Rings of Power

Template:Short description Template:About Template:Good article Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use British English Template:Infobox fictional artifact The Rings of Power are magical artefacts in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, most prominently in his high fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings. The One Ring first appeared as a plot device, a magic ring in Tolkien's children's fantasy novel, The Hobbit; Tolkien later gave it a backstory and much greater power. He added nineteen other Great Rings, also conferring powers such as invisibility, that it could control, including the Three Rings of the Elves, Seven Rings for the Dwarves, and Nine for Men. He stated that there were in addition many lesser rings with minor powers. A key story element in The Lord of the Rings is the addictive power of the One Ring, made secretly by the Dark Lord Sauron; the Nine Rings enslave their bearers as the Nazgûl (Ringwraiths), Sauron's most deadly servants.

Proposed sources of inspiration for the Rings of Power range from Germanic legend with the ring Andvaranaut and eventually Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen, to fairy tales such as Snow White, which features both a magic ring and seven dwarfs. One experience that may have been pivotal was Tolkien's professional work on a Latin inscription at the temple of Nodens; he was a god-hero linked to the Irish hero Nuada Airgetlám, whose epithet is "Silver-Hand", or in Elvish "Celebrimbor", the name of the Elven-smith who made the Rings of Power. The inscription contained a curse upon a ring, and the site was called Dwarf's Hill.

The Rings of Power have been described as symbolising the way that power conflicts with moral behaviour; Tolkien explores the way that different characters, from the humble gardener Sam Gamgee to the powerful Elf ruler Galadriel, the proud warrior Boromir to the Ring-addicted monster Gollum, interact with the One Ring. Tolkien stated that The Lord of the Rings was an examination of "placing power in external objects".Template:Sfn

Fictional historyEdit

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The Rings of Power were forged by the Elven-smiths of the Noldorin settlement of Eregion.<ref name="History of Galadriel and Celeborn" group=T>Template:Harvnb</ref> Best-known were the twenty Great Rings, which conferred powers including invisibility, but many lesser rings with minor powers were also created at that time. The smiths were led by Celebrimbor, the grandson of Fëanor, the greatest craftsman of the Noldor, working with Dwarves from Khazad-dûm (Moria) led by his friend Narvi. Sauron, powerful and ambitious, but humiliated by the fall of his evil master Morgoth at the end of the First Age, had evaded the summons of the godlike Valar to surrender and face judgment; he chose to remain in Middle-earth and seek dominion over its people.<ref name="Rings of Power and the Third Age" group=T>Template:Harvnb</ref> In the Second Age, he arrived disguised as a handsome emissary of the Valar named Annatar, the Lord of Gifts, offering the knowledge to transform Middle-earth with the light of Valinor, the home of the Valar.<ref name="History of Galadriel and Celeborn" group=T/> He was shunned by the Elven leaders Gil-galad and Elrond in Lindon, but managed to persuade the Noldorin Elves of Eregion.<ref name="Rings of Power and the Third Age" group=T/> With Sauron's help, they learnt to forge Rings of Power, creating the Seven and the Nine. While Celebrimbor created a set of Three on his own, Sauron left for Mordor and forged the One Ring, a master ring to control all the others, in the fires of Mount Doom.<ref name="History of Galadriel and Celeborn" group=T/>

When the One Ring was made using the Black Speech, the Elves immediately became aware of Sauron's true motive to control the other Rings.<ref name="Rings of Power and the Third Age" group=T/> When Sauron set the completed One Ring upon his finger, the Elves quickly hid their rings.<ref name="Rings of Power and the Third Age" group=T/> Celebrimbor entrusted one of the Three to Galadriel and sent the other Two to Gil-galad and Círdan.<ref group=T>Template:Harvnb</ref><ref name="Three Rings 1" group=T>Template:Harvnb</ref> In an attempt to seize all the Rings of Power for himself, Sauron waged an assault upon the Elves.<ref name="Rings of Power and the Third Age" group=T/> He destroyed Eregion and captured the Nine. Under torture, Celebrimbor revealed where the Seven were, but refused to reveal the Three.<ref group=T>Template:Harvnb</ref>

Toward the end of the Second Age, the Númenóreans took Sauron prisoner.<ref name="Rings of Power and the Third Age" group=T/> Sauron however managed to corrupt the Men of Númenor, leading to their civilisation's eventual downfall.<ref name="Rings of Power and the Third Age" group=T/> The exiled Númenóreans who survived, led by Elendil and his sons Isildur and Anárion, established the realms of Arnor and Gondor.<ref name="Rings of Power and the Third Age" group=T/> Together with the Elves of Lindon, they formed the last alliance against Sauron and emerged victorious.<ref name="Rings of Power and the Third Age" group=T/> Isildur cut the One Ring from Sauron's hand and kept it, refusing to destroy it; he was later killed in an ambush, and the Ring was lost for centuries.<ref name="Shadow of the Past" group=T>Template:Harvnb</ref> During this time, the Elves were able to use the Three Rings, while the Nine given to the leaders of Men corrupted their wearers and turned them into the Nazgûl.<ref name="Council of Elrond" group=T>Template:Harvnb</ref> The Seven given to the Dwarves failed to subject them directly to Sauron's will but ignited a sense of avarice within them.<ref name="Rings of Power and the Third Age" group=T/> Over the years, Sauron sought to recapture the Rings, primarily the One, but was only successful in recovering the Nine and three of the Seven.<ref name="Shadow of the Past" group=T/>

During the Third Age, the One Ring is discovered by Bilbo Baggins (in The Hobbit). At the start of The Lord of the Rings, the Wizard Gandalf explains the One Ring's history to Bilbo's heir Frodo, and recites the Rhyme of the Rings. A Fellowship is formed to destroy it, led by Frodo.<ref group=T>Template:Harvnb</ref><ref name="Shadow of the Past" group=T/><ref name="Council of Elrond" group=T/> Following the successful destruction of the One Ring and the fall of Sauron, the power of the rings fades. While the Nine are destroyed, the Three are rendered powerless; their bearers leave Middle-earth for Valinor at the end of the Third Age, inaugurating the Dominion of Men.Template:Sfn<ref name="Grey Havens" group=T>Template:Harvnb</ref><ref name="Rings of Power and the Third Age" group=T/>

DescriptionEdit

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Template:Quote box As observed by Saruman, each Ring of Power was adorned with its "proper gem", except for the One Ring, which was unadorned.<ref name="Council of Elrond" group=T/>

The OneEdit

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Unlike the other great rings, the One was created as an unadorned gold band similar in appearance to the lesser rings, though it bore Sauron's incantation, the Ring Verse, in the Black Speech; it became visible only when heated, whether by fire or by Sauron's hand.<ref name="Shadow of the Past" group=T/> As the other Rings were made under the influence of Sauron, the power of all the Rings depended on the One Ring's survival.Template:Sfn<ref name="Grey Havens" group=T/> To make the One Ring, Sauron had to put almost all his power into it—when worn, it enhanced his power; unworn, it remained aligned to him unless another seized it and took control of it.<ref name="Letter 131" group=T>Template:Harvnb</ref> A prospective possessor could, if sufficiently strong, overthrow Sauron and usurp his place; but they would become as evil as he.<ref name="Letter 131" group=T/> As the One was made in the fires of Mount Doom, it could only be unmade there.<ref name="Council of Elrond" group=T/> Sauron, being evil, never imagined that anyone might try to destroy the One Ring, as he imagined that anyone bearing it would be corrupted by it.<ref name="Letter 131" group=T/>

The ThreeEdit

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Named after the three elements of fire, water, and air, the Three were the last to be made before Sauron's solo creation of the One. Although Celebrimbor forged the Three Rings alone in Eregion, they were moulded by Sauron's craft and were bound to the One.<ref name="History of Galadriel and Celeborn" group=T/> Only after Sauron's defeat, when the One Ring was cut from his finger at the end of the Second Age, did the Elves begin to actively use the Three to ward off the decay brought by time. Even then, the Rings could be worn without being seen.<ref name="Rings of Power and the Third Age" group=T/> After the One Ring, they are the most powerful of the twenty Rings of Power.<ref group=T>Template:Harvp</ref> They are:

Template:Visible anchor (the Ring of Fire, the Red Ring), from Quenya nár, "fire",<ref group=T>Template:Harvp</ref> was set with a ruby. Its metal is not stated. It gave its wielder resistance to the weariness of time, and evoked hope and courage in others. Its final bearer was the Wizard Gandalf, who received it from Círdan at the Grey Havens during the Third Age. <ref name="Three Rings 1" group=T/>
Template:Visible anchor (the Ring of Water, the White Ring, the Ring of Adamant), from Quenya nén, "water",<ref group=T>Template:Harvp</ref> was made of mithril and set with a "shimmering white stone". Galadriel used it to protect and preserve the realm of Lothlórien.<ref name="Rings of Power and the Third Age" group=T/> "Adamant" means both a type of stone, usually a diamond, and "stubbornly resolute", a description that equally well suits the quality of Galadriel's resistance to Sauron.Template:Sfn
Template:Visible anchor (the Ring of Air, the Blue Ring), from Quenya vilya, "air",<ref group=T>Template:Harvp</ref> was the mightiest of the Three. It was made of gold and set with a sapphire. Elrond inherited Vilya from Gil-galad and used it to safeguard Rivendell.<ref name="Rings of Power and the Third Age" group=T/>

The SevenEdit

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Sauron recovered the Seven Rings from information provided by Celebrimbor, and gave them to the leaders of the seven kindreds of the Dwarves: Durin's Folk (Longbeards), Firebeards, Broadbeams, Ironfists, Stiffbeards, Blacklocks, and Stonefoots,Template:Sfn though a tradition of Durin's Folk claimed that Durin received his ring from the Elven-smiths.<ref group=T>Template:Harvnb</ref><ref name="History of Galadriel and Celeborn" group=T/> Over the years, Sauron was able to recover only three of the Seven rings from the Dwarves. The last of the three was seized from Thráin II during his captivity in Dol Guldur. Gandalf recounts to Frodo that the remaining four were consumed by dragons.<ref name="Shadow of the Past" group=T/> Before the outbreak of the War of the Ring, an envoy from Sauron attempted to bribe Dain II Ironfoot of the Lonely Mountain with the three surviving rings and the lost realm of Moria in exchange for information leading to the recovery of the One Ring, but Dain refused.<ref name="Council of Elrond" group=T/>

The NineEdit

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Sauron gave Nine of the Rings of Power to leaders of Men, who became "mighty in their day, kings, sorcerers, and warriors of old". They gained unending lifespans, and the ability to see things in worlds invisible to mortal Men.<ref name="Rings of Power and the Third Age" group=T/> One by one, the Men fell to the power of the One Ring; by the end of the Second Age, all nine had become invisible ring-wraiths – the Nazgûl, Sauron's most terrible servants. In particular, they helped him search for the One Ring, to which they were powerfully attracted.<ref group=T>Template:Harvnb</ref>

PowersEdit

Powers and effects of the Rings
Type of Ring	Powers granted	Effects on bearer
Ruling Ring	Invisibility, extended lifespan, control, knowledge of all other Rings	Corruption to evil
Elven-Rings	To heal and preserve	Nostalgia, procrastination
Dwarf-Rings	To gain wealth	Greed, anger
Rings for Men	Invisibility, extended lifespan, terror	Enslavement, fading to permanent invisibility

The Rings of Power were made using the craft taught by Sauron to give their wearers "wealth and dominion over others". Each Ring enhances the "natural power" of its possessor, thus approaching its "magical aspect", which can be "easily corruptible to evil and lust of domination".<ref name="Letter 121" group=T>Template:Harvnb</ref> Gandalf explains that a Ring of Power is self-serving and can "look after itself": the One Ring, in particular, can "slip off treacherously" to return to its master Sauron, betraying its bearer when an opportunity arrives.<ref name="Shadow of the Past" group=T/> As the Ruling Ring, the One enables a sufficiently powerful bearer to perceive what is done using the other rings and to govern the thoughts of their bearers.<ref name="Rings of Power and the Third Age" group=T/> To use the One Ring to its full extent, the bearer needs to be strong and train their will to the domination of others.<ref name="Fellowship 3" group=T>Template:Harvnb</ref>

A mortal Man or Hobbit who takes possession of a Ring of Power can manifest its power, becoming invisible and able to see things that are normally invisible, as the bearer is partly transported into the spirit world.<ref name="Shadow of the Past" group=T/><ref name="Bassham 1"/><ref name="Letter 121" group=T/> However, they also "fade"; the Rings unnaturally extend their life-spans, but gradually transform them into permanently invisible wraiths.<ref group=T>Template:Harvnb</ref><ref name="Shadow of the Past" group=T/><ref group=T>Template:Harvnb</ref> The Rings affect other beings differently. The Seven are used by their Dwarven bearers to increase their treasure hoards, but they do not gain invisibility, and Sauron was unable to bend the Dwarves to his will, instead only amplifying their greed and anger.<ref name="Rings of Power and the Third Age" group=T/> Tom Bombadil, the only being unaffected by the power of the One Ring, could both see its wearer and remained visible when he wore it.<ref group=T>Template:Harvnb</ref>

Unlike the other Rings, the main purpose of the Three is to "heal and preserve", as when Galadriel used Nenya to preserve her realm of Lothlórien over long periods.Template:Sfn The Elves made the Three Rings to try to halt the passage of time, or as Tolkien had Elrond say, "to preserve all things unstained". This was seen most clearly in Lothlórien, which was free of both evil and the passage of time.<ref name="Aldrich 1988">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="Brin 2008">Template:Cite book</ref> The Three do not make their wearers invisible.<ref name="Fellowship 3" group=T/> The Three had other powers: Narya could rekindle hearts with its fire and inspire others to resist tyranny, domination, and despair; Nenya had a secret power in its water that protected from evil; while Vilya healed and preserved wisdom in its element of air.<ref name="Rings of Power and the Third Age" group=T/>

InspirationEdit

NodensEdit

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The Tolkien scholar Tom Shippey thought that Tolkien's work on a Latin inscription at a Roman temple at Lydney Park was a "pivotal" influence, combining as it did a god-hero, a ring, dwarves, and a silver hand. The god-hero was Nodens, whom Tolkien traced to the Irish hero Nuada Airgetlám, "Nuada of the Silver-Hand", and the inscription carried a curse on a stolen ring.<ref name="Tolkien" group=T>Tolkien, J. R. R., "The Name Nodens", Appendix to "Report on the excavation of the prehistoric, Roman and post-Roman site in Lydney Park, Gloucestershire", Reports of the Research Committee of the Society of Antiquaries of London, 1932; also in Tolkien Studies: An Annual Scholarly Review, Vol. 4, 2007</ref><ref name="Anger 2013">Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref> "Silver-Hand" is the English translation of "Celebrimbor", the Elven-smith who made the Rings of Power, in association with the Dwarven-smith Narvi. The temple was at a place called Dwarf's Hill.<ref name="Anger 2013"/>Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>Template:Sfn

<imagemap> File:Nodens Temple influence on Tolkien.svg|thumb|upright=1.7|center|Imagemap with clickable links. Apparent influence of archaeological and philological work at Nodens' Temple on Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium<ref name="Anger 2013"/>

rect 10 10 300 180 Celebrimbor

rect 610 10 890 180 Dwarf (Middle-earth)

rect 180 220 470 400 Nuada Airgetlám

rect 200 450 400 650 Nodens

rect 410 450 800 650 Lydney Park

rect 10 10 900 675 commons:File:Nodens Temple influence on Tolkien.svg </imagemap>

Ring of GygesEdit

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Magical rings occur in classical legend, in the form of the Ring of Gyges in Plato's Republic. It grants the power of invisibility to its wearer, creating a moral dilemma, enabling people to commit injustices without fearing they would be caught.<ref name="de Armas 1994"/> In contrast, Tolkien's One Ring actively exerts an evil force that destroys the morality of the wearer.<ref name="Shadow of the Past" group=T/>

Der Ring des Gyges (Ferrara 16 Jh).jpg

The shepherd Gyges of Plato's Republic finds the magic ring, setting up a moral dilemma.<ref name="de Armas 1994"/> Ferrara, 16th century

Scholars including Frederick A. de Armas note parallels between Plato's and Tolkien's rings.<ref name="de Armas 1994"/><ref name="Neubauer 2021">Template:Cite book in Template:Harvnb</ref> De Armas suggests that both Bilbo and Gyges, going into deep dark places to find hidden treasure, may have "undergone a Catabasis", a psychological journey to the Underworld.<ref name="de Armas 1994">Template:Cite journal</ref>

Frederick A. de Armas's comparison of Plato's and Tolkien's rings<ref name="de Armas 1994"/>
Story element	Plato's Republic	Tolkien's Middle-earth
Ring's power	Invisibility	Invisibility, and corruption of the wearer
Discovery	Gyges finds ring in a deep chasm	Bilbo finds ring in a deep cave
First use	Gyges ravishes the Queen, kills the King, becomes King of Lydia (a bad purpose)	Bilbo puts ring on by accident, is surprised Gollum does not see him, uses it to escape danger (a good purpose)
Moral result	Total failure	Bilbo emerges strengthened

The Tolkien scholar Eric Katz writes that "Plato argues that such [moral] corruption will occur, but Tolkien shows us this corruption through the thoughts and actions of his characters".<ref name="Katz 2003"/> Plato argues that immoral life is no good as it corrupts one's soul. So, Katz states, according to Plato a moral person has peace and happiness, and would not use a Ring of Power.<ref name="Katz 2003"/> In Katz's view, Tolkien's story "demonstrate[s] various responses to the question posed by Plato: would a just person be corrupted by the possibility of almost unlimited power?"<ref name="Katz 2003"/> The question is answered in different ways: the monster Gollum is weak, quickly corrupted, and finally destroyed; Boromir, son of the Steward of Gondor, begins virtuous but like Plato's Gyges is corrupted "by the temptation of power"<ref name="Katz 2003"/> from the Ring, even if he wants to use it for good, but redeems himself by defending the hobbits to his own death; the "strong and virtuous"<ref name="Katz 2003"/> Galadriel, who sees clearly what she would become if she accepted the ring, and rejects it; the immortal Tom Bombadil, exempt from the Ring's corrupting power and from its gift of invisibility; Sam who in a moment of need faithfully uses the ring, but is not seduced by its vision of "Samwise the Strong, Hero of the Age"; and finally Frodo who is gradually corrupted, but is saved by his earlier mercy to Gollum, and Gollum's desperation for the Ring. Katz concludes that Tolkien's answer to Plato's "Why be moral?" is "to be yourself".<ref name="Katz 2003">Template:Cite book</ref>

Germanic legend and fairy taleEdit

Tolkien was certainly influenced by the Germanic legend: Andvaranaut is a magical ring that can give its wielder wealth, while Draupnir is a self-multiplying ring that holds dominion over all the rings it creates. Richard Wagner's opera series Der Ring des Nibelungen adapted Norse mythology to provide a magical but cursed golden ring.<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> Tolkien denied any connection, but scholars agreed that Wagner's Ring powerfully influenced Tolkien.<ref name="Arvidsson 2010"/> The scholar of religion Stefan Arvidsson writes that Tolkien's ring differs from Wagner's in being concerned with power for its own sake and that he turned one ring into many, an echo of the self-multiplying ring.<ref name="Arvidsson 2010">Template:Cite journal</ref>

"Magic rings are a frequent motif in fairy tales; they confer powers such as invisibility or flight; they can summon wish-granting djinns and dwarves", writes the Tolkien and feminist scholar Melanie Rawls. She adds that they "identify the enchanted princess, hold the tiny golden key to the secret room, give one the power to transform oneself into any form — animal, vegetable, or mineral: duck, lake, rock or tree on a plain, and so escape the ogre."<ref name="Rawls 1984">Template:Cite journal</ref> As Tolkien was well acquainted with fairy tales like The Brothers Grimm's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Jeanette White from Comic Book Resources suggested that his choice "to gift seven rings of power to the Dwarf Lords of the seven kingdoms is probably no accident".<ref name="CBR">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Atlas">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The nine rings for Mortal Men match the number of the Nazgûl. Edward Pettit, in Mallorn, states that nine is "the commonest 'mystic' number in Germanic lore". He quotes the "Nine Herbs Charm" from the Lacnunga, an Old English book of spells, suggesting that Tolkien may have made multiple uses of such spells to derive attributes of the Nazgûl:<ref name="Pettit 2002">Template:Cite journal</ref>

<poem>
against venom and vile things and all the loathly ones, that through the land rove, ... against nine fugitives from glory, against nine poisons and against nine flying diseases.</poem>{{#if:|{{#if:|}}

— {{#if:|, in }}Template:Comma separated entries
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AnalysisEdit

Plot device to core elementEdit

The One Ring first appeared in Tolkien's children's fantasy The Hobbit in 1937 as a plot device, a mysterious magic ring that the titular character had stumbled upon, but its origin was left unexplained.Template:Sfn Following the novel's success, Tolkien was persuaded by his publishers Allen & Unwin to write a sequel.<ref group=T>Template:Harvnb</ref>Template:Sfn Intending to give Bilbo another adventure, he instead devised a background story around the Ring with its power of invisibility, forming a framework for the new work.<ref group=T>Template:Harvnb</ref> He tied the Ring to mythical elements from the unfinished manuscripts for The Silmarillion to create an impression of depth in The Lord of the Rings.Template:Sfn Gollum's characterisation in The Hobbit was revised for the second edition to bring it into line with his portrayal in The Lord of the Rings as a being addicted to the One Ring.<ref name="The Hobbit 1" group=T>Template:Harvnb</ref>

Tolkien's conception of Ring-lore was closely linked to his development of the One Ring.Template:Sfn He initially made Sauron instrumental in forging the Rings.<ref group=T>Template:Harvnb</ref> He then briefly considered having Fëanor, creator of the Silmarils, forge the Rings of Power, under the influence of Morgoth, the first Dark Lord. He settled on Celebrimbor, a descendant of Fëanor, as the Ring's principal maker, under the tutelage of Sauron, Morgoth's chief servant.<ref group=T>Template:Harvnb</ref> While writing the lore behind the One Ring, Tolkien struggled with giving the Elven rings a "special status" – somehow linked to the One, and thus endangered by it, but also "unsullied", having no direct connection with Sauron.<ref name="Köberl 1">Template:Harvnb</ref> By the time he was writing the chapter "The Mirror of Galadriel", Tolkien had decided that the Seven and the Nine were made by the Elven-smiths of Eregion under Sauron's guidance and that the Three were made by Celebrimbor alone.<ref name="Köberl 1"/> He considered setting the Three free from the One when it was destroyed but dropped the idea.<ref name="Köberl 1"/> Tolkien's posthumous works, including The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales and The History of Middle-earth offer further glimpses of the creation of the Rings.<ref name="History of Galadriel and Celeborn" group=T/><ref group=T>Template:Harvnb</ref><ref group=T>Template:Harvnb</ref>

Jason Fisher, writing in Tolkien Studies, notes that Tolkien developed the names, descriptions and powers of the Three Rings late and slowly through many drafts of his narratives. In Fisher's view, Tolkien found it difficult to work these Rings both into the existing story of the One Ring, and into the enormous but Ring-free legendarium.<ref name="Fisher 2008">Template:Cite journal</ref> Some of the descriptions, such as that Vilya was the mightiest of the Three, and that Narya was called "The Great", were added at the galley proof stage, just before printing.<ref name="Fisher 2008"/>Template:Sfn The Rings had earlier been named Kemen, Ëar, and Menel, meaning the Rings of Earth, Sea, and Heaven.Template:Sfn

According to Johann Köberl, Tolkien struggled with the notion of a "special status" for the Elven-Rings, and considered having The Three set free when the One Ring was destroyed.<ref name="Köberl 1"/> In an unused draft by Tolkien, Galadriel counselled Celebrimbor to destroy all the Rings when Sauron's deception was revealed, but when he could not bear to ruin them, she suggested that the Three be hidden.<ref name="Three Rings 1" group=T/><ref name="Unfinished Tales 1" group=T>Template:Harvp</ref> According to Unfinished Tales, at the start of the War of the Elves and Sauron, Celebrimbor gave both Narya and Vilya to Gil-galad, High King of the Noldor. Gil-galad later entrusted Vilya to his lieutenant Elrond, and Narya to Círdan the Shipwright, Lord of the Havens of Mithlond and leader of the Falathrim or "People of the Shore".<ref name="Dickerson 2013">Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref> Tolkien suggested that Sauron did not discover where the Three were hidden, though he guessed that they were given to Gil-galad and Galadriel.<ref name="Unfinished Tales 1" group=T/> In the published The Lord of the Rings, Gil-galad received only Vilya, while Círdan was the direct recipient of Narya from Celebrimbor.

Tolkien noted in his letters that the primary power of the Three was to "the prevention and slowing of decay", which appealed to the Elves in their pursuit of preserving what they loved in Middle-earth.Template:Sfn<ref name="Tolkien 1" group=T>Template:Harvnb</ref> As changeless beings in a changing world, the Elves who remained in Middle-earth relied on the Three to delay the inevitable rise of the Dominion of Men.Template:Sfn<ref group=T>Template:Harvnb</ref><ref name="Fellowship 3" group=T/> Tolkien explained that the Elves can only be immortal as long as the world endures, leading them to be concerned with burdens of deathlessness in time and change. Since they wanted the bliss and perfect memory of Valinor, yet to remain in Middle-earth with their prestige as the fairest, as opposed to being at the bottom of the hierarchy in the Undying Lands, they became obsessed with "fading".<ref group="T" name="Letter 131" />

Power and moralityEdit

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According to the scholars of philosophy Gregory Bassham and Eric Bronson, the Rings of Power can be seen as a modern representation of the relationship between power and morality, since it portrays an idea that "absolute power is in conflict with behaviour that respects the wishes and needs of others".<ref name="Bassham 1">Template:Harvnb</ref> 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 its power entirely.<ref name="Bassham 1"/> They also noted 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 that will determine their fate.Template:Sfn The science fiction author Isaac Asimov described the Rings of Power as symbols of industrial technology.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn While Tolkien denied that The Lord of the Rings was an allegory, he stated that it could be applied to situations and described it as an examination of "placing power in external objects".Template:Sfn

CatholicismEdit

Gwyneth Hood, writing in Mythlore, explores two Catholic elements in the story of the Three Rings: the angelic and sacrificial aspects of the Elves in the War of the Ring. To the Hobbits of the Fellowship of the Ring, the bearers of the Elven-Rings appear as angelic messengers, offering wise counsel. To save Middle-earth, they have to accept the plan to destroy the One Ring, and with it, the power of the Three Rings, which embody much of their own power. Hood notes that while Gandalf, as one of the supernatural Maiar sent from Valinor, is "remarkably unlike an elf",<ref name="Hood 1993"/> he is the character who most closely combines the angelic and the sacrificial among the wielders of the Three Rings.<ref name="Hood 1993">Template:Cite journal</ref> The poet W. H. Auden, an early supporter of Lord of the Rings, wrote in the Tolkien Journal that good triumphs over evil in the War of the Ring, but the Three Rings lose their power, as Galadriel had prophesied: "Yet if you succeed, then our power is diminished, and Lothlórien will fade, and the tides of time will sweep it away".<ref name="Auden 1967">Template:Cite journal</ref> Hood further writes that Tolkien was suggesting technology, such as the making of Rings of Power, is in itself neither good nor evil; both the Elves and Sauron (with his armies of orcs) use that technology, as they also both make and wear swords and mail armour, and shoot with bows.<ref name="Hood 1993"/>

In adaptationsEdit

File:Rings of Power adaptation.jpg

Rings of Power and their wearers as depicted in Peter Jackson's The Fellowship of the Ring (above, from left)—The Three Rings being worn by the Elves Gil-galad, Círdan (middle) and Galadriel; The Dwarves raising their Seven Rings; (below) The Nine Kings of Men wielding their Rings

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 rotoscoping.Template:Sfn

The forging of the Rings of Power opens the prologue of Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings film series in the 2001 The Fellowship of the Ring. The Three Elven Rings are shown being cast using a cuttlebone mould, an ancient casting technique. These were given to Gil-galad (portrayed by Mark Ferguson), Círdan (Michael Elsworth), and Galadriel (Cate Blanchett).<ref name="Looper 1"/> The Tolkien illustrator Alan Lee, employed as a conceptual designer for the films, had a cameo as one of the nine human Ring-bearers who later became the Nazgûl. Sauron (Sala Baker) is seen forging the One Ring at the chamber of Mount Doom.<ref name="The Book Report 1"/> The One Ring was 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, Galadriel properly introduces Nenya, the Ring of Adamant, to Frodo. In the concluding film, The Return of the King (2003), the final wearers of the Three Rings—Gandalf (Ian McKellen), Elrond (Hugo Weaving), and Galadriel, appear openly at the Grey Havens wearing the Three, with Galadriel proclaiming the end of its power and the beginning of the Dominion of Men.<ref name="Screen Rant 1"/>

Four Rings of Power appeared in Jackson's The Hobbit film series. In An Unexpected Journey (2012), the One Ring was found by Bilbo Baggins (portrayed by Martin Freeman).<ref name="CraveOnline 1"/> In the extended version of the succeeding film The Desolation of Smaug (2013), Gandalf discovers that Sauron took the Ring of Thrór (a Dwarf-Lord) from Thráin (Antony Sher), who revealed in a flashback scene his possession of the Ring during a siege of Moria.<ref name="TheOneRing.net 1"/> In the concluding film 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.<ref name="Smithsonian 1"/>

In the 2014 video game Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, the wraith-like spirit of Celebrimbor (fused with the body of the Ranger Talion) recalls how Sauron had deceived him into forging the Rings of Power.<ref name="Mashable 1"/> In the sequel, Middle-earth: Shadow of War, Celebrimbor forges a new Ring of Power unsullied by Sauron's influence.<ref name="Forbes 1"/>

The 2022 television series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power depicts the forging of the Rings of Power.<ref name="Title">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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