One is to rationalize the answer from within the "virtual reality" of the
stories, as a s and NZ S have done superbly.
The other is to realize that The Hobbit was written a good many years before
LotR, and at that time Tolkien didn't realize that what Bilbo had found was the
One Ring with all its backstory. Bilbo's ring was a convient plot element
that allowed him to be invisible when it was convient. When LotR was
finished, Tolkien revised The Hobbit somewhat as regards the Ring (in the
original version Gollum gave it to Bilbo!), and covered his tracks a little by
having Bilbo confess in the Council of Elrond that he had previously told a
different story of its finding. It would have wreaked havoc on The Hobbit
to fully incorporate the One Ring with all its evil, which is why some
inconsistency
remains.
Join TORnsibs for
LotR Symphony at the Hollywood Bowl Sept. 21, 2004! For details, email erather {at} forth {dot} com.
