How many instances of "i" are there in:
Q: Could Sauron have defeated the Dwarves if they had gotten the Ring from the Hobbits per Sauron's request? During the Council of Elrond in The Fellowship of the Ring, Gloin explains that a messenger from Sauron came to the Dwarves and asks them to get a Ring from the Hobbits.

"As a small token only of your friendship Sauron asks this," he said: "that you should find this thief," such was his word, "and get from him, willing or no, a little ring, the least of rings, that once he stole. It is but a trifle that Sauron fancies..."

Ultimately the Dwarves refuse to help but had they actually went and found the Ring it seems that they would have quickly discovered that it was much more than a "trifle" and would not have simply handed it over to Sauron.   
Assuming that the Dwarf who found it didn't "go Gollum" and vanish (which would just mean that you now have a missing Dwarf instead of a missing Hobbit), this would mean that the Dwarves had the One Ring.
Did Sauron just assume that he could defeat the Dwarves even if they had the Ring? 

A: It is unlikely that the Dwarves could have used the Ring. As Elrond says in "The Council of Elrond":

"Its strength... is too great for anyone to wield at will, save only those who have already a great power of their own. But for them it holds an even deadlier peril. The very desire of it corrupts the heart. Consider Saruman. If any of the Wise should with this Ring overthrow the Lord of Mordor, using his own arts, he would then set himself on Sauron's throne, and yet another Dark Lord would appear."

That is, the only people in Middle-Earth who would actually be strong enough to overthrow Sauron with the Ring are the Wise -- i.e., wizards and Elf-lords. Everyone else, including whatever Dwarf ended up with it, would be unable to claim it, and would eventually be subjugated by it (though the Ring itself would try to convince them otherwise).

user
The total number of "i"s in that passage is ninety-nine.
assistant