June 19, 2003

Lilly's Friend's Questions
Jarrickon Falconn

1) Why does Sauron need the Ring?

Sauron made the Ring in order to increase his own strength many times over, in order to dominate the whole of Middle-earth. In order to do this, he had to pour most of his own soul into it, dooming himself to the fate of the Ring. He purposes for seeking it are twofold: a) his original quest for world domination, b) he fears his enemies will use it against him (either by throwing him down and setting themselves up in his place, or by destroying it, as Frodo did). In the event of the Ring's destruction, the greater part of Sauron's power was lost, and he became merely a malificent and bitter shadow in the Void, gnawing itself into oblivion.

2) What's up with the wraiths?

Nine of the Rings of Power Sauron stole and gave to Men. These they took greedily, and kept them long. Apparently, the Mortal folk (not counting Dwarves, as they are crafted by the Vala Aulë and are tough and hard-spirited) are easily succumbed by the powerful rings of Elven craft. When kept to long and worn to often for the power of invisibility (which happens as the wearer becomes a Gollum-like Ring-addict) they begin to fade until they become invisible permenantly. They are then Ringwraiths, undead ghosts of their former selves. When Bilbo said, "I feel . . . thin, sort of stretched, like butter scraped over too much bread," he was starting the early stages of the wraithing process. Gollum was a good 500 years ahead of him, and was much farther along (a reason for his extreme emaciation, aside from perpetual starvation).

3) Why aren't the elves with rings gone nasty?

The Rings of Power were all crafted by Elves (Sauron stole the Seven and the Nine, and used them to by the alliegences of Men and Dwarves. The One he forged for himself). As said Gandalf, "There are many magic rings in this world, Bilbo Baggins, and none of them is to be used lightly." Elves would not create rings that could subdue their own wills and enslave them. Also, they crafted the Rings in order to govern and to heal the world of its hurts suffered in the wars against the accursed Morgoth.

4) What's the deal with the whole 'invisible' thing?

Invisibilty is merely a power woven into at least the Nine and the One, though it is possibly in all twenty Rings of Power. Hobbits have very little control of magic, and certainly none over the One Ring, and therefore they become invisible automatically.

5) Why don't the elves turn invisible with their rings on?

It is possible they can, although it is not demonstrated in the Lord of the Rings. As the creators of the Rings, Elves would be able to control all that the Rings can do, and thus turn invisible at will instead of automatically.

I hope I've helped you out, Lilly. My sympathy for you with your cat (My dog was put down last year).


Namárië!

PS: You're welcome, Piper.
PPS: Niphredil, the reason the Elven joy was not expressed clearly in the movie was because the time of the Elves in Middle-earth is ending, that race is fading and moving into the West. Also, it says at least in the Silmarillion (not about the Lord of the Rings), that the Elves' chief beauty comes from their sorrow. (I personally like Hugo Weaving as Elrond, although I always think he's going to say, "Welcome to Rivendell, Mr. Anderson." (^_^) )