The Ring
How come the ring doesn’t make Sauron invisible?
Indeed! Out of the mists of Facebook, a truly awesome discussion ensued. I found this reply the most intriguing and erudite:
The Ring doesn’t actually make someone invisible in the sense we understand the term. It shifts its bearer into the world of the Unseen (which is why it can’t hide Frodo from the Nazgul on Weathertop–they already dwell in the World of the Unseen). As a former Maia, Sauron simultaneously dwells in Middle-earth and the realm of the Unseen–so the Ring would not make him invisible.
Surely we haibane can contribute to this critical topic. What say you all? Agree or disagree with the theory above?
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Works for me. It takes into account all that I’ve read about the nature of Sauron, and if one accepts the duality of seen/Unseen, then it makes perfect sense.
This actually echoes a conversation that my 11 year old son and I had, which also noted that the Elven rings clearly don’t make their bearers invisible. As for the Nazgul, we were sort of up in the air whether the Nine Rings actually made their bearers invisible, or it was actually their passage into some spirit world (e.g. the Unseen) that makes them invisible. Of course, the Nine appear to have invisible bodies, but their clothes and weapons are still visible… so what does that do to this theory? (Have to ponder that one myself… oh, and note that Sauron was similarly body-invisible-but-clothes-and-weapons-visible in the brief shots of him in the Prologue…)
I don’t think that’s the answer. The Ring is sentient, and acts to further Sauron’s cause. This might include turning invisible (and simultaneously visible to Sauron’s loyal Nazgul), to be useful to Bilbo, Frodo, and Golum, so as to tempt them into wearing and using it continuously. Or it might do entirely different things. As Lord of the Rings, Sauron can probably turn the invisibility power on or off as he chooses.
This is completely correct imo; the ring only makes its wearer invisible to ordinary beings of other races – one reason why Gollum survived so long underground with the goblins all around him (which also allowed him to feed on them). It actually exposes the wearer to the Eye of Sauron and of course attracts other ringbearers – in particular the Nazgul to it (of course the Nazgul can see the bearer anyway, but putting the ring on, focuses them on him/her much more).
One of the most intriguing things about the One Ring, is that its power is never really outlined – I mean what does it do that makes it so powerful when Sauron wears it, is never really clearly explained. Here Peter Jackson’s film makes a fatal flaw, when it portrays the Ring as giving Sauron some kind of extra supernatural physical power – in books it didn’t work out that way. Actually reading Tolkien shows that Gil-galad and Elendil wrestle and kill Sauron’s physical body while he still wears the Ring, (though they both die as a result) Isildur cuts the Ring off Sauron’s hand after he is dead, well at least physically, and then we are told his ‘spirit’ fled. Even in that war, Sauron’s forces are besieged and the resulting battle is a stale-mate before Gil-Galad and Elendil venture forth for their personal combat with him – so the Ring doesn’t make its original bearer superhuman, omnipotent or even unstoppable. It does confer power on Sauron, though what exactly that power is, except for being able to manipulate the other Ring bearers (except for the holders of the Elven Rings) is not made clear.
I think this is where we can see elements of Tolkien’s Catholicism, for he was a deeply religious man, at play. The Ring stands for a form of Evil, akin in some ways to original sin; it is never direct and never confers power immediately but does corrupt its holder. Which is why men always fall prey to it first and quickly – as they are seen as the weakest of all the races, it is notable that none of the Dwarven ring bearers enter Sauron’s service (though Tolkien uses a bit of escape device to say all these rings are lost) and the holders of the Elven Rings (two cases elves Galadrield and Cirdan) do not succumb to the temptations of power; rather like the conception of evil in this doctrine, it works from within corrupting and twisting its holder – surrendering to it, is what allows Evil to win. Which is why Sauron, is one of the most absent-villains in all fiction, we hardly every see or hear from him directly; all the action and the fighting is done by his subordinates and he is destroyed once the ring is too. Like the nature of Evil in Catholic doctrine, it remains something outside what direct consciousness can perceive, like a darkness and an imperceptible malevolence, that can see us but which we cannot see much of – hence most incarnations of Sauron are highly symbolised like the Eye and the shadows.
Hope this is of some help.
Sounds plausible.
Though I’d disagree with FhnuZoag and say the Ring isn’t properly “sentient” (in that it can’t make long-term plans, or think analytically) – it’s just got a blob of Sauron-essence in it.
(IIRC from the books, it’s actually got the majority of his power in it, which explains why he’s destroyed along with it, and why any sufficiently powerful being, like the Maiar Gandalf and Saruman who were corrupted by it, would end up replacing Sauron as Dark Lord, rather than as his servants.)
That makes it, for instance, try to get its possessor to put it on, to thus corrupt them and (given the whole “putting them in the realm of the Unsees” part) making them easier for Sauron and the Nazgul to see. (And being able to sense their presence, it tempts Frodo to put it on when he faces them in the Shire and later).
But that’s modelable more or less an autonomic reaction, without resorting to sentience.
That explains why it couldn’t, say, compel Gollum to just take it to Angmar or Barad-Dul the moment Sauron got his body back, and make the whole story both much shorter and more unpleasant.
“and the holders of the Elven Rings (two cases elves Galadrield and Cirdan) do not succumb to the temptations of power”
Keep in mind that it’s stated in the books that Sauron had no direct role in forging the Elven rings and never touched them. That’s why the wearers of the Elven rings don’t have a temptation to succumb to evil, because there is no evil in those rings.
Brilliant discussion!
I read the books as a kid and watched the movies as they came out and just re-watched the movies again with my kids. I certainly don’t think the original book ever “showed” the battle sequences in which Sauron “wore” the ring – the movie is forced to be rather literal in portraying this event, as it also shows the ring shrinking to accommodate a smaller wearer’s finger. How much ability does the ring have to shrink or grow and what is the default size it assumes? I think it would be funny if it retained its original large size, rendering it even more difficult to carry for the hobbit Frodo – haha!
As far as it’s magical abilities, the invisible question is also tough. Why did they have to torture Golum to get “Shire” and “baggins” when the ring calls out to Sauron and Bilbo wears it at his birthday party – wouldn’t that have been enough time to see where it was?
Also, why does Bilbo start to age almost immediately after he stops possessing the ring, but Golem goes on and on?
I don’t worry too much about these questions, but love that people find it interesting and discuss it… can’t wait for the Hobbit movie.