what Gandalf knew and when he knew it

[lupinesque]

Forgot to put this in my last post.

Brian wrote:

> > In
> > the book (I read very little of the book.., so forgive me if I get 
> this
> > wrong), he knew about Bilbo's ring, and the fact that it was evil. 
> In the
> > movie, he doesn't know anything about it, and he's surprised at 
what 
> he
> > uncovers. 

In the book, he suspects but does not know that the ring is the One 
Ring.  He really does have to go do the research and then isn't 
completely sure until he goes back to Frodo and throws it into the 
fire.  If this makes him seem a bit dim, remember that the Ring was 
lost *3000 years ago* when Isildur was killed (he's the guy who took 
it from Sauron's body on the battlefield).  Even someone like Gandalf, 
who knows the Ring is more than a legend and knows that it longs to 
return to Sauron, isn't going to think "Aha! The Ring of Power!" every 
time he hears about a magic ring.

Amy