Editing Rings of Power (section)

=== 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/>