I’ve never been a fan of the ‘Eagle Cheat’ theory either…you make some very good practical points. We could drill down and find a simplistic solution like that for many other stories, thus defeating the whole point of an adventure tale.

I would pose a thought on what Alex R Carver said when he suggested that Frodo would be able to get rid of the ring more easily with less time for it to subvert his will. Perhaps it isn’t the length of time that someone is exposed to the ‘lure’ of the ring that determines how hard it is to part with it, but the level of anxiety they are subjected to coupled with their inherent willpower. For Boromir it was a matter of weeks he was near the ring? For Isildur, it was perhaps a matter of hours or days between obtaining it and Elrond insisting he destroy it that he could not do it, though that could in part of have been pride and feeling that his family was owed it as wergild for Elendil’s death. Counterpointing these would be characters like Faramir rejecting the ring, though he never actually held it(good willpower there) or the old wildcard Tom Bombadil, who seemed to be completely unaffected by the ring.

Perhaps as long as anyone who had the ring was not subjected to a stressful situation where they might possibly lose the ring, they could continue to think that they still had free will, that they could make a choice. As soon as the pressure was on though and a choice had to be made, it seems like the ring asserted its power. I think it was proven time and time again though in the LOTR that it just wasn’t that simple to toss the One Ring aside :)