Thread: Behold!The 1 rings power
what was the exact power of the one ring?
Well.... borrowing my goldfish's memory....... I don't think Boromir was corrupted as such because he never wore the ring, it just exerted it's power over him in an attempt to get back to Men. He was overcome by it's power which probably fed on his desire to not only do what his father wanted but his desire to save his people. Denethor also wished to save his people but was ultimately driven mad not by the ring but by his use of the Palantir, connecting him to Sauron, and the misinformation he was fed by Sauron. Boromir soon came to his senses and regretted what he had done. Faramir was a different kettle of fish. He had more of the strength of Westernesse in him, was a more 'rounded' character in that he had studied more, listening to Gandalf, and although a great soldier and leader he was also able to think beyond his father's wishes. The ring was unable to exert its power over him.
Maybe it was not the ring that corrupted him but the thought of what he percieved could be done with the ring and his desire to help his people becuase unlike Denethor I think that Boromir wanted to help his people and he thought the One Ring could do it.....I think that in the end he dies with honor but I think that his need for the ring or the power that he thought that he could get from it was too overwhelming for Boromir so he did what he did.
Indeed, Boromir wanted to save his people. As an apt warrior, he must've understood that against the armies of Mordor no victory was possible, unless the Ring would be used... that's why he wants the Ring to be used. Boromir never understood why the Ring had to be destroyed... as he saw it as the only victory and only ways of survival for his people (exactly what his father thought). At the moment he spoke in the Council of Elrond, men of his city were fighting against Mordor, including his brother, and were in dire need.
This thoughts must've crossed his mind from the very moment the Fellowship left Rivendell. The Ring was able to 'corrupt' Boromir by using Boromir's will to use the Ring : the Ring turned Boromir's will to use the Ring into desire for the Ring. Perhaps in the beginning Boromir just wanted the Ring to give to his father, but due to the influence of the Ring he had visions of himself becoming a great warlord, assembling everyone under his banner and defeating Sauron.
Probably he had visions of him becoming King as well... subconsciously, Boromir always had a hidden desire to be a King... as in the appendices we can read that he once asked Denethor why he wasn't a King or how long it would be until the ppl would consider him to be a King.
So the Ring was able to get into Boromir's mind because of Boromir's will to save his people by means of arms -even though this is impossible- and changed this will into selfish desire. Unlike Faramir, Boromir never understood that the Ring was as evil as Sauron.
Faramir was a different kettle of fish. He had more of the strength of Westernesse in him, was a more 'rounded' character in that he had studied more, listening to Gandalf, and although a great soldier and leader he was also able to think beyond his father's wishes. The ring was unable to exert its power over him.
I agree with all but the last part of this statement. The ring most certainly could exert its power over Faramir, which is precisely why he let Frodo go. He realised that the Ring could not be used for good, and given time would ultimately bring the ruin of anyone around it. Having heard how Boromir had so quickly come under its spell, and remember Faramir knew Boromir better than any other man, he realised just how dangerous it was. Faramir always walked in Boromir's shadow, and possibly did not even realise he was a wiser man than his brother. Knowing how quickly it had corrupted Boromir must have made Faramir realise he too would have come under the same spell if he did not release it while he still had a choice.
Faramir was no less corruptable than Boromir. He had goals he wished to achieve, possibly more so than his brother, because unlike Boromir, Faramir still needed to gain the respect of his father. When he captured Frodo, however, the turning point in his decision to release the hobbits was when he discovered how Boromir had been corrupted so easily. Realising this before the Ring had had sufficient time to exert its control over him was enough for him to allow the hobbits to leave. Sometimes I feel this is perhaps the biggest difference between Faramir and Boromir, and the one thing that often gets overlooked. Faramir had the benefit of knowing what it had done to his brother. Boromir did not have such strong warnings to deter him. I think if the tables had been turned, and Boromir knew the Ring had corrupted Faramir, he too would have been far more cautious around it.
I think that the whole disappearing thing is one of the Ring's powers but I am not sure what the reason behind it is. Not sure about the others OH wait what about its abilities to control the other rings (the lesser rings) with the exception of the Elven rings?? Not sure though.
Sauron originally created the Ring purely as a means to control the Elves. The power of the Ring was to have knowledge and control of the wearers of the lesser rings. Through these lesser rings he hoped to manipulate his puppet kings and Queens, and thus rule the Elves. He knew this would take incredible power to achieve, however, and so was forced to place so much of his own essence into the Ruling Ring. Sauron underestimated the strength and skill of the Elves, however. I don't think he expected they would be capable of crafting their own three rings without his assistance, and I don't think he expected them to instantly realise something terrible was amiss when he first placed the Ruling Ring on his own finger.
As soon as he placed that ring on his finger the Elves knew they had been betrayed. They hid the only three rings that Sauron had not had a part in the making of, and then lost the other 14 when Sauron's army sacked Ost-in-edhel. I am unsure why Celebrimbor kept the 14 rings with him, knowing Sauron would attack him, unless he felt it was too dangerous to scatter them among other communities where they might work Sauron's purpose. Whatever, Ost-in-edhel was sacked, Celebrimbor slain, and the 14 rings captured (it may have been 13 rings, as Celebrimbor may have already given the Dwarves of Khazad-dum one of the rings prior to realising the danger).
Sauron realised his plan had failed, for he knew the Elves would never now wear the rings while he possessed a Ruling Ring. Thus he turned his attention to the other Free Peoples and gave the rings to Men and Dwarves.
The power of the Ring is therefore one of control. It's function was to have insight and control over the minds of those who wore any of the lesser rings. Turning the wearer invisible and slowing their aging is just a by-product of the powers inside the ring (after all Sauron is Maiar.... he does not age anyway, so why would he need to place that property into a ring?). Thinking about it, the aging thing is possibly due to Sauron's own ageless Maian essence that he placed in the ring, actually leaking out and protecting the wearer. Whatever, it is incidental rather than planned.
The invisibility aspect I'm not so sure about. It does not actually make the wearer "invisible". What it actually does is places them in a different plane that is parallel to the prime material plane that Middle Earth is composed of. I'm not sure whether this is supposed to be the ethereal plane, but it is one that is occupied by spirits and ghosts etc. That is why Frodo sees the ringwraiths when he wears the ring. He has left Middle Earth and entered their plane which runs parallel. I am not sure whether it was Sauron's intention to make the ring do this, or whether like the aging effect, it is due to leakage from his own essence bound in the ring. Maiar after all are spirits who clothe themselves in forms of their own choice. Maybe in their spirit form they also inhabit this parallel spirit world. This would explain why the Ring did not turn either Sauron or Tom Bombadil invisible. Both are already Maiar (or in Tom's case something similar because Virumor does have a convincing argument elsewhere). Being so, they are already in this spirit world, but are clothing themselves with physical form that they are projecting into the "real" world. As this physical form is being projected out by them from the spirit world anyway, the ring will have no effect upon it.
Because so much of Sauron's essence is bound within the ring, it is in effect like having Sauron stood at a prison door whispering convincing suggestions and lies to those around him (similar to Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs). Part of Sauron is inside the ring, so the ring is Sauron. It is intellegent and sentient, but it is trapped. It cannot physically achieve its goals, only convince others to do them for it. When separated from Sauron, his essence has been torn in two. That is why both Sauron and the Ring are so preoccupied with being reunited.