Det verkar inte finnas någon anledning att tro att någon "varelse" var involverad i händelserna på Caradhras. Det verkar som att skyldige var mest troliga, antingen själva berget eller vädret.
Alla citat nedan är hämtade från kapitlet Ringen går söderut i boken Ringa fellesskapet .
Gimli stöder tydligt "Caradhras is a jerk" teori:
"’Caradhras was called the Cruel, and had an ill name,’ said Gimli, ’long years ago, when rumour of Sauron had not been heard in these lands.’"
Och:
"’Caradhras has not forgiven us,’ he said. ’He has more snow yet to fling on us if we go on. The sooner we go back and down the better.’"
Och:
"’It was no ordinary storm. It is the ill will of Caradhras. He does not love Elves and Dwarves, and that drift was laid to cut off our escape.’"
Berättaren verkar vara överens med Gimli ibland:
"And indeed with that last stroke the malice of the mountain seemed to be expended, as if Caradhras was satisfied that the invaders had been beaten off and would not dare to return. The threat of snow lifted; the clouds began to break and the light grew broader."
Och:
"A cold wind flowed down behind them, as they turned their backs on the Redhorn Gate, and stumbled wearily down the slope. Caradhras had defeated them."
Gandalf anser kortfattat möjligheten att Sauron är skyldig, men ändrar snabbt sin melodi och säger att det bara är en vanlig gammal storm.
"’Winter deepens behind us,’ he said quietly to Aragorn. ’The heights away north are whiter than they were; snow is lying far down their shoulders. Tonight we shall be on our way high up towards the Redhorn Gate. We may well be seen by watchers on that narrow path, and waylaid by some evil; but the weather may prove a more deadly enemy than any.’"
Boromir håller med om:
"I was born under the shadow of the White Mountains and know something of journeys in the high places. We shall meet bitter cold, if no worse, before we come down on the other side. It will not help us to keep so secret that we are frozen to death."
Boromir reconsiderar emellertid när fellesskapet är nästan knäckt i bitar genom att falla stenar:
"'Let those call it the wind who will; there are fell voices on the air; and these stones are aimed at us.’"
Aragorn är inte så säker, men verkar humor Boromir:
’I do call it the wind,’ said Aragorn. ’But that does not make what you say untrue. There are many evil and unfriendly things in the world that have little love for those that go on two legs, and yet are not in league with Sauron, but have purposes of their own.’"
De mest sannolika syndarna i stormen ovanpå Caradhras är själva berget och vädret (det senare är inte ett mycket spännande svar).
Passager som följande är troligen avsedda att skapa osäkerhet från läsarens sida, men de ger oss inte tillräckligt med information för att behandla dem som allt annat än dramatisk berättelse."They heard eerie noises in the darkness round them. It may have been only a trick of the wind in the cracks and gullies of the rocky wall, but the sounds were those of shrill cries, and wild howls of laughter. Stones began to fall from the mountain-side, whistling over their heads, or crashing on the path beside them. Every now and again they heard a dull rumble, as a great boulder rolled down from hidden heights above."
I alla fall, om du väljer att tro att stormen orsakades av naturliga krafter, ett ondskefullt berg eller något annat helt, finns det absolut inga bevis för att några varelser var närvarande under händelsen.
