About the Rings of Power
This seems to be a good time to talk about the Rings of Power in Tolkien's Middle-earth. Often I have seen some confusion about what the Rings of Power actually do or what their nature is. Especially discussions about the One Ring are complicated because its depiction in the movies can lead to some misconceptions.
After doing some research I hope I can give an overview on the general circumstances of the creation of the Rings of Power, the intentions of their makers, a look on where they ended up, what they could do (inlcuding side effects) and what they were used for.
[Warning: it's a long read.]
The Creation of the Rings of Power
Sauron and the Elven-smiths of Eregion
It is well known that all the Rings of Power except for the One Ring were made by the Elves of Eregion – and it seems for the most part by Celebrimbor, grandson of Fëanor.
According to Gandalf, the Elven-smiths of Eregion made many magic rings of different potency. The most powerful rings where the Great Rings, also called the Rings of Power: the Three, the Seven and the Nine. The One Ring also counts among them, but was made by Sauron alone.
At that time, Sauron was still disguised as Annatar, and therefore the Elven-smiths did not regard him as an enemy. With his help the Elves were able to create these rings, with Sauron apparently being somewhat involved in the forging of the Seven and the Nine. However, the Three were made by Celebrimbor alone.
The forging of the Great Rings takes place over a time period of 100 years, and the Three Rings were froged about ten years before the One Ring was made.
"Annatar (Sauron), Celebrimbor and the Craft of Ring-making" by Bohemian Weasel
On the intention of the Elves and Sauron
Despite what the famous Ring poem says, there is no hint that the Elves ever intended to give their Rings away to the Dwarves or to Men. In fact, Gandalf says that even the lesser rings that were but trifles to the Elves would be dangerous to mortals.
The initial idea of the Elves for the rings was "the prevention or slowing of decay"¹ and "the preservation of what is desired or loved, or its semblance"¹. This seemed to have been the intention for all their rings and was their "chief power"¹, besides others (more on that later).
It was similar for Sauron: at first he had no intention of giving the Rings to the Dwarves or Men. The idea behind the creation of the One Ring was twofold: he wanted to use it to "establish a control over the minds and wills of his servants"¹, but also use it to enslave the Elves. While he was able to dominate the minds of Orcs and even Men without giving them rings (examples can be found in the Númenóreans, the Haradrim and the Easterlings), this didn't seem to be possible with the Elves. Therefore, he needed the rings to get access to them, and the One Ring to to dominate all the other Rings.
In the end, things didn't turn out as planned for both parties: Sauron did not expect the Elves to realise what he was doing when he put on the One Ring: Celebrimbor became aware of Sauron's plans and as a result the Elves never used their Rings while Sauron was in possession of his Ruling Ring. This way, neither of them could use the Rings fully as they had intended, at least not in the Second Age.
Tracing the movements of the Rings
Several years passed between the forging of the Three, the Seven and the Nine and the forging of the One Ring, and it is unclear what the Elves of Eregion did with the Rings of Power in that time. However, once Sauron had created the One Ring, things started to change.
The keepers of the Three
According to The Tale of Years in The Lord of the Rings Appendix, between Celebrimbor realising that he had fucked up and Sauron invading Eriador, 93 years had passed. That means that Celebrimbor had plenty of time to give the issue of the Rings some thought.
According to texts published in Unfinished Tales, Celebrimbor consulted Galadriel on that matter and she gave him the advice to hide the Three Rings. Celebrimbor left one Ring (Nenya) with Galadriel and sent the other two (Vilya and Narya) to Gil-galad. It's not exactly clear when Gil-galad then gave Narya to Círdan: either right away or shortly before the War of the Last Alliance. He also passed Vilya on to Elrond, most likely shortly before the War of the Last Alliance.
And at some time in the Third Age, Círdan then gave Narya to Gandalf.
There also exists a texts (published in The Nature of Middle-earth) that suggests that Celebrimbor, fearing to keep all Three Rings to himself, gave one Ring to Amroth to give it to Galadriel, and the others may have been given to Celeborn when Sauron attacked Eregion. Celeborn then fought his way through Eriador to join Elrond in Imladris. However this version of the story is not corroborated by any other text.
The Seven and the Nine Rings
The other Great Rings took a different path:
After Sauron had invaded Eregion, he quickly found the Nine Rings. He then tortured Celebrimbor to reveal the whereabouts of the other rings, and eventually Celebrimbor gave up the information on the Seven because he did not value them as much as the Three. The location of the Three he kept a secret.
Sauron eventually collected the Seven (it's unclear if that was immediatly or if it took a while).
Once he had all the Seven and Nine Rings under his control, he "perverted"² them, which was possible because he "had a part in their making"², and they were then "accursed"². He then handed them out to the Dwarves and Men, "for their ultimate corruption and enslavement, to those who would accept them (out of ambition or greed)"¹.
It is well known how that ended for the nine Men who received the rings: they eventually became the Nazgûl and were always and completely under Sauron's control. At some point Sauron took the Nine Rings back, but the Nazgûl still stayed under the rule of their rings. The result was that Saruon had complete control over the Nazgûl even during the time where he wasn't in possession of the One Ring.
With the Dwarves it is a bit more complicated: they could not easily be dominated or be reduced to shadows, so the Seven Rings did not have the effect on them that Sauron had expected. They still caused the Dwarves some trouble, but Sauron probably wasn't satisfied with the result – the appendices to The Lord of the Rings state that he hated the bearers of the Seven and desired to "dispossess" them. Eventually, the Dwarves would loose four of their rings to the dragons (probably in the later half of the Third Age), and Sauron would regain the three others, probably around the same time. The last Ring the Dwarves lost was Thráin's Ring, taken from him in Dol Guldur.
However, it does not match the narrative of Sauron claiming all Seven Rings. Therefore it could also be possible that the Dwarves only believed that they had received the Ring from the Elves when it had been Sauron or his messanger in disguise instead. I'm not sure if the Dwarves could be deceived this way and if they shouldn't be aware of the disaster in Eregion, but I think it's more likely that Durin's Ring also had been in Sauron's possession – after all it had a negative effect on the Dwarves, too (read more on the side effects of the Rings of Power below). A third option is that Sauron as Annatar gave Durin III one of the Seven Rings before he created the One Ring, both making him an emissary of the smiths of Eregion at the time and giving him the opportunity to corrupt the ring before handing it over.
Worth mentioning is the curious case of the distribution of the Ring of Durin's Folk. The Dwarves of Durin's Folk believe that they did not receive their Ring from Sauron but directly from the Elven-smiths.
This is not implausible if we consider that the Elves in Eregion were friends with the Dwarves of Khazad-dûm. Before knowing of Sauron's plans, it could be that Celebrimbor indeed gave on of the Seven Rings to Durin III.
The journey of the One Ring
The One Ring is easier to track because Gandalf made its way through Middle-earth quite clear: from Sauron's hand it came into Isildur's possession, who would eventuall loose it in the river. Found by Déagol, it was quickly taken by Smeagol/Gollum, eventually came to Bilbo and from there to Frodo. Before its destruction it was in the hands of Sam for a short time, and also again in Gollum's hands. Gandalf and Tom Bombadil also touched it, shortly.
The Powers of the 19 Great Rings
Figuring our what the Rings actually do is a fun game. Tolkien wrote about it more plainly in his letters, but he also hinted at it in the narrative of The Lord of the Rings – it's just that most of the time it's not obivous and easy to miss.
Generally the "chief power" of the 19 Rings forged by the Elves was to prevent or slow down decay, as has been previously mentioned. They also "enhanced the natural powers of a possessor"¹.
"Air, Water and Fire" by Ominously
They had some other characteristics that were shared by all 19 rings, but some of them only affected mortals.
All 19 Rings had each a gem, which stands in contrast to both the lesser rings and the One Ring who had no gems.
The Rings of Power were apparently really difficult to destroy. When the Elves became aware of Sauron's plans, they tried to destroy the Seven and the Nine, but failed. According to Gandalf, they could be melted by dragon fire, and of course that wasn't something the Elves had readily at hand.
According to Gandalf, "a Ring of Power looks after itself"³ and has a way of being found. It is never abandoned by its keeper, but can be passed on to someone else. This seems to have been difficult or almost impossible for mortals, especially after some times has passed. The Elves apparently didn't have that problem (see the way of the Elven Rings above) and for the Dwarves we also know that the Ring of Durin's Folk was passed on from Thrór to Thráin.
The One Ring also has this characteristic.
All 19 Rings were under the control of the One Ring (see more about his below in the section about the One Ring), and lost their powers when the One Ring was destroyed.
The details of the actual use of these Rings are more difficult to describe, so it's easier to talk about each group seperately.
Vilya, Nenya and Narya
The Three Rings Vilya, Nenya and Narya were never used by anyone but the Elves, and by them there were used as originally intended: to preserve and defend what the Elves loved. In The Lord of the Rings this is mentioned several times:
Gandalf tells Frodo that "there is a power in Rivendell to withstand the might of Mordor, for a while: and elsewhere other powers still dwell"⁴. This can be seen as a hint at the Ring Vilya in Rivendell and Nenya in Lothlórien, both being used for the defense of these places.
An example of that power at work is possibly described by Gandalf when the explains that "the river of this valley is under [Elrond's] power, and it will rise in anger when he has great need to bar the Ford"⁴.
When the fellowship leaves Lothlórien, they realise that more time has passed than they had realised, and Frodo attributes the slow passing of time to Galadriel's Ring. The different passage of time in Lothlórien is an example of preservation.
In the Appendix it is said that "the power that dwelt [in Lothlórien] was too great for any to overcome, unless Sauron had come there himself"⁵. This of course is also because of Galadriel, who was powerful among the Eldar, but also because of her ring.
In Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age this effect is also described when talking about the Rings:
"Thus it was that in two domains the bliss and beauty of the Elves remained still undiminished while that Age endured: in Imladris; and in Lothlórien, the hidden land between Celebrant and Anduin, where the trees bore flowers of gold and no Orc or evil thing dared ever come."⁶
In this letters, Tolkien describes the effects of preservation further, describing that they were used for "preserving the memory of the beauty of old, maintaining enchanted enclaves of peace where Time seems to stand still and decay is restrained, a semblance of the bliss of the True West"¹. He also notes that they did not confer invisibility – (Galadriel wore her Ring in Lothlórien in the 3rd Age, but as an Elf it's unclear if any other Ring would make her invisible).
With the ability to "ward off the decays of time"⁶ the Rings were also able to "postpone the weariness of the world"⁶ for the Elves. However, on Galadriel the ring also had the effect of increasing "her latent desire for the Sea and for return into the West"⁶.
Narya, the Ring of Fire, was apparently especially useful when it came to protection from weariness, which is one of the reasons why Círdan thought the ring could be useful for Gandalf. Círdan also believed that Gandalf could use it for rekindling the hears of people and for giving them courage. This seems to be mostly an enhancement of Gandalf's own ability.
Seven to the Dwarf-lords
The Seven and the Nine Rings had similar powers, but were very differently used by Dwarves and Men and also had different effects on these two peoples. As told before, they were corrupted and accursed, which is why their use came with severe side effects.
There are many references to the effects on "mortals", especially made by Gandalf. While Dwarves are not immortal I believe Gandalf was talking about Men here, as they are the ones described in the ring poem as "Mortal Men doomed to die".
This assumption is supported by various texts (for example Apendix A) that state that Dwarves could not be reduced to shadows or be enslaved, something that was possible for "mortals" according to Gandalf. Not so to the Dwarves. The corruption of the rings wasn't strong enough to dominate their wills. Appendix A also states that "their lives were not affected by any Ring, to live either longer or shorter because of it"⁵.
So what did the Seven Rings actually for or to the Dwarves? Not much:
"The only power over them that the Rings wielded was to inflame their hearts with a greed of gold and precious things, so that if they lacked them all other good things seemed profitless, and they were filled with wrath and desire for vengeance on all who deprived them."⁵
So the Dwarves only used the rings to get more wealth, and in turn the rings increased both their greed and their wrath. When they lacked "gold and precious things" it also made them restless, as can be seen in Thrór who eventually started a quest to reconquer Moria, and Thráin who lead a group towards Erebor (though he never reached it on this journey).
If Men had used the Seven Rings, they probably would have had the same effects on them as the Nine Rings.
Nine for Mortal Men
Sauron's corruptive powers can be best observed in the Nine Rings that he gave to Men. Men had neither the sturdiness of the Dwarves nor the wisdom and perception of the Elves, and were mostly defenseless in their hunger for power.
Sauron's corruption of the Rings was the reason for the following effects of the Nine Rings on mortal Men:
They gave long life, and the ringbearer wouldn't die.
They made the ringbearer invisible, but using the ring often for this would eventually lead to the rinbearer fading and becoming permanently invisible.
When turning the ringbearer invisible, it would also make "things of the invisible world visible"¹.
Over time, this would lead to the ringbearer becaming a living ghost.
These effects would also apply to mortals who would use the Seven and The One, but most likely not for the Three that never had been corrupted.
Just like the other Great Rings the Nine did also enhance the natural powers of their possessors. Those among Men "who used the Nine Rings became mighty in their day, kings, sorcerers, and warriors of old"², and they "obtained glory and great wealth"².
if Dwarves had used the Nine Rings, they probably would have had the same effects on them as the Seven Rings.
The One Ring
"The One Ring" by Torbjörn Källström
It's no surprise that the One Ring is the most interesting of all the Rings – it's the one we spent the most time with, so there is a lot of material to help in figuring out its nature and abilities:
The Nature of the Ring
Design – The One Ring had no gem like the other Great Rings, its design was that of a simple golden ring. But if it was heated, a fiery inscription would appear on the One Ring. Since Sauron's hands seem to have been hot, the inscription was most likely constantly visible while Sauron was wearing the One Ring. And the heat lingered long even after Sauron's defeat: it was in fact so painful to touch it that Isildur dreaded to do so.
Creation – When Sauron created the One Ring, he put a large part on his own power into it. This did not weaken Sauron – he was still "in rapport" with this power while he was the possessor of the ring. But it gave him a weakness: if someone of similar power could challenge his claim on the One Ring or if the One Ring was destroyed, he would lose this power. Destruction was only possible in Mount Doom where it had been made. Unlike with the other Great Rings, dragon fire wouldn't have been enough.
Agency – But just like the other Great Rings, the One Ring was able to look after itself. It couldn't be abandoned and in the best case it was passed on to someone else. It seemed to change shape at times and become larger or smaller, and was able to slip from someone's finger (as it happened with Isildur shortly before his death) or on someone's finger (as it happened with Frodo in Bree).
Attraction – While it was separated from Sauron it still tried to get back to him. This was especially the case for a few years after Sauron had "died", and once he was back and taking shape again the One Ring also became more active. It attracted evil, and especially the Nazgûl were good at sensing where it was. The Ring on the other hand would also grow in strength in the presence of a Nazgûl: the urge for the keeper to put the One Ring on would incrase noticably with a Nazgûl around.
Temptation – One of the most powerful and most dangerous characteristics of the One Ring was its innate temptation to use it. It would subtly urge its keeper to put it on, be it by presenting itself as a solution to a present problem, by giving people visions of what they could achieve with the One Ring's power, or by pressuring and tormenting the keeper into putting it on. This temptation and/or torture was so strong that even someone as wise and powerful as Gandalf, Elrond or Galadriel did not want to risk being the Ring's keeper, afraid that they wouldn't be able to withstand the temptation for a long time.
Unseen – The One Ring also has some side effects especially on those that usually didn't come into contact with the other side, with the wraith-world, with the Unseen: wearing the One Ring would make the ringbearer invisible, and while wearing the One Ring, the ringbearer would be able to see the invisible world (like Frodo could see the figures of the Nazgûl). On the other hand, when wearing the One Ring the real world would feel like walking through a world of mist, and most other people would only appear as shadows.
Connected to the wraith-world is also the One Ring's ability/side effect to give long life to mortals (longer than any mortal should have) and to eventually turn them into wraiths if used very often. Like with the Seven and the Nine this most likely wouldn't affect the Dwarves.
Abilities and useage
'[The One Ring] belongs to Sauron and was made by him alone, and is altogether evil. Its strength, Boromir, 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.'¹⁰
The One Ring's temptation was especially dangerous because using the One Ring would sooner or later corrupt the one using it. Even someone as good and kind as Gandalf would have been corrupted sooner or later, and according to Tolkien "Gandalf as Ring-Lord would have been far worse than Sauron"¹¹: Sauron left good distinguishable from evil, while "Gandalf would have made good detestable and seem evil"¹¹.
Using the One Ring was more effective the more powerful the ringbearer was, because just like the other Great Rings, the One Ring could enhance the natural powers of a possessor, and give power according to their stature.
But unlike the Great Rings made by the Elves with the intention to preserve and protect, the One Ring's main purpose was domination. This was its main strength, but it was also very difficult to master. Galadriel told Frodo that it would take time to master the One Ring, and that he would have to become stronger for that. After trying for a while even Isildur believed that he wasn't strong enough to master the One Ring (this was probably also due to the fact that Sauron's "death" was only two or three years ago at that time, and the One Ring was still rebellious).
Domination of people in general
If put to use, the One Ring would allow the ringbearer to control and command people – according to the ringbearer's stature, and depending who they were. It was easier to command the servants of Sauron with the Ring, and more difficult to manipulate Men like the Númenoreans. And apparently it wasn't possible to dominated the wills of Elves from afar with the Ring without additional meassures, as is explained later.
Probably connected to the idea of domination was also the effect on the ringbearer's hearing and understanding: wearing the One Ring massively improved one's hearing and gave "understanding of tongues, or simply understanding, especially of the servants of Sauron its maker"¹². However, the sight declined.
Sam had no practice with the Ring at all, but even for him it was possible to use the One Ring against Sauron's servants. In Cirith Ungol Sam is able to intimidate some Orcs, even though he doesn't do it consciously:
"For what [the Orc] saw was not a small frightened hobbit trying to hold a steady sword: it saw a great silent shape, cloaked in a grey shadow, looming against the wavering light behind; in one hand it held a sword, the very light of which was a bitter pain, the other was clutched at its breast, but held concealed some nameless menace of power and doom."⁷
Frodo also uses the Ring's power in the end against Gollum – while holding the One Ring in his hand, Frodo tells Gollum that if Gollum would ever touch Frodo again, he would be cast into the Fire of Doom. In the end, this is exactly what happened with Gollum.
Boromir never gets the One Ring, but he has a clear idea on how it would help him: he believes it would give him the "Power of Command" and is convinced that people would follow him. However, that is what he tells Frodo and it's completely possible that it's just visions given to him by the One Ring.
Legolas has a similar idea but about Aragorn: he believes if Aragorn would have taken the One Ring he would have become a "great and terrible a Lord [...] in the strength of his will"⁸.
Sauron was able to dominate a large amount of people, in the later half of the Second Age he "dominates all the multiplying hordes of Men that have had no contact with the Elves and so indirectly with the true and Unfallen Valar and gods. He rules a growing empire from the great dark tower of Barad-dûr in Mordor, near to the Mountain of Fire, wielding the One Ring"¹.
Towards the end of the Second Age, Sauron was even able to get the Númenoreans under his control:
"Ar-Pharazôn, as is told in the 'Downfall' or Akallabêth, conquered a terrified Sauron's subjects, not Sauron. Sauron's personal 'surrender' was voluntary and cunning: he got free transport to Numenor! He naturally had the One Ring, and so very soon dominated the minds and wills of most of the Númenóreans."⁹
Overall the Ring allowed Sauron to control more people more effectively, but those he wanted to control the most were also the most difficult to dominate: the Elves.
Domination of the Elves
Tolkien writes that Sauron had created the One Ring in an effort "to enslave the Elves, and in his desire to establish a control over the minds and wills of his servants"¹.
Controlling his servants was something he achieved with the creation of the One Ring, as described above. However, the Elves were another matter: tho control them he needed better access to their thoughts, and that is were the other Great Rings came into play.
With the help of the One Ring Sauron was able to "perceive all the things that were done by means of the lesser rings, and he could see and govern the very thoughts of those that wore them"⁶. Unfortunately for Sauron, he wasn't able to "utterly enslave"¹ the Elves immediately after the forging of the One Ring, and even worse for him: the Elves realised what was happening in time and took off their Great Rings (though it is unknown who – if any – wore them at that time aside from Celebrimbor).
With the Elves not wearing their Rings, this plan was never realised, and instead Sauron used the Great Rings for other purposes (giving them to Men and Dwarves, see above).
Once the One Ring was found in the Third Age, in theory the ringbearer could see the other Great Rings, as can be seen from Frodo's and Galadriel's discussion:
"`I would ask one thing before we go,' said Frodo, `a thing which I often meant to ask Gandalf in Rivendell. I am permitted to wear the One Ring: why cannot I see all the others and know the thoughts of those that wear them? ' `You have not tried,' she said. `Only thrice have you set the Ring upon your finger since you knew what you possessed. Do not try! It would destroy you."¹³
In short
If you just want a few key points to take away from this post, my suggestion would be the following points:
All Great Rings give power according to the ringbearer's stature.
The Seven Rings increased the wealth and the greed of the Dwarves.
The Nine Rings were used by Men to obtained glory and wealth. Also, mortals were affected by the side effects of the Great Rings and were slowly turned into wraiths.
The Three Rings were used by the Elves for preservation and protection.
The One Ring's main power was domination over minds and wills, but to dominate the minds of the Elves it depended on the other Great Rings.
Footnotes
¹ J. R. R. Tolkien; edited by Humphrey Carpenter. The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien, Letter #131.
² J. R. R. Tolkien, edited by Christopher Tolkien. The Silmarillion, Ot the Rings of Power and the Third Age.
³ J. R. R. Tolkien. The Lord of the Rings, Book I, Chapter 2.
⁴ J. R. R. Tolkien. The Lord of the Rings, Book II, Chapter 1.
⁵ J. R. R. Tolkien. The Lord of the Rings, Appendix.
⁶ J. R. R. Tolkien, edited by Christopher Tolkien. The Silmarillion, Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age.
⁷ J. R. R. Tolkien. The Lord of the Rings, Book VI, Chapter 1.
⁸ J. R. R. Tolkien. The Lord of the Rings, Book V, Chapter 9.
⁹ J. R. R. Tolkien; edited by Humphrey Carpenter. The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien, Letter #211.
¹⁰ J. R. R. Tolkien. The Lord of the Rings, Book II, Chapter 2.
¹¹ J. R. R. Tolkien; edited by Humphrey Carpenter. The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien, Letter #246.
¹² J. R. R. Tolkien. The Lord of the Rings, Book IV, Chapter 10.
¹³ J. R. R. Tolkien. The Lord of the Rings, Book II, Chapter 7.
