Discussing: Why didn't the barrow-wight take the Ring?
Why didn't the barrow-wight take the Ring?
Message: 53236
07 Feb 10 9:13 PM
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This has long puzzled me. The wight had Frodo in its physical grasp, and -- at least for awhile -- under something of a spell. It certainly could have taken the Ring. (indeed, it *did* take Merry's, Pippin's and Sam's clothes -- but not Frodo's; hmm.) And, as an undead, it seems unlikely that it couldn't detect the Ring or didn't have a good idea of what It was. Gandalf said that Frodo's encounter with the wight was "touch and go: perhaps the most dangerous moment of all", which could be taken to imply that the wight could recognize the Ring only if worn (Frodo had considered whether he could escape the wight by putting It on). But this contradicts other directly-stated and implied understandings about the Ring's tendency to attract evil.
Write a story that resolves this seeming paradox.
