The Ring has an interesting journey from Isildur, the man who cut it from Sauron’s finger, down the river Anduin, into the possession of Gollum. It is then picked up by Bilbo Baggins in the goblin tunnels during the quest for Erebor, and taken back to The Shire where it comes to rest in the hands of Frodo. But when the enemy discovers its whereabouts, and the council of Elrond meets in Rivendell to decide the ring’s fate, why don’t they bury it deep underground so that Sauron cannot claim it? In essence, the reason lies in the fact that there is no place on the whole of Middle Earth where the Dark Lord cannot find it.
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In fact, many such suggestions come up at the council to hide the ring from Sauron. People suggest tossing the ring into the depths of the ocean, or transporting it to another place like Valinor, where it would be out of reach. But for a Dark Lord who will stop at nothing to retrieve the object of his power, it would only be delaying the inevitable. It would simply postpone the complete domination of the world, rather than preventing it entirely, which could be done by destroying the Ring once and for all. That is why the decision is made for the Ring to be taken back to the fires of Mount Doom where it was forged, the only place that it can be permanently removed.
Burying the ring would simply be a temporary solution to a problem that could destroy Middle Earth as the people know it. What’s more, is also impossible to predict just how temporary it would be. No matter where they had chosen to bury the ring, no matter how deep underground they had stored it, there would always be a way it could resurface. For example, there are several races and creatures whose entire existence is underground. There would be no way of preventing a dwarven mining civilization years in the future from tunneling down into the soil and discovering it by chance. The very same thing happened with the Arkenstone that became the emblem of Thorin’s people, and caused so much greed, dragon-sickness and war. There are also creatures like goblins who tunnel into the earth, or the giant worm-like species that can be seen plowing through the hills in the Battle of the Five Armies.
Even if the site in which the ring was buried was guarded, it would be almost impossible to defend it if the enemy found out where his greatest weapon lay. His minions, including the orcs, the ringwraiths on their black horses, and even to some extent the Fell Beasts, are drawn to the ring, and can sense its presence. The Ring has a voice of its own, full of poison and malice that twists its wearer into the most terrible betrayals. Tolkien’s books and the film adaptations show as much. It would be difficult to guard in case the guard fell to its lust, and difficult to keep secret for too long as it would call to Sauron’s servants whenever they drew near.
The Ring also held so much of Sauron’s essence that as long as it remained intact, there would always be that risk of him rising to power. Despite the fact that Sauron hadn’t been in possession of the ring for almost a thousand years, his darkness still pervaded the lands. So even without the ring, he was capable of striking fear into the peoples of the world. He was able to spread sickness and war and destruction. Therefore, the only way to be rid of his darkness and his reign of terror is to obliterate the thing keeping him tethered to Middle Earth. Essentially, as long as the ring exists, Sauron exists. It doesn’t matter how many times he is defeated and pushed back into the depths of Mordor. He can always rise again and reclaim physical form, as long as the Ring survives.
So burying the ring, taking it to the Undying Lands, or tossing it into the sea, was never really an option. It would simply have passed the responsibility of the fate of the world to the next generation, and the generation after that. Eventually, it would have fallen back into the wrong hands, and the whole of Middle Earth would have to suffer those consequences.
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