Episode 149 Summary

[Tony Meade]

SESSION 149

On Isildur as test case for the Ring:

• Isildur is one of only five cases of a mortal owning the Ring, and each of those is different.
• Like Bilbo and Gollum, he took up the Ring without knowing what it was, and like Gollum, he took it by slaying the former owner, thought the context between the two is very different.
• Just as Bilbo’s beginning with the Ring in pity affected his relationship with it, Isildur’s taking it in battle changes that, and is different from all the others.
• This will have immediate bearing on the meaning for Frodo once he takes the Ring up again. He and Gandalf have already had a glimpse of the Ring’s effects with Bilbo, and now with Isildur.
• It’s also important that Elrond and Gandalf seem to have conspired to not reveal what happened with Bilbo when he gave up the Ring, since Frodo knows what the Ring is.
• Frodo puts himself forward to do what needs to be done with the Ring, and knowing what it is and what it will do to him, it is an act of self-sacrifice that is different than all the other bearers.

On Celebrimbor as Fëanor redux:

• That there were three Elven Rings is a nod to Fëanor and the Silmarils from Celebrimbor.
• It is a betrayal of Celebrimbor’s craft and his Elvish desire to help and preserve Middle-earth that Sauron has committed with the making of the One Ring.
• Sauron seems not to have been aware that the connection would make them aware of him, and also that he underestimated Celebrimbor’s craft.
• He may also have underestimated the Dwarves in their ability to resist his will.
• Celebrimbor shows a degree of character that Fëanor didn’t, in that he and the others took off their rings and didn’t use them anymore.
• The Three Rings would not have been dangerous to the Elves as long as they didn’t wear them while Sauron wore the One Ring, so there was no need for them to destroy them.
• Since Celebrimbor was most like Fëanor in his craft while repudiating the acts, and resisting the temptations, of the Fëanoreans shows a kind of rehabilitation of the line of Fëanor.
• Both Fëanor and Celebrimbor suffer the tragedy of being fooled into helping the Dark Lords while thinking they were working against them, though in different ways.
• Fëanor was fully aware of Melkor while being unknowingly manipulated, while Celebrimbor didn’t know who Annatar truly was while being openly helped by him.
• Even with the failure of the Dwarven Rings, Sauron was well on his way toward the conquest of Middle-earth while wearing the One, if not for the intervention of Númenor.
• This is the reason that he would set military conquest aside to destroy Númenor through deceit.
• The Second Age in Middle-earth is a profoundly dark time in history, though less is known of it.

Gandalf’s quest was ended:

• Gandalf was not originally interested in Isildur’s experience with the Ring, though the similarities would certainly have been reminded of this when confronting Bilbo later.
• His main interest was in first-hand evidence to prove that the ring Frodo had was the One Ring.
• The quest to which Gandalf refers is the same one with which he set out with Aragorn, to positively identify the One Ring, of which the finding of Gollum was only a means to that end.
• The end of that quest may seem to be the test in the fire at Bag End, but Gandalf is sure now. He told Frodo that he longer doubted his guess before making the final test.
• He does receive a final confirmation, but that is more about proving it to Frodo than to himself.
• The fact that the script matches proves that it was the same ring as Isildur’s, regardless of what was said on the Ring, but what is said in the script proves that it was Sauron’s One Ring.
• That the same words were those heard by Celebrimbor and the others confirms that fact. This is Gandalf being thorough in presenting overlapping evidence in his proofs, as asked by Galdor.

On Sauron’s forging of the One Ring:

• It’s possible that Sauron needed to speak the Ring spell aloud in order to activate the power of the inscription, and it was that incantation that Celebrimbor heard at that moment.
• The fact that the Ring acts as a kind of phylactery points to the Ring being physical in origin. Morgoth was not capable of ex nihilo creation, and neither would Sauron be.
• Note: In Norse mythology, runes are often inscribed to infuse power into an object, and they are often spoken into existence by the dwarves in their creations, which is echoed here in the Ring.
• The Ring could be a physical manifestation of Sauron’s power, in the same way as his own body.
• The need to destroy the Ring in a physical volcano is not about the extreme heat, but about the particular location of Mount Doom. It is not about physical destruction, but “unmaking” it.
• The name Mount Doom points to a spiritual component, that this is the place where doom falls.
• In a sense, Sauron’s own power is needed to destroy Sauron’s creation, and this was its center.
• It’s unknown if Sauron created it or adopted it for its power, but he did make it Mount Doom.
• It’s also possible that he needed to use the power of Morgoth in the matter of Arda to make the One Ring. In this way, Morgoth’s Ring, which is Arda, gives birth to Sauron’s Ring.
• Morgoth is associated with extremes of temperature, like fires, while Sauron is associated with smith work. Therefore, he would need to use the ultimate of fires in his smithying of the Ring.
• Sauron has invested the place of the Cracks of Doom with his own power through the forging of the Ring, and all other powers are suppressed there, such as Sam with the Phial of Galadriel.
• There is a sense in which Sauron has made a diabolical bargain with Morgoth to make use of the latter’s power, in the form of the volcano, to support him in his own designs.
• The fact that the Ring can only be destroyed where it was created is in line with evil’s ultimate self-destructiveness, which happens on many levels, including the intervention of Gollum.
• This is a final demonstration of Ilúvatar’s words regarding the Music of the Ainur, in that even the most discordant notes cannot change the theme of the Music in despite of Ilúvatar’s will.
• When Celebrimbor heard the words of the Ring spell, his awareness was that it was Sauron. This was not due to any art on Celebrimbor’s part, but due to the connection Sauron created.
• Sauron’s wrath at his discovery by the Elves is due to this being his ultimate plan to enslave the Elves, something that Morgoth never accomplished, though it is a nearly complete failure.
• The creation of the One Ring only weakened Sauron in the end in its loss. Sauron doesn’t need the Ring to win militarily, but to only to restore the lost power that he put into the Ring.
• There is irony in that if Sauron had never created the Ring, he would be stronger now than ever.
• The creation of the Ring was a gamble with many risks to Sauron which backfires on him badly.
• It was probably a surprise to Sauron that he lost the war of the Last Alliance, as this was at the height of his power in Middle-earth. He is now weaker, but so are his enemies.

Into what deadly perils he had gone alone:

• Though Gandalf had originally set out to hear Gollum’s tale, but he is interested in Aragorn’s tale instead when he goes to meet him in the North.
• Now that Gandalf’s quest has ended, there is no absolute need for Gollum’s tale, though he can still find use for it. The important thing to learn from Aragorn is what happened to Gollum.
• He needs to know if Sauron has gotten information from Gollum, which changes his plans.
• The deadly perils Gandalf speaks of are Aragorn’s, though Gollum has also been in deadly peril.
• Gollum’s news gives new context to the spies that Gandalf has already seen around the Shire and makes him fear that Sauron might have known for years, though this proves untrue.
• It seems to be a stroke of providence that both Gandalf and Aragorn succeed in their quests at the same time, and just in time for Gandalf to reach the Shire ahead of the servants of Sauron.
• Gandalf refers to Gollum as a “creature”, which emphasizes the fact that he is strange and unknown to everyone there. Gandalf is not willing to share his origin as a kind of Hobbit.
• Its also possible that Gandalf is echoing the wording used by the messengers from Lórien.
• Gandalf would not want to draw attention to the effects of the Ring on Hobbits, as the last two Ring-bearers have also been hobbits, and the others’ ignorance of hobbits assists him.
• Its possible that the perils Aragorn faced near Mordor are at least part of what affects Aragorn later when he is describing the terrors of the servants of the Enemy to the hobbits in Bree.

END OF SESSION