Posted: March 05, 1999 at 05:04:48: by Stephen Geard
: I just cannot beleive Sauron taking his Ring off. He could have concealed it easily and he needed it to corrupt the Numenoreans.Sauron did not need the Ring to corrupt the Numenoreans, this is a frequently made and quite erroneous claim. The Ring only gave Sauron power over the minds of other Ring-wearers, it gave him no extra power over the minds of non-Ring-wearers. Besides the Numenoreans had already done a pretty good job of corrupting themselves, they had been on the downhill slide for nearly 2,000 years before Sauron arrived. And remember, Sauron did not have the Ring in the Third Age, but that did not stop him from enslaving Saruman, maddening Denethor, and winning over the hosts of various nations. : He needed it especially when he defied the Valar during the storm. I don't think Sauron would have taken the risk by laying his ring behind him, because it would have allowed someone to take it. There was no danger, the Nazgul were quite capable of protecting the Ring. Is it being suggested that there was a power in Middle-earth capable of storming the Barad-dur and taking the Ring?
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