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The Lord of the Ringsis an immensely popular franchise, with roots back in the 1950s. Within the original books, as well as other books written by Tolkien, we learn of the Great Rings of Power, with one of them being a central object in The Lord of the Rings tale.
So, what are these rings, and how many of them actually exist? Here, we are going to answer that. We’ll be taking a look at how many rings exist in Middle Earth, as well as what their purpose is. This will also briefly look at some of Middle Earth’s history.
This will contain Tolkien lore-related spoilers!
How Many Rings Were Created?
In total,there were 20 Great Rings that were made.We know, that’s a lot. If you aren’t too familiar with Tolkien, then this may come as a surprise for you. For fans of the Peter Jackson films, you may remember the opening of The Fellowship of the Ring, where Galadriel does a voice-over talking about the rings.
Three were given to the Elves, immortal, wisest… fairest of all beings.
Seven to the Dwarf Lords, great miners and craftsmen of the mountain halls.
And Nine…nine rings were gifted to the race of Men who, above all else, desire power.
After this, Galadriel explains that another ring was made by Sauron, which he"poured his cruelty [and] his malice" into.
In the books, we get a similar description, which contains one of the most famous Tolkien lines out there.
Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,
Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,
Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die,
One for the 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
So, with these accounts lining up, we know thatthere were 19 rings made for those within Middle Earth, but one was made separate from the rest meant to “rule them all”.By this, we can also safely assume that it was the most powerful of all 20 rings.
All 19 rings were made with gems, butthe One Ring is the only one with no adornments (besides an inscription).
Why Were The Great Rings Made?
The Great Rings were made by Elven-smithsin an area of Middle Earth called Eregion, which is near Moria. Through Tolkien’s writing, we can learn that the Elves of Eregion made these rings to maintain the beauty of their lands.
The elves made the rings with the knowledge of Annatar,who was an emissary from the Valar (these are God-like figures who basically created the world). Unfortunately,Annatar was actually Sauron in disguise,so he essentiallytempted the elves to make powerful rings,but didn’t mention that they would beruled by the one he would go on to make in secret.
Each ring could prevent decay and change, which meant that the wearers also gained some power. This ring-creation process was no easy task though;creation began in Second Age (S.A.) 1500 and lasted until S.A. 1590.Ten years later, inS.A. 1600,Sauron finally created the One Ring in Mount Doom.
The Three Rings
The Three Rings were the three given to the elves. While still under the control of the One Ring, they were theonly three rings not made with the direct help of Sauron.Below, you can find each of the three rings, and who the bearer is.
Nenya (Ring of Water)
Narya (Ring of Fire)
Cirdan (then given to Gandalf)
Vilya (Ring of Sapphire)
Gil-galad (then given to Elrond)
How Many Rings Were Destroyed?
In total, 20 rings is a lot, so where are they now? First, let’s look at the nine rings that were given to mortal men.All nine of these rings consumed the wearer,turning them into Ringwraiths. These are prominent figures within The Lord of the Rings, often blocking the way forward for Frodo.The nine rings were taken back by Sauron,but the humans remained as wraiths.
What about the other ten rings though? The three held by Galadriel, Gandalf, and Elrond remained in their hands, butfour of the seven rings for the Dwarves were destroyed,and Sauron eventually obtained the other three.
As we know,the One Ring was found by Bilbo and eventually taken to Mount Doom and destroyed.Once it was destroyed,all other rings became powerless.So overall, the Three Rings remain, andthe other 12 are powerless and lost to time.
