Thread: Why was Mt. Doom so special?

Originally Posted by Dorothir

The way the Ring made it back to Middle-earth was very lazy on Tolkien's part but let's see if anyone can come up with something better.

Ooh, okay, I'll bite. I've taken my first thought and written it into the existing account given in the Silmarillion, with some minor tweaking:

And Sauron, sitting in his black seat in the midst of the Temple, had laughed when he heard the trumpets of Ar-Pharazôn sounding for battle; and again he had laughed when he heard the thunder of the storm; and a third time, even as he laughed at his own thought, thinking what he would do now in the world, being rid of the Edain for ever, he was taken in the midst of his mirth, and his seat and his temple fell into the abyss. But Sauron was not of mortal flesh, though he was robbed now of that shape in which he had wrought so great an evil, so that he could never again appear fair to the eyes of Men. Out of the deep his spirit yet arose and with it, as if borne aloft by a malevolent jet, there went a feathered swarm fleeing the tumult of the waves. These were the korkar who had dwelt long in the shadows of the Meneltarma, living ever in envy of the great eagles and brilliantly plumed kirinki. Together they fled as a shadow and a black wind over the sea, and clutched in the talons of a wretched crow, the greatest of that foul host, the Ring came once more to Middle-earth. Like a dark cloud they passed over the shore and on into the land as a billowing plague. Spurred by Sauron's malice they travelled tirelessly, and though many of their number alighted in Dunland, where in after years they sired the crebain of that land, the rest yet followed their lord on to Mordor that was his home. There he took up again his great Ring in Barad-dûr, and dwelt there, dark and silent, until he wrought himself a new guise, an image of malice and hatred made visible; and the Eye of Sauron the Terrible few could endure.

Notes:

1. I have included a reference to the 'kirinki' that Tolkien describes in The Unfinished Tales: "Likewise within the lands the birds of Númenor were beyond count, from the kirinki that were no bigger than wrens, but all scarlet, with piping voices on the edge of human hearing, to the great eagles..."
2. I have used the Quenya word for crow, 'corco' (rendered into 'korka' to resemble the word 'kirinki' and pluralized into 'korkar'), as a name for the birds accompanying the spirit of Sauron. I thought the Quenya word would be a better fit, given their Númenórean origins, than the Sindarin 'crebain' whom I have described as their descendants.

Originally Posted by Reddhawk

The Korkar.

Best. Idea. Ever. There aren't many times that I'd think a bit of fan-made lore could have been part of the actual story but this is definitely one. Well done, indeed.

Brilliant I'd say. Much better than JRRT's vague notion of the Ring somehow levitated by the spirit of Sauron as he fled back to Mordor. Who knows, even Christopher T. might approve

I don't think another volcano would/could of destroyed the One ring !!

1) There are different types of volcanoes and therefore different types of magma. You could then argue that to destroy the One ring it would need to be with the same composition of magma. Otherwise it wouldn't make sense going to Mt Doom in the first place. It's a very daft theory because if you take item x that was made in magma 1 and throw it into magma 2, it would most likely get destroyed. But we aren't talking about real world we are talking about a powerful magic ring made by a maiar for the single purpose to rule middle-earth and dominate all life.

2) There isn't another volcano closer than Mt Doom. My guess is that the Lonely Mountain is an extinct volcano and if it was active would be the other known alternative at the time. Another thing to consider is that ash, smoke, fire and lava are synonymous with evil and bad things, hence why Mt Doom is in the land of Mordor. I also kind of remember Gandalf saying that Mt Doom became more active with the return of Sauron in Mordor. If there was another volcano, the lands around it would most likely be occupied by the enemy.

3) Even if there was another alternative (another volcano) I doubt very much that the wise council would even consider it. The wise know that nothing can destroy the One ring, except the fires where it was made. I doubt very much that there was an extensive knowledge of geology and volcanism in Middle-earth to conclude argument number 1. Even if they did have that knowledge the risk of it not working is to big of a gamble to take. Like someone said earlier, it's not easy to just fish a ring out of an active volcano. The ring needed to be destroyed otherwise Sauron would of had won the war with or without the ring in his possession.

So the wise must of concluded that if a place is powerful enough to forge a weapon like the One ring, it could be the only place powerful enough to destroy the One ring !!
And for me that last sentence is the whole basis of going to Mt Doom in Mordor !!