August 4, 2002

Finally Had To Respond
Tom

I've been reading these messages for a couple of years now and decided to finally write a response. To say if Gandalf cared he would have taken the ring himself is wrong. I'm not basing this on assumption or what I would like the story to say. Gandalf would not take the ring even when asked by Frodo. "Do not tempt me...Yet the way of the ring to my heart is by pity, pity for weakness and the desire for strength to do good...The wish to wield it would be too great for my strength." He knew that he would take up the ring and turn to evil. So did Galadriel. He cautioned Denethor of the same thing. Obviously Frodo, who had no power of his own and wanted none, was the right choice to keep the ring. Someone wrote that for Sauron to not gaurd Mt Doom with a hobbit on the loose was foolish. Sauron knew that a hobbit HAD carried the ring, but since it was not found on him then obviously it was with someone else. That someone could only have been "the King Elessar" whose name "will give the enemy more thought." As Gandalf said "He will take the bait in hope and in greed, for he will think in such rashness he sees the pride of the new Ringlord: and he will say "So! he pushes his neck out too soon and too far. Let him come on...There I will crush him, and what he has taken in his insolence shall be mine again forever." I've been a fan of the trilogy for over 20 years and read it at least once a year. The reason I've stayed a fan is because I never tried to make the story read like I thought it should. I accepted it on it's merits. Hey it's a great story as it was written!