The One Ring

The One Ring (also The Master Ring) was a powerful ancient artefact created by the Dark Lord Sauron in the Second Age, after having participated in the crafting of the Rings of Power. Binding much of his strength to the Ring, Sauron intended to use it to overcome the minds of the other Ring-bearers, and so enslave the Free People of Middle Earth.

## Description and powers

Unlike the other Rings of Power, the One Ring appeared as an unadorned, smooth gold Ring. Only when exposed to heat and fire would it reveal its inscription:

> One Ring to Rule them All, One Ring to Find Them, One Ring to Bring Them All, and in the Darkness Bind Them.
>
>

However, no fire could harm or indeed even heat the One Ring, apart from when Sauron donned it on his fingers, which were burning hot. In fact, the Ring was impervious to all damage, apart from that of the fires of Mount Doom where it was forged.

The Ring had a will of its own, and wished to return to its master, using its power to change size so as to slip off of its bearer's person at the opportune moment.

A person who bore the Ring could more easily dominate and command others; for instance, Sauron used this power to help convince the Númenóreans to attack Valinor, and Boromir desired to use this power to gain loyal subjects who would attack Mordor. The Ring also allowed its bearer to see and control the thoughts of anyone who bore any other Ring of Power.

When Men wore the Ring, they would be partly "shifted" out of the physical realm into the wraith-world. A side effect (but usually the first noticed) of the Ring was that it made the wearer invisible to most inhabitants of the physical realm (but highly visible to the Nazgûl), it dimmed the wearer's sight, and it sharpened his hearing. When Men wore the ring, only their faint and shaky shadow could be seen, and only in the full light of the sun. This "shadow world" was the world which Wraiths inhabited, but also where the Elves lived at the same time as the normal world and held great power, as was evidenced by Frodo viewing Arwen while passing into the Shadow World. If a bearer managed to consciously subdue the Ring's will with his own, he could wield the powers that Sauron had before he lost the Ring; notably, he could control the will of others.

Part of the nature of the Ring was that it slowly and inevitably corrupted its wearer, regardless of any intentions to the contrary. Whether this was specifically designed into the Ring's magic or was simply an artefact of its evil origins is unknown. (Sauron might be expected to endow his One Ring with such a property, but he probably never intended anyone besides himself to wear it. It may be a side-effect of the portion of Sauron's will that lies within the Ring, influencing the wearer.) Part of its essential deceit was filling minds with imaginations of supreme power For this reason, the Wise, including Gandalf, Elrond and Galadriel, refused to wield it in their own defence, but instead determined that it must be destroyed.

It appears that Hobbits, being more pure of heart than Men and far less powerful than Elves, were the ideal vessels to resist its seductive power; this explains why Frodo and Bilbo bore it for long periods of time with very little ill effect; while Sam wore it, his mind was filed with heroic images, but he rejected them; even Gollum had not turned into a Wraith after 500 years of bearing the Ring.

## History

### Creation

Under the fair guise of Annatar, Sauron convinced Celebrimbor and his people, the Elven smiths of Eregion, to forge the Rings of Power. Through their partnership and working on many Lesser Rings as well sixteen Rings of Power (to be distributed among the Lords of the Free People of Middle Earth) he perfected the craft and left in secret to his land of Mordor.

While Celebrimbor made three more Rings for the Elf-Lords, Sauron drew his own blood - and with it, much of his strength - and poured it into the Ring. It served to maintain his life-force but also granted him control over all the other Rings, expect the the three that Celebrimbor now made independently of him. Indeed, it was when Sauron first wore his new Ring that Celebrimbor percieved his true identity and purpose, withholding the existing Rings from him.

### The Dark Days

Sauron went to war against Celebrimbor to retrieve the other Rings. This war, the War of the Elves and Sauron destroyed Eregion and devastated much of Eriador. Sauron conquered and was able to claim all the Rings of Power (except the Three) and distribute them. He was driven back from Eriador, but continued to control most of Middle Earth, including Rhun and Harad, ushering the era known as the Dark Days. He raised massive armies of Orcs, Trolls, and Men, chiefly Easterlings and Southrons.

The power of the Ring allowed Sauron to link with it some of his works, such as Barad-dûr. With the Ring he controlled the Nine Rings that were given to nine mortal Men, who were corrupted and turned into the Nazgûl, his chief servants. However, he was unable to control the Seven Rings of the Dwarf-lords, because of their different, more hearty nature, and natural resistance against domination by others.

Sauron's rise offended the arrogant Númenóreans, who attacked him with great force of arms. The forces of Sauron fled the onslaught, and Sauron realized that he could not overcome the Númenòreans through military might. Sauron allowed himself to be taken as a hostage to Númenor by King Ar-Pharazôn. There, he quickly grew from captive to adviser and was known as **Tar-Mairon**. The King obviously knew nothing about the Ring and its significance and Sauron corrupted many Númenóreans using the power of the Ring and eventually convinced the king to rebel against the Valar. This resulted in the Downfall of Númenor. Sauron was diminished in the destruction and his spirit (presumably with the Ring) fled back to Mordor, where he slowly rebuilt his strength.

### The Battle of Dagorlad

When the Faithful Númenóreans founded the Realms in Exile, Sauron began an offence against Gondor, which was one of those realms; the Elves and the Númenóreans formed the Last Alliance against Sauron, who was vanquished by prince Isildur who cut the ring from his fingers and took it for himself.

Isildur was corrupted by a great desire for the Ring, and he took it for his own, instead of destroying it as should have been done. Though he bought it "with great pain", Isildur considered the Ring a most precious heirloom of his house, and documented its properties upon the a scroll he wrote in Minas Tirith. He kept it around his neck as he travelled back to Arnor; but his party was attacked by a group of Orcs during the Disaster of the Gladden Fields. Isildur jumped into the Gladden River to escape, but the Ring betrayed him, and in an attempt to return to its master, it slipped off his finger, Isildur was revealed to the Orcs when he climbed out of the river, and he was shot. Although this happened as an attempt to return to Sauron, the Orcs didn't find it, as it was lost in the Gladden River.

### The Finding of the One Ring

The Ring remained hidden in the riverbed for over two millennia, despite Saruman and his many attempts to locate the ring. Sauron's Ringwraiths rose again, with their leader the Witch-King establishing the kingdom of Angmar and laying waste to Arnor. Sensing its master's will, the Ring sough a new bearer, and found one when it was discovered on a fishing trip by a Stoor named Déagol.

Once again, the Ring's evil powers acted upon Déagol's friend and relative, Sméagol, who murdered Déagol and took the Ring for himself. Over many ages, Sméagol was changed by the Ring's influence into the creature called Gollum (which is what he called himself, as it was similar to a sound he made). The Ring manipulated Gollum into settling in the Misty Mountains near Mirkwood. But Gollum was too small and never left his deep pool so the Ring stayed with him for centuries. It was 500 years later when the Necromancer was awake in Mirkwood, sending his dark thoughts, and the Ring, wishing to be discovered by a new keeper, and so thus find its way back to its Master, fell off Gollum's finger as he was fighting a Goblin-imp who fell into his lair.

Falling with the Goblin was the Hobbit Bilbo Baggins, who took the Ring after Gollum left with the incapacitated Goblin. He later encountered Gollum and beat him at a Riddle-game by absent-mindedly asking "what have I got in my pocket?" After losing the Riddle-game to Bilbo, Gollum motioned to draw the "Precious" (as he always called the One Ring), so that he could kill Bilbo and eat him. But he found that the Ring was missing, and he let out a great wail. Deducing from Bilbo's last question--"What have I got in my pocket?"--that Bilbo had taken it, Gollum chased the hobbit through the caves. In the course of the chase, Bilbo lost several the brass buttons of his waistcoat and fell, with the Ring deliberately falling on his finger as to reveal its power to grant invisibility. This allowed Bilbo to not just evade the pursuing Gollum, but to follow the creature who was resolved to ambush Bilbo at the exit to the cave, and so unwittingly showing Bilbo the way out. Using his invisibility, Bilbo had Gollum at the point of his sword, but was reluctant to kill the creature.

In regrouping with Thorin and Company, Bilbo neglected to mention the One Ring, although Gandalf caught a glimpse of him slipping it into his pocket and deliberately drew attention away from it. In the following days, Bilbo grew attached to the trinket, admiring it in secret at night, and almost confessed to Gandalf about finding it. He also began to see visions of Sauron's eye through it. It nevertheless proved useful to Bilbo, allowing him to sneak up on the Mirkwood Spiders that waylaid the company, although in the fight, the Ring tried to leave Bilbo and he had to violently fend off a Mirkwood Centipede to retrieve it.

Bilbo also used the Ring to sneak around Smaug's lair, although the dragon percieved that Bilbo carried "something made of gold, but far more precious." The increasing visions of Sauron's searching eye made Bilbo remove the Ring and continue his conversation with Smaug visible, until he discovered the Arkenstone and donned the Ring to avoid Smaug's fiery breath and retrieve the jewel. He later used it to sneak unto Ravenhill, much against the protests of Gandalf. When they parted on the borders of the Shire, Gandalf revealed to Bilbo that he knew he found a magic Ring and "kept my eye on you ever since." Bilbo still tried to assuage Gandalf, telling him the Ring was lost in the battle, to which Gandalf was palpably incredulous. Returning to find his home raided, Bilbo fondled the Ring, now his most prized possesion. Gollum, meanwhile, eventually left the Misty Mountains to track down and reclaim the Ring. He wandered for decades, unable to find Bilbo's homeland.

### The Quest of the Ring

Bilbo kept the Ring in secret, although its existence was soon known to Gandalf and to Frodo, Bilbo's nephew. Bilbo didn't use it, except to evade his relatives, the Sackvile-Baggins. Nevertheless, he was growing more obssesed about it, tearing through his home in searching for it frentically, before discovering it was simply in his vest-pocket. He spent the following minutes sitting idly, staring at it when Gandalf arrived to congradulate Bilbo on his 111th birthday. When again hassled by Lobelia, Bilbo instinctivelly reached for his pocket, and as he shared some of his ennui with Gandalf, the wizard noticed that the Hobbit's hand was still fondling the Ring in his pocket.

In the party, Bilbo made an unexpected use of the Ring to disappear in front of his many guests. Gandalf confronted him back in Bag-End. When told that Bilbo is leaving everything to Frodo, Gandalf asked about the Ring. Bilbo said it was in an envelope but before Gandalf could check it, Bilbo found it in his own pocket. Thinking aloud, he expressed a desire to keep it, getting angry at the proposition to leave it behind, and repeating some of Gollum's manner of speech, which alarmed Gandalf. Using his will, the wizard compelled Bilbo into begrudingly surrendering the Ring. After dropping it on the floor, Bilbo felt an immediate relief and left for Erebor.

Gandalf moved to pick the Ring up, but saw the vision of Sauron's eye. He left it there, sitting apart from it thinking of what had transpired as Frodo appeared and picked it up. Gandalf, still refusing to touch it, had Frodo drop it into an envelope, and gave it thus back to Frodo, telling him to "keep it secret. Keep it safe" before leaving to investigate.

Gandalf joined Aragorn in looking for Gollum, but by the time they found his tracks, he was captured and interrogated by Sauron himself, to whom he revealed the existence of Bilbo and the Shire, and enough details for Sauron to ascertain that it was indeed his Ring. Gandalf, meanwhile, went to Minas Tirith to recover the Account of Isildur, in which the Ring's hidden writing was disclosed. Returning to the Shire, he threw the Ring which - after a fashion - revealed the inscription, corroborating the Ring's identity. Gandalf refused to bear it himself, for fear of becoming twisted like Sauron, and entrusted it to Frodo, whom Gandalf sent (along with Samwise Gamgee) on a quest to Bree, where they would regroup after Gandalf went to inform Saruman of his findings, only to discover Saruman had plans of his own for the Ring, overpowering and incarcerating Gandalf.

Left alone with Sam and his kinsmen Merry and Pippin, Frodo was tempted to use the Ring in the vicinity of Khamul, a Ringwraith sent to retrieve the Ring from him. Stopped by Sam, they evaded the Ringwraiths and arrived at Bree, where the Ring intentionally slipped itself unto Frodo's finger in front of a crowd. This act beaconed the Black Riders. Thankfuly, the Hobbits fell in with Aragorn, who led them away from the Riders until Weathertop, where Frodo was again tempted to don the Ring, at which the Witch-King stabbed Frodo with a Morgul Blade.

Frodo and the Ring were rushed to Rivendell by Aragorn and Arwen, but he grew gradually attached to it, withholding it from an eager Bilbo and later refusing to part with it, and so taking on himself the task of taking the Ring to Mount Doom. This went against the will of some of the people of attendance, including Boromir who was sent by Denethor to bring the Ring to Gondor.

En route, the Ring slipped off of Frodo's neck over the slopes of Caradhras, where Boromir picked it up and was briefly tempted by it. It drew many dangers to Frodo, including the Watcher in the Water and a Cave Troll. When they reached Lorien, the Ring tempted Galadriel and in his desperation, Frodo nearly yielded it to her before she refused the offer, reinforcing Frodo's thoughts of leaving the company for fear that the Ring would destroy them all. Indeed, when they arrived at Parth Galen, Boromir tried to convince Frodo to bring the Ring to Gondor before trying to sieze it by force. Frodo used it, and saw a vision of Barad Dur. Aragorn encountered him, but resisted the temptation of the Ring. During an Uruk attack, Frodo executed his plan, but couldn't shake Sam who joined him.

During the quest, Frodo gradually became more and more susceptible to the Ring's power, and feared that it was going to corrupt him. When he and Sam discovered that Gollum was on their trail and "tamed" him into guiding them to Mordor, he began to feel a strange bond with the wretched, treacherous creature, seeing a possible future of himself that he felt he had to save in order to save himself. When he was brought to Osgiliath, Frodo almost used the Ring in front of a Nazgul, before Sam stopped him. Gollum gave in to the Ring's temptation, however, and betrayed them to the spider Shelob who stung Frodo. Believing Frodo to be dead, Sam bore the Ring himself for a short time.

Sam rescued Frodo from a band of Orcs at the Tower of Cirith Ungol and returned the Ring to him, but feared that the toll it was taking was too great. It nearly was: although Frodo and Sam, followed by Gollum, eventually arrived at Mount Doom, Frodo decided to keep the Ring for himself rather than destroy it, evincing its corruptive nature. However, he was attacked by Gollum, who bit off the finger holding the Ring. Seeking to retrieve it, Frodo wrestled Gollum for it, and they slipped off of the edge, with Gollum falling with it into the lava. The Ring wasn't destroyed instantly however, settling first on a patch of sooth and calling out to a dangling Frodo. Eventually, Frodo resisted its call, reached out to Sam's hand just as the Ring dissolved, finally destroying Sauron.