103
votes
Accepted
How did the destruction of the Ring cause Arwen to change from Evenstar to Morningstar?
It didn't
Gimli is only saying poetically that he prefers Galadriel to Arwen. Arwen is never referred to as "the Morningstar". You may be confused by the dialogue between Gimli and Éomer:
‘...
- 11k
91
votes
Accepted
Could Gandalf not have made his own One Ring?
Possibly
In the foreword to The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien observes:
Saruman, failing to get possession of the Ring, would in the confusion and treacheries of the time have found in Mordor the ...
79
votes
Since Boromir wanted the One ring so badly, why didn't he volunteer to take it during the Council of Elrond?
The One ring slowly gets into people's minds.
I'm pretty sure Boromir was full of good intentions during the council of Elrond, but day by day, he became obsessed with the ring and then tried to take ...
- 791
77
votes
Accepted
When Tom Bombadil made the One Ring disappear, did he put it into a place that only he had access to?
There is no answer to this for two reasons:
First, Tolkien deliberately did not write about the details of his magic system. He felt that magic was closely related to wonder, and for magic to produce ...
- 40.2k
73
votes
Accepted
Why did the One Ring betray Isildur?
It wanted to stay hidden until the proper time
Most of this is synthesis on my part, as there are no detailed writings concerning the Ring's intentions.
If the Ring is a mostly dumb object, the answer ...
- 11k
69
votes
How does Gandalf (or anyone) know how to destroy the Ring?
Knowledge of how to destroy the Ring dates back to at least the end of the Second Age, after Isildur took the Ring, and as described in the chapter The Council of Elrond:
'Alas! yes,' said Elrond. '...
68
votes
Accepted
Why did Sauron die when the Ring was destroyed in Mount Doom?
Sauron passed a tremendous amount of his own native power as a Maia into the Ring he forged. Gandalf outlines the situation to Frodo in "The Shadow of the Past":
He only needs the One; for ...
- 95.5k
63
votes
Accepted
Since Boromir wanted the One ring so badly, why didn't he volunteer to take it during the Council of Elrond?
This is after Elrond told Isildur's tale, of how he took the ring – but shouldn't have:
Boromir...cried: ‘I have heard of the Great Ring of him that we do no name; but we believed that it ...
- 4,437
63
votes
Accepted
Can the One Ring change in size?
Yes. At the very least, it seemed to.
‘Bilbo knew no more than he told you, I am sure,’ said Gandalf. ‘He would certainly never have passed on to you anything that he thought would be a danger, even ...
- 24.6k
56
votes
Accepted
Why was Gandalf unsure if Bilbo's ring was the One Ring if he had seen an image of Sauron's Eye when he was about to pick it up?
You've linked together too many things that shouldn't really be linked at this point in the movie.
First of all, I wouldn't put too much weight on elements Peter Jackson put into his movies that weren'...
- 15.3k
51
votes
Why did the One Ring betray Isildur?
The Ring was trying to get back to its master
It is true that betraying Isildur didn't turn out too well for the Ring and its master, but it would have been hard to predict that at the time.
The ...
- 21.1k
47
votes
Accepted
When Frodo was guided by Gollum to the Black Gate, how did he intend to enter Mordor?
He had no idea
But it was not always the case. The development of Frodo's entrance into Mordor is somewhat complex. In chronological order of writing:
Gollum takes them through secret paths around ...
- 11k
45
votes
Could Gandalf not have made his own One Ring?
I doubt it.
Going through all the artifacts throughout the books, the knowledge of forging great magical artifacts seems to mainly originate from the Vala Aulë.
Sauron (and Saruman) was originally ...
- 5,630
42
votes
Did Gollum want possession of the Ring but not want to wear it?
Somewhat
Tolkien does say that Gollum found the ring to be "tiring" to wear all the time, and "galling" to keep on him all the time.
But Gollum was still willing to use it whenever ...
- 88.6k
41
votes
Accepted
Why did the One Ring not slip off Frodo's hand?
Not much opportunity, and not meant to happen
Keep in mind that Frodo didn't wear the Ring for very long while the Nazgûl were near. Even if the Ring was trying to slip off his finger, it might not ...
- 21.1k
41
votes
Accepted
Is there any canon evidence of a second "One Ring?"
Almost certainly made up for the game
Celebrimbor made three Rings of Power for the Elves (the three Elven Rings worn by Gandalf, Elrond and Galadriel at the time of the War of the Ring). However none ...
- 21.1k
40
votes
Accepted
Is the One Ring sentient?
Unclear
You cannot press the One Ring too hard, for it is of course a mythical feature, even though the world of the tales is conceived in more or less historical terms.
The Letters of J. R. R. ...
- 11k
39
votes
When Tom Bombadil made the One Ring disappear, did he put it into a place that only he had access to?
Book 1 Chapter 7 says:
Tom laughed again, and then he spun the Ring in the air – and it
vanished with a flash. Frodo gave a cry – and Tom leaned forward and
handed it back to him with a smile.
You ...
- 4,324
37
votes
Accepted
Why didn't Eru Ilúvatar trip Isildur?
Well, this has been sticking in my craw for a while, so I better get it out.
This question is based in the premise that Ilúvatar "tripped" Gollum at the Cracks of Doom, making it "...
- 15.3k
35
votes
Could Gandalf not have made his own One Ring?
The rings made by Sauron, and specifically the One Ring, did not give Sauron extra raw power, they were a method of applying his existing, innate power over men, dwarves and elves. The rings did not ...
35
votes
Accepted
What does Gollum see when he puts on the Ring?
The short answer is we don't know, because Jackson doesn't show us and Tolkien doesn't tell us.
We never read or see Gollum wearing the Ring in The Hobbit. And by the time of LotR, he's long lost it.
...
- 7,375
33
votes
When Frodo was guided by Gollum to the Black Gate, how did he intend to enter Mordor?
He planned to enter through the Black Gate
From the same chapter:
'Master said so. Master says: Bring us to the Gate. So good Smeagol does so. Master said so, wise master.'
'I did,' said Frodo. His ...
33
votes
How does Gandalf (or anyone) know how to destroy the Ring?
As Victim of Circumstance makes clear in his answer, the fact that the One Ring could be destroyed at Mount Doom was known to the elves at the end of the second age, and this information probably came ...
- 10.8k
32
votes
Would Gandalf be invisible if he wore the One Ring?
Bearing in mind that there is no canon answer, what follows is purely my speculation.
He would probably turn invisible
The invisibility effect of the One Ring is not a matter of mastery, but of the ...
- 163k
30
votes
Accepted
Aside from the Rings of Power, what else did Sauron make in his forge at Mount Doom?
Nothing we know of
There are rather few mentions of Mount Doom. A few of those, to my knowledge, mention the forging of objects there, but always the Ruling Ring:
There above the valley of Gorgoroth ...
- 115k
30
votes
Why did Sauron die when the Ring was destroyed in Mount Doom?
Sauron has actually physically "died" at least 3 times:
Lúthien "killed" him when she overthrew his fortress on the Isle of Werewolves in the First Age.
At the Downfall of Númenor....
29
votes
Why was the One Ring of Sauron unadorned?
In-universe
As far as I know, there's no explicit answer in canon. Sauron's state of mind at the time he forges the One isn't really given any treatment in the text.
One might argue that gems are too ...
- 163k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible