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Ataahua
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Oct 25 2007, 5:24am
Post #1 of 17
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LOTR chapter discussion: A Long Expected Party # 4: The ring's influence
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"I feel all thin, sort of stretched, if you know what I mean: Like butter that has been scraped over too much bread."
Bilbo puts the ring in an envelope, addresses it to Frodo and puts it on the mantlepiece, then "suddenly" removes it and sticks it in his pocket - then shortly after appears surprised to find the envelope is in his pocket at all. But then Bilbo wonders why he shouldn't keep it - and Gandalf is alarmed to hear Bilbo describe the ring as 'my precious'. An argument with Gandalf ensues, with Bilbo accusing him of betrayal and 'a curious change' comes over his voice. Afterward, when he agrees to leave the ring behind, Bilbo admits that he felt 'so queer' and was relieved he wouldn't be bothered by the ring anymore, saying that he sometimes felt as if there was an eye looking at him.
Gandalf later warns Frodo to not use the ring, saying: "It may have other powers than just make you vanish when you wish to." When Gandalf left Frodo and the Shire, he walked away 'unusually bent, almost as if he was carrying a great weight'.
1. What do we learn about the nature of the ring from Bilbo's actions and his description of how he is feeling?
2. What do we learn about the ring from Gandalf's actions, both when he is with Bilbo and when he is alone in Bag End before Frodo arrives?
3. Gandalf appeared reluctant to handle the ring when Bilbo offered it to him, but then snatched it up from the floor when Bilbo inadvertantly dropped the envelope it was in. Was Gandalf's initial reluctance due to him not wanting to get too close to the ring, or the possible effect on Bilbo if he took it from him?
4. Which treatment of Gandalf's approach to the ring do you prefer: The way Tolkien wrote it, or the way Peter Jackson filmed it?
5. Given Gandalf's warning to Frodo, how much could the wizard have known about the ring's identity?
6. Just how bad a situation was Gandalf in for him to think that giving an obviously magic ring to Frodo to look after was the best option available?
Celebrimbor: "Pretty rings..."
Dwarves: "Pretty rings..."
Men: "Pretty rings..."
Sauron: "Mine's better."
"Ah, how ironic, the addictive qualities of Sauron’s master weapon led to its own destruction. Which just goes to show, kids - if you want two small and noble souls to succeed on a mission of dire importance... send an evil-minded b*****d with them too." - Gandalf's Diaries, final par, by Ufthak.
Ataahua's stories
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Tyler
Menegroth
Oct 25 2007, 8:46am
Post #2 of 17
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Q1. What do we learn about the nature of the ring from Bilbo's actions and his description of how he is feeling?
A1.Well the first thing I thought of it was this is BAD.
Q2. What do we learn about the ring from Gandalf's actions, both when he is with Bilbo and when he is alone in Bag End before Frodo arrives?
A2. I don't think he really knew what to do.
Q3. Gandalf appeared reluctant to handle the ring when Bilbo offered it to him, but then snatched it up from the floor when Bilbo inadvertantly dropped the envelope it was in. Was Gandalf's initial reluctance due to him not wanting to get too close to the ring, or the possible effect on Bilbo if he took it from him?
A3.The possible effect on Bilbo.I mean golem choked his best friend to death for it.Could Bilbo do that to Gandalf?
Q4. Which treatment of Gandalf's approach to the ring do you prefer: The way Tolkien wrote it, or the way Peter Jackson filmed it?
A4 PJ's version I just preferred it don't know why.
Q5. Given Gandalf's warning to Frodo, how much could the wizard have known about the ring's identity?
A5.I think that he did not have a clue what to do.I think thats why he needed the help of an old friend but thats not this chapter! 
Never doubt that a small group of peple can change the world indeed,that is the onely thing that ever has......Margaret mead
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a.s.
Doriath
Oct 25 2007, 11:39am
Post #3 of 17
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1. What do we learn about the nature of the ring from Bilbo's actions and his description of how he is feeling?
Aside from Bilbo's descriptions of feeling queer, of the ring growing on his mind, and feeling stretched thin--it's very worrisome that he answers Gandalf with a lie, or what appears to be a lie. When Gandalf asks him directly for the whereabouts of the ring, he appears to lie outright: "In an envelope, if you must know....There on the mantelpiece. Well no! Here it is in my pocket!"
I can't really tell if Bilbo momentarily thinks he really HAS left it on the mantelpiece or if he starts to lie but isn't a liar at heart and so fumbles. Either way, it is disconcerting: what is causing this kind and honorable old hobbit to lie in this way? Either the ring is directly messing with him, or influencing him to be dishonest; neither of those is a good thing!
2. What do we learn about the ring from Gandalf's actions, both when he is with Bilbo and when he is alone in Bag End before Frodo arrives?
If Gandalf is alarmed, I am alarmed! Something is obviously not quite right about this magic ring!
3. Gandalf appeared reluctant to handle the ring when Bilbo offered it to him, but then snatched it up from the floor when Bilbo inadvertantly dropped the envelope it was in. Was Gandalf's initial reluctance due to him not wanting to get too close to the ring, or the possible effect on Bilbo if he took it from him?
4. Which treatment of Gandalf's approach to the ring do you prefer: The way Tolkien wrote it, or the way Peter Jackson filmed it?
Perhaps there is something powerful in being offered the ring by another person. We see a similar reaction from Galadriel, later, when offered the ring by Frodo. Maybe this is part of the power of the ring when passing from someone claiming ownership to another claiming ownership (or even "stewardship")--the very acceptance of stewardship of the ring is dangerous. Passively picking up the ring from the floor is another matter--it is still a dangerous thing, but Gandalf is not being offered the ring directly.
I think Jackson had to over-impress the viewer with the power of the ring, as though the very touch of it was overwhelmingly tempting and corrupting. I much prefer the subtlety here in the book.
5. Given Gandalf's warning to Frodo, how much could the wizard have known about the ring's identity?
6. Just how bad a situation was Gandalf in for him to think that giving an obviously magic ring to Frodo to look after was the best option available?
I would like to give Gandalf the benefit of the doubt, here, and yet part of me always thinks he knows the ring is going to harm and corrupt Frodo just as it harmed and corrupted Bilbo. He probably feels he has no other particularly safe option; he can't take the ring because he has an understanding that it could be much more harmful to the world as a whole if a powerful Wizard had a powerful ring, a ring that is obviously capable of corrupting honest and brave hobbits like Bilbo. For the world as a whole, the safest thing to do is leave it in the Shire.
But I believe he knows, even at this point in time, that it will be harmful to Frodo, that he is sacrificing one for the good of many. And I believe this is part of why he loves Frodo with a special care for the rest of the novel: that he is aware from the very beginning that he is bringing unavoidable trauma to such an innocent person. And that Frodo is a pawn in a chess game that has become inevitable.
a.s.
"an seileachan"
"Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in our lifetime; therefore we must be saved by hope. Nothing which is true or beautiful or good makes complete sense in any immediate context of history; therefore we must be saved by faith. Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone; therefore we must be saved by love."
~~~Reinhold Niebuhr
(This post was edited by a.s. on Oct 25 2007, 11:42am)
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weaver
Gondolin
Oct 25 2007, 3:21pm
Post #4 of 17
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Once you know the full history of the Ring, it does seem like leaving the Ring in Frodo's keeping here is a pretty risky thing to do on Gandalf's part. It's counter-intuitive, as you'd think Gandalf should take the Ring into safekeeping himself until he knows what it's all about.
On the other hand, Gandalf has a lot of experience with hobbits, knows that they are pretty low on the radar screen of Middle Earth compared to him, and that he can trust that Frodo will follow his advice about letting the thing lie until more is known. Frodo and Hobbiton are kind of the last place that someone would look for it, and there's not a lot of ambitious, power-craving folk among hobbits who would be drawn to it. So it's the lesser of evils, and a pretty safe choice, really, to leave the Ring with Frodo and in the Shire -- they are the best things that can protect it while Gandalf goes off to learn more about the situation.
Weaver
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Morwen
Nargothrond
Oct 25 2007, 4:19pm
Post #5 of 17
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1. What do we learn about the nature of the ring from Bilbo's actions and his description of how he is feeling?
We can see Bilbo's acting out of character. He's given away almost everything else he owns without a second thought, why is giving the Ring away so hard for him. I had a pre-foreshadowing here: when I read the Hobbit for the first time I started babbling on about how cool Bilbo's ring was and how sometimes I wished I had a ring like that. My husband, who had already read LotR, gave me a dark look and said, "Bilbo's going to wish he never found that ring." This moment between Bilbo and Gandalf was the point when I first realized that was true.
2. What do we learn about the ring from Gandalf's actions, both when he is with Bilbo and when he is alone in Bag End before Frodo arrives?
Gandalf, who usually fears nothing, appears a little afraid of the Ring. And he seems to think it very important that Bilbo leave the Ring behind, and that Frodo not make regular use of it.
3. Gandalf appeared reluctant to handle the ring when Bilbo offered it to him, but then snatched it up from the floor when Bilbo inadvertantly dropped the envelope it was in. Was Gandalf's initial reluctance due to him not wanting to get too close to the ring, or the possible effect on Bilbo if he took it from him?
I think both. The decision of who takes custody of the Ring is an important one throughout the book. Gandalf will touch it if he has to, but he won't just casually take it from someone's hand or pick it up.
4. Which treatment of Gandalf's approach to the ring do you prefer: The way Tolkien wrote it, or the way Peter Jackson filmed it?
I loved both, but I think if I have to pick I'll go for Tolkien's more subtle treatment. In the movies Gandalf apparently couldn't handle the Ring, in the book he chooses not to. I like the idea that Gandalf rejects the Ring. In the movie it seems more like the Ring rejects him.
5. Given Gandalf's warning to Frodo, how much could the wizard have known about the ring's identity?
I think in his heart he already knew exactly which Ring it was.
6. Just how bad a situation was Gandalf in for him to think that giving an obviously magic ring to Frodo to look after was the best option available?
Well, he had two choices. He could leave the Ring in the Shire or he could take it with him. He chose not to take it with him because he feared its effect on him. That left him the choice of leaving it with Frodo or with somebody else. Trusting someone else in the Shire with the secret of the Ring makes no sense. I suppose Gandalf could have taken it to the borders of the Shire and given to one of the Rangers who kept guard, but that situation would have been risky as well. Certainly he wouldn't have taken it Bree and left it with Butterbur! It was a bad situation-the Ring wasn't really safe with anybody and was dangerous to anybody that dealt with it. Frodo really was Gandalf's safest option.
I've heard your anguish, I've heard your hearts cry out
We are tired, we are weary, but we aren't worn out
Set down your chains, until only faith remains
Set down your chains--Jewel
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drogo
Menegroth
Oct 25 2007, 6:02pm
Post #6 of 17
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1. What do we learn about the nature of the ring from Bilbo's actions and his description of how he is feeling?
Tolkien has to establish the power of the Ring and undo the image, left over from The Hobbit, of the Ring as "just" a magic invisibility ring. By recalling Gollum with "precious," Tolkien suggests to the reader that it was the Ring that made him the creature that he was, and suggests that Bilbo could go down the same path.
2. What do we learn about the ring from Gandalf's actions, both when he is with Bilbo and when he is alone in Bag End before Frodo arrives?
Gandalf's fear and extreme caution heightens our sense that there is something wrong with this Ring. Again, we have to change the impressions from The Hobbit and see the Ring in a new light in this book.
3. Gandalf appeared reluctant to handle the ring when Bilbo offered it to him, but then snatched it up from the floor when Bilbo inadvertantly dropped the envelope it was in. Was Gandalf's initial reluctance due to him not wanting to get too close to the ring, or the possible effect on Bilbo if he took it from him?
It may have been both. Tolkien was not as consistent in the beginning as he later was in his portrayal of the Ring's power, but it seems that Gandalf is both worried about Bilbo and, as we later learn more vividly, about his own reaction.
4. Which treatment of Gandalf's approach to the ring do you prefer: The way Tolkien wrote it, or the way Peter Jackson filmed it?
Jackson, I fear, overdid it in order to make the Ring more of a malevolent presence in the film. Tolkien is more subtle, but I like how we only slowly learn about the danger of the ring.
5. Given Gandalf's warning to Frodo, how much could the wizard have known about the ring's identity?
This is one of the problems Tolkien had reconciling the earlier book with this "sequel." We know that there were "lesser rings," but his lack of concern in The Hobbit and the slow process through which he goes in FOTR towards discovery do seem a little odd. Tolkien had to create the ringlore from scratch, so there were some unusual problems.
6. Just how bad a situation was Gandalf in for him to think that giving an obviously magic ring to Frodo to look after was the best option available?
A necessity for the plot? It does look very unfortunate in hindsight, but again, Gandalf is (perhaps oddly) willing to wait and see in the beginning.
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Curious
Gondolin
Oct 25 2007, 7:06pm
Post #7 of 17
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1. What do we learn about the nature of the ring from Bilbo's actions and his description of how he is feeling?
It's evil and has an unholy influence over Bilbo.
2. What do we learn about the ring from Gandalf's actions, both when he is with Bilbo and when he is alone in Bag End before Frodo arrives?
It's evil and Gandalf, of all people, is scared of it.
3. Gandalf appeared reluctant to handle the ring when Bilbo offered it to him, but then snatched it up from the floor when Bilbo inadvertantly dropped the envelope it was in. Was Gandalf's initial reluctance due to him not wanting to get too close to the ring, or the possible effect on Bilbo if he took it from him?
Gandalf snatches the envelope, not the ring. He is reluctant to touch the ring because of his own temptation to use it, as he explains to Frodo later. This is, of course, very different from Tom Bombadil, but similar to the reaction of other powerful characters.
4. Which treatment of Gandalf's approach to the ring do you prefer: The way Tolkien wrote it, or the way Peter Jackson filmed it?
I'm a book purist in the Reading Room. Do you really need to ask? That being said, I have no complaints about how Jackson filmed that particular scene.
5. Given Gandalf's warning to Frodo, how much could the wizard have known about the ring's identity?
Gandalf knew more than he told Frodo, but less than what he needed to send Frodo to Mordor.
6. Just how bad a situation was Gandalf in for him to think that giving an obviously magic ring to Frodo to look after was the best option available?
What were the other options? Take it himself? Too much temptation. Give it to another nearby hobbit? Frodo's a better ringbearer.
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NoseOfSauron
Nevrast
Oct 25 2007, 7:22pm
Post #8 of 17
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Answers, answers to questions that need answering
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1. What do we learn about the nature of the ring from Bilbo's actions and his description of how he is feeling?
We learn that the Ring is beginning to affect him... which says a lot about Bilbo's strength and resilience to its evil, that it is just beginning to affect him now. As we read, we fear Bilbo might become another Gollum, and in our minds, we urge Gandalf to get Bilbo away from it - even though we have no idea what exactly is so seductive about the Ring yet.
2. What do we learn about the ring from Gandalf's actions, both when he is with Bilbo and when he is alone in Bag End before Frodo arrives?
We know that the Ring has a seductive power, one that Gandalf... fears?? GANDALF, afraid? Now I'm frightened!! Some of the more perceptive readers might also guess at this point that the Ring has a will of its own.
3. Gandalf appeared reluctant to handle the ring when Bilbo offered it to him, but then snatched it up from the floor when Bilbo inadvertantly dropped the envelope it was in. Was Gandalf's initial reluctance due to him not wanting to get too close to the ring, or the possible effect on Bilbo if he took it from him?
Though Gandalf did his very best to resist it, the Ring was calling to him. But when Bilbo dropped the Ring, for a brief moment Gandalf's resistance to the evil of The One was broken when both the Ring's seductive call AND his concern for Bilbo AND the need to make sure the Ring stayed in the Shire kind of ganged up on his caution.
4. Which treatment of Gandalf's approach to the ring do you prefer: The way Tolkien wrote it, or the way Peter Jackson filmed it?
They are both perfect for their respective genres - obviously PJ could not film the scene like this, and JRR probably couldn't write the scene like it was filmed.
5. Given Gandalf's warning to Frodo, how much could the wizard have known about the ring's identity?
Gandalf suspected, very much, that this was The One Ring, but he didn't know for certain. He probably knew, deep in his heart, that this was the Ruling Ring, but he subconciously pushed it aside and held onto the faint ray of doubt - that this was just an "ordinary" magic ring.
6. Just how bad a situation was Gandalf in for him to think that giving an obviously magic ring to Frodo to look after was the best option available?
I think it's been stated above, so I won't go into greater detail than "he put the need of the many before the need of the one" and kept Middle-Earth safe by endangering Frodo.
If Gandalf could just jump on an eagle and fly into Mordor... WHY IN THE NAME OF ERU DIDN'T HE DO IT THREE MOVIES AGO!?!
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Menelwyn
Nargothrond
Oct 25 2007, 9:31pm
Post #9 of 17
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1. What do we learn about the nature of the ring from Bilbo's actions and his description of how he is feeling?
Lots. It's deceptive: he keeps meaning to leave it, but then inadvertently (and without his own knowledge) putting it in his pocket. It causes him to feel tired, like he needs a holiday, so it is work to have it. It seems to prevent change, notably in his lack of aging, but he also says, "I need a change, or something." It causes a person who is not normally greedy or possessive (we know this from the quality of the Party and his farewell gifts) to act greedy and possessive. It makes people suspicious. It causes conflict between old friends, even nearly to the point of causing a physical fight. It makes its bearer not be free and happy, although he may falsely think he is. It makes Bilbo rationalize his own behavior. It makes him feel queer and paranoid, as though he is being watched.
4. Which treatment of Gandalf's approach to the ring do you prefer: The way Tolkien wrote it, or the way Peter Jackson filmed it?
Jackson has to go more visual in his presentation; he can only have people just talk for so long--although he gets most of the main points in there. It does seem overdone in the movie, compared to the book, as others have said, but I think it's necessary for that medium. That said, I like the book's subtlety and complexity.
5. Given Gandalf's warning to Frodo, how much could the wizard have known about the ring's identity?
A lot. I think he knows what it is but can't prove it. Based on what he says at the Council of Elrond, he has at this point already been able to narrow down that it's one of the Great Rings, and that it can't be any of the Three or the Nine, and that it's unlikely to be any of the Seven, so it must be the One. But other than that logic, he can't conclusively prove it. He needs the full story of the Ring's history and the evidence of the writing described by Isildur to prove his case 100%, but his intuition is telling him that it's the One.
6. Just how bad a situation was Gandalf in for him to think that giving an obviously magic ring to Frodo to look after was the best option available?
He's in a very desperate situation. Based on my answer to the previous question, he knows that this is a horrible option, but that any other option would be even worse. He would never actually want Frodo to be in any danger, but he has to accept that since there is no other real choice.
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visualweasel
Nargothrond
Oct 25 2007, 10:02pm
Post #10 of 17
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1. What do we learn about the nature of the ring from Bilbo's actions and his description of how he is feeling?
It's round. Round and shiny. And it fits on a Hobbit's finger. 
Jason Fisher
Lingwë - Musings of a Fish
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Beren IV
Mithlond
Oct 25 2007, 11:32pm
Post #11 of 17
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PJ is more obvious than the book,
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although not much more. I noted some notes of Gandalf foreshadowing even in the Hobbit, but really, this scene makes everything scary, the first tense moment in the book. Why is Bilbo so greedy? Is it just that he thinks it's useful?
The Ring is a deal with the Devil - it's very useful, seductively so, but it's not really what you wanted to have. At this point, we know that something is bothering Gandalf, and while we haven't heard the grand history of Middle Earth by now, we know that there is something unwholesome in this ring, or at least tied to it. We begin to worry about Frodo. We know Gandalf to be wise - what is he worried about?
We indeed do now begin to worry about Frodo...
Once a paleontologist, now a botanist, will be a paleobotanist
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Finding Frodo
Dor-Lomin
Oct 26 2007, 3:31am
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I don't own the original, pre-LotR version of The Hobbit, but I would think that the tidbits of foreshadowing of trouble with the Ring were put in later.
Where's Frodo?
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dorwinion
Registered User
Oct 26 2007, 3:46am
Post #13 of 17
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1&2. We learn Bilbo's ring is more than a fun way to hide from unwanted aunts and cousins and startle complacent neighbors. Bilbo's immediate relief when he finally gives up possession of the ring tells us it can harm people. Gandalf's advising that it should be kept unused, secret and safe makes me uneasy.
3. Gandalf does not want to take possession of the Ring because he fears the temptation to use it. But the quick placement of an envelope on the mantel isn't offering the same temptation. And it is important to get the temptation of the ring away from Bilbo.
5. I think Gandalf had "a bad feeling about this." Bilbo's behavior and his feeling stretched were bad indicators. Saruman's, the "expert" on ring lore, declaring that the Ring would not reappear in Middle Earth, was a hopeful indicator, even if Gandalf did not completely trust him. There were enough indicators on the bad side to send Gandalf to look for more answers.
6. For Gandalf what other options were there than trusting in the Power that meant Bilbo to find the Ring and Frodo to have it.
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Elizabeth
Gondolin
Oct 26 2007, 7:37am
Post #14 of 17
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"Perfect for their respective genres"
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In a movie whose audience will be dominated by people coming to this tale for the first time, it's necessary to use some "shorthand" to communicate the evil of the Ring. In a book an author can afford to build up this theme chapter by chapter, but movies have to be clearer and more obvious quicker.
By making it clear that Gandalf cannot touch the Ring directly, by giving it a voice, and by other means, Jackson made its evil manifest earlier and more clearly. But it's entirely appropriate that Tolkien takes his time and leads us gradually into this knowledge.
Son of Elizabeth in Frodo's tree
March, 2007
Elizabeth is the TORnsib formerly known as 'erather'
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Beren IV
Mithlond
Oct 26 2007, 10:35pm
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so probably. The hints are basically that Gandalf knew that Bilbo had some means of becoming invisible even while the dwarves did not, and there does seem some dark feelings of it. However, I read LotR before the Hobbit, so I already know what the Ring is going to be, and read dark portents into it.
Once a paleontologist, now a botanist, will be a paleobotanist
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N.E. Brigand
Gondolin
Oct 27 2007, 5:34pm
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A good portion of Tolkien's LotR readership...
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in the 1950s had probaby not read The Hobbit, but they didn't need "some 'shorthand' to communicate the evil of the Ring" -- and this brief scene is eminently filmable, compared to many in the book. Given the muttering of the Ring in the film, Gandalf should've shipped Frodo out at once, rather than undertaking the investigations he needs to perform in the book, and indeed Frodo's journey does start much sooner in the film.
Tolkien didn't have it in mind when he first wrote this scene, but by the time LotR was published he had written at least two of the four (or more?) versions of "The Quest of Erebor", some of which were published in The Annotated Hobbit and Unfinished Tales. In one of those, Gandalf has encountered Thráin in Sauron's dungeons of Dol-Goldur, and has heard him endlessly repeating "the last of the Seven", so Gandalf knows, by the time he sees Bilbo's actions here, that other Rings besides the One can have a strong effect on their bearers' minds. And in the very next chapter here, Gandalf will say that even the least of the Elven-rings are "still to my mind dangerous for mortals".
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
We're discussing The Lord of the Rings in the Reading Room, Oct. 15, 2007 - Mar. 22, 2009!
Join us Oct. 22-28 for "A Long-expected Party".
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Owlyross
Nargothrond
Oct 29 2007, 1:09pm
Post #17 of 17
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1. What do we learn about the nature of the ring from Bilbo's actions and his description of how he is feeling?
It is a wholly corrupting influence. It makes himjealous, possessive, secretive, lie... In fact I think that Jackson and co's approximation of it being like a drug to an addict is totally understandable, in the beaviours it creates, although not the effects it has.
2. What do we learn about the ring from Gandalf's actions, both when he is with Bilbo and when he is alone in Bag End before Frodo arrives?
He desperately wants to remove the ring from Bilbo's possession but he knows that he can't either take it from him, for the damage it might do to him, or force him to give it up, based on the damage it would do to Bilbo, hence the artifice of the party as a mechanism to convince Bilbo to give it up. It's like an intervention, or treating someone with depression... They have to make the decision to be "ok" themselves, otherwise they are not cured, they are simply deprived of something by other people, and that has damaging and lasting effects.
3. Gandalf appeared reluctant to handle the ring when Bilbo offered it to him, but then snatched it up from the floor when Bilbo inadvertantly dropped the envelope it was in. Was Gandalf's initial reluctance due to him not wanting to get too close to the ring, or the possible effect on Bilbo if he took it from him?
As above, the effect on Bilbo.
4. Which treatment of Gandalf's approach to the ring do you prefer: The way Tolkien wrote it, or the way Peter Jackson filmed it?
Already been said better than I could. They both work in their respective mediums. A full treatment of this scene could last a half hour. I mean, Of Mice and Men was only a short story, and they managed to get a full movie out of it without much trouble... Books generally have to be shortened for the screen, but Jackson et al did a very good job of interweaving the themes and motifs of the book, while still telling a story that was interesting enough to hold a non-Tolkien fan's attention.
5. Given Gandalf's warning to Frodo, how much could the wizard have known about the ring's identity?
I think he knew a fair bit, but this was 17 years prior to Sauron making his re-emergence. At this time there is only a "shadow" growing in the east, and strange folk abroad. Gandalf doesn't leave Frodo alone in the intervening years, he visits often, with many questions on his well-being, his activities, and I'm absolutely certain, the Ring.
6. Just how bad a situation was Gandalf in for him to think that giving an obviously magic ring to Frodo to look after was the best option available?
Again. At that time, it wasn't such a pressing problem. Gandalf knew abou the rings, but he would also be aware than Sauron wasn't actively seeking the Ring. This all changes in the intervening years, but in the short term, it's the best thing to do. Giving it to anyone powerful is too dangerous, giving it to a stranger is too unpredictable. Frodo he knew, and he would know Frodo would look after the Ring, particularly as it was a "present" from Bilbo.
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both."
Benjamin Franklin
The world is a tragedy to those who feel, but a comedy to those who think.
Horace Walpole (1717 - 1797)
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