Chapter 13, Letters of the 1960s Summary and Analysis

This includes a projection of what would occur if Gandalf wore the Ring. JRR Tolkien assures the reader that he would be worse than Sauron, not better. This occurs during a continuation of Letter#246 dated September 1963. The whole thing is a reply to a Mrs. Eileen Elgar. The editor has included a brief note that this woman is nearly the only person to have read the novels and to bring up the fact that Frodo the Hobbit 'failed' to give up the Ring at the Cracks of Doom. Tolkien began by observing how right she is that this was significant then launches into a far more complex analysis of the whole matter of the Ring's power, and of hobbits in general and then of the relationship between Frodo and Gollum. He reports that...