“was upon [personal pronoun]”

I believe alas_not_me has been meditating on the phrase “the Ring was upon him” in LotR for a while, and he mentioned Friday night that it clearly means more than the literal physical location of the Ring on (or upon) Frodo's finger.  Among other things, he suggested it has similar overtones as saying “the enemy was upon him.”  (Here, we might say upon conveys the sense of immediate confrontation.)

But in context it also reminds me of a Biblical phrase such as “the Holy Ghost was upon him” - a sense of an overwhelming power infusing and overcoming Frodo.  If the Ring is upon Frodo, he is figuratively under its influence.  Indeed, he seems to start receiving multiple micro-visions (“small and clear”), as if he had the power of far-seeing in many directions; though they are silent, we might almost say he's been given a temporary gift of “seeing in tongues.”

Here are two examples in the KJV:

• Ezekiel 37:1 “The hand of the LORD was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones.”
• Luke 2:25 “And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him.”

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Of course, one may wonder how Tolkien uses this phrase (“was upon [personal pronoun]”) elsewhere in LotR?  Here are all the usages that come up in a phrase search for “was upon” (obviously excluding three impersonal/non-human uses):  

• “no sign of age was upon them [Celeborn and Galadriel]” (354)
• “the Ring was upon him [Frodo]” (400)
• “The White Rider was upon them [the hosts of Isengard], and the terror of his coming filled the enemy with madness.” (542)
• “A new fear was upon them [Frodo, Sam, and Gollum]” (645)
• “a fury was upon her [Shelob]” (728)
• “the swoon that was upon him [Sam]” (729)
• “fled when we came, crying out that the King of the Dead was upon them [defenders and foes of the fords of the River Gilrain]” (875)

The first is fairly literal, of course. The second we have been discussing. Of the other five uses, three suggest to me an overwhelming power or experience (fear, fury, swoon); while two have more the sense of immediate confrontation - but nearby clauses reveal the confrontation itself is indeed overwhelming to those facing the onslaught.  So I think we can justify both interpretations for upon in “the Ring was upon him.”

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As usual, alas_not_me makes additional connections and analysis (including intriguing nearby uses of upon) that further illuminate the passage.  But I'm trying to keep my focus narrow and not steal his thunder.