One Ring to rule them all

Caleb and I are reading the Hobbit (J.R.R. Tolkien) in the evenings.  We are just to the part where Bilbo finds the ring and escapes from Gollum.  For those unfamiliar with the story, there is a poem that describes a set of magical rings in Tolkien’s world.

Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,
Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,
Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die,
One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.

The ring in the Hobbit that Bilbo finds was the “One Ring” to rule them all – the Ring that belongs to Sauron, the very powerful force of evil in Tolkien’s series.  The ring is so powerful and evil that it will corrupt anyone that wears it.  However, a special power it has is that it will make the bearer of the ring invisible.  And, this is how Bilbo, the protagonist in the Hobbit, escapes from Gollum, a foul creature that lives in a dark cave.

While we were reading through this passage, Caleb started getting excited, and we talked about being invisible.  I asked him, “What would you do if you had this ring, and you could become invisible?”

With an excited look on his face, he exclaimed, “I would look at bugs!”