Isildur and the One Ring

[Rivendell_librarian]

In The Disaster of the Gladden Fields we read of Isildur travelling north with his three sons along the Anduin to claim the kingdom of Arnor having settled Gondor on his nephew Meneldil. Isildur possessed the One Ring having cut it from the hand of Sauron with the shard of Narsil his father Elendil's sword in the siege of Barad-dûr. But they were ambushed by a large band of mountain orcs which had been deployed there earlier by Sauron to "watch the passes". Though Isildur escaped by putting on the Ring it slipped from his hand in the Anduin and he was shot and killed by orc arrows and his body was never found.

Isildur first intended to travel to Rivendell=Imladris where his wife and youngest son Valandil were staying. Given the time Isildur spent settling Gondor before travelling north I assume (?) that Elrond would have already returned to Rivendell. Might there not have been an awkward conversation about what should happen to the One Ring had Isildur made it to Rivendell?

 

[Alcuin]

Might there not have been an awkward conversation about what should happen to the One Ring had Isildur made it to Rivendell?

Yes.

Isildur’s last conversations with his eldest son and heir apparent, Elendur, were heard by Elendur’s esquire, Estelmo, first Isildur said, “My pride has fallen,” regarding his inability to bend the power of the Ruling Ring to his will, adding that the Ring “should go to the Keepers of the Three.” Not long after, Elendur repeated this to his father, “Take your burden, and at all costs bring it to the Keepers: even at the cost of abandoning your men and me!”

How a meeting between Isildur and Elrond would have developed had Isildur survived can be surmised if he had survived and made it to Rivendell. And within the storyline, perhaps this is why the Ring “abandoned” Isildur: Elrond’s advice would have been to destroy it.

But how a meeting would have developed had Isildur been victorious in that battle and come to Rivendell still in his pride might have been an entirely different matter.

 

[Rivendell_librarian]

I agree. I think Elrond would have repeated the demand that the Ring must be destroyed in Mt Doom even if it were then in Rivendell, and taking it back would still be fraught with danger.

I read in The Silmarillion (Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age) that Isildur wanted the Ring to be an "heirloom" of his house. Did he also think it would enable him to make Arnor a powerful kingdom?

One could argue that Aragorn had a right to claim the Ring but showed remarkable wisdom and restraint in not doing so.

 

[Shadow]

One could argue that Aragorn had a right to claim the Ring but showed remarkable wisdom and restraint in not doing so.

That’s a reason why he’s such a great character. He represents the strength of man.

 

[grendel]

And within the storyline, perhaps this is why the Ring “abandoned” Isildur: Elrond’s advice would have been to destroy it.

Brilliant! The Ring obviously has a high sense of self-preservation.

I read in The Silmarillion (Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age) that Isildur wanted the Ring to be an "heirloom" of his house. Did he also think it would enable him to make Arnor a powerful kingdom?

I don't recall Tolkien delving into this, but well into medieval times, warriors would keep "trophies" of their conquered enemies - weapons, belongings, even body parts (shrunken heads?) in some cases. Maybe Isildur thought he was merely saving a trinket of Sauron's, this least of rings, and did not realize that it was still a part of Sauron himself

 

[earthfriend]

Given that Isildur refused the opportunity to destroy the Ring when the moment was most propitious (I.e. in the flush of victory after having just cut it from Sauron, I thinnk it demonstrates didn't have the requisite strength of character. Eventually the lust of the Ring would have consumed him, he would have become another Gollum or Ringwraith. His kingdom would have disintegrated, and he would have burned up inside. Getting killed at the river crossing was undoubtedly a blessing for him. I think this point was re-inforced by Gandalf ''death was probably better for him than had he lived'' (Or words to that effect) . Throughout the history of Middle Earth, very few beings could have eventually resisted the power of the Ring

 

[Ron Simpson]

I read in The Silmarillion (Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age) that Isildur wanted the Ring to be an "heirloom" of his house. Did he also think it would enable him to make Arnor a powerful kingdom?

Well, it is difficult to know what his long-term intentions were for it, but we can be sure of it's intentions & plans for him - and the ring made good on those plans in short order.
However, we do know his original, straightforward motivation for taking it: he wanted compensation from Sauron for the lives of his father & brother.

"This I will have as weregild for my father, and my brother," he said; and therefore whether we would or no, he took it to treasure it"
The Council of Elrond, FOTR

 

[Oromedur]

Did not the Elendilmir play a part in allowing the orcs to sight Isildur and slay him?

 

[Hisoka Morrow]

His kingdom would have disintegrated

Like the Numenor, their mother state before?Good point, the One Ring truly had the function to corrupt creatures' mental health and intelligence. I got even far worse exception-the civil wars between Gondor's each political faction. After all, the Ring posses Sauron's intelligence, creating all kinds of RUSE among his foes without doubt. Yeah, maybe we can make such conclusion, the 3rd WW died with Isuildur, after all, if the Ring became public stuff, well exposed in front of the whole Free People side, all witnessed it would be a preferred target to launch Sauron's RUSE.
Bunches of fuses to cause conflicts, such as social dependency, racial conflicts between ME's natives and Numenor's immigrants and so on still exist in Gondor. Yeah, the bode of being the 2nd Numenor Empire was still from there to here in the 2 Exile states, what a great juncture to cause trouble.

I read in The Silmarillion (Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age) that Isildur wanted the Ring to be an "heirloom" of his house. Did he also think it would enable him to make Arnor a powerful kingdom?

Well, it's up to the "Ring's RUSE", I'd have to say. Sauron's RUSE standard was always brilliant. For instance, he truly made the Numenor possibly much more powerful at least on economic and military visible aspects. Arnor and Gondor might be superpowers if this fit Sauron's RUSE's progress. For a casual example, the elvish states still exist as who would "say no" to the Ring's bait, Sauron might have no way but sending them all to meet Mandos, and who would be the best choice, other than the Numenor whose power match the elves?

I agree. I think Elrond would have repeated the demand that the Ring must be destroyed in Mt Doom even if it were then in Rivendell, and taking it back would still be fraught with danger.

Absolutely correct, none wanted a next WW just as they've just experienced one, in particular what if the Ring provided buff to Isuildur's military power?The Numenor immigrants were almost counterparts of these Noldor, in addition, there might be no Super Weapon buff for the Noldor if wars break out against the Numenor immigrants states.