What are the powers of the One Ring?

[Ryujin]

Yeah, I've heard that. I knew that already. My question was that that is all very... vague. What does the ring actually do?

That would be because it isn't spelt out in any of the works that I've read, beyond the obvious and explicit statement that it controls all of the other rings. Presumably that means all of the ring bearers, which would mean essentially controlling the world by controlling its rulers.

The One Ring comes from a time when the gods literally strode the earth.

 

[Rune]

That it allows Sauron to find Elrond, Galadriel, and Gandalf?

Are they hard to find? I know Galadriel and Elrond's addresses. That whole trilogy can't all be just because Sauron couldn't find Gandalf, surely? Ironic, if so, since he was accompanying the one ring that could find him.

Not the ring-bearers. The rings themselves. The elven rings hide themselves from sight (which is why Galadriel was intrigued that Frodo saw she was wearing one).

But the one ring's specific purpose is written right on the ring, itself--that being to rule all of the rings of power, find them, bring them all, and in the darkness bind them.

 

[Morrus]

I think Tolkien portrayed female characters not as inferior, but in a way he thought was realistic for a semi-medieval society.)

There is nothing realistic about Middle Earth.

And you're misunderstanding the criticism. Nobody said he portrayed female characters as inferior. They're saying he barely portrays them at all.

Seriously. Reread The Hobbit. Count the female characters. The total is... zero. The entire gender does not exist in that book.

And they barely feature in LotR. Jackson had to beef up the role for Arwen (giving her the male Glorfindel's role). Eowyn does kill the Witch King of Angmar, though, so women aren't completely absent - just 99% absent!

 

[Morrus]

Not the ring-bearers. The rings themselves. The elven rings hide themselves from sight (which is why Galadriel was intrigued that Frodo saw she was wearing one).

So you're saying Sauron didn't know Galadriel and Elrond had them? I'll grant Gandalf, but Galadriel and Elrond? Really?

But the one ring's specific purpose is written right on the ring, itself--that being to rule all of the rings of power, find them, bring them all, and in the darkness bind them.

Well he found and bringed the nine and seven already. It's just the three he doesn't have. And it appears he can't control those anyway. And is too stupid to find them even without the One Ring.

Seems he's not all that bright, is our Sauron!

 

[Rune]

So you're saying Sauron didn't know Galadriel and Elrond had them? I'll grant Gandalf, but Galadriel and Elrond? Really?

Well, he may easily have guessed. But, even if he knew, he wasn't powerful enough to assail their strongholds (or, presumably, another Maiar), without first recovering the one ring and/or dominating the world with armies of orcs and evil men.

Well he found and bringed the nine and seven already. It's just the three he doesn't have. And it appears he can't control those anyway. And is too stupid to find them even without the One Ring.

Seems he's not all that bright, is our Sauron!

He can't control them without the one ring. With it, he explicitly could.

 

[Umbran]

So we have two opposing opinions here which directly address my question but give different answers. Which of you is correct?

I went and reread some passages - I stand corrected. Rune is correct - teh Elves knew when Sauron had first put on his ring, and took theirs off to protect themselves. They then only have used the Three when Sauron did not have the One.

 

[Umbran]

Sauron is not really a higher order being than Gandalf and Saruman.

Yes, he is. Not hugely higher - he is still a Maiar, not one of the Valar, but even back before they all came to the East, he was notably more powerful - Saruman and Gandalf are pretty minor Maiar, while Sauron was near top of the class.

Remember that Sauruman, Gandalf, and Radagast and teh Blue Wizards (collectively the "Istari") are there because the Powers that Be tried once to meddle directly in mortal affairs, and it ended really badly. The Valar swore off doing that. So, the Istari are *minor* powers sent to nudge and influence, and to generally keep an eye on things.

Meanwhile, before his fall, Sauron was the right-hand-angel to Aulë the Smith, the great craftsman of the Valar, who personally made the dwarven race. It is from this that Sauron knows how to make things like magic rings.

Gandalf was claimed to be the wiseset of the Maiar, back in the West. But, when called upon to go be a wizard in the mortal lands, he begged not to be sent, as he knew he didn't have the power to oppose Sauron. So, yes, Sauron was more powerful. Gandalf, however, is *smarter*.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Yeah, I've heard that. I knew that already. My question was that that is all very... vague. What does the ring actually do?

Makes you grumpy and invisible, then it jumps in a volcano.

It's the MacGuffin. It doesn't actually have to *do* anything. What did the Maltese Falcon do? The Mordor Run in less than 12 leagues?

 

[Umbran]

That it allows Sauron to find Elrond, Galadriel, and Gandalf?

Are they hard to find? I know Galadriel and Elrond's addresses. That whole trilogy can't all be just because Sauron couldn't find Gandalf, surely? Ironic, if so, since he was accompanying the one ring that could find him.

No - but then Gandalf wasn't even around in the East when the One Ring was forged, if I recall correctly.

Sauron wanted to dominate everyone in Middle-Earth, really. He wanted to do that through the leaders of people. So, he put on a pretty elven face, called himself "Annatar", the "Lord of Gifts", and brought them this whole story about how rings would be awesome. He taught Celebrimbor (an elf, who we don't see in the trilogy at all, as he's dead by then), a whole bunch of stuff about magic rings.

Celebrimbor made 16 rings (the Nine for Men, the Seven for Dwarves) with Sauron's assistance. Celebrimbor made the Three without Sauron. Thus, the leaders of Elves, Men, and Dwarves *all* had rings. Sauron then went and made the One, to try to dominate *everyone*, through those leaders.

Since the Three weren't made by Sauron, the elves at least had a chance to avoid that fate - they could sense the attempted influence and take their rings off. At this time the Elves with Rings were Gil-Galad, Cirdan, and Galadriel. Gil-Galad handed his off to Elrond, which is good. There's a bunch of warring that goes on (Sauron captures Celebrimbor and tortures him to death trying to find where the Three are, Gil-galad is eventually killed by Sauron on the slopes of Mount Doom, and so on). Cirdan, Galadriel, and Elrond just basically sit on their rings until Sauron is apparently defeated by Isildur, Elrond, et al.

Eventually (if I have my dates right, about a thousand years after Sauron got the One Ring cut off his hand), Gandalf shows up, Cirdan recognizes him for what he is, and gives him his ring. It is another milennium before Smeagol/Gollum finds the One, and another few hundred years before Bilbo meets Gollum - so Sauron's without his ring for something like 2500 years.

 

[Umbran]

Well he found and bringed the nine and seven already.

Not quite true. He was there when the Seven were forged. He handed those Seven off to the Dwarves. Now, these were probably not Celebrimbor's best work - elves and dwarves have never really gotten along. The Seven aren't really powerful. Sauron can't really make anyone wearing one of the Seven do anything, ecept be very greedy and a little paranoid.

The Seven are out there a while - Sauron eventually gets three of the Seven back, and tries to bribe news of Bilbo out of the dwarves with these three, to no avail.

And is too stupid to find them even without the One Ring.

Seems he's not all that bright, is our Sauron!

Sauron's bright, but in a book-learning kind of way. It is pretty clear that he's not terribly wise. Not a people-person. But, it isn't that he isn't smart enough to find the Three. It is that he is never told where they are in the first place, and those Three are not being used while he's alive. This is not a world in which he can just cast Locate Object. Powers in Middle Earth are not so easy. He can't even find his *own* ring unless someone uses it!

Consider, Morrus, that there are three objects on the planet, that you have personally never seen or touched. Their owners turn them off and put them away in their sock drawers and under rocks, leave them inert, and never bring them out. How, pray tell, do you find them? Needle in a haystack!