I thought I'd revive this thread with a little tidbit that I just noticed while watching
Fellowship of the Ring.
When Gandalf finds the old parchment with the "Account of Isildur and the Finding of the Ring of Power", he reads that the writing on the ring is a "secret that now only fire can tell."
And I was reminded that Gandalf had Narya, the Ring of Fire. Interesting too, that when Bilbo finally lets the ring go and Gandalf turns back into the house, Gandalf reaches to pick up the ring but he receives a sort of "flash" or "vision" of Sauron's Eye, and doesn't attempt to touch the ring.
Perhaps Gandalf had that "flash" because Gandalf had the Ring of Fire and only fire can tell the secret of the identity of the Ring.
I'm not very good at explaining it, I'm afraid.
Is it clear what I'm saying? Anyway, I thought it was an interesting little aside about Gandalf's ring of fire giving him the "second sight" to see the true power of the one Ring.
"My brain and this world don't fit each other, and there's an end of it!" - G.K. Chesterton