Was the One Ring destroyed?

As we know the One Ring was threw into the fires of Orodruin.It was melted and the force of Dark Lord disapeared from It.But except Sauron It had four bearers:Isildur,Gollum,Frodo and Sam.And the Ring undermined them all, and kept parts of them tn Itself.Sauron fell,but the thirst for power stayed,we can see it now.That's why I think that even in the melting form the Ring continues to exist.And in spite of the World was changed It continues to inspire with the thirst for power.

[pandora]

No, that is the ongoing influence of Morgoth from the Darkness beyond the world. See the Silmarillion for details.

[Jjudvven]

I don't think so. The Ring was destroyed, along with it's power to harm. I don't think the Ring itself continued to influence anyone after that.

[Finwe]

The whole idea of throwing the Ring into the fires of Mt. Doom was to destroy it completely, and put it out of the reach of Sauron forever. Only in the place that it was made, by the same forces that made it, could the Ring be destroyed. It was too powerful to be destroyed by throwing it into a little campfire or forge.

As long as people have rulers, a thirst for power will always exist. It is in human nature to want to be the best, and to order everyone around. Some people do a very good job of suppressing that, and some do not. Unless you turn Middle-earth into a total anarchy, you will never get rid of the thirst for power. Another possiblity is that Morgoth could have affected Arda in an indelible way. In Morgoth's Ring, it is said that to completely destroy Morgoth and all his power, all of Arda would have to be destroyed. Arda is, in a sense, Morgoth's "Ring." Since he constantly warred with the Valar during its making, and "cast his shadow" over many of the creatures and races that populated it, Arda would never be completely free of his influence. Only at the End of Days, in the Dagor Dagorath, when Morgoth will be overthrown and Arda remade, will his power truly be destroyed.

[Northman]

you forgot to mention Bilbo as a ring - bearer

[Aragost]

You also forgot to mention Deagol as a ringbearer

[Tar-Alcarin]

Deagol doesnt really count as a ring-bearer beacsue, if you remember, he only has the ring for abuot five minutes before Smeagol killed him. He isnt really mentioned as a ring bearer like Frodo or Isuldir. Neither should Sam really, beacuase notice that all the ring bearers were affected in some way by the ring, Sauron getting his power, Isuldir not destroying it and gollum have unnatural long life and Frodo by claiming the ring his own at mount doom. O yeah, i forgot Bilbo, he also had a very long life for a hobbit.
So that said, the two "in question" ring bearers, Sam and Deagol, arent really bearer, just people who come into contact with ring.
Just my five cents.

[pandora]

You also forgot to mention Deagol as a ringbearer

He never actually wore the Ring; Smeagol only learnt that it turned the wearer invisible when he returned home wearing it.

[ 1:38 PM December 04, 2003: Message edited by: pandora ]

I think that the power that the Ring had was destroyed but that the gold in the Ring where left in Mt. Doom.

But if the Ring was desroyed why It was tormenting Frodo after he returned to the Shire.

[Lord of Angmar]

But if the Ring was desroyed why It was tormenting Frodo after he returned to the Shire.

As Gandalf said, some wounds can never fully be healed. Frodo would never fully be rid of the influence of the Ring. Think of it this way: A family pet or family member can pass away, and yet not be forgotten and continue to have an impact on the psyche of the bereaved. Perhaps a more pertinent analogy, given Frodo's relationship to the Ring, is this: A murderer can be caught and executed, but the damage he has wrought will not necessarily be forgotten, nor will it be healed with the death of the murderer.

Furthermore, it was not only the Ring that tormented Frodo in the Shire. It was also the lack of praise and honor he received from the hobbits of the Shire, despite his great deeds and renown in other places, and the pain that came to him annually on each anniversary of the wound inflicted upon him by the Blade of the Witch King at Weathertop.

[ 10:10 AM December 05, 2003: Message edited by: Lord of Angmar ]

[Estelyn Telcontar]

It was not the Ring itself that was tormenting Frodo when he returned to the Shire, but the damage that had already been done - and not just by the Ring. In 'Homeward Bound', he says

I am wounded with knife, sting, and tooth, and a long burden.

The combination of wounds from the Morgul knife, Shelob's sting, Gollum's bite, and the burden of the Ring were simply too much for him to bear. Had the Ring still had an influence on him after its destruction, he would not have said,

It is gone forever, and now all is dark and empty. ('The Grey Havens')

[Arathiriel]

Neither should Sam really, beacuase notice that all the ring bearers were affected in some way by the ring...

If Sam really shouldn't be counted as a Ringbearer then why was he permitted to go into the West?

Also correct me if I am wrong but didn't the Ring also try to tempt him to claim it as his own?

<font size=1 color=339966>[ 8:00 PM December 06, 2003: Message edited by: Arathiriel ]

[Tar-Alcarin]

didn't the Ring also try to tempt [Sam] to claim it as his own?

You could say the same for boromir.
The ring tempted every one who saw it. If every person who ever touched the ring could be considered a ring bearer then why not include Bombadil or Gandalf in this. Hell, even all the members of the fellowship for that matter. And, even Galadriel.

<font size=1 color=339966>[ 8:54 PM December 08, 2003: Message edited by: Tar-Alcarin ]

[pandora]

You could say the same for boromir.

The same as what? Quote what you are replying to, please, it makes things a lot clearer.

Boromir, of course, never wore the Ring and so was never a ringbearer.

[Lush]

Hey, privet, I sort of live in Kiev too (when I'm not abroad, that is, which is for most of my life).

I personally think that Tolkien made it clear that even though the Ring itself was destroyed, evil didn't all of a sudden just cease to occupy the hearts and minds of the inhabitants of Middle Earth.

Because the Ring itself was not an initial source of evil, but it's natural outgrowth and implementation.

[Eggy]

But the ring as a weapon was destroyed thats where the lust from it came,
But it did have a will of its own since it was boun dto the life force of the dark lord, and so would the evil in it simple poof out of existance or did it blend into the backround evil of all things??

[Eru]

the ring. meaning the gold part, had not power. it was simply a place to put power. when the gold was melted, it realeased this power. the power put into the ring then kinda scattered. sorta like a bulllet without a gun. it was realeased, and no longer concentarted in one place. it was scatterd on the wind, and all of saurons power went with it.

[Eol Telemnar]

The thirst of Power was always there. even before the ring. it has always been there, even now. The Ring was destroyed. Nobody wanted the ring back. So the greed for the ring is gone. [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]

The power of Saurons ring ended as did the existence of the One Ring. Remember that all of the other rings lost their power when the One Ring was distroyed. The Silmarillion states that "and there into the FIre where it was wrought he cast the Great Ring of Power, an so at last it was unmade and its evil consumed." I don't think you can get more specific than that................

[Hookbill the Goomba]

I think the desire of The Ring was still apparent in the world to those that bore it. Bilbo (bar Gollum and possibly Sauron if we are going to be pedantic) bore it the longest and after its destruction, he still asked Frodo, "What became of that old ring of mine?" It quite obviously still bears on his mind. Perhaps because he bore it as it's power waxed and so it's influence grew on him, even after leaving it.
That's just the way I saw it.

[Lalwendë]

Hookbill has made a very good point. Even though the Ring was destroyed, or 'unmade' its evil still lingered in the form of the shadow it cast on those who had been Ringbearers. This is very interesting, as on the one hand we are told it was 'unmade', but on the other hand, the effects of it still lingered - and in many more ways than in just the Ringbearers' pain; the whole of Middle-earth had suffered through the effects of those who sought power under the influence of the One.

To me 'unmade' might mean something more than simply destruction of the object and its powers; it would mean that the thing had never been made, that the stain it left was erased, and that could not happen. Just as one example, the destruction of the One led to the Eldar leaving Middle-earth for good.