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Actually, my thought was that Legolas would have killed Shelob at Cirith Ungol. I realize that we are violating the "don't get ahead of the story" rule, but my thought was that one serious fighter might have been of value to Sam and Frodo. The fight at Cirith Ungol would have been the place where that value would be seen. I've forgotten the exact sequence there, but I remember a sense of panic that led to the hobbits being particularly vulnerable to the onset of the attack. I think Legolas would have helped them keep their composure and maybe even had the light out before Shelob made her move. I don't think Shelob would have attacked two elvin swords and the light. If she had, I think Legolas would have been able to kill her.

Obviously, Legolas couldn't have made the march passing for little orcs as Frodo and Sam did. I'm not criticizing the way that Tolkien wrote the story. No one can top the way Tolkien wrote the story. I'm just saying that had I been in Aragorn's position, I would have thought it out that way. I wouldn't have forseen the exact battle, but I might have sent him with that in mind.

WFTR
Bill

I'd plead that we're OK on the violation of the rules thing! When discussing the breaking of the Fellowship, there's no way to hypothesize on different choices without examining their effect on what comes after.

There's no question that Legolas would have been an asset in a fight -- he was a great asset at the fight he was in (Helm's Deep). Shelob stung Frodo when he "lost his mind" and began running toward the pass that was the entrance to Mordor-proper. Thus Sam had to dispatch Shelob with Sting (an event nicely woven into the Hobbit pre-quel).

I think your point is well taken that had most any of us been faced with Aragorn's decision, we probably would not have had the "intestinal-fortitude" to let the fate of the ring-bearer take its course -- but would have either gone after Frodo ourselves, or sent other capables after him. I suspect that faced with a similar decision, we'd all do something different than Aragorn did -- hedging our bets if you will.

....my thought was that one serious fighter might have been of value to Sam and Frodo. The fight at Cirith Ungol would have been

Don't you think, that like Boromir, relying on strength can sometimes be a problem when confronting the purposes of God??
Tolkien was a man interested in the 'spiritual', and realized that God often uses the --least, or smallest or the foolish to confound the greatest or strongest or the wise?
Just a thought, but I was continually awed by the spiritual depth in these books.