The Ring and Its GPS Tracker

[Inziladun]

In ROTK, Frodo puts on the Ring at the Sammath Naur, and claims it for his own.

Immediately Sauron is aware of him and knows exactly where he is. Somehow he feels / hears the claim (the Ring is a "telephone" of sorts; possessing his own will and part of his being it is always connected to Sauron).

Now, it could possibly be said that Gollum had claimed the Ring long before, calling it "mine" and "My Precious", and so forth. Gollum had also worn the Ring very many times during his keeping of it, while he was under the Misty Mountains and Sauron the Necromancer was gathering his strength in Mirkwood just across the Anduin.

So, why wasn't Sauron aware of Gollum the way he was later aware of Frodo? Yes, the Ring was at the apex of its power at Mt. Doom, but still: how did Sauron miss Gollum having it?

[mormegil]

It would seem that Gollum stopped possessing it about the time Sauron was coming back to power. With a weakened Sauron and the ring not in Mordor it would seem likely that it would not be strong enough to proclaim itself. Plus Gollum wasn't wearing it often if ever near the end.

[Inziladun]

I wondered about that morm. However, the Tale of Years states that in TA 1050:

About this time a shadow falls on Greenwood, and men begin to call it Mirkwood.

Then, in 2470:

About this time Sméagol-Gollum hides in the Misty Mountains.

So that's 1,420 years of rebuilding from Sauron.

In 2845 Sauron was aware enough to know who had the last of the Seven, at least, and was powerful enough to bring Thráin II to Dol Guldur to obtain it.

In 2941 Bilbo found the Ring, and only 10 years later, in 2951:

Sauron declares himself openly and gathers power in Mordor.

So there's a 10 year gap between Gollum losing the Ring and Sauron becoming confident enough to abandon secrecy and proclaim to all that he was back.

Now there were 96 years from the time Sauron figured out who had one of the Seven, to the time Gollum lost The One, and he'd been using it pretty regularly, at least to get food. It just seems to me that if Sauron could have had the awareness he obviously had of Thráin's ring, and the ability to get it from him, he should have had some inkling at least that The One still existed, and had not been destroyed.

[mormegil]

Originally Posted by Inziladun

It just seems to me that if Sauron could have had the awareness he obviously had of Thráin's ring, and the ability to get it from him, he should have had some inkling at least that The One still existed, and had not been destroyed.

If I remember correctly, and hopefully this is not just the movies, but I don't believe Sauron ever believed the ring would be destroyed. So he always knew it was whole and believed it unfound; Your question is pertinent however and it would seem that perhaps the ring did not send a signal sufficiently strong for him to locate it.

[Galadriel55]

It's perhaps worth noting that the Ring gives power according to the stature of the holder. Maybe it "gives off electromagnetic waves" in the same proportion. All that Gollum really cares for - except for the Ring - is food. The Ring is a means to get it. Frodo, on the other hand, is quite an Elvish hobbit. He not only knows the Ring's power and history, but he's learned in Elves lore to a certain extent. I'd say his stature is "higher" that Gollum's.

When Sam put on the Ring, it didn't have the same immediate effect as when Frodo put it on. So I can take from this that the Ring's electromagnetism only counts for book-lore, or whatever it is that Frodo has that Sam doesn't.

[Aiwendil]

I've always been under the impression that Sauron's immediate awareness had entirely to do with Frodo's proximity to Mt. Doom and the fires where the Ring was forged. Indeed, I've always assumed that it was the mere act of putting the Ring on while standing before those fires that alerted Sauron. It's clear that the Ring's power becomes stronger and stronger as Frodo approaches the mountain, and it seems to me that this effect is sufficient to explain its maker's heightened awareness.

[Drognan]

Originally Posted by Inziladun

In ROTK, Frodo puts on the Ring at the Sammath Naur, and claims it for his own.

Immediately Sauron is aware of him and knows exactly where he is. Somehow he feels / hears the claim (the Ring is a "telephone" of sorts; possessing his own will and part of his being it is always connected to Sauron).

Now, it could possibly be said that Gollum had claimed the Ring long before, calling it "mine" and "My Precious", and so forth. Gollum had also worn the Ring very many times during his keeping of it, while he was under the Misty Mountains and Sauron the Necromancer was gathering his strength in Mirkwood just across the Anduin.

So, why wasn't Sauron aware of Gollum the way he was later aware of Frodo? Yes, the Ring was at the apex of its power at Mt. Doom, but still: how did Sauron miss Gollum having it?

Maybe because ring was so deep underground, it's signal was "damped" or "shaded" in some way, like radio signal in tunnels...

[The Might]

Great topic, I can't believed I missed this one so far!

Some useful quotations, first Sam using the Ring on the outskirts of Mordor:

The world changed, and a single moment of time was filled with an hour of thought. At once he was aware that hearing was sharpened while sight was dimmed... All things about him now were not dark but vague; while he himself was there in a grey hazy world, alone, like a small black solid rock and the Ring, weighing down his left hand, was like an orb of hot gold. He did not feel invisible at all, but horribly and uniquely visible; and he knew that somewhere an Eye was searching for him.

and then Frodo using it on Amon Hen:

And suddenly he felt the Eye. There was an eye in the Dark Tower that did not sleep. He knew that it had become aware of his gaze. A fierce eager will was there. It leaped towards him; almost like a finger he felt it, searching for him. Very soon it would nail him down, know just exactly where he was. Amon Lhaw it touched. It glanced upon Tol Brandir he threw himself from the seat, crouching, covering his head with his grey hood.

I don't have any good explanation, I'll have to sleep on it for now.




PS: whilst googling for ideas I stumbled upon this somewhat related and definitely very interesting thread: http://forum.barrowdowns.com/archive...p?t-15558.html
I think that particular thread is worth re-visiting!

[Lotrelf]

Originally Posted by Inziladun

In ROTK, Frodo puts on the Ring at the Sammath Naur, and claims it for his own.

Immediately Sauron is aware of him and knows exactly where he is. Somehow he feels / hears the claim (the Ring is a "telephone" of sorts; possessing his own will and part of his being it is always connected to Sauron).

Now, it could possibly be said that Gollum had claimed the Ring long before, calling it "mine" and "My Precious", and so forth. Gollum had also worn the Ring very many times during his keeping of it, while he was under the Misty Mountains and Sauron the Necromancer was gathering his strength in Mirkwood just across the Anduin.

So, why wasn't Sauron aware of Gollum the way he was later aware of Frodo? Yes, the Ring was at the apex of its power at Mt. Doom, but still: how did Sauron miss Gollum having it?

Interesting topic! Gollum claimed the Ring many times calling it *mine*. But he did so as if he were a "companion" of it, and did not try to "master" it. Gollum's claiming was more like an addiction instead of a powerful challenge. And I agree with those who said Frodo challenged Sauron by claiming the Ring. It was a sort of challenge as if he had challenged Sauron's kingship(?) and his powers, unlike Gollum who simply possessed it, and used it for mischievous deeds. Ring contained a big part of Sauron; when Gollum had the Ring, both Sauron and his part, Ring that is, were weak. We are not told if Sauron never noticed this (Gollum), are we? Perhaps he did but was too weak to take an action. While in The Cracks of Doom, Ring and its Master were at their strongest. Frodo from the naive, simple Hobbit had become a powerful spirit, and he challenged Sauron to become the Lord of the Rings by saying, "The Ring is mine."