Anyone who has watched the Lord of the Rings trilogy adaptations by Peter Jackson will know a little bit of the lore behind the Rings of Power, from Galadriel’s voice reciting lines from the poem in the prologue. “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”. This gives the audience a hint of the treachery that went into these objects, and explains why Sauron was so desperate to have them all back in his possession, especially the One Ring itself.
But fans are hoping that the new Amazon series will give a little more depth to the dark history behind the Rings of Power, delving into the betrayal and the drama surrounding Sauron’s deceit, and finally shedding some more light on how the greatest weapon of Middle Earth came to existence. Judging by the title of the series, it appears that this is exactly what the show will focus on, as the Rings were forged in the Second Age, and this is when the new series is set, though it is unclear whether it will simply detail the events leading up to the creation, or dive into the immediate aftermath also.
Fans are eager to see this tale as a part of the new adaptation, because the history of the rings is a tantalizing and twisted one, full of peril, cunning, and an act of secret defiance brought the glimmer of hope to all the ages to come, that the One Ring could one day be destroyed. The story starts with Celebrimbor, the most skilled elven smith of Eregion, and grandson to Feanor. Feanor was the creator of the Silmarils, the 3 most beautiful and precious stones ever made in Middle Earth, so stunning that wars were fought over them, and this gift of creation was definitely passed to Celebrimbor.
He began with forging 7 rings, to mark up his crafting skills and hone his eye for detail. These rings ,along with the 9 rings that he made next were all forged with the help and overseeing of Sauron. Although Celebrimbor didn’t know it at the time, Sauron was already pouring some of his own will into these rings, ready to carry out his dastardly bid for ultimate control and dominion of the world.
All of the rings created were originally intended to be given to powerful figures among the race of elves, because these were thought to be the superior beings at the time (as it was known as the Age of Elves), because Sauron thought that this would build him the strongest army, and guarantee his rule for centuries to come with an immortal hoard of elves under his will.
However, Celebrimbor began to suspect that Sauron was tampering with his creation, and so he created 3 more rings, the elven rings, imbibing them with special abilities that would save many lives in the battles to come. These of course, were Narya, Nenya and Vilya, the Rings of Fire, Water and Air, and because they were made away from the corrupting influence of Sauron, they were far more pure and useable without destroying their wearer like the others. They were, however, still linked to the One Ring, which Sauron had been forging for himself for years in the putrid fires of Mount Doom, ready to rise up and claim the power he thought ot be rightfully his.
When Celebrimbor discovered the creation of the One Ring, he fled with the three elven rings, giving them to Galadriel, Cirdan, and Gil-galad to be kept safe away from Sauron’s clutches. Sauron then gave the other rings still in his possession to the 9 lords of men who later became the Ringwraiths, and to the seven dwarven lords who became so greedy for wealth and respect that they brought about their own undoing with the gifts they had been given.
Sauron knew, when he gave these rings, that the kings of men would quickly fall under his command, because they were the weakest of will, and the easiest to corrupt, and he knew that the dwarves would also bring about their own ruin in the form of dragons and orcs and various other enemies, thus essentially allowing the rings to return to him all the more powerful for having betrayed their wearers and soaked up all of the darkness in the world.
As for the One Ring itself, Sauron poured so much of his fea (or soul in the common tongue) into it that it kept him alive through the battles to come, and allowed him to survive death and regain strength even when his physical body was destroyed. He had also put in a sort of clause with all of the other rings that meant their fate was tied to the master ring. This meant that they could only retain their magic as long as the One Ring survived, and that if it was ever destroyed, each of the others would in tern lose their abilities. This prevented anyone from wanting to destroy it of course, but this catch held less sway over the elven rings and their wearers thanks to the brave interference of Celebrimbor.
Sadly, the elf paid terribly for his sacrifice, being tortured and shot with arrows for his insolence and defiance. The great forges of Eregion were laid to waste, and Celebrimbor died from his wounds, but his sacrifice allowed some good power to endure, which ultimately was the thing that helped Frodo destroy the One Ring in the Third Age, and save Middle Earth from meeting the same fate.
