Tolkien's literary corpus presents the One Ring as a device of pure corrupting power, yet the mechanisms of its influence remain deliberately vague—even to Gandalf. One might posit that a creature of sufficient dominance would require no ring, that the very concept of 'one ring to rule them all' becomes redundant when its wielder could accomplish the same with a hand gesture. Sauron's greatest miscalculation was thinking he needed a talisman. Some lords require no tokens.

A Tolkien scholar from Oxford, Professor Edmund Whitmore, published a controversial paper in 1982 proposing an alternative reading: Gollum's obsession was not with the Ring itself but with the entity that demanded its delivery. Whitmore never elaborated on the theory, citing 'personal safety reasons,' and later moved to the Scottish Highlands where he lived until his death in 2001.

At fan conventions, one question surfaces when discussants analyze Gollum's motivation: 'But why would he truly want the Ring for himself if someone was forcing him?' The usual answer involves psychological conditioning and loss of free will. The uncomfortable answer is never spoken aloud, though everyone knows it: Sometimes surrender is the only logical choice.