Rings of Power: Difference between revisions

The Rings of Power (also known as the Great Rings)^[1] are fictional magical artefacts appearing in legendarium, a set of Mythopoeic writings by British author J. R. R. Tolkien. Primarily featured in his epic high fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings (1954), these magic rings are depicted as the titular objects essential in the Dark Lord Sauron's conquest to rule over Middle-earth as the namesake "Lord of the Rings". Consisting of twenty bands in total, all but one were created by the Noldorin Elven-smiths of Eregion, led by their ruler Celebrimbor under the deception of Sauron, who came in disguise as a fair-looking emissary named Annatar.

When worn, each Ring can give its bearer a power to govern their respective race—Three Rings were given to the remaining Elf leaders in Middle-earth, Seven Rings were sent to the Dwarf-lords, and Nine Rings to several leaders of Men. All Rings of Power are bound to a master ring, the One, which the Dark Lord had forged alone in secret at Mount Doom to control all the other wearers, effectively ruling a dominion over Middle-earth. Sauron waged an assault upon the Elves who hid them upon discovering his true motive. He successfully captured all but the Three, which remained hidden from him. Though the Seven only fueled the greed of the Dwarves, the Nine corrupted the men, whose desire for power made them fell under his dominance and eventually became the Nazgûl, his chief servants. Numerous characters in the novel had taken possession of the Rings, most especially the One Ring, which was ultimately found by the hobbit Bilbo Baggins, who later bequeathed it to his heir Frodo, who then took on a quest to destroy it.

Though the One Ring had originally appeared in Tolkien's children's novel children's fantasy novel The Hobbit in 1937, all the twenty Rings of Power were fully documented in The Lord of the Rings, which primarily focuses on the assembly of the Fellowship from all of races of Middle-earth tasked to aid Frodo in destroying it whilst evading Sauron's attempts to recover it. According to Tolkien, the purpose of the Rings was to give their respective wearers "wealth and dominion over others", though Three Rings were made to "heal and preserve" the Elvendom in Middle-earth. Its primary power was "the prevention and slowing of decay of time" by granting its wearer an unnatural long life and rendering things invisible or visible. This power appealed the most to the Elves, whose gift of immortality had left them to desire for a physical world of Middle-earth to remain unchanged and delay the inevitable Dominion of Men. Tolkien's subsequent posthumous works such as The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, and The History of Middle-earth, also offer a more detailed account on the history of the Rings of Power.

The Rings of Power were forged by the Elven-smiths (also known as the Gwaith-i-Mírdain) of the Noldorin setttlement of Eregion.^[2] They were led by Celebrimbor, the last scion of Fëanor, who in the year 1200 of the Second Age, was persuaded the Dark Lord Sauron, disguised as fair looking emissary of the Valar named Annatar, the Lord of Gifts.^[2] Humiliated following the fall of his master Morgoth, Sauron had previously evaded the summons in Valinor to surrender and face judgment, opting instead to remain in Middle-earth and seek dominion over the Elves and the men of Númenór.^[3] He was shunned by the Elven leaders Gil-galad, Círdan, Elrond and Galadriel, but was successful in persuading Celebrimbor.^[3] Teaching him and his fellow smiths the craft of forging magic rings, they were able to create a set of Seven and Nine, among others. While Celebrimbor created a set of Three alone, Sauron left for Mordor in the year 1500 and forged a master ring, the One, on the fires of Mount Doom, to control all others.^[2]

Once the One was made using the Black Speech, the Elves immediately became aware of Sauron's s motives and quickly hid the Three.^[3] Despite Galadriel's advice to destroy all the rings, Celebrimbor can not bear to ruin them.^[2] He instead entrusted one the Three to her, and sent the other two to Gil-galad and Círdan.^[4][5] In an attempt to seize all the Rings of Power for himself, Sauron waged an asaault upon the Elves. Desolating Eregion, he was successful in capturing the Nine and Celebrimbor, who died revealing the Seven but failed to reveal the Three.^[6] He then launched an invasion of Eriador, but Gil-galad victoriously defended the region by the aid of the Númenóreans, who took Sauron as their prisoner.^[3] Sauron dared what he could not achieve by force to accomplish by cunning, slowly corrupting the men of Númenor which led to its downfall.^[3]

The exiled Númenóreans who survived its fall led by Elendil and his sons Isildur and Anárion established the realms of Arnor and Gondor.^[3] Together with Elves of Lindon, they formed a last alliance against Sauron, who fell in the hands of Elendid and Gil-galad.^[3] Isildur then took the One Ring for his own and was eventually lost for centuries.^[7] During this time, the Elves were able to use the Three Rings while the Nine, which Sauron had previously gave to several leaders of Men, corrupted them, and later became the Nazgûl (also known as Ringwraiths and his chief servants).^[1] The Seven, however, failed to succumb directly to Sauron's will, but ignited a sense of avarice within them.^[3] Over the years, Sauron sought to recapture the Rings, primarily the One, but was only successful in recovering the Nine and three out the Seven.^[7] During the Third Age, The One was found by Bilbo Baggins (in The Hobbit) and a Fellowship was formed to destroy it (in The Lord of the Rings), led by Bilbo's nephew Frodo.^[8][7][1] Following the destruction of the One Ring and the ultimate fall of Sauron, the power of the rings eventually faded. While the Nine were destroyed, the Three were carried out to the Sea at the end of the Third Age, giving the rise to the Dominion of Men.^[9][10][3]

Celebrimbor forged the Three Rings in Eregion without Sauron's direct assistance, which made them "unsullied" from his hands. However, as the Rings were made using Sauron's craft, they are still bound to the One. Named after the three elements of fire, water, and air, these bands were the last to be made and were given to the Elves to ward off the decays of time and postpone the weariness of the world:^[3]

• Narya, also known the Ring of Fire. Set with a ruby, the ring was given by Celebrimbor to Círdan, who later gave it to Gandalf at the Grey Havens to aid on his labours.^[5]
• Nenya, also known as the Ring of Adamant and the Ring of Water, is the chief of the Three. Made with mithril and set with a "shimmering white stone", Celebrimbor gave it Galadriel, who used it to protect and preserve the realm of Lothlórien.^[3]
• Vilya, also known as the Ring of Air, is the mightiest of the Three Rings. Forged in gold and set with a Sapphire, Celebrimbor bestowed the ring to Gil-galad, and was given afterwards to Elrond, who used the ring in Rivendell.^[3]

As soon as Sauron set the One Ring upon his finger, the Elves became aware of him and perceived that he would become their master. In anger and fear, they immediately took off the rings. Sauron, filled with betrayal and wrath, desired the Three Rings the most and demanded them to return the rings to him.^[3] Upon realizing Sauron's deception, Galadriel counseled Celebrimbor to keep the Three Rings hidden.^[5] Sauron then waged a war against the Elves to reclaim them, capturing and tormenting Celebrimbor, who died without revealing its location.^[2] Throughout the ages, he was unsuccessful in his search, as the wearers of the Three never used them openly while he kept the ruling ring. Only after his defeat at the end of the Second Age had the Elves only begun to use them to keep their abodes unstained by the griefs of time. Powerless following Sauron's final destruction at the War of the Ring, the Three Rings and their respective bearers were finally revealed and were carried over the sea to the Undying Lands.^[3]

The Seven Rings were given to the leaders of the seven kindreds of the Dwarves—Durin's Folk, Firebeards, Broadbeams, Ironfists, Stiffbeards, Blacklocks, and Stonefoots;^[11] though a tradition by the Durin's Folk claimed that Durin received his ring from the Elven-smiths. ^[12][2] The Dwarves used their rings to increase their hoards of treasure, but Sauron failed to submit them to his will, nor did it render them invisible. Instead, he was only able to influence their sense of greed and anger.^[3] Over the years, Sauron was only successful in recovering three rings from the Dwarves, the last of which was seized from Thráin II during his captivity in Dol Guldur. The rest of the Dwarves had only found out on the Council of Elrond that the ring in Thráin's possession was the fabled Durin's ring.^[1] Gandalf later recollects to Frodo that the remaining four were consumed by dragons.^[7] Before the outbreak of the War of the Ring, an envoy from Sauron attempted to bribe Dain II Ironfoot of the Lonely Mountain the three surviving rings and lost realm of Moria in exchange for the recovery of the One Ring, to which Dain II refused.^[1]

Celebrimbor and Annatar forged Nine Rings of Power which were meant to be given the men of Middle-Earth. When Eregion was sacked, Sauron took them from a tortured Celebrimbor and later gave them several leaders of men—three of which were from Númenór and one was an Easterling. The nine men who used their rings became "mighty in their day, kings, sorcerers, and warriors of old." Giving them glory and great wealth, the rings also gave them an unending long life, yet it became unendurable to them. In addition, the rings gave to an ability to see things in worlds invisible to mortal men, but these are often the phantoms and delusions made by Sauron.^[3] One by one, they fell to the power of the One Ring and after 550 years, all nine of them have been turned into ring-wraiths — also known as the Nazgûl.^[13] Bound to Sauron's will, they became invisible save to him, and became his chief servants.^[3]

The One Ring was forged in the fires Mount Doom in secret by Sauron himself to rule over the wearers of the other Rings, and only there it can be unmade. Unlike the other Rings, the One was created as an unadorned gold band, but it bore the inscription of Sauron's incantation that can only become visible when heated by fire.^[7] As the Rings of Power were made under the influence of the Sauron, the power of all Rings can only endure as long as its master ring survives.^[9][10] Sauron had to imbue much of his strength and will in making it, as the power of Elven Rings was very great, and for that which should govern them must be a thing of surpassing potency. While Sauron wore the One, he can perceive all that were done by means using the lesser Rings, and he could see and govern the very thoughts of those who wore them, and used it to gain mastery for almost all of Eriador, except for Lindon. Following Sauron's defeat to Elendil and Gil-galad at the War of the Last Alliance, the Ring was cut from his hand by Isildur, who took it as a weregild for his own and refused Elrond and Círdan's counsel to destroy it.^[3]

Isildur bore the Ring as a heirloom of his house, but his host was ambushed by orcs on the river Anduin. Caught unguarded, he used the Ring to escape down the river, but he was betrayed by the Ring when it purposely slipped down his finger, leading him to his death.^[3] And for more than two and a half thousand years, the One Ring remained hidden on the riverbed and from all knowledge, until it was discovered by the Stoor hobbit Déagol, accompanied by his friend Sméagol. It ensnared Sméagol to murder Déagol and take the Ring for himself. For five hundred years deep within the Misty Mountains, it corrupted him into becoming the creature Gollum, who called the Ring as his "precious".^[7] It was then found by the Shire hobbit Bilbo Baggins, who took the Ring from him as a prize during a game of riddles.^[14]

Only perceiving it as a magic ring, Bilbo brought the One with him to the Shire and later bequeathed it to his heir Frodo Baggins.^[7] Made aware of its true nature as the master Ring of Power by the wizard Gandalf, Frodo escaped the Shire with the Ring to seek refuge to Rivendell, where it was decided by the Council of Elrond to destroy it. A Fellowship consisting of nine companions from all races of Middle-earth was formed to guide and protect him—which included his the hobbit friends Samwise, Merry and Pippin, Gandalf, the Dúnedain Aragorn, the dwarf Gimli, the elf Legolas, and Boromir, a man of Gondor.^[1] The fellowship dissolves midway through their quest, and Frodo and Samwise continue to Mordor alone on foot, where they were aided by a returning Gollum, who secretly seeks to take it from them.^[15] In Mordor, Gollum subsequently succumbs to the Power of the One and betrays Frodo, whom he led to be captured by the spider Shelob.^[16] But he was prevented from reaching the Ring by Samwise, who briefly hid it for safekeeping and later returned it Frodo.^[17] Together, they finally arrive the summit of Mount Doom where Frodo was overcome by the One and claims it for himself. An ensuing fight between Frodo and Gollum led the latter and the Ring to fall and dissolve into the fires of mountain, thus ultimately destroying the One and effectively Sauron himself.^[18]

The Rings of Power were made using the craft taught by Sauron to give their respective wearers "wealth and dominion over others", though the main purpose of the Three Rings was to "heal and preserve".^[19] Tolkien explained that the primary power of the rings was to "the prevention and slowing of decay", which appealed to the Elves in their pursuit of preserving what they desire or loved in Middle-earth.^[20][21] Tolkien noted in his letters that the Elves can only be immortal as long as the world endures, leading them to be concerned to burdens of deathlessness in time and change. Wanting the bliss and perfect memory of Valinor, and yet to remain in Middle-earth with their prestige as the fairest, as opposed to being relegated at the bottom of the hierarchy in the Undying Lands, they became obsessed with "fading".^[22] As changeless beings in a changing world, the Elves who remained in Middle-earth, have sought to forge the rings in an attempt to delay the inevitable—the rise of the Dominion of Men.^[23][24][25] He also pointed out that each ring can enhance the "natural power" of its possessor, thus approaching its "magical aspect", which can be "easily corruptible to evil and lust of domination".^[21] In The Fellowship of the Ring, Galadriel explains to Frodo that the Rings can only "give power according to the measure of each possessor" and that before one can use that power one would need to become far stronger, and to train their will to the domination of others.^[25]

Mortals who take possession of it will "fade" much more rapidly, as it unnaturally preserves their life-span, eventually turning them into wraiths.^[26] This power can manifest by rendering their material body invisible and making things of the invisible world visible, as half of the wearer is temporarily transported into the spirit world.^[7][27][21] By carrying it, the One Ring was able to give Gollum and Bilbo an unnatural long life, while the Seven had turned the Nazgûl completely invisible.^[7][28] Immortal beings, however, can preserve their material things over long periods of time, as evidenced when Nenya was used by Galadriel to preserve Lothlórien.^[20] Gandalf explained to Frodo that a Ring of Power can "look after itself"—the One Ring in particular, can "slip off treacherously" and take advantage of a situation where it can to go back its master, such as betraying Isildur, Déagol, and Gollum when an opportunity arrives.^[7]

As the ruling band, the One can enable a powerful wielder to perceive what is done by means of the lesser rings, and to see and govern the thoughts of those who wear them.^[29] Though Bombadil, the only one documented who can withstand its power, can see its wearer as a visible being nor can not render himself invisible upon wearing it.^[30] Tolkien notes that forging the One Ring meant that Sauron was obliged to put almost all of his own inherent power on it—when worn, it can enhance his power; but even unworn, it will remain aligned to him unless another seized it and became possessed by it.^[22] A prospective possessor could, if sufficiently strong enough, overthrow Sauron and usurp his place, which was necessary in his effort to enslave the Elves.^[22] As the One was made in the fires of Mount Doom, only there it can be unmade.^[1] Once destroyed, its power would immediately dissolve, and Sauron would fade to a memory of malicious will. But the Dark Lord never contemplated nor feared it, as the One was unbreakable by anyone other than him and indissoluble unless thrown to the fires of the unapproachable dark mountain, and any prospective possessor will corrupted by the lust for it, as such that person could not bear to destroy it.^[22] Samwise, who possessed the One Ring for a limited amount of time, was able to understand the Black Speech of Orcs in Mordor.^[17]

Unlike the Seven and the Nine, the Three Rings were forged by Celebrimbor without the direct assistance from Sauron, as such the Three can not make their wearers invisible, but can be invisible themselves (except to a ring-bearer).^[25] Three have also shown to summon other powers—Narya can rekindle hearts and inspire others to resist tyranny, domination, and despair; Nenya has been described as a having a secret power that can protect from evil; while Vilya can heal and preserve wisdom.^[3]

The One Ring had originally appeared in Tolkien's children's fantasy novel The Hobbit in 1937, only as a mysterious magic ring which the titular character, the Hobbit Bilbo Baggins, had stumbled upon and was left unexplained after the book was published.^[31] Following the successful response to the novel, Tolkien was persuaded by his publishers Allen & Unwin to write a sequel.^[32][33] Originally intending to give the character another adventure, he instead devised a background story behind the Ring upon remembering its powers of invisibility and used it as a framework to which plot of the new novel will take place.^[34] He later added several mythical elements from the unfinished manuscripts from The Silmarillion until the first publication of The Lord of the Rings in 1955.^[35] His conception of the lore behind these rings were closely linked to his development of the One Ring.^[36] Initially deciding as Sauron as instrumental in helping the forging of the Rings,^[37] Tolkien later briefly considered making Fëanor, who created the Silmarils, as also the maker of the Rings of Power, under the influence of Morgoth, the first Dark Lord. But he ultimately decided on Celebrimbor, a descendant of Fëanor, as its principal maker, under the tutelage of Sauron, Morgoth's chief servant.^[38]

For a short period while writing a background lore behind the ring, Tolkien was struggling with the idea that the Elven rings must be given a "special status"—somehow linked to the One Ring, and thus endangered by it, but also "unsullied" that it would involve them having no direct connection with Sauron.^[39] By the time he was writing the chapter "The Mirror of Galadriel", Tolkien resolved to write that the Seven and the Nine were made by the Elven-smiths of Eregion under Sauron's guidance; but the Three were made by Celebrimbor alone, while Sauron secretly made the One, which has the power over the others, and once the Elves have finally realised what his deception, they immediately hid the Three.^[39] He also drafted an idea that upon the destruction of the One, the Three will be freed from being bound to it, but he ultimately decided to discard it.^[39] Tolkien's subsequent posthumous works such as The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales and The History of Middle-earth also offer additional material relating to creation of the Rings.^[2][40][41]

According to a Philosophy professors Gregory Bassham and Eric Bronson, the Rings of Power can be seen as a modern representation of the relationship between power and morality, remarking that it portrays an idea that "absolute power is in conflict with behaviour that respects the wishes and needs of others".^[27] They also observed that several of Tolkien's characters have responded in different ways when faced with the possibility of possessing the One Ring—characters such as Samwise Gamgee and Galadriel have rejected it; Boromir and Gollum were seduced by its power; and Frodo Baggins, though in limited use, ultimately succumbs to it; while Tom Bombadil can transcend from its power entirely.^[27] They also noted out that for Tolkien, the crucial moment of each character in the story is the moment in which they are tempted to use a Ring, a choice which will determine their fate.^[42]

Writer Isaac Asimov wrote that the Rings of Power can also be seen as a symbol of industrial technology.^[43][44] In a literary documentation of Tokien's mythological works, David Day observed that there is "a sense that those who possessed the rings were destroyed by their own desire of wealth and power" and characterized the rings' mastery of the world as an "illusion", and that "the ring comes to enslave its owner."^[45] Though Tolkien himself had explicitly denied such interpretations are allegorical, he also admitted that it can be applicable to an external situation and recommended it as an examination of "placing power in external objects".^[20]

Ralph Bakshi's 1978 animated film The Lord of the Rings begins with the forging of the Rings of Power and the events of the War of the Last Alliance against Sauron, all of which are animated in a silhouette against a red background using rotoscope.^[46]

The forging of the Rings of Power opens the prologue of Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings film series, primarily with The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001). In the film, the Three Elven Rings are shown being cast using a cuttlebone mold, an ancient primitive casting technique. These were given to Gil-galad (portrayed by Mark Ferguson), Círdan (Michael Elsworth), and Galadriel (Cate Blanchett).^[47] Tolkien illustrator Alan Lee, employed as conceptual designers for the films, had a cameo as one of the nine human Ring-bearers who would later become the Nazgûl, while Sauron (Sala Baker) is seen forging the One Ring at the chamber of Mount Doom.^[48] The One Ring was also shown to have the ability to adjust in size to the finger of its wearer, such as when it became smaller to fit Isildur (Harry Sinclair). In the extended version of the film, Galadriel also properly introduces Nenya, the Ring of Adamant, to Frodo. In the concluding sequel, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003), the final wearers of the Three Rings—Gandalf (Ian McKellen), Elrond (Hugo Weaving), and Galadriel, were revealed at the Grey Havens wearing the Three, with Galadriel proclaiming the end of its power and the beginning of the Dominion of Men.^[49]

Four Rings of Power have also appeared in Jackson's The Hobbit film series. In the The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012), the One Ring was found by Bilbo Baggins (portayed by Martin Freeman).^[50] In the extended version of the succeeding film The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013), Gandalf discovers that Sauron took the Ring of Thrór from Thráin (Antony Sher), who revealed in a flashback scene his possession of the Ring during a siege of Moria.^[51] In the concluding film The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014), Galadriel (Blanchett) reveals Nenya in rescuing Gandalf (McKellen) from Sauron (Benedict Cumberbatch), aided by Saruman (Christopher Lee) and Elrond (Weaving), who is wearing Vilya, the Ring of Air. In the film's extended edition, an Orc tries to cut Gandalf's finger wearing Narya, the Ring of Fire, before being rescued by Galadriel.^[52]

In the gameplay of the 2014 video game Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, the player controls a Gondorian ranger named Talion, who is imbued by the wraith-like spirit of Celebrimbor. In the game, Celebrimbor recalls how Sauron had deceived him into forging the Rings of Power.^[53] Continuing the narrative in its sequel, Middle-earth: Shadow of War, Celebrimbor (using Talion's physical body) forges a new Ring of Power free and unsullied from Sauron's influence.^[54]

• Andvaranaut – a magical ring that can give its wielder wealth
• Ring of Gyges – a ring that grants the power invisibility to its wearer when worn
• Draupnir – a self-multiplying ring that holds dominion over all the other rings it creates
• The Silmarils – jewels crafted by Fëanor, Celebrimbor's ancestor, which played a titular role in Tolkien's companion book The Silmarillion
• Morgoth's Ring