One Ring to Rule Them All by Amaris Prechtel

One Ring to Rule Them All

“Train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose” – Yoda. The ring in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings represented fear, darkness, shame, anger and conflict. The ring bearers don’t want to let the ring go, because they don’t want to let that part of themselves go. Sméagol always had the dark shadow of Gollum, even when he was a river person. The other characters could never bear the ring because they needed the conflict or they were too pure of spirit. The only person who could control the ring was the character who represented darkness. The characters are afraid to let go of the darkness.

Sméagol was a perfect pawn for the ring’s will. Sméagol was easily swayed by greed; he killed his friend for the ring. After obtaining the ring, Sméagol slowly turned into Gollum as his dark side took over completely. Sméagol was in love with the ring to the point that the human characteristics of the river people were forgotten. He had no conflict with letting the darkness, the shame and the grime of his mind envelope him, because it was the will of the ring. There was no fear for him in the dark, he grew accustomed to it and found comfort in dark shadows under the Misty Mountains. For 500 years Gollum hated the ring, but also loved the ring with such a ferocity the love turned dark and became an obsession, a need for the dark power of the ring. For Gollum there was no need to let go of his good side, Sméagol, because his good side loved the ring as much as he did. His good side loved the darkness too.

None of the other members of the fellowship could carry the ring. Legolas’ pureness of heart made him unsuitable as a carrier because he would have no darkness to hurl into the lava of Mount Doom. Aragorn needed both his dark side, and light side to become king. If the ring had empowered his evil side he would not have had the strength of heart to bring Éowyn back to life and become king. However, if he had let go of the dark he could not have fought as ferociously to protect his people. Sam had no evil in his heart. The ring could not have bent him to its will. Sam would have lost nothing in the fires of Mount Doom. Boromir’s greed overpowered his good. If the ring had come to him, he would have kept it for himself and abandoned his people and his father. The darkness in his heart was caused by the ring and he would not have the power to destroy it. Merry and Pippin would not become attached to the ring as Frodo did. Without a devotion to the ring, the bearer would not have the determination to carry it the entire journey. Destroying the ring would have no significance for the hobbits; they enjoyed life too much and would rather smoke and eat then carry an evil ring. Gimli would not have the power or strength to carry the ring. He would have tried to hide it deep in the mines of his people, where the dark things lurk and darkness in his heart could only grow. Frodo had the perfect balance of good and evil. He had the right amount of fear and love for the ring, and made a majority of the journey without breaking to its will. It was not until he has standing on the ledge in Mount Doom did the good in his heart fail. Frodo was the ring’s chosen one because he could have survived without the dark. Only Sauron could wield the ring’s power because he needed no light and could live completely in the darkness.

Sauron was the personification of evil. The ring was an extension of himself and a representation of his own evil. Sauron could easily wield its powers because it was a part of him; he poured his evil and part of his tainted soul into its making. If Sauron himself had been able to destroy the ring and let go of his hate, his power and his cruelty, he would only have that which gave him the strength to destroy himself. He could have grown stronger as a person of completely pure spirit, being purged of who he was and what he’d done. He would have to let go of everything he was afraid to loose, he would have to let go of himself and accepted death. However, the realization that Middle Earth would benefit from his absence would, in itself, break who Sauron was, as the eternal terror. Sauron would never let the ring go because he was afraid to let himself die. Sauron was afraid of death.

Even though they are unpleasant, fear, darkness, shame, anger and conflict are all parts of ourselves that we don’t want to let go. Sméagol’s transformation to Gollum was driven by his obsession for the ring, his obsession with the darkness in himself. He was in love with that part of himself and would never separate from it. The other members of the fellowship had neither the desire nor power to destroy that part of themselves. Sauron was evil incarnate and destroying the ring would go against everything he represented. The dark in all our hearts can be destroyed; if we are willing to let it go.