The Rings of Power in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium are magical rings created by Sauron or by the Elves of Eregion under Sauron's tutelage. Three were intended for the Elves, Seven for Dwarves, Nine for Men, and one, the One Ring, was created by Sauron himself in Mount Doom.
Sauron intended the rings to subvert these races of Middle-earth to his power, since the One Ring was the Ruling Ring that controlled the others. Sauron's plan was not completely successful; for the Elves hid their rings and did not use them while Sauron held the One, and the Dwarves' rings did not respond to the One's control as Sauron expected. But the nine mortal men who wore the Nine became the Nazgûl, Sauron's most dreaded weapons.
Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings is largely concerned with the attempt of Sauron to recover the One and the efforts of the West to forestall him by destroying it. The One is destroyed near the end of the War of the Ring when it falls into the Cracks of Doom in Mount Doom. Tolkien is not entirely clear about what happened to the other rings, though he implied that the power of any that survived came to an end. After the War of the Ring, the three Elven Rings were taken by their bearers over the sea to the Undying Lands.
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Famous quotes containing the words rings and/or power:
“We will have rings and things, and fine array,
And kiss me, Kate, we will be married o’ Sunday.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“Only that type of story deserves to be called moral that shows us that one has the power within oneself to act, out of the conviction that there is something better, even against one’s own inclination.”
—Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (1749–1832)