
This is simply the best channel on UA-cam.
Def one of if not by favorite
Wait, the best on all of UA-cam?
Are you The One Viewer - the one to watch them all?
"This channel is great because X, I enjoy listening because Y and I particularly enjoy your personal flavor of Z" is far less bland and more useful to the recipient than your lukewarm hyperbole found on every other UA-cam channel.
If you truly appreciated his content you'd make an effort.
@@MycketTuffdamn, dude, you’re insufferable
“… a world-conquering gardener, bless him.” Ha ha ha! Oh Samwise Gamgee…
Thank you so much for these excellent videos! They're all questions I've had for the longest times!
This is such a thoughtful exposition
At the time, Sauron viewed the Elves as the greatest threat to his plan to rule Middle-Earth; that's why he targeted the Elves with the Rings of Power.
My personal theory is that Sauron did not make a mistake with the first 16 Rings of Power and that it was only the initial wearers of the 3, which were created without Sauron's direct involvement, that detected Sauron when he used the One Ring for the first time. They then warned the others.
Elves? Just more to be made into orcs and used against the Elves later by.
It's more about Elrond, than anything else.
The One Elf (The Nexus of them all) that would be at the right place, at the right time............always.
The Seven just did not work. Tolkien says because they were made stubborn by Aulë. ( first time I ever heard of Aulë). Sauron miscalculated, gave all that power, got nothing. No wonder he wanted them back. The Nine worked all right, he controlled the Men, just as planned.
I appreciate the fact that he entirely ignores the non-canon profferings of Amazon.
Yea they suck
The own the ip. Its cannon. Cope harder.
@@nickmcdonald3083 "The own the ip. Its cannon."
1) *They
2) *It's
3) *Canon, with one 'n' - the one with two 'n's is the one you fire a cannonball out of
4) Nobody owns Lovecraft's work, or Shakespeare's work, or the Odyssey, or the Bible: they're all in the public domain. Does this fact mean that these stories have no canon?
Canon has absolutely nothing to do with intellectual property ownership (a legal concept that was invented several _thousand_ years _after_ the literary concept of canon). Canon is simply an amalgamation of what people _generally_ accept to be the true interpretation of a work.
@@nickmcdonald3083They do not, not wholy at least as the rights are fragmented. In fact, proportionally speaking, Warner has more rights that Amazon. And besides, ROP it's a (poor) adaptation of preexisting lore, it's existence doesn't rewrite the Silmarillion. That would be like saying that the Peter Jackson movies also rewrited the cannon of LOTR by just adapting the books to film. Or that GOT is now the cannon of ASOIAF. It doesn't make sense. But, please, do keep coping.
They were refused the rights lol do they dont. @@nickmcdonald3083
Awesome vid. Very well done.
Thank you. In your video asking if the one ring was sentient, I ask a question in the comments to try to find out what were the powers of the one ring & whether there were any beings in ME who could have turned it to their bidding. I have a much better understanding of the power of the one ring & how it works now.
❤thank you Robert! Powerful reading❤❤❤
I found it quite interesting that the primary purpose of the ring is preservation and ceasing unwanted change for the bearer. It's fascinating how this ability would give its wielder a lust for power. We can even translate this into the modern age with how our minds cling to things of the past. Why is it so hard for people to let go of "the glory days" or to try to create a "legacy" for themselves to be remembered by? There is a function in the mind that clings to images of self-glory and when one pours their attention into those images they will dominate their thoughts, words, and actions. This is something I've been trying to uncover within myself and expose the absurdity of it. For the human mind is the most powerful known force and it has many ways of deceiving us...
You know Middle Earth might have been very wonderful under the power of Sam the All Powerful Gardener. We might have had a whole bunch of lovely flower gardens and well manicured lawns all over. Imagine the vegetable gardens under control of Sam The Gardner. Could make a lot of lovely soups out of all that wonderful broth !
Did Sauron ever win a war? What did Sauron actually acomplish? Besides creating a barren wasteland and filling it with filthy gobbs? The corrruption of the Rings seems to be only partly successful and what what the grand plan with them anyway? i wonder what his endgame was.
Probably Sauron's biggest win was corrupting Numenor, and I imagine he wanted to repeat that success if he could. He probably accomplished a lot as Melkor's 2nd, but I'm not familiar with that part of the story, but more recently he took Minas Morgul and the lands that surrounded it, brought all the eastern tribes of men under his command, and I think he's responsible ultimately for the fall of Moria but I'm not sure.
But yes, when our heroes bring him down it's not that they've been beaten back into a corner and then fight him back to his home ala Star Wars, they're taking him down when he's about to tip the scales in his favor and his eventual victory would have been inevitable. He had just spent decades or longer building an army, Gondor was his strongest opposition and he was thiiiiis close to taking them down so the rest of the world would have gone down like dominoes.
His ultimate goal is that he wants to be God-King, ruler of the world and ultimately the universe. He had tried to overthrow the gods once before, he'd try again and then if he ever could figure out way he'd probably go after the elder gods too.
Yes. Because of Sauron there was no Arnor nor it's successor kingdoms. He had driven Gondor from lands on east side of Anduin over a millennium ago.
Sauron won many wars.
The part of Mordor we "see" was only a small part of his dominions, the part that was blasted and cursed by his presence. To actually feed the place and keep his armies alive, he had effective control over large swaths of very fertile and populated human territories with essentially infinite ability to raise armies. In those places, he was King and God.
It's actually mentioned in a few places in LotR proper, and even more in the appendices and other lore. The West was honestly in a serious strategic bind long-term, and without his metaphysical weakness, they had, long-term, lost. Badly.
Thank you for all of your insights! I can see a clearer picture now, while I am slighty worried by the sheer amount of Pro-Sauron Replys in this thread!
@@Psylento I, at least, am not particularly pro-Sauron. The simple fact was, he was dangerous, and dangerous beings tend to be successful because they are dangerous.
Brilliant! So very well done good Sir!
I cannot but agree with your considerations wrt The One Ring. With regards to the "Lesser Rings" I sometimes wondered if the Elves had elected to wear them (The 9, not the 3) if they would have suffered any of the similar fates as did Men, such as fading to the point of Wraiths or turning invisible? Personally, I think not, as the Elves were already living in both the Seen and the Unseen Worlds and also, like the Dwarves, not very susceptible to magic over body. Curious what others think in that regard though. :)
This plan wasn't a terrible one, provided Sauron had a better grasp of the character and motivations of others and was more patient. Before forging the One, or at least before wearing it, if Sauron had played a double game more like Palpatine in the Star Wars prequels, feigning to help the elves against his servants (setting up a trusted lieutenant in Mordor as the 'Dark Lord'), and encouraging the elves to use the rings to counter the threat and preserve their territories, it would be increasingly hard to remove the rings. I think especially true for the more prideful elves. The longer they used them, the more it would seem they needed them, the more of their hard work would wither without the rings. As Anatar he would already be gaining insight into the plans and works of his enemies and increasing dependence, and as a possible bonus, influence on the 3. It's hard to tell how this hypothetical longer game would have affected the downfall of Numenor, and I feel that it is still unlikely many elves would be enslaved, but I think it would break them and remove them from Middle Earth far sooner than in cannon.
I think it was just Sauron’s usual blind spot - not understanding others. He gave power to dwarves and men, and plotted to seize control of the existing elven rings and their wearers. Surely no one would give up power.
So, he puts on the One! But the Wearers of the Three give up the power immediately, and take them off, rather than be controlled. He wasn’t expecting that. The Seven were different. The wearers did not take them off, but they knew what he did not - you can not bind a dwarf. So, his Ring did not work on them. He must have been peeved.
The Nine did work as planned. They were using their rings, building kingdoms, feeling great - then the One comes into play. And they could not bear giving up their rings, like the elves, and fell under Sauron’s domination, unlike the dwarves.
If Sauron had a better grasp of others, he would not be Sauron.
One of my go to answers to the inevitable “why didn’t they take the eagles?” question - beside the obvious “Mordor has air defenses” - has always been “the eagles are proud and powerful sapient beings. Frodo would have been thrown to his death inside of ten minutes while the ring was slipped onto the talon of the new Dark Lord of the Four Winds.”
The usual rebuttal to this point is that Bilbo was carried by eagles while bearing the ring - but the ring was projecting far less power and temptation to anyone who noticed it at that point. It went into overdrive in that regard after Sauron declared himself and starting drawing darkness to him in Mordor.
Yes, Please! Make a video about the Dwarves and their immunity to Sauron's power. Especially their inability to become wraiths.
From 1990 when I first read TLoTR till today, it still amazes me that Tolkien had the humility to have Frodo (the “hero” of the story that most authors aspire to) submit to temptation when he reaches the moment of truth.
Obviously in lore, Frodo didn’t really have a choice but a lesser author would likely have had him win the day.
Tolkien obeyed the lore he had created and chose not to make a “simple creature” extraordinary.
This is the genius of the story. Having the bad creature (Gollum) actually save the world on accident. What a marvel of storytelling!
To put things in perspective, in the silmarillion, Morgoth put HIS power into his servants, instead of single tools such as the one ring. Thus he made dragons, and corrupted elves and bred them into orcs, And Morgoth being one of the most powerful Valar wrought terrible deeds in middle earth. This theme of power played out in Tolkiens legendarium. The istari were forbidden from using their power to control. They had to guide and direct as best they could with their wits. Obviously only gandalf succeeded in his mission.
Gandalf was only one who kept his focus. Saruman decided to take more direct route and Radagast saw natural life more important to keep safe. What happened to Blue Wizards is unknown, but to me they went east of Mordor with Saruman, scattered and kicked ass and smote evil as well as guided and directed. After Sauron's defeat they stayed as there was much cleaning up to do.
@@vksasdgaming9472 Hope so. Tolkien was pessimistic, thinking they might have founded magic cults that outlasted the fall of Sauron.
But did not say for sure, don’t think he had worked it out.
I love the last part you said. It cleared up so much!
My Gawd your videos are sooooo amazing! Thank you for doing what you do!
another very well done vid my friend keep up the amazing content!!! 😊😊😊
Okay, Robert, allow me to pick a nit. Gandalf had his elven ring of power on in he was in the shire when Bilbo used the one ring at his birthday. So the question is: If the elves could sense the thoughts of the wearer of the One Ring. Why did Gandalf have to go and and do research? Gandalf mentions many magic rings to Bilbo. Were the other magic rings imbued with the same powers to transmit thought enough to confuse Gandalf?
The elves and Gandalf only recognized the one capable master of the one ring when he wore it... all its other bearers were not detectable to them... and none of the other wearers had mastered any part of it, not even Isildur. Sauron could detect that someone somewhere had put it on... and a vague sense of the general area where, but could not clearly perceive any detail. Contrast this to the Palantiri, the seeing stones.... Sauron clearly perceived Saruman, Denethor, Pippin and Aragorn for who they were through the stones, although it didn't give them any clear indication whether it was they who had the ring, and indeed Aragorn depended on this to bluff Sauron.
@@JamesPerkins Thanks for the insight.
My older sister told me when i was younger some of this. I always questioned a lot of things about the ring and Frodo not being able to detroy it. She told me that the ring needed a sacrifice, someone who would die with it in order to be destroyed. That Gollum did exactly what he was supposed to do in order for it to finally be destroyed. I was a kid then, but she is so correct
Thanks. I'm on my first ever read of the books (saw the movies over 20 years ago) and that's one of the burning questions I had.
I enjoy that Lord of the Rings online has included bits of this lore in the recent addition of Swanfleet/Cardolan and the Main Book Quests that run through them. It was a nice change from the original Book questline and seeing things like the elves being misled or the forging of the ring itself were satisfying.
Last week I found a gold keeper ring, it's not the one ring but still a lovely gift from Eru Ilúvatar
pretty good episode. thanks for doing these.
Your script writing is incredible, really moving stuff
12:58 The Ring is a fantastic case study in practical security. It could withstand any tool and any fire except for one single forge. Its corrupting power was so strong it had a 100% guarantee no one could willingly destroy it. Even my toothpaste can only boast killing 99.9% of germs. But at no point did Sauron think "ah but what if someone tripped?".
Hahahhaha great point! 👏 👏 👏
And when someone did trip?
Sauron: "Are you ***kidding*** me?!"
I aways love your essays. As the equally brilliant channel Darth Gandalf explained in his video exploring telepathy in Tolkien's world, the power of one's will is a huge part of the magic system in the story, and beings with stronger wills, such as elves (or men with elvish heritage such as the Dunedain) or Maiar, can exert their wills over spiritually weaker beings, such as men or especially orcs. This is the power which the Ring's powers of amplification are primarily meant to enhance, which would grant the weilder dominion over great armies, even the armies of Mordor, to overthrow Sauron. And of course it was linked to the lesser rings such as to give him near total dominion over their bearers.
The Ring also had the power to influence the minds of those nearby, not just those who wore the other rings.
“For what it saw was not a small frightened hobbit trying to hold a steady sword: it saw a great silent shape, cloaked in a grey shadow, looming against the wavering light behind; in one hand it held a sword, the very light of which was a bitter pain, the other was clutched at its breast, but held concealed some nameless menace of power and doom.”
@111:05 "When Sauron saw Aragorn..." Sauron assumed it was the Ring's influence on others nearby. Clearly the Ring has more power than just controlling the other rings wearers.
"It never crossed his mind that it could be carried and destroyed not by the mighty but the powerless"
Would love to hear your take on how Sauron lost the ring in the first place. Thats one part of the story that never really made sense to me, if he was so powerful with the ring then how was it even possible?
He got beat by Isildur, part elf, part Maia. Sauron was just starting to use the Ring. He probably got over confident.
His future plan was probably strictly ‘let the minions do it. More minions!’.
he was killed in battle by the king of the elves and humans . 2 on 1. they died too but killed sauron. then the human kings son isildur cut the ring from his hand
I would be really interested how Tolkien's experience in the war influenced his writing and ideas. I wonder if he saw the war as a consequnce of the ego of a handful of the elite and hence his appreciation for simple, humble creatures. The importance of forgiveness (Gollum) and peace really shines through all across the story of the LOTR
No. And he wrote of the second war, that he would probably be a better solider at 50 than 25. He did not blame both sides.
He did however see the cruelty and destructiveness of war.
“I have respect for both the great and powerful and the small and humble. For the small could not endure without the great, but the great would have no reason to be without the small.”
Basically, he valued both. As his story demonstrates, he thought that heroism can be found in the hearts of both great kings like Aragorn and humble gardeners like Sam. And those two kinds of people need each other, they are inspired by each other. The Sams by the Aragorns’ greatness, thus avoiding to grow lazy and complacent. And the Aragorns by the Sams’ humility, thus avoiding to grow superb, to forget who they’re fighting for.
This video made me somewhat change my opinions on how Durins ring works in Rings of power..the whole see the unseen thing made me wonder if this is what the writers were getting at but then again i feel like that would be giving them a credit.
Have a wonderful start into the weelend everybody ❤
Do you think that the Ring could not actually be used to overthrow Sauron? That someone corrupted by it, thinking to usurp Sauron, would be forced to return it to Sauron at the critical moment?
No, a sufficiently powerful being could certainly defeat Sauron with it. That is, Gollum or Frodo would stand no chance and would eventually need to hand it back. Gandalf, Saruman or Galadriel might defeat Sauron, but by then their motives would be so twisted that they might be even worse than Sauron himself. Power corrupts, etc, especially in the works of Tolkien.
Gandalf and Galadriel specifically say they think could do it, but are not confident that they wouldn't end up being worse in the end.
@@Code_DeeI'd put it slightly differently: they are pretty sure they could use the ring to win, and _absolutely certain_ that if they succeeded, it would be terrible for everybody else.
No, you could certainly overthrow Sauron with it. He would not like that.
But you would just get another Sauron. You would not like that.
Yes, with a strong enough will power, the Ring could be used to overthrow Sauron himself. However, Saurons essence is a part of the ring and he is immortal, so eventually he would return again to try and claim the ring for himself. Only by destroying the Ring can you destroy Sauron.
I think the One Ring is more sentient than you think. Near to the Volcano when Gollum attacks Sam and Frodo, Frodo stands up glowing in an ethereal light and "spoke with a voice that didn't sound like his." He warns Gollum not to touch him again or he will throw himself into the fire of the very volcano that they were at the foot at. I think this was the ring itself laying a curse upon Gollum.
I can just imagine Annatar sneaking out of Eregion in the middle of the night, heading to Mordor to forge the master ring.
As a guy who likes Dragon Ball Z, the One Ring reminds me first of Goku's kaio-ken ability (a force multiplier of his own power at the cost of greatly weakening him in the long run) or the Super Saiyin transformation (something like a perfected kaio-ken, without the deleterious effects of the former, and itself a much higher force multiplier than the previous ability). The only big difference is the malice and evil of the One Ring which is absent in both the kaio-ken and Super Saiyin transformations.
The Berserker Armor from Berserk; I think is a better example. It not only gives its users GodBrand level strength but also will ultimately kills and corrupt him with each use.
The magnitude of its effects scaling with the established power of its bearer is an interesting take. I like it.
I was just searching for a video about the ring in your channel like an hour ago, I found it now and was wondering why I didn't see it before, how lucky am I!
This is the only channel where I can come to hear the word 'legendarium' as often as I please.
Interesting speculation on the origin of the ring poem - certainly makes sense!
I think I have a difficult question: just how simple/complex was smeagol? I dont mean the duality smeagol/Gollum, but his self pre obtaining the ring. Boromir or Gandalf would use the ring to save Gondor/middle earth but end up becoming tyrants. They dont seem "greedy" as you said here (I know It was a simplification) did Gollum simply... Want a shiny thing? Thats all he says, right? Precious, treasure....
I would think we can assume he was the same as other Hobbits, just much less "good " than Sam or Frodo. The way he acts is from 100s of years of having it.
@@evekurocieru however he did murder his cousin right away, no need to wait hundreds of years. I think I remember reading in the book that he was the lonely type, (which I sad for introverters but...) so he was indeed meant to be less of a good guy than Sam and Frodo. But my question remains (and can be extendeded to Bilbo, actually). Sam was tempted by turning the world into a Garden. Frodo felt powerful but didnt get a chance. Gollum and Bilbo had the chance to use the ring and didnt (I guess since they just didnt know how to. But, if able, what would they have done?)
Sorry for the essay
@@ledanoir1239If I remember correctly, Sméagol was a thief who was very much hated by his community, and was eventually banished. Hence, the ring capitalised on Sméagol’s weakness of having no one.
Thought: The One Ring didn't inherently make the wearer invisible, but as a Hobbit Frodo tends to want to hide from the bigger world, and the ring enhances that to the point of complete invisibility (albeit via shunting him into the spirit world, which had other complications).
...I don't remember, but did the books say what happened to Isildur with the ring? In Peter Jackson's Fellowship, he puts it on and becomes invisible, but was that artistic license with the film or was that from the book? If the later, then my idea can be dismissed.
No, the Ring transports the wearer to the spirit realm. This is also the reason that Frodo is able to see the Nazgûl at Weathertop when he puts the Ring on, because their physical bodies have faded and remain only in that spirit world. I believe the reason that Sauron does not turn invisible when wearing the ring is that he occupied the physical as well as the spirit plane, so it doesn't make a difference.
That's a good theory. There's plenty of indication that it turned Bilbo invisible when he wanted it to, but that Bilbo put it on more, even if he didn't. Probably a combo of the only thing Frodo knew it could do and his greatest desire at the moment, which was concealment. He didn't put it on and start swinging away with his sword, superpower-fully, for instance. I don't think it always "transports the bearer to the spirit world!" Doesn't seem to have done so for Gollum at all.
@@originami9199 I guess I'm curious _why_ the ring transported him to the spirit plane, but at this point I may be asking questions that don't have an answer.
Hello Robert. Thanks for diverting my attention back to Middle Earth.
Amazing video. I’ve always wondered why everyone wanted it.
I'm thinking "humble" might be a better label than "powerless" for the Hobbits' key quality. Even though they don't seem like heavy hitters on paper, look at the respect and allegiance Frodo and Bilbo pull from kings and wizards. Frodo literally inspired an army to march on the black gate in his name _without trying._ So if he had any ambitions the ring could draw on, there are qualities there that it could use to make a great mess. It can't, not because Hobbits are so lacking in spirit, but because they're happy in the moment--lacking the elvish passion/fear to hold onto it and the human ambition to trade it for something better.
This was an informative watch👏👏 N the voice was just perfect...so aristocratic n polished😂
I'd like to see n hear more lore on artifacts buh from other franchises. For example the infinity stones of Marvel.
Good job though ✌️
Elrond said that the one could be destroyed by either dragon fire or in the fiery pits of Orodruin and at the time when the one ring had been found there was on dragon we know about - Smaug. I do not recall the book but in the movie Smaug attempted to kill Bilbo with his fiery breath - ironically if he succeded the Smaug would have become Sauron slayer.
In other words, it is quite powerful and dangerous. I never grasped its major importance until this video fleshed it out.
Love your stuff guys but curious what happened to the Maltese guy who started the channel?
Watching this, I have a renewed appreciation for the story writers of LotRo. Poor Narmeleth, who forged her own ring, Narchuil, and ended up as Amarthiel.
Great video sir.
Awesome. Thanks.
It’s kind of important to note that Maiar can’t use all of their power on middle earth. Gandalf for example should theoretically be able to demolish everything he goes against (excluding other maiar) however he isn’t allowed or even able to use a lot of his power. Sauron needed the ring for that reason. He was limited to what he could do in middle earth and the ring sort of unlocked his entire power as a maiar
your voice is so perfect !
You're definitely my favorite channel ❤
Excellent video.
What I never understood about the one ring was, if it’s a chunk of Sauron and Sauron needs it so badly, why does it feel like at key moments it chooses not to make moves towards Sauron but actually away. Isildur at the river, Bilbo instead of a goblin etc. The films suggest it chooses its wearer, why then choose ones that would keep the ring from Sauron?
Because it cannot move on its own? Idk I’m new to this universe lol
The only innate ability of the ring we know of is the ability to change size and resist fire and display its inscription. No matter how intelligent the ring is, all it can do is slip off the finger it's on at a specific time.
Isildur died in the river which wasn't specifically caused by the ring. But sauron was gaining power in the nearby mirkwood, so it is reasonable that he would be able to find the ring eventually.
With goblins we don't have definite knowledge of the structure of their society, it's not exactly certain that a goblin finding the ring would take it directly to sauron, massive goblin infighting would be the immediate result. Bilbo was in direct contact with Gandalf and the elves of Rivendell, so even without prescience the ring could foresee a path for the ring to reach sauron.
Don't forget that the ring was then led into Mordor by Frodo, who refused to destroy it. If gollum didn't steal it, it would have been reunited with sauron so even if it seems illogical it did almost succeed in its objective.
Question: If it enhances the wearers strength and isn’t only loyal to Sauron why then destroy it and not do as Gandalf said he would “use it for the desire to do good”? Does the ring inherently corrupt the wearer to evil or does it only allow for evil dead’s?
nice video, keep it going
Thank you for explaining what seemed a contradiction, that the eventual distribution of the rings were not known when Sauron made the One, so that verse of the poem, couldn't have been written on the One.
Still not sure that’s right, but something to think about.
Made it here early enough to see the first age!
Even Frodo couldn’t throw it in and Hobbits don’t care much for power
He could in a way, because Iluvatar made him 😂
@@matthiascerebri3315 There was no divine intervention. Mere happenstance of fate and random event to throw machinations astray.
@@vksasdgaming9472 depends on the Source you believe
@@vksasdgaming9472 If happenstance you call it.
Serious question: Mt. Doom had the only source of heat great enough to destroy the ring. Why not build an induction furnace? You would not need traditional heat to melt it. Tech works in Middle Earth...we even see gunpowder used. Building an induction furnace wouldn't be beyond the knowledge of Gandalf. Just melt it with magnets. Boom. Done.
Wait, they have *gunpowder,* why not blow the Ring up? That gets around the heat issue, and the pressure forces would rip the Ring asunder.
There were so many options being a commando mission to Mt. Doom....
It isn't that mount doom is the only source of heat hot enough to destroy the ring, its that the cracks of doom is where the ring was made. Consider it as a magic item needing to be returned to the source of it's magic to be destroyed, not a certain temperature.
I don't know where your getting this gunpowder stuff from since there is no gunpowder in Tolkien's work, so I'm going to guess that you're referring to some peter jackson bullshit, or something from that amazon trainwreck, and your question was not actually a serious one, but rather sarcasm.
Who has gunpowder?
It’s the magic. Dragon fire is also mentioned, which is also magic. But they thought these creations of Morgoth are not strong enough anymore. Not to mention the problem of getting an evil worm to co-operate.
Gunpowder is a low explosive so it only burns quickly but doesn't detonate. It wasn't great for mining so I don't see how it could affect the ring.
Gandalf is ancient and knows of the creation of the world, but that doesn't mean he can invent new technology any quicker than any man. When a game developer adds new features to a game they often have no idea about the way players will use it, and Gandalf already doesn't know every single thing about the world.
Secondly, even if Gandalf could invent an induction furnace it would be unlikely it could be developed at a reasonable timescale. Technologies don't exist in a vacuum, implements require centuries of slow improvements in machining and precision. Middle earth is also not nearly as densely populated as medieval Europe, it would probably take many centuries of Gandalf as the sole ruler of a kingdom of men to get to that level, and that's not a position Gandalf ever had.
That is also assuming that the heat of the fire required to destroy the ring isn't also magic.
Very well done video.
How many re-upload's do you plan on doing?
For such a long time you have brought me joy. Through cancer treatment and other turmoil.
Thank you, mellon.
Maybe this question is answered by the books, but what visions did the Ring cause in Frodo (or Bilbo, now that I think of it)?
I think I have heard accounts for most people tempted by it, even sam, who only held it briefly.
Or were they special in that they were unable to destroy it, but didn't hold any ambition?
I've already watched this video, I know it because......it is precious to me.
About dwarves: "Hard to tame; they ill endure the domination of others and the thoughts of their heart's are hard to fathom, nor they can be turned to shadows" ok, I have some homebrew changes to do on my DND dwarves now.
00:34 Let me just say that the horrible creature that Frodo sees in Bilbo's face is actually some kind of hallucination Frodo has. It's as if the Ring is making Frodo see Bilbo as a greedy monster trying to rob him. It also happens when Sam gives the Ring back to Frodo in the Tower of Cirith Ungol.