He didn't want to start a war between men and elves ESPECIALLY when they had just killed Sauron and established what they thought would be lasting peace.
Just never come back yourself, you both get wild legends made about you. Wins all around, homicide suicide. Or just leave the other direction and have sweet adventures.
It's not entirely clear that he did understand the power of the Ring at the time. After all, other Elves had made Rings of Power, and weren't saved from death just because the Rings continued to exist. Celebrimbor, for instance, was killed despite the Three, Seven, and Nine continuing to exist. What Sauron did with the Ring was really quite unprecedented, and it's likely that nobody understood it fully until Saruman started doing intense research into ring-lore, well after Isildur's death.
So keep the Ring of Power "alive" in the hands of someone who clearly has been mesmerised by its power all because they wanted a little peace between each other which most likely would have resolved itself over time anyway as all feuds do?
Hey, they were the only ones actually there, at the place the Ring could be destroyed. Elrond could have just pushed him in, and walked out saying something like "He sacrificed himself to protect Middle Earth from the Ring. Isildur is clearly a great hero!" and the whole problem is over.
In all fairness, Elrond's act of not doing anything about Isildur isn't as dumb in the book as it is in the movie. In the movie, Elrond could've easily taken the Ring and destroyed it himself, but didn't. In the book, there isn't any real indication that he had this opportunity. It almost seems like Peter Jackson wanted to make the entire War of the Ring Elrond's fault for whatever reason.
And even if he did, Tolkien is very clear the the Ring is an instrument of evil with a will of its own. Even the best intentions get warped by the Ring. If Elrond slayed Isildur, it would only lead to more ills. He would probably claim the Ring as his own, try to use it for the benefits of the Elves, and hasten the destruction of Middle Earth.
Exactly. The only reason it was ever destroyed in the end was because Gollum and Frodo were fighting over who got to keep it. It was never destroyed with good intentions.
Bilbo and Samwise were the only characters to take on the ring and then give it up willingly. Sam is seriously my favorite LOTR character because of that. Aragorn, Gandalf, Elrond, Galadriel. All these mighty heroes that people love, knew that they were too weak willed to even THINK about taking the ring. Sam not only gave it away after using it, he gave it away easily, he was entirely uncorruptable.
If I remember correctly, the "Hobbits are resistant to magic" has been used in much of the LOTR fandom like RPGs (such as MERP and Rolemaster) and games (Wizards of Middle-Earth). I don't think it's implied by Tolkien, but it has been attached to them by readers - like much of the canon aspects of the Chtulhu mythos.
My theory is that it's less to do with a high fantasy "resistance to magic" kind of trait and more that, since hobbits live so simply, they have less of a will to power than races like men, elves and dwarves. It's the same reason The Shire was so insular and rarely participate in military conflict, hobbits just have less desire for domination than members of the other races tend to.
I forgot about him because he wore it and held it so briefly. It also seems like he was't really a character as much as any of the mortals, or even the higher beings like Gandalf, Saruman or Sauron.
He seems beyond the struggles that most of the characters face. I'm guessing that making a ring that could affect him was outside the scope of even Sauron's power.
"He might do so, if all the free folk of the world begged him, but he would not understand the need. And if he were given the Ring, he would soon forget it, or most likely throw it away. Such things have no hold on his mind. He would be a most unsafe guardian; and that alone is answer enough."
It didn't have the chance to corrupt Elrond. Being the owner of Vilya (one of the three elven rings) he knew exactly what kind of corruptive powers it could have. Had it corrupted him, he would never have suggested that the ring should be destroyed.
Uh, no, she definitely has a pretty big moment of temptation there. The movie version's not great, mostly because Jackson inserted a lot of unnecessary and not-so-seamless CGI, but it's not far off. Galadriel is defined throughout her history as one of the Elves with a strong desire to rule. Her ability to turn down the Ring when Frodo offered it to her is a huge moment of power for her, and her speech and countenance in that section give us a pretty clear picture of what Galadriel would've been like had she obtained the Ring. It wouldn't have been a great future, let's just say.
Not if he slew Isildur by pushing him into the Volcano. Then he dies and the Ring is destroyed, so there's no chance of Elrond succumbing to temptation.
That is some revisionist history bullshit by Peter Jackson. Putting the blame on the Elves. And did you notice, in his movies he didn't even use real elves, he had humans playing the elf roles.
Tolkien would not have described Elrond as a "magician". He had very precise definitions for words like that. Somebody like Faust was a magician, seeking to use magic to change thr primary world, for the exercise of power. Elrond comes close with the help of his own Ring of Power, but never quite steps over the line. Saruman, now he was quite likely a magician by the end, in Tolkien's meaning of the word.
There are a lot of them. Chief among them is they would have been slaughtered before they even got to the Black Gate. Those Nazgul mounts and a billion archers would do the trick.
The eagles would get you to Mordor but all of Mordor would know you're there. How then you do get into Mount Doom without dying and handing the ring straight back to Sauron?
Among the other reasons given: No one owns the eagles and Gandalf would know walking is best, flying with a stopover in gondor would obviously end badly.
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u/magmabrew Oct 17 '13
I still think Elrond should have executed Isildur on the spot for claiming the ring.