Rachel Port
Well-Known Member
Why wasn't Bilbo allowed to tell the story of his giving up the Ring during the Council?
I have generally thought that Elrond stopped Bilbo from telling the story of his farewell party was to spare Bilbo, especially since there were other proofs. But recently I began to have another thought. If he had told the story (and I'm sure he would have told about the fireworks and his speech, if nothing else about the party) of how he gave up the Ring, would that have proven anything to the people at the Council? That scene alerted Gandalf at the time that this was serious so that he went to look for Gollum to find out where he got the Ring. Even Gandalf, from that scene alone, did not fully believe it was the One Ring and needed more information, and Gandalf knew more ring lore than most of the people in the Council? Most people had no idea Sauron had made a Ring, and even among the dwarves, not everyone knew about their rings. Do all the elves in the Council even know that Elrond has one of the elven rings? It was all thousands of years ago. And not even Gandalf and Elrond would have any idea what kind of effect the One Ring would have on mortals, not really. Not much is known about Isildur's possession of it, and nobody knew at that time anything about Gollum, like how old he was, where he was from, and how he got the Ring.
So what would the Council have learned from Bilbo's telling how difficult it was to leave the Ring behind? Not the identity of the Ring. And would they realize how the Ring was acting on Bilbo during that scene? We, with all the knowledge we have picked up over our readings of the book, see that scene as a red flag, but even Gandalf during and after that scene only had suspicions. I don't think that story would have shown that this was Sauron's Ring to most of the people in that meeting.
I have generally thought that Elrond stopped Bilbo from telling the story of his farewell party was to spare Bilbo, especially since there were other proofs. But recently I began to have another thought. If he had told the story (and I'm sure he would have told about the fireworks and his speech, if nothing else about the party) of how he gave up the Ring, would that have proven anything to the people at the Council? That scene alerted Gandalf at the time that this was serious so that he went to look for Gollum to find out where he got the Ring. Even Gandalf, from that scene alone, did not fully believe it was the One Ring and needed more information, and Gandalf knew more ring lore than most of the people in the Council? Most people had no idea Sauron had made a Ring, and even among the dwarves, not everyone knew about their rings. Do all the elves in the Council even know that Elrond has one of the elven rings? It was all thousands of years ago. And not even Gandalf and Elrond would have any idea what kind of effect the One Ring would have on mortals, not really. Not much is known about Isildur's possession of it, and nobody knew at that time anything about Gollum, like how old he was, where he was from, and how he got the Ring.
So what would the Council have learned from Bilbo's telling how difficult it was to leave the Ring behind? Not the identity of the Ring. And would they realize how the Ring was acting on Bilbo during that scene? We, with all the knowledge we have picked up over our readings of the book, see that scene as a red flag, but even Gandalf during and after that scene only had suspicions. I don't think that story would have shown that this was Sauron's Ring to most of the people in that meeting.