I get that The One Ring is supposed to tempt people, but other than brainwashing, does it actually offer anything real?

I get that The One Ring is supposed to tempt people, but other than brainwashing, does it actually offer anything real?
Only Sauron can use its power, to normal people all it does is make you invisible (which actually makes you more visible to Sauron and the Nazgul). I believe this makes the whole "temptation" and "corruption" thing lose its value. It's not tempting you with anything because it has nothing to offer, all it does is brainwash you into thinking how awesome the Ring is. It falls flat as the allegory Tolkien intended is all I'm saying.
From what they said, I guess Saruman, Gandalf and Galadriel might be able to somehow use it, but this doesn't apply to most characers.

What I gathered from it was that the ring corrupts its owners and makes them obsessed in an attempt to make them do as Sauron wants (to bring the ring to him), Frodo spends so much time with it that he tries to directly give it to the enemy (Minas Morgul scene, Osgiliath scene) and even refuses to throw it into Mount Doom since it goes against Sauron's will.

>It falls flat as the allegory Tolkien intended is all I'm saying

Tolkien never intended allegory

Why didn't they just fly the Eagles to mount doom

This whole story is retarded

I've wondered that aswell. It's easy to imagine Gandalf or Galadriel becoming more powerful, an ordinary person not so much. Maybe a king who possesses the ring and leads his army into a battle would have some sort of aura surrounding him, instilling his troops with courage and morale and even physical strength far beyond of what would be possible without the ring.

more importantly: why do orcs know what a menu is? are there restaurants in middle earth?

It was clearly an allegory for temptation. The Ring/Sauron is Satan, trying to lead christians astray with empty promises.
The problem is, the Ring isn't actually promising them anything. Everyone knows that only Sauron or guys like Saruman can use the Ring, yet normal people still feel tmpted by it, but it's not actual temptation, it's outright supernatural brainwashing.
Denethor thought that he could use the Ring, but we all know he's an idiot.

Isn't the ring's whole deal that it temps people to put it on just so Sauron can find it again. As far as I know it doesn't give a shit about anyone and will use whatever shit it can just so they put the ring on and alert Sauron to where it is. That's why they turn invisible so nobody else but Sauron and his minions can find them when it's on.

It's no different to when I lie to girls about my big dick to get them to have sex with me. Sure they don't get anything out of it but I do.

it doesn't make you invisible, it makes it so that whatever you're good at, you become the best at

>. Everyone knows that only Sauron or guys like Saruman can use the Ring,

Do they?

The ring only empowers those who have power to begin with. For people like galadriel or gandalf, the ring would've allowed them to fuck shit up, becoming possibly even stronger than sauron at his height.

For little shits like smeagol the ring is basically just like crack and doesn't really give them much power, even the immortality it seems to give him isn't able to stop his body from decaying.

And the temptation to go after the ring is more or less it corrupting the minds of those who lay eyes on it, as a means for itself to eventually find its way back to sauron. For the average person, the power they think they might gain may merely be deceit created by the ring itself.

maybe tolkein was an atheist :^)

The ring does give power, even to "weak" beings like hobbits

>How Sam sees Frodo when Frodo binds Gollum to him, making him promise on the Ring
For a moment it appeared to Sam that his master had grown and Gollum had shrunk: a tall stern shadow, a mighty lord who hid his brightness in grey cloud, and at his feet a little whining dog. Yet the two were in some way akin and not alien: they could reach one another’s minds. Gollum raised himself and began pawing at Frodo, fawning at his knees.

>How an orc sees Sam while he possesses the Ring.
His will was too weak and slow to restrain his hand. It dragged at the chain and clutched the Ring. But Sam did not put it on; for even as he clasped it to his breast, an orc came clattering down. Leaping out of a dark opening at the right, it ran towards him. It was no more than six paces from him when, lifting its head, it saw him; and Sam could hear its gasping breath and see the glare in its bloodshot eyes. It stopped short aghast. For what it saw was not a small frightened hobbit trying to hold a steady sword: it saw a great silent shape, cloaked in a grey shadow, looming against the wavering light behind; in one hand it held a sword, the very light of which was a bitter pain, the other was clutched at its breast, but held concealed some nameless menace of power and doom.

The main power of the Ring is the ability to dominate the will of others.

Whoever controls the ring (or so they think) controls the races the ring has bound to itself. Basically those tempted by the rings power thinks they'll be able to control the world with it.

I'm pretty sure the ring literally fucks your brain. It's literally not a question of just rejecting its offers. You'll notice (at least in the movie) fordo is already experiencing the mind breaking as early as the first half of the first movie. When he's hiding under that log from the negro riders, his eyelids begin to close and he starts going for the ring. Shit is controlling his brain man.

Power, stupid.

ITT idiots nitpick everything.

look what the ring did to Smeagel, that shit fucks your mind and body

>nitpick
You have no idea how much there IS to nitpick in Tolkien's work. Welcome to LotR threads.

Thats your interpretation, a interpretation that goes against what the writer intended

isildur became invisible, was he a master stealth ?

This isn't exactly true.

I think it made him invisible because it's what he needed most at the time.

if the ring changes size to fit the wearer, why didn't they put it on a flea's leg?

it would never have been found.

...

It contains a massive amount of Sauron's power, it's just that normie hobbits and men don't know how to extract it.

Putting on the Ring moves you into the spirit world, causing you to become invisible. Note that when Frodo put on the ring, while everything else became clouded, he was able to see the Nazgul much more clearly. Powerful elves might be an exception to this, since they already have a presence in the spirit world.

Sauron would have conquered middle earth regardless if the ring was found or not. The only way to save middle earth would be to destroy it (which would destroy Sauron)

then why did they bother looking for it?

to prevent it being used by someone powerful enough to control it.

movie pleb only here what made aragon so good ? was it magic fuckery that made him better than your average man or does he have a small portion of elf blood or those super humans that used to be about, or is the movie pulling shit out of its ass and in the book he just happens to be very good at what he does

>Eagles get corrupted by the ring
>Fly it right to Sauron instead of destroying it

Now what?

what you dumbass the big sauron lick the pussy

>Tolkien
>allegory

stop

>implying eagles give a shit about middle earth or the ring

He is a descendant of superhumans for all das intents and purposes.

“I cordially dislike allegory in all its manifestations, and always have done so since I grew old and wary enough to detect its presence. I much prefer history – true or feigned– with its varied applicability to the thought and experience of readers. I think that many confuse applicability with allegory, but the one resides in the freedom of the reader, and the other in the purposed domination of the author.”

Why would you put the ring on an eagle...your post makes no sense.

This. It's less clear in the movies, but even the intro it talks abtalks with Sauron poured all of his malice, cruelty, and will to dominate all things into the ring.

If Sauron was so powerful why did he bother creating the ring(s) in the first place? Sure it gave him access to most of Middle Earth by being able to manipulate a lot of powerful people, but at the same time he gave himself a massive weakness. If he was so powerful he didn't need the rings. Tried to cut a few corners and gets BTFO because of it.

I guess it all goes back to Sauron believing no one was pure enough to destroy the ring on purpose. Funny thing is he was right too, cheers for being the hero we didn't deserve but the hero we needed Gollum

I thought the ring empowered you when you managed to overpower it and bend it to your will, which essentially means you have to be able to be more powerful than the power sauron poured into the ring. Frodo, smeagol and isildur didn't unlock the power they just got the drawing into other wraith world side effect. The reason Gandalf doesn't want it is he believes he might be strong enough to enslave the ring but the risk of himself being enslaved is too high.

Pretty sure anyone carrying the ring on an eagles back would cause the Eagle to become corrupted by the ring, especially when they got closer to Mt Doom. That's assuming Sauron didn't notice a fucking giant Eagle invading his territory first, he did have Dragons being ridden by fucking Wraiths remember.

>maybe tolkein was an atheist :^)

he wasn't, him and CS Lewis were pretty strong Christians

>It was clearly an allegory for

Not an argument

>Funny thing is he was right too
Exactly. You know, I remember reading, don't know where, that Gollum falling into the lava was actually one of the few times Eru directly intervened in the fate of the world. Basically, God pushed Gollum in.

Do you have to be religious to enjoy the fantasy genre? Is there a correlation?

I would imagine atheists would be more interested in logic and reason.

the ring is simply power and dominance its dominance is to make sure it gets back to sauron and its power is what ever the hell is needed at the time if it helps get its back to sauron, sauron and co are after all basically entities that have paint brushes for the canvas thats the world with varying abilities to change it

Well iirc Eru himself also revived Gandalf and gave him his power upgrade, so that wouldn't be a stretch.

So did Saruman want the ring for himself or was he an agent of Sauron?

Is it TOO HARD to understand that Uruk Hai were taught language by Saruman, who OBVIOUSLY would know what a menu is seeing how he's a cultured, immortal being? And that they picked up some of his favorite expressions?

>maybe tolkein was an atheist :^)
Tolkien was catholic as fuck, in fact the Jerusalem Bible (the best traduction to date) had the Jonas book traduced by Tolkien.

Both. He planned to take it for himself while pretending to be Sauron's servant.

>revived Gandalf and gave him his power upgrade
it sounds funny when you put it that way (no hating)

Translating a religious book doesn't make you a believer of that religion.
Did he ever talk about his personal views on the matter?

Isn't Aragorn basically Tolkien defending eugenics?
Aragorn's genes make him superior and thus he is "true king" because his great-great-great-grandaddy was king. All the stewards of Gondor since the fall of the monarchy are "illegitimate" because they don't have royal blood and are thus inferior.

It doesn't do much for most people.

It gives you the power of complete transparency as long as the ring is worn, but for your average Joe, that's essentially all you get.

I think that's part of why I like the ring. To most people who picked it up and put it on, it would come across as nothing more than a rather rare magic trinket. Not this world-ending catastrophic object.

That might be the ring's best camouflage right there.

>tfw SG-1 never did a LoTR alternate timeline where Galadrial takes the ring and becomes a system lord

>it makes him
POWERFUL
>so powerful that some random prince cut his finger off and instantly destroyed him and routed his army
SO POWERFUL

That's just in the movie, in the books it was a lot harder than that

This relates to a question of mind: if the ring's power really can be used, then how could it be used against Sauron? If the ring is an extension of Sauron and it wills to return to him, how could it ever be used against him?

>atheists
>logic
>reason

wew lad

no, he was a stealth archer

>atheists
>logic and reason

Yeah I know this is b8

But nothing happened to tom bombadil when he put on the ring?

At the times of the movies, Aragorn was 87. He had true Numenorean blood thus live much longer than normal humans. At that time, he had already taken many quests and maxed his skill levels. He met Theoden when theoden was a young boy. He led armies of Gondor and Rohan. He soloed to the South, deep in enemy territory. He is Aragon, captain of Men.

Yeah OP I see what you're saying I mean it ONLY grants the super power of invisibility. Who would want that?

Aren't you immortal with the One Ring?

No death from age with any of the Great Rings.

It only grants hobbits invisibility because their primary trait is stealth. It's basically a powerup.

If Gandalf had the ring his magic would be stronger, if Aragorn had it he would make pussies wetter, Gimli could drink more, legolas would be more of a faggot, the eagles could fly in outer space, etc

Bombadil gives no fucks about rings n' shit.

I wish you retards would stop spouting this, the actual power of the ring has been explained in this very thread.

But Elves and Maias are already kinda immortals, why would they need that?

It's probably just a side effect. I suppose it would be handy for the Dwarves, if all of their rings weren't lost or destroyed, or for Men, if their rings weren't corrupted by Sauron and make you turn into a wraith.

Sauron was not an allegory for satan. Melkor maybe, yes, but Sauron? No.

The ring enhances everything about you.

It brings long life possibly even immortality, it can make people drawn to you bringing unnatural charisma and status.

For example when Sam climbs the tower to save Frodo the ring makes the orcs fear him, it gives Sam sort of a aura of power.

Bilbo lives to the age of 111 never aging a day.

The stronger a person is the more the ring can enhance them.

Dude I'm as fedora as they come. Tolkien was a hardcore catholic. He was also something as rare as a conservative environmentalist.

They use it to prevent the decay of time in their realms. Basically, the world is getting more human with each age.

No it wasn't. Tolkien hated allegory

>normal people
How are hobbits normal?

Sauron was scared of the "return of the king" because Aragorn was strong enough to use the ring (and so was Gandalf). But had they used the ring to fight Sauron, they would end up just like Sauron, and a reign of terror would still exist.

radagast's power was that he could talk to animals and shit. what was gandalfs and sarumans power?

that pic reminds me of ass2ass

Other than the corruption and stuff, when you put it on it basically does two things:

1. Shifts you into the spirit world. It basically turns you into a sort of semi ghost (A.K.A wraith) which is why you become invisible. Sauron and the Nazgul also inhabit the spirit world which is why they can more easily see you when you put the ring on. Note, not everyone who puts it on would become invisible in the physical world.

2. Act as a force multiplayer. Hobbits and humans are rather weak so when they put it on, not a lot happens to them. For hobbits, it basically makes them even more stealthy, which ties in handy with the invisibility. You can also see this with Golum because even though he gets eternal life, his body decays as normal. If someone like Galadriel or Gandalf put it on, they'd turn into ultimate beings of destruction, maybe even become more powerful than Sauron. Note, the ring would continue to corrupt them so eventually Sauron would be able to overpower them.

isildur was the ancestor of aragon right? if so he would have the same blood as aragon... didnt the ring drive him mad in the end?

Just reread the books for the first time in nearly a decade. I wasn't expecting the feels book 6 gave me. I already know what happens of course, but it still affected me like it did the first time I read the books and watched the movies. Is LotR the most perfect thing ever?

Gandalf meant to take the eagles in secret but the balrog fucked him up before they could do it.

Isildur also became invisible when he put on the ring. That's how he got killed. He put on the ring, started to swimming down the river, the ring slipped from his finger making him visible to the orc archers.
No, Sauron wouldn't overpower them. They could use the ring to destroy Sauron, but they would still be corrupted by the ring, turning them into dark lords that would still try to fuck Middle-Earth.

>Gandalf planned to have the eagles carry 9 passengers to Morder
>all while fighting off the Nazgul and being tempted by the ring


Maybe Saruman was right about Gandalf, smoked too much of the Hobbit leaf.

Gandalf specialised in fire related magic, but his main power was inspiring people to do great deeds. He was the only one of the Istari to actually do his job and get the people of Middle Earth to fight Sauron.

Saruman's specialty was ring-lore, I think it says in the book something along the lines of that he studied the devices of the Enemy, which probably led to his fall. He could also persuade almost anyone to do almost anything, there's a nice passage in the books about it:

The window closed. They waited. Suddenly another voice spoke, low and melodious, its very sound an enchantment. Those who listened unwarily to that voice could seldom report the words that they heard; and if they did, they wondered, for little power remained in them. Mostly they remembered only that it was a delight to hear the voice speaking, all that it said seemed wise and reasonable, and desire awoke in them by swift agreement to seem wise themselves. When others spoke they seemed harsh and uncouth by contrast; and if they gainsaid the voice, anger was kindled in the hearts of those under the spell. For some the spell lasted only while the voice spoke to them, and when it spoke to another they smiled, as men do who see through a juggler’s trick while others gape at it. For many the sound of the voice alone was enough to hold them enthralled; but for those whom it conquered the spell endured when they were far away, and ever they heard that soft voice whispering and urging them. But none were unmoved; none rejected its pleas and its commands without an effort of mind and will, so long as its master had control of it.

too busy and distracted to even look at the ring while it was around frodos neck. Eagles carrying everyone separately. No chance for boromir or anyone to get their hands on frodo. Shortened time, meaning frodo wouldn't have yet become corrupted. They would never have met gollum who fucked up the bond between frodo and sam.

Gandalf had the ring of fire. Cirdan gave it to him when he first landed on Middle-Earth. That helped a little.

That is on the beginning of the first book. It's said that Saruman studied the rings of power so much, that had him not desired Sauron's One Ring, he had the knowledge to make one himself.

>Eagles get to Mordor
>They are seen coming from fucking miles away
>Since Mordor is so fucking big, the eagles inevitably have to land to rest
>The Fellowship is killed and Sauron takes back the Ring

Good plan.

Sauron's eyes wouldn't have been on the sky, but on the ground, like the film. He expected them to be on foot. Nazgul's were sent out of mordor to search for the hobbits, all the while they would have been in the air coming up the back end while Sauron had no air defense in mordor.

>fighting Nazgul while carrying fatass Gimli and the useless weight of 8 other passengers
>Bilbo described being carried by the eagles as being extremely uncomfortable, and that was a much shorter flight
>Sauron would have seen them coming
>they would have had to fight off Nazgul while carrying the fellowship and being shot at by archers (the eagles do fear archers)
>the eagles could have been corrupted by the ring and dropped the fellowship from a million feet in the air
>we don't know how many eagles there are
>they would have probably told the fellowship to fuck off

/thread

Tits also have nothing of value to offer you but they are still tempting to look at

>Sauron's eyes wouldn't have been on the sky, but on the ground, like the film
If you haven't read the book, why are you shoving your opinion into the conversation?

He specifically watches the skies in the book. His generals watch the fucking ground

I guess you never tried breast milk then, huh?

I can't un-see that, now.
Thanks for that.

I think it just works like some pretty powerful drug (heroine or some shit) and makes you feel good.

book 6?

Fucking kek.

>but they would still be corrupted by the ring, turning them into dark lords that would still try to fuck Middle-Earth.
True, but they wouldn't have all the resources Sauron had amassed throughout the eons, like the huge armies of Orcs, Uruks, Trolls, Mumakils and Easterlings. It would be a lesser of two evils situation.