The Rings of Power

[Falathrim]

A wraith is simply a being that has been pulled into the shadow-world. How do you get pulled into the shadow-world? The Nazgul were pulled into the shadow-world only after they began wearing their rings. Logically, then, it must have been the Nine that pulled the Lords of Men into the shadow-world; and when that happens, you become mostly invisble in the physical-world. Thus, the Nine do confer invisibility.

And I used shadow-world way too much in that post for my liking.  

[Onoj]

Maybe the nine giving invisibility is what the Men loved about them so much. Since they could become invisible they could sneak around and find out any information they wanted or run from unwanted visitors.

Pretty much exactly like Bilbo and Frodo only they never had Gandalf to say "Crap this could be bad."  

[Menegil]

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[Falathrim]

Another point:

Bilbo had a Ring. Gandalf knew that wearing the Ring turned Bilbo invisible. If only the One conferred invisibility, why wouldn't Gandalf be alarmed?

Actually, not a very good point, because Gandalf thought Bilbo's ring was one of the Lesser Rings. Still, it kind of works.

Frodo never wore the ring in the seventeen years between Bilbo's Farewell Party and the actual War of the Ring. This is why he was not corrupted. Contrary to what the movie may tell you, merely touching the ring is not enough to become completely bent towards its will; Gandalf touched it at least twice, and Elrond was probably the one to attach it to the chain.  

[Zurgi]

Falathrim

Actually, not a very good point, because Gandalf thought Bilbo's ring was one of the Lesser Rings. Still, it kind of works.

Which one of the lesser rings could he have thought it to be? I've always wondered about that.

Because the nine we knew what happened, and the three were kept by the elves, so I guess the only option is that somehow Gollum had stumbled upon a ring from the dwarves' seven.  

[Menegil]

...

The Elves made a whole bunch of Rings. Only 20 survived the fall of Eregion. Gandalf might have assumed that one or more of the Lesser Rings might have escaped through strange paths...  

[Zurgi]

I knew that a bunch were made...but still..I would assume that he would have known how many were left.

Or else I'm just confusing myself. I need to re-read LOTR after I get through all my other books.  

[Falathrim]

No, many survived the fall or Eregion.

There were the Great Rings. These are the twenty rings mentioned in the Ring-lore: The Nine, the Seven, the Three, and the One.

Then there were the Lesser Rings. These rings were the first rings to be created, before the Gwaith-i-Mirdain perfected the art of ring-making. How many Lesser Rings were created is not known, nor is it known how many were scattered across Middle-earth. Gandalf thought that Bilbo's ring was one of the surviving Lesser Rings.

We also know what happened to the Seven. Four were consumed by dragon-fire, and three were retaken by Sauorn.  

[Zurgi]

Thank you Fala. That's what got me confused when I was thinking of what Gandalf would have thought it to be, since I did think that they knew the dwarves' rings had been destroyed/retaken.

What were the original purposes of the Lesser Rings? Or were they just to be practice rings to make and perfect his skills (...or something)?  

[Falathrim]

All the rings had one purpose: The Elves wanted to preserve decay, and Sauron wanted to be able to enslave the wielders of the rings.  

[Zurgi]

Hmm...

Even as Lesser Rings then, since they did serve a purpose, why were they not kept in safe keeping/given away as well, and how did they end up scattered?  

[Falathrim]

The Lesser Rings were imperfect, as the Elves had yet to master the art. Thus, the Elves of Eregion didn't think getting them into safekeeping was quite as important as hiding the Great Rings was. Either way, the Elves didn't do all that great at keeping the Sixteen safe, either. It didn't take long for Sauron to find them and get them distributed.

They would have been scattered sometime after the War of the Elves and Sauron.  

[Zurgi]

Hmm..okay. That's kind of what I was thinking with the lesser rings as practice, and not as powerful so not viewed as that important yet. But that makes sense.

Thank you. I could probably think of more questions to ask, but I have to run. So thanks again for the explanations, Fala.  

[Onoj]

Ok my problem I have always had with the Three Rings is that are they berift (Is that the right word? sweatdrop ) of his power only because he did not have direct review over their making? If the elves learned all about ringmaking from Sauron wouldn't they still put his teachings (and thus evil) into their making?

Was it just Sauron physically touching the rings in some way that instilled the evil in them? Or the way in which they were actually constructed?  

[Zurgi]

I think it was Sauron physically being involved in the process, although I'm not too sure.

The reason I brought this topic back up, actually, was because I was reading Return of the Shadow today and had a question about something (involving the invisibility thing once more).

"Three, Seven, Nine, and One he made of special potency: for their possessors became not only invisible to all in this world, if they wished..." [HoME IV: p. 258]

And the rest is unimportant to my question (the if they wished was referring to the invisibility, not the next thing it listed).

So if that stayed into LOTR, then wouldn't Gandalf had known it was one of the major rings, and then since it couldn't have been one of the three, seven, or nine, it must have been the one ring? And then wouldn't the ringbearer have been able to not slip into the shadow world?

I'm about to go check FOTR and see what it says, whether or not that was kept in, but I just wanted to ask first.