I think this possibility has been discussed before, but I just came across this video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yqVD0swvWU
Makes a heckuva lot of sense, doesn’t it?
T
That was hilarious…
“Can you imagine…if we had walked the whole way?!? One of us might have died…” 
— o — O — o —
[serious Tolkien mode]
Just one problem…you cannot just throw away, or be made to just throw away a Ring of Power. Frodo would have never been able to release the Ring, unless Gandalf made him, and Gandalf, being Gandalf, couldn’t ever do that.
[/serious Tolkien mode]
–James
May I confess, in writing, that the love people have for the LOTR books (& movies) is a mystery to me? I absolutely don’t get it.
Well then…what was the plan? No one knew Gollum would fortuitously show up. I read the book a million years ago in high school, and maybe it addressed the problem, but eventually the not-able-to-let go was going to be a problem regardless of method of transport.
You may. Confess.
I think it’s a form of deep literary escapism, such as has rarely been created in modern times.
People love Harry Potter too, and imagine themselves in that world, but because it is written at a more elementary reading level the series does not lend itself to the level of seriousness that devotees feel for LOTR.
With LOTR, I think–and I don’t mean this condescendingly, I think it’s true–that it adds an element of greater desirability that the story is a little dense and plodding at times (to the casual reader, anyway.) If you are such a true follower that you revere not only the main 4 books, but the related esoterica as well–The Silmarillion, in particular–then you are part of a club that, well, won’t have me for a member anyway, because I found that particular book about as exciting as reading 25 copies of Numbers and Leviticus. To love them means you’ve worked harder, delved deeper, gone where not just everyone can go. Thus, you are privy to a certain subset of arcane trivia which almost everyone knows about, but few actually know.
Have you read them?
–James
There was no plan, as such. There was a kind of…faith…if I may use the word. A conviction that it’s better to try and fail than not to try at all. A statement that illogical hope is still hope. A hope that if you do all you can, maybe it will be enough, even if it doesn’t seem possible.
–James
I read half of Lord of the Rings. I misplaced the copy I was reading and months later I was saying to myself, hey, I was reading that Lord of the Rings book. I wonder what happened to it? This would have been, I guess, 1978 or 1979. Some years later I read the first few chapters of The Hobbit.
Thanks.
You may. I don’t care for them, either. Maybe I find them pretentious.
Anyhoo . . . I ran into this yesterday, and while I find it somewhat infantile, I can’t help thinking this had to be the funniest thing I’ve seen.
“How Braveheart should have ended.”
Sam managed to give it up voluntarily. Bilbo did, too, although he got a bit of a nudge.
A friend of mine,years ago, would beg me to read LOTR. She did this for years. The first time she mentioned the books I asked “what’s it about?” She told me." Nah, I don’t like fantasy, science fiction or what ever that is." Finally, she wore me down in a bookstore and I bought the Hobbit and LOTR. I loved them all! OF course it gave her the opportunity to say"I told you so". 
What really captivated me was the depth of imagination it took to not only write the stories, but also create a language, alphabet,and music for the tunes.
(at one time I was really into the stuff,books about the books, the Hildebrandt?? calendars-I even tried to read the Silmarillion-tried being the main word here)
No genre is for everyone.
I read and enjoyed the books. I saw and enjoyed the movies. I wouldn’t go to a LOTR convention but if I had a bazillion dollars, I would order up a hobbit house as a vacation cabin.
I think this has been linked before, but here you go:
http://www.simondale.net/house/
Any links to a bazillion dollars?
Tolkien created a 10,000 year history, complete with languages and the alphabets to write them in.
Using his “legendarium” as the backdrop for the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings gives both works a feeling of true antiquity, a depth which really no other fictional literature which I have read can approach. When he references Gondolin, for instance, he does it in such a way that Gondolin feels like a real place with a real history. That’s because it is a “real” place (in his legendarium), and has a real history, and a very interesting one, too.
It gives the works an entirely different feel than other fiction; they have feeling of veracity and honesty. When I read them, I get a feeling of reading about real people interacting in a real place…a remarkable achievement.
–James
I preferred “Bored of the Rings” with Goodgulf Greyteeth, Dildo Bugger of Bag Eye and his nephew Frito Bugger. And lets no forget Spam Gangree and Moxie and Pepsi Dingleberry nor Stomper, son of Arrowshirt or the evil Sorhed.
Bored of the Rings was a classic spoof…loved it. I also love the real books, and with some reservations, the movies of LOTR. What James has written above pretty much is how I feel about the books. The depth of the books is incredible.
As for Sam and Frodo giving up the ring so easily…Sam barely had time to be effected by the ring and Bilbo was slightly coerced as well as being a most unique hobbit, fluent in the Elvish tongue, and much wiser than many who were more famous and powerful.
On a more serious note, 17 Again has some great LOTR humor in it…the dating scene between the principal and the best friend had my son in tears (and me, too).
Eric
That’s actually how i feel about learning the game of chess. No, I don’t play chess.
That said, I enjoyed LOTR books and movies. But I drew the line at Silmar-whatever. Even reading the Hobbit was nearly as cool as trilogy.
People learn Klingon, too. Go figure.