Lord of the Rings: Were there more Rings?

Whether it was discovering the adventure page-by-page through J.R.R. Tolkien’s original books or by Peter Jackson’s trilogy (extended edition, duh), fans can attest that The Lord of the Rings is the one franchise to rule them all. Although, not everyone could tell you how many Rings there actually were and what they could offer their wearers besides invisibility…

History of the Rings of Power (Kind of)

The Rings have a long and complex history that is woven deep into the world of Middle Earth. Tolkien was famously known for plotting out every detail in his world, with a majority of it never even making it into the Hobbit or the Trilogy. In the introduction of the movies, we are introduced to the Ring Rhyme to keep track of everything:

So if you weren’t counting, we’ve got your back. The Ring Rhyme tells us that there are a total of 20 Rings of Power. Three for the Elves, seven for the Dwarves, Nine for us, and One for the Big Bad. That’s great and all, but you might be asking yourself “Where did these rings come from?”, “Who made these rings?”. Let’s go back to the Second Age in the world of Middle Earth.

When Sauron wasn’t building Barad-dûr or ruling over the Orcs (which Tolkien invented btw), Trolls, or other nasty creatures that lurked in the dark, he was playing dress up. What I mean by that is Sauron went before the Elves in a disguise and called himself an emissary named Annatar or “Lord of Gifts”, as translated from Elvish.

Not long after his introduction, Sauron wiggled his way into the forge of the master blacksmiths. He would guide them in the way of arts and magic while also gaining their trust. This was all in order to be able to obtain his overall goal: create a ring to bind the Elves of Middle Earth under his will.

Over time, he convinced the master blacksmiths to forge the Rings of Power by promising the Elves power beyond their imagination. The blacksmiths practiced and labored (making Lesser Rings” that we don’t know much about) until they had enough prractice to make the infamous Rings of Power. While they were being forged, Sauron would secretly infuse the Rings with potent spells and at the same time, create the One Ring (which is the same one from the movies) to control the will of the wearers. If you want to find out more of the finer details, I recommend checking out the Silmarillion online here, or the wiki that fans have worked so hard to keep updated.

Now that we know the important tidbits, lets go on to the magical Rings themselves.

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The Three Rings

Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,

Most important to Sauron’s Plans, he wanted the Elves under his control as he viewed them as the most powerful race, and after conquering them, he’d be able to gain control of the other races of Middle Earth with ease.

The Three Rings that were created for the Elves were also the most powerful. While granting great powers, they would cause the Elves to be overly nostalgic and procrastinate. They were named; Narya, Nenya, and Vilya.

Narya

Depicted as a ring with a gold band adorned with a red ruby, Narya is also called the Ring of Fire of the Red Ring. It was given to the Lord of Havens of Mithlond, an Elf named Círdan. Círdan would later give this ring to Gandalf himself, telling him that it had the power to inspire others to resist tyranny, domination, and despair. Which totally fits with the interactions Gandalf has with the other characters. The ring would lose its power and be taken to the Undying lands by Gandalf after the One Ring was destroyed by Frodo.

Nenya

Described as a ring made out of mithrill (a Lord of the Rings metal that is incredibly strong) and set with a white stone that is highly suggested to be diamond, it is also called the Ring of Water, the White Ring, and the Ring of Adamant.

Given to Galadriel of Lothlórien, its powers is said to be that of preservation, protection, and concealment from evil. The ring would lose its power and be taken to the Undying lands by Galandriel after the One Ring was destroyed by Frodo.

Vilya

Described as the most powerful of the three Rings, the golden ring with a blue sapphire was also called the Ring of Air, the Blue Ring, the Dominant Ring, and the Ring of Sapphire.

The ring was given to an Elven king by the name of Gil-galad. He would wield and protect the ring until his death in the War of the Last Alliance, where it would be passed onto Elrond.

The powers of Vilya are not as well known as the other two Elvish Rings, but it is thought to have the power to heal and to preserve (and possibly foresight?). Although none are confirmed in the books, it would have the same fate as the other two, by being taken to the Undying lands after Frodo destroys the One Ring.

The Seven Rings

Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,

Given to the Dwarf-lords, there is a sparse amount that we know. What we do know is that the Dwarves used their Rings to build up their wealth and riches. Surprisingly, the Rings had very little effect on the wearers. This was probably due in part to the Dwarves natural heartiness and constitution. Although, there is also some discussion that it also increased their life spans, so hey, thats a plus.

I’m sad to say that this doesn’t meant that the Dwarves didn’t get off Scott free. Those that wore the Rings were said to be afflicted by intense greed that would eventually bring the to ruin (aka the plot to The Hobbit and the dreaded “dragon sickness”).

In the end, four of the Rings were said to be consumed in dragon fire during the War of the Rings and the rest were acquired by Sauron but never mentioned again.

The Nine Rings

Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die,

Similar to the Rings belonging to the Dwarves, we aren’t exactly sure what they’re supposed to look like. On the other hand, we know A LOT about what happens to those who decide to wear them.

Each of the men acquired great wealth and power, became powerful Sorcerers, and had eternal life. One of the other side effects of the Rings is that it caused the men to become permanently invisible. Only becoming visible to those who wear the One Ring. Overtime, they lost their ability to resist evil and life became unendurable. This would lead to them become Sauron’s enslaved immortal servants. Their bodies would slowly become the Ringwraiths (also known as the Nazgûl) that we are familiar with today.

Although, in terms of familiarity, Tolkien left the identities of the Ringwraiths to be lost to time. The only two that we know for a fact is the Witch-king of Angmar, the leader of the Ringwraiths. The other is Khamûl, acting as second-in-command.

Another thing left to be lost to time is what happened to the nine Rings themselves. A lot of discussion out there mentions that, among other theories, they were sent to be hidden within Barad-dûr, along with the three Dwarven Rings.

The One Ring

One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne;

The reputation alone precedes this Ring. As mentioned prior, it’s main power was to allow Sauron to control the other races of Middle Earth, with the fun bonus that it grants the user invisibility!

Originally, the 19 other Rings were supposed to be given to all Elves. This plan was abandoned after the Elves discovered Sauron’s betrayal. He had to switch to Plan B: influence all the other races instead.

In order for the plan to be successful, he had to make sure the Rings contained a ton of firepower. Therefore, Sauron put a lot of his own power into the One Ring. What was created was a ring with a simple golden band (which can grow or shrink to fit the wearer), invulnerability to most destruction, and the power to rule the world.

With so much of Saurons essence being infused into the Ring, the item developed its own will that it used to corrupt those who wore it, both physically and mentally (a good example is Gollum). Those who wore it wanted to bring it back to it’s original master, a direct effect that the Ring willed to its wearers. The only solution is what the Trilogy was all about: form a fellowship to throw the Ring into Mount Doom.

In the end, when the Ring was destroyed, we are told that the Rings all lost their powers and Barad-dûr fell. This was what confirmed that Sauron was good for good, and the Third Age in the Lord of the Rings came to an end.

Lord of the Rings 5e

We recently stumbled upon a 5e companion guide here, this is what inspired us to write this article. If you have given it a go, let us know in the comments below! For now, check out some of our other articles here.

Resources:

https://theportalist.com/what-are-the-rings-of-power

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rings_of_Power

https://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Ring_Verse

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