“permitted” to wear the ring?

[Eljorahir]

Frodo speaking with Galadriel after she “passes the test”:

‘I would ask one thing before we go,’ said Frodo, ‘a thing which I often meant to ask Gandalf in Rivendell. I am permitted to wear the One Ring: why cannot I see all the others and know the thoughts of those that wear them?’

‘You have not tried,’ she said. ‘Only thrice have you set the Ring upon your finger since you knew what you possessed. Do not try! It would destroy you…’

I’m pondering Frodo’s use of the word “permitted”.

Did someone give Frodo explicit permission to wear the ring? If so, who?

Is the underlined sentence a non sequitur? The question he asks at the end of the sentence seems to have nothing to do with permission mentioned in the premise.

Why not simplify…

“I have worn the One Ring: why couldn’t I see all the others and know the thoughts of those that wore them?”

I may be barking up a tree with nothing in it. But, I figured I’d give it a try and see if anyone else finds Tolkien’s use of “permitted” meaningful.

 

[Radaghast]

Good question. Maybe it's a sign of the Ring beginning to affect Frodo's mind. He is permitted... by himself.

 

[Deimos]

As far as "permitted to wear the ring", recall what Gandlaf says:
"... There are other forces at work in this world, Frodo, besides that of evil. Bilbo was meant to find the Ring, in which case you were also meant to have it."

Frodo was "meant to have it".... That is, it was someone else's intention, or even that person's will, that Frodo take possession of the Ring, however temporary. Nor did he take it by force as Smeagol did.
Whoever that "someone" is (guess 🙄) he allowed the situation to play out such that Bilbo left the Ring to Frodo.
That is the point at which Frodo is "permitted" to take the Ring.
Note also that Frodo could have refused to take it.

 

[Radaghast]

Have it, yes, but he was advised against using it.

 

[Deimos]

Have it, yes, but he was advised against using it.

Ah, ... I see... I did not read the question carefully; "permitted to wear" as opposed to "permitted to possess".
Indeed it is an interesting question....

 

[Deimos]

@Eljorahir and @Radaghast ...I suppose at the very least saying he is "permitted" to wear it could mean that, even though he shouldn't and has been advised not to wear it, he will not be prevented from putting it on.
That is, no one will interfere with his free will (moral agency) even if, in choosing to put it on, he is acting imprudently or even dangerously.

 

[Olorgando]

That "permitted" definitely raises some questions in my mind.
Who was it that "permitted" him to "wear" it? His offer to bear the One Ring was accepted at the Council of Elrond.
The three times Frodo used the OR Galadriel mentions must be at Tom Bombadil's house, Weathertop and the Fords of Bruinen - that's when he put it on on purpose (more or less). The Prancing Pony looks more like an "accident".
Moreover, who would have "proper authority" to grant such a "permission"? In "criminal lawyer" terms (I leave it up to you to interpret that term) only Sauron had such an authority, but his "permitting" any such thing is definitely out of the question.
The keepers of The Three? Frodo noticed Galadriel's ring on her finger - which Sam did not. Could Frodo have known that Elrond and Gandalf bore the other two? My guess is very firmly no.

 

[Ent]

This is intriguing.
The only thing I can conjur, especially since it references the Council, is Frodo "wears" the ring around his neck on a chain.

And, at the Council, Frodo may consider the "Great" there "permitted" him to bear the ring on behalf of the frree peoples, as they could have chosen anyone else to do so had they determined it best to be so. And, he would no doubt have given the ring over at that time - though we'll never know if there would have been any twinge of reluctance, though we can assume there would be.

Thus, in a sense, Frodo is "permitted" to wear the ring (around his neck).

Frodo is specifically forbad to actually "use" the ring by Gandalf in the letter to Butterbur, where he is told "do NOT use it again. Not for any reason."

So I personally will (for now) lamely conclude with little to no evidence Frodo's use of the phrase "permitted to wear the ring" is simply his reference to how he carries it... wearing it around his neck on a chain.

(Bilbo always 'carried' it in his pocket. I wonder if he might have said "I am permitted to carry the ring." But of course, who knows how things might have changed had he or anyone else during his possession of it known what it really was sooner than the end of his holding it.)

 

[Tyelkormo the Fair]

Permitted by the Ring, perhaps?

Frodo is taking the Ring to Mordor back to its master, after all. I think it's something the Ring itself made him believe.

 

[Olorgando]

This is intriguing.
The only thing I can conjur, especially since it references the Council, is Frodo "wears" the ring around his neck on a chain.

That thought had flashed (or crawled) through my mind too. The CoE was the crucial meeting to decide on the course of action against Sauron (though superficially it gives the impression of a committee that is easily distracted). In accepting Frodo's offer they permitted him to keep the OR. And h was given that fine mithril chain on which to wear it around his neck (that "chain around the neck" takes on quite a different meaning the closer he and Sam get to Mordor, and then in Mordor itself).
But Frodo had, to repeat, seen Galadriel's Great Ring on her finger, which Sam was unable to do. Galadriel was wearing her ring in the manner that rings are meant to be worn, and Frodo might assume that the other two bearers of The Three would do the same (as I guessed above, I doubt that he knew the other two bearers were Elrond and Gandalf at this time). Would Frodo here be assuming that by "wearing" the OR on a chain around his neck he would be able to see the others (with "all the others" he might even have meant more than just The Three)? Unlikely, with what he experienced when he put on the OR on Weathertop and at the Fords of Bruinen.

 

[Olorgando]

Permitted by the Ring, perhaps?
Frodo is taking the Ring to Mordor back to its master, after all. I think it's something the Ring itself made him believe.

That's a thought.
Though the three times the Nazgûl are near (four, if you count the Prancing Pony), the impression is more that the OR is trying to force Frodo to wear it. At the bottom of the stairs of Cirith Ungol, he manages to resist.

 

[d4rk3lf]

At that moment Elrond came out with Gandalf, and he called the
Company to him.
‘This is my last word,’ he said in a low voice. ‘The
Ring-bearer is setting out on the Quest of Mount Doom. On him
alone is any charge laid: neither to cast away the Ring, nor to deliver
it to any servant of the Enemy nor indeed to let any handle it, save
members of the Company and the Council, and only then in gravest
need

Here is the quote from the chapter: "A ring goes south", that might be of help.

By giving to Frodo the ring by the council, he is permitted to use it only in grave need, but not only that, it's even permitted to use by other members of the Company if Frodo fails in any way... dies.. or if he wants to give it to the enemy, other company members are permitted to take it from him (and eventually use it, in grave need).
By the "grave need" I assume maybe the situation where Frodo stumbled on Gondorians... now, imagine that there was no Faramir, and that some gondorian captain wanted to take him to Minas Tirith.
Frodo is permitted to use the ring, to escape, while being invisible. It's a risk, doing it so close to Sauron, but it's better then being brought to Denethor.

At least, that's how I understood it.

 

[Olorgando]

... it's even permitted to use by other members of the Company if Frodo fails in any way...

Which only happens once, when Sam believes (wrongly) Shelob has killed Frodo. I think one can't stress the point enough that after Isildur lost the One Ring, it is always in the possession of Hobbits (with the two very special exceptions of Gandalf and Tom Bombadil, both only for a few seconds each):

 

[d4rk3lf]

Which only happens once, when Sam believes (wrongly) Shelob has killed Frodo. I think one can't stress the point enough that after Isildur lost the One Ring, it is always in the possession of Hobbits (with the two very special exceptions of Gandalf and Tom Bombadil, both only for a few seconds each):

Yeah.... right... you see?
I totally forgot about Sam possession...
About Gandalf... maybe the translation to Serbian is mis correct (although, overall, I think it's an amazing translation), I remember searching for a point when Gandalf (from Tolkien words) touched the ring.. and couldn't find it.
I am too drunk now to look at the chapter where it's mentioned in English version.
Long story (drunk) short:
I don't think Gandalf hold the ring for one milisecond, even in the books.

Tom Bombandil - for sure.
But he is crazy fella.. we can't take him for serious...
He is something like @Squint-eyed Southerner cat.

I have a cat too.
Do I believe them? You ask?
Not only I don't believe them... I fear them..
...my own cat commands her wishes every single morning... and bro... it's getting harder and harder every day.
When I wake up, and sleepy try to make me some coffee, She is the true master of manipulation, because before that, I need to feed her, even her bowl is full.

Tell me the ring who would made you do that!

 

[Squint-eyed Southerner]

At least you know who the boss is now.

 

[d4rk3lf]

Ok, look, now I am serious.
Hypothetically, what would happen, if someone wanted to write drunk words on The Main Ring?
This question was always bothering me.
Like.. I drunk with Sauron some ale, and I ask him that.
What would be his answer?

 

[Eljorahir]

The three times Frodo used the OR Galadriel mentions must be at Tom Bombadil's house, Weathertop and the Fords of Bruinen - that's when he put it on on purpose (more or less). The Prancing Pony looks more like an "accident".

Unless I'm missing it in the text somewhere, I think Frodo did not feel compelled to put on the Ring during the Flight to the Ford. Instead, he raises his sword in defiance a couple of times.

 

[Radaghast]

Unless I'm missing it in the text somewhere, I think Frodo did not feel compelled to put on the Ring during the Flight to the Ford. Instead, he raises his sword in defiance a couple of times.

Correct. Frodo does not wear the Ring on the Ford.

 

[d4rk3lf]

Unless I'm missing it in the text somewhere...

You're missing that not Sauron was after the ring, but Sauron's cat.

 

[Eljorahir]

.I suppose at the very least saying he is "permitted" to wear it could mean that, even though he shouldn't and has been advised not to wear it, he will not be prevented from putting it on.
That is, no one will interfere with his free will (moral agency) even if, in choosing to put it on, he is acting imprudently or even dangerously.

This seems right to me. There are things we are permitted to do because some outside authority has given permission. Then, there are permissions which are inherent in our status as a free person, or as an authority ourselves, or (in this case) as a Ring-bearer.

I am permitted to wear the One Ring: why cannot I see all the others and know the thoughts of those that wear them?’

Maybe it's meaningful that permission is also mentioned by Galadriel on the previous page, after Frodo observes she's wearing a ring:

'Yes' she said, divining his thought, 'it is not permitted to speak of it, and Elrond could not do so. But it cannot be hidden from the Ring-bearer, and one who has seen the Eye...'

I'm thinking that Frodo's statement "I am permitted to wear the One Ring..." is an assertion of his status (and to some extent authority) as the bearer of the One Ring. Galadriel doesn't deny that he has the right to wear the ring, instead only advises against it.