The original Lord of the Rings trilogy is widely regarded as one of the greatest cinematic pieces ever created. Similarly, the Lord of the Rings book series is a classic piece of literature that remains a favorite of many and an excellent series. This makes the One Ring one of the most well-known power items in both cinema and literature.
Because the One Ring is so powerful and universally known, there are a lot of questions about its origins and abilities. This list answers some of the most asked and commonly googled questions about the One Ring and how it came to be.
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How Was The One Ring Created?
The One Ring was forged in the second age by Sauron. The elves of Eregion were master smiths led by the ruler elf Celebrimbor and they created the rings of power under Sauron’s tutelage. They forged nineteen of the twenty rings of power with Sauron himself forging the final One Ring.
The elves of Eregion were manipulated by Sauron into making these nineteen rings of power not understanding they were going to be used for evil. They also did not know of his plans to make the One Ring that would rule over all of the rings they made and distributed to the other species living in Middle Earth.
While the other nineteen rings were made by forge in Eregion, the One Ring was forged by Sauron in the fires of Mount Doom. Sauron had a hand in forging seventeen rings, sixteen of which were gifted to others in an attempt to control the elves and take over Middle Earth. The elves of Eregion, who had been manipulated by Sauron’s disguise as Annotar, did not know about the final One Ring or what it would be used to do.
While Sauron kept the One Ring for himself, the others were distributed among the elves, men, and dwarves. Three were given to the elf kings, seven to the dwarf-lords, and nine to men. These numbers can easily be remembered by using Tolkien’s own poem about the rings:
What Is The One Ring Poem?
“Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,
Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,
Nine for the mortal men doomed to die,
One for the Dark Lord on his throne”
The forging of the one ring in the fires of Mount Doom made it incredibly powerful on its own, but Sauron wanted the Ring to be more powerful and filled with darkness. To achieve that goal he used a large portion of his own soul to concentrate inside the ring and fill it with power. This also tied Sauron’s life to the ring so that if the ring was destroyed he would be as well.
Sauron forged the One Ring in the year 1600 of the Second Age of Middle Earth. He created the Ring to be an extension of his power and help him control the elf kings. The Ring was a work of master smith that was the only one able to create such a ring or destroy it.
What Can Destroy The One Ring?
The use of the strong fires of Mount Doom in the Rings forging made them also the only fires that could fully destroy the ring, and Sauron. The only other possible way to destroy it was to find a smith as great as Sauron which did not seem possible. That was one of the reasons Sauron made his fortress so close to Mount Doom and why he used those terrible fires to forge his Ring of Power.
The Rings Purpose
The original purpose for the One Ring was the power to be able to control the other rings that the elves of Eregion had made and, therefore, the wearers of the rings. Namely, Sauron wanted to control the elf kings and had the rings made in order to do so. The One Ring called to and manipulated the lesser rings and their wearers so they would be susceptible to Sauron’s power and manipulation.
What Did The Ring Do To Each Race?
Luckily for every other species and person except for Sauron, as soon as Sauron put on the One Ring the elf kings were able to sense his presence and removed their rings immediately. This foiled Sauron’s plans very quickly and left him with a very evil ring that held a large portion of his soul and did not successfully allow him to take over Middle Earth.
The dwarves did not sense Sauron through their rings but they were too stubborn and strong to be controlled by Sauron through the will of their rings. This failure made Sauron begin to draw the rings back to him through the use of the One Ring which called to the lesser rings. Most of the lesser rings were lost to time but a few of them made it back to Sauron and were used to increase his power.
After this failure, the purpose of The Ring was to control others, strengthen Sauron, and lead people to him. When Sauron lost The Ring at the end of the Second Age it was his third military defeat while in possession of The Ring. This showed that The Ring was best used to manipulate individuals and did not have power over large armies or increase Sauron’s power enough to make him undefeatable.
How is the One Ring So Powerful? What Are The One Rings Powers?
The fact that the One Ring is not seen doing much that is actually a show of power makes it seem less powerful than it truly is. The full scope of the Ring’s power remains unknown as it is seen presenting different abilities depending on the person wielding it and their individual needs.
What Does The One Ring Do?
The main power of the Ring is the ability to manipulate the brain of its wearer to return it to Sauron and become a darker being. The Ring’s original power and purpose was to control the other rings of power which proved fruitless.
The Ring was also able to bend others to the will of its owner whether they were wearing the rings of power or not. It seemed only Sauron could access this power as only he knew the true scope of power the Ring possessed. It is also suggested that this power is reliant on the power of the one wearing the Ring so it is likely no one else who wore the ring was powerful enough to wield that kind of manipulative power.
The Ring was able to increase the lifespan of anyone who was in possession of it seemingly indefinitely. This is shown by the incredibly long lifespan of both Bilbo and Gollum. The other power that seems to be bestowed on every person who wears it is the ability to walk between worlds while they wear it and become invisible to mortals as long as it is on their finger.
All of the rest of the abilities the Ring displays seem to depend on the person wielding the Ring and their needs and abilities. Possibly the most power we see the Ring exhibit is while Samwise Gamgee is in possession of it.
Samwise is able to understand the dark language of the Orcs, have his hearing abilities increase dramatically, and he appears as a menacing orc scary enough to frighten other orcs away all while he holds the Ring. Frodo also appears as a glowing white figure at one point while he holds the Ring suggesting that the Ring is able to put some sort of illusion on its wearer.
The Ring was not able to protect its wearer from any physical harm. This is shown both when Frodo is stabbed by the Witch King and when his finger is bitten off by Gollum. Similarly, Sauron was still mostly destroyed when he was in possession of the Ring.
How Does The One Ring Fit Everyone?
The Ring is also able to grow and shrink at will. This is shown is its ability to fit any of the people who put it on perfectly no matter their size difference. It is also shown growing too bit to fit Gollum so that it falls off his finger when it sees an opportunity to escape.
Is The One Ring Sentient?
It seemed that the One Ring had some form of sentience. This is shown in its ability to grow in size to escape from Gollum and the way it calls its wearer to evil and to go to Sauron. The main danger of the Ring was the inevitable call to the darkness that everyone who wore the Ring felt no matter how pure their intentions and how it could eventually warp anyone to do evil if they wore it for long enough.
All things considered, the power of the One Ring seems to lie more in its ability to tempt every person who comes in contact with it. As well as its constant desire to be returned to its master which it enforces by leading its wearer toward dark thoughts and selfish desires. That is what made the One Ring so dangerous and so few people able to wield it for any length of time.
Who Wore The One Ring Of Power?
There were not very many people who were able to successfully wield the Ring and even fewer people were allowed to actually wear it. Every time someone was tempted to take the Ring it seemed a clear sign they should not be the one to hold it and they were quickly removed from Frodo’s presence. Even Gandalph was too afraid to hold the Ring out of fear of how it could tempt him to warp his abilities.
According to the books, only nine people held the One Ring for any length of time. Several of those nine only held the Ring for a few seconds before it was taken from them or they gave it to someone else. The very small number of people who actually used and wielded the Ring is six people.
How Long Did Sauron Have The Ring?
The person who had the Ring for the longest period of time was, of course, Sauron. He had it from its time of creation, 1600 in the Second Age, until he lost it at the end of the Second Age, 3441. That means Sauron possessed the One Ring for one thousand eight hundred and fifty years.
After Sauron was defeated Isildur took the One Ring. He held it from the defeat of Sauron until the second year of the Third Age which amounts to about two years. After that, it was lost in the great Anduin River for two thousand four hundred and sixty-one years.
How Long Did Smeagol, Or Gollum, Have The Ring?
The next person, Deagol, to hold the Ring fished it out of the river and held it for a couple of minutes before he was murdered. The one who murdered him was his cousin Smeagol, Gollum, who then held the Ring for four hundred and seventy-eight years. The Ring abandoned Gollum when it saw its chance to get out of the Misty Mountains by becoming too big for his finger and rolling away to its next owner.
How Long Did Bilbo Have The Ring?
Bilbo Baggins was the person the Ring rolled to in an attempt to get away from Gollum and closer to its master. Bilbo held the Ring for sixty years before willingly giving it away to his nephew. He is one of the only people to ever give up the Ring of their own will.
How Long Did Frodo Have the Ring?
Frodo then held the Ring for the next seventeen years and six months. In that time a few other people held the Ring out of necessity but Frodo did most of the carrying until the Ring was finally destroyed in the year 3019 of the Third Age.
While Frodo held the Ring for those seventeen years, a few other people did hold it for a few moments. Gandalph held the Ring for a few seconds out of necessity. Tom Bombadil was the only person Frodo gave the Ring to with no hesitation and he seemed to feel none of the effects of the Ring before handing it back to Frodo a few moments later.
How Long Did Sam Have The Ring?
The final person to hold the Ring was Samwise who held it for one day as he tried to get it back to Frodo. In that time he used the Ring pretty much constantly and was able to give it back to Frodo when he found him and rescued him. After that, Sam did not carry the Ring again and Frodo kept it for the rest of the story.
Who Can Resist The One Ring?
The very small number of people who held the Ring and how most of them were affected by its power show the true manipulative power behind the Ring. Tom Bombadil seemed to be the only person in the books who was able to hold the Ring with no temptation to use it or keep it. Even Frodo, who was able to destroy the Ring, was tempted to keep it several times and was very possessive of it every time someone else saw it or held it.
5. The One Ring’s Appearance
What Is The One Ring Made Out Of? Can The One Ring Be Destroyed With Dragon Fire?
The Lord of the Rings films kept very true to the description of the One Ring in Tolkien’s books. In the books, the Ring is described as appearing to be made of gold. Despite this, it is impervious to all kinds of heat and damage. It is mentioned that this includes the heat of dragon fire which is supposed to be able to destroy anything.
It was a plain ring with no gems just like the other rings of power. It did, however, have text inscribed in elvish runes that only appeared when the Ring was exposed to heat. These runes were part of the rhyme made to describe the rings of power and their purpose.
They were also part of the spell Sauron uttered when he created the One Ring. Though the inscription is written in Elvish runes it is actually part of the Dark Language which is spoken in Mordor among the dark creatures who live there. This is yet another piece of evidence that shows the One Ring is made by evil and meant to do evil.
What Language is The One Ring Written In?
The reason it was written in Elvish is that all forms of writing at the time were invented by elves. So even the Dark Language had to be written in Elvish on the One Ring. This is an excellent example of how powerful the elves had always been and why Sauron knew he would have to be able to control them if he wanted to control Middle Earth.
What Does the One Ring Say?
In English
The words inscribed on the Ring state “One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them”. Those are the words that Sauron said as he created the Ring and the words that Celebrimbor overheard that let him know Sauron’s true plan. The true purpose of the Ring is revealed in these words that are shown only by fire.
The One Ring Text In Black Speech
In the original Dark Language, the words say “Ash nazg durbatuluk, ash nazg gimbatul, ash nazg thrakatuluk, agh burzum-ishi krimpatul”. This is how they are pronounced when reading aloud and are translated into English.
How Was The One Ring Destroyed? When Was it Destroyed?
Frodo and Sam marched to Mount Doom over a period of several days. The whole journey took seventeen years with many stops and adventures on the way. They finally reached the top of Mount Doom on March 25th in the year 3019 of the Third Age.
When they finally reached Mount Doom, they once again encountered Gollum. Gollum was determined to regain the ring he had loved for so long and lost all of his humanity too. Sam and Frodo were able to fight him off and reach the top of Mount Doom.
However, over their long journey, the Ring had been slowly corrupting Frodo’s mind. When Sam and Frodo finally were in the place they had come so far to get, Frodo decided to claim the Ring for his own and refused to destroy it. As soon as Frodo put the Ring on his finger, Sauron sensed him and sent his Nazgul to retrieve the Ring and kill Frodo.
Fortunately, Gollum is incredibly hard to get rid of and had survived his earlier defeat. In his desperation to get the Ring back, he attacked Frodo once again. This time he succeeded in biting off Frodo’s finger and the Ring with it.
In his joy at being reunited with the Ring, Gollum lept and danced with joy. This led to him taking a misstep and falling into Mount Doom with the Ring still clutched in his hand. Finally, the Ring was destroyed and Frodo’s quest was over.
When the Ring was destroyed Sauron was destroyed with it. As so much of his soul was contained in the Ring it was impossible for him to live once it was destroyed. With the unmaking of the Ring, Sauron was defeated and destroyed forever.
The act of Gollum falling into Mount Doom with the One Ring is said to be one of Eru’s, the creator and god of Middle Earth, only interventions into the goings-on of Middle Earth. This shows the level of importance destroying the Ring, and Sauron held to the whole of living creatures and the fate of Middle Earth.
With the destruction of the Ring, the war was over. Sauron had been defeated forever and all of his minions left dead or without a master. This only left the heroes of The Lord of The Rings to go back home and find their place in Middle Earth.
Conclusion
The One Ring was made by the Dark Lord Sauron in the fires of Mount Doom. It was made in an effort to control the wearers of the other rings of power, but it did not work for that purpose. While making it, Sauron put the majority of his dark soul into the Ring which tied his life to it.
The Ring showed many abilities throughout the books. The most notable of these and the one that made it so dangerous was its ability to manipulate anyone who wore it into becoming darker and eventually taking over their mind. This is the reason so few could wear it but so many wanted to hold it and possess its power.
The Ring was destroyed the same way it was made. It was thrown into the fires of Mount Doom along with the creature who loved it the most. With that Sauron was destroyed and the war ended, leaving Middle Earth to re-build.
What Does The One Ring Symbolize?
The One Ring is a clear demonstration of how the promise of power can be corrupting even if you have seen what that power has done to others. Tolkien wrote one of the greatest cursed objects in history into existence and no one will be forgetting the One Ring of Power anytime soon.