July 13, 2003

To Colin and Warg
Loremaster

First of this part is to Colin, I totaly agree about the powers of the maiar and valar being never well defined. And i too have been pondering the powers of the rings and thier effects on people. I believe the rings only give the power that its bearer truly wants. Men wanted to live forever, and if youll remember in the Akallabeth, sauron pretends to extend thier life. I also found it strange that up untill the shadow in mirkwood appeared the chief of the nazgul was called the witch-king, then afterward was he called ring-wraith, does this mean that he was yet alive when he conquered Arnor? The Dwarves wanted gold, thats why the seven rings spawned the seven dwarf hoards. The elves wanted things not to fade, and they wanted to live in the past, thats why thier realms didnt fade and seemed obliviouse to time. Hobbits simply want to exist, that is why they seem to not grow old, they just "mearly continue" as Gandalf put it. these are my theories on the rings powers.

Next this one is for you Warg, i put them in the same post because it sort of relates a little to the part i wrote to Colin. I agree that if there were someone powerful enough to make a ring to combat Sauron that they could do that (note that Sauraman had even made a ring) i just dont believe that anyone had that type of power. Gandalf stated that " the power of the White is great indeed, but black is greater still" this was a comparesin between him and Sauron, and remember, this is Gandalf the white and Sauron without ring that he compares. If Sauron was truly still greater than Gandalf the white in his deminished form then Sauron must have been truly powerfull with his ring. Especially since "a great part of him was put into its making". On the comment about making orcs to combat Sauron, im not sure if that would be possible and still maintain good intentions. Ill have to think about that and post a new article about it. As for your thinking out of the box, i agree that to truely enjoy Tolkien you to have a good imagination and ask questions on what is not clearly stated. Look forward to hearing from you.
Loremaster