Editing Rings of Power (section)

==Description==

{{anchor|Ring Verse|Rhyme of the Rings}}

{{Quote box
 |title  = The Ring Verse
 |quote  = <poem>
''[[Three Rings]] for the [[Elf (Tolkien)|Elven]]-kings under the sky,''
''Seven for the [[Dwarf (Tolkien)|Dwarf]]-lords in their halls of stone,''
''Nine for Mortal [[Man (Tolkien)|Men]] doomed to die,''
''One for the [[Sauron|Dark Lord]] on his dark throne;''
''In the Land of [[Mordor]] where the Shadows lie.''
''One Ring to rule them all, one Ring to find them,''
''One Ring to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them;''
''In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.''
</poem>
 |author = — [[J.R.R. Tolkien]]
 |source = ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'', [[Epigraph (literature)|Epigraph]]
}}
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 One ===

{{main|One Ring}}

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.{{sfn|Drout|2006|p=573}}<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>{{harvnb|Carpenter|2023|loc=Letter #131 to [[Milton Waldman]], late 1951 }}</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 Three ===

{{Rings of Power|upright=2.5|caption=The Rings of Power, their stones, and their bearers,<ref name="Rings of Power and the Third Age" group=T/> with clickable links}}

Named after the three [[classical element|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 in Middle-earth|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>{{harvp|Tolkien|1977|loc="Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age": "Now these were the Three that had last been made, and they possessed the greatest powers"}}</ref> They are:

* {{Visible anchor|Narya}} (the Ring of Fire, the Red Ring), from  [[Quenya]] ''nár'', "fire",<ref group=T>{{harvp|Tolkien|1987|loc=entry "nar"}}</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 [[Wizards (Tolkien)|Wizard]] [[Gandalf]], who received it from Círdan at the Grey Havens during the Third Age. <ref name="Three Rings 1" group=T/>
* {{Visible anchor|Nenya}} (the Ring of Water, the White Ring, the Ring of Adamant), from Quenya ''nén'', "water",<ref group=T>{{harvp|Tolkien|1987|loc=entry "nen"}}</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 [[Adamant|a type of stone]], usually a diamond, and "stubbornly resolute", a description that equally well suits the quality of Galadriel's resistance to Sauron.{{sfn|Hammond|Scull|2005|p=324}}
* {{Visible anchor|Vilya}} (the Ring of Air, the Blue Ring), from Quenya ''vilya'', "air",<ref group=T>{{harvp|Tolkien|1955|loc="Writing", "The Fëanorian Letters"}}</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 Seven ===

{{redirect|Seven Rings|the Ariana Grande song|7 Rings}}

Sauron recovered the Seven Rings from information provided by Celebrimbor, and gave them to the leaders of the seven kindreds of the [[Dwarves in Middle-earth|Dwarves]]: Durin's Folk (Longbeards), Firebeards, Broadbeams, Ironfists, Stiffbeards, Blacklocks, and Stonefoots,{{sfn|Strachan|Moseley|2017|p=62}} though a tradition of Durin's Folk claimed that Durin received his ring from the Elven-smiths.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1955|loc=Appendix A: III. "Durin's Folk"}}</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 (Tolkien)|Moria]] in exchange for information leading to the recovery of the One Ring, but Dain refused.<ref name="Council of Elrond" group=T/>

=== The Nine ===

{{see|Nazgûl}}

Sauron gave Nine of the Rings of Power to leaders of [[Men in Middle-earth|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>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1955|loc=Appendix B "The Tale of Years"}}</ref>