Re: Could Smaug have averted the War of the Ring? <gulp>

In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> in 
rec.arts.books.tolkien,  <"Jared" <kapm0rgan-at-yahoo-dot-com>> 
wrote:
> I remember somewhere in LotR, when there is a thorough
>recounting of the status of each of the rings of power, it is stated that
>most (all?) of the dwarves' rings were destroyed after being consumed by
>dragons.

No, the Seven were discussed en bloc, not one by one. And only four 
of them had been destroyed by dragons; Sauron had recovered the 
other three. (You might like to have a look at the FAQ of the 
Rings.)

>Here's my thought: What if our dear friend Mr. Baggins (Bilbo, that is) had
>not been clever enough bandying words about with the mighty worm Smaug? What
>if Smaug had been able to snatch poor Bilbo up and swallow him, ring and
>all? Would that have destroyed the One Ring?

No.

Gandalf tells Frodo in LotR I 2: "It has been said that dragon-fire 
could melt and consume the Rings of Power, but there is not now any 
dragon left on earth in which the old fire is hot enough; nor was 
there ever any dragon, not even Ancalagon the Black, who could have 
harmed the One Ring, the Ruling Ring, for that was made by Sauron 
himself. There is only one way: to find the Cracks of Doom in the 
depths of Orodruin, the Fire-mountain. ..." 

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