• offspec@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    7
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    3 hours ago

    I thought it just exaggerated whatever traits your race naturally has. Hobbits are sneaky -> hobbitses go invisible

    • MacN'Cheezus@lemmy.today
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      5
      ·
      edit-2
      2 hours ago

      Now that you say it, I don’t remember the book ever really getting into what effects it might have on other races. All we know is it makes hobbits invisible, and that it had no effect whatsoever on Tom Bombadil. No one else got a chance to try it on if memory serves me correctly (the elves refused, the humans weren’t allowed, and the orcs never got near enough).

      It’s been many years since I’ve read it however, so I’m happy to be corrected.

      • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        5
        ·
        edit-2
        1 hour ago

        Sauron wore it in the great battle, and he was by all accounts visible, otherwise how could Isildor cut the finger off? That would be a very lucky swing if Sauron was invisible.

        No, I think its power depends on the wearer. Frodo didn’t want to be seen, so it made him invisible to everyone but Sauron, who understands its power.

        • Omgpwnies@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          3
          ·
          38 minutes ago

          The ring doesn’t as much make you invisible as it transports you into the shadow realm. Sauron, however existed in both the real world and the shadow realm, so there was no transporting needing to happen there.

        • MacN'Cheezus@lemmy.today
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          45 minutes ago

          It had the same effect on Bilbo and Gollum, though. The idea of its effects being dependent on race cannot be ruled out just yet.

          • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            30 minutes ago

            All three are half-lings, and all three wanted to hide the ring instead of use it to rule, so it makes sense it would have a similar impact on all three of them.

            • MacN'Cheezus@lemmy.today
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              1
              ·
              24 minutes ago

              Yes, but without a control group we cannot really rule out whether this is race thing or a personality thing.

              For instance, what effect would it have had on Boromir and Aragorn? How about Gimli? It’s possible it would have made both of the former stronger, for instance, and made Gimli incredibly rich, because that’s what their races desired. We don’t really know, do we?

      • offspec@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        2 hours ago

        I’ve never read anything beyond the Hobbit, but I believe the Silmarillion goes in to more detail on how the ring would affect other races should they wear it. I particularly recall someone mentioning how the ring would affect gandalf, but again this is all secondhand knowledge.

        • Telex@sopuli.xyz
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          31 minutes ago

          I have read Silmarillion and don’t remember there being much about the ring. But that may be just that I don’t remember. There’s a lot of it.

      • RedAggroBest@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        2
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        2 hours ago

        Wearing the One Ring does make others invisible because one thing it does is take you into the unseen world (where the wraiths are visible and not just cloaked) and basically most people think you’d have to have the willpower and wear the ring for long enough to drag yourself back into being seen.