wanted to eat Bilbo, and forced him to gamble for his life, I do think Bilbo had the right to keep what he found without feeling too sorry for the old cannibal.

After all, the only person who could really claim ownership of the Ring was Sauron, but I think we can agree everyone was justified to ignore Sauron's ownership rights.  Gollum is not nearly the same threat to the world, but was a lethal threat to Bilbo himself.

And once Bilbo has the Ring, and we discount the right of villains like Gollum and Sauron, who has a better right to it than Bilbo?  Certainly not Gandalf.  At the Council of Elrond Frodo suggests that perhaps Aragorn has a better right to it because of Isildur's claim, and Aragorn replies "'It does not belong to either of us, but it has been ordained that you should hold it for a while.'"

“I dislike Allegory - the conscious and intentional allegory - yet any attempt to explain the purport of myth or fairytale must use allegorical language.  (And, of course, the more 'life' a story has the more readily will it be susceptible of allegorical interpretations: while the better a deliberate allegory is made the more nearly will it be acceptable just as a story.)” (From Tolkien Letter # 131.)

Tips for posting in the Reading Room.