Talk:Ring-bearer

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The article listed Gandalf among the ringbearers, but added that he "never actually put it on, just threw into the fire to test it". The movie makes much of the fact that Gandalf has Bilbo put the ring in an envelope and then throws the envelope in the fire, so that Gandalf never touches the ring. Were the books more explicit in saying that Gandalf actually touched the thing? -- Someone else 04:51 Jan 3, 2003 (UTC)

Just a note, Gandalf was a ringbearer, he has his own ring which he reveals at the end of the Return of the King when he goes to the Grey Haven.

"Ringbearer" as an appellation refers to those who bore the "One Ring", not to the subsidiary rings. Someone else 05:09 Mar 18, 2003 (UTC)
I think the term may be used for Galadriel in the movies. (I know I've heard it.) Maybe that's the source of the confusion. (Anyway, Frodo is always The Ringerbearer.) --Aranel 01:48, 20 Aug 2004 (UTC)

Contents

[edit] Terminology

I looked it up in LotR and I found Ring-bearer, not Ring Bearer or ringbearer. I standardized it to Ring-bearer in the article. (If you can find evidence that another one is correct, please give me a reference as I would love to know where in LotR it is. Ring is definitely meant to be capitalized in reference to the One Ring.) It's not a term that seems to have merited inclusion in the indices (which makes me wonder why we seem to think it's more "encyclopedic" than Tolkien did).

This should probably all be moved to Ring-bearer and leave this one as a redirect, but I'm not sure how to do that with the dual meaning (since I think in a wedding you actually have a ringbearer).

--Aranel 01:59, 20 Aug 2004 (UTC)

Sure hope you're right. This article needed to be moved in any case, because to have this as the main entry rather than the wedding attendant is just wrong. Quill 05:58, 14 Apr 2005 (UTC)
Tolkien didn't write the indices. Rich Farmbrough 13:43, 19 November 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Boromir

I am not 100% sure but I think Boromir also handles the ring in the movie "The Fellowship of the Ring", and then gives it back to Frodo. Has it been taken from the books?
Pierre --218.80.122.214 06:56, 31 August 2005 (UTC)

He never handles it in the Caradhras scene in the book.Rich Farmbrough 13:44, 19 November 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Tom Bombadil?

The page lists Bombadil as someone who "bore" the ring. He shouldn't count as a bearer, as he never carried it (or the weight it held), as did Smeagol, Bilbo, Frodo and Sam. It is worth noting on this page that he wore it to no effect. 171.159.64.10 18:57, 18 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Corruption

All three felt the corrupting effects of the Ring but were not corrupted.

In the end, Frodo refused to destroy the ring, and it had to be taken from him by force. (Unlike Sam and Bilbo, who both gave it up of their own free will.) Should this count as being corrupted? 207.31.229.4 16:34, 21 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Title

Why should it matter that Deagol and Smeagol were or weren't corrupted and couldn't enter the Undying Lands? They DIED, they never qualified as candidates for entry. What is the author of this section going on in suggesting there's criteria beyond simply carrying the Ring's weight for the title to take effect? Do Tolkien's notes say this, or is it just speculation? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.65.78.52 (talk) 01:19, 3 April 2008 (UTC)