One Ring

The One Ring, also known as the Ruling Ring or Isildur's Bane, is a key part of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. It first appeared in The Hobbit as a magic ring that made the wearer invisible. Later, Tolkien made it an evil Ring of Power and changed parts of The Hobbit to match the bigger story. The Lord of the Rings tells the story of a hobbit named Frodo Baggins, who goes on a journey to destroy the Ring and save Middle-earth.

Some scholars have compared Tolkien’s story to Richard Wagner’s opera Der Ring des Nibelungen, which also involves a powerful ring. Tolkien said there was no connection, though both works were inspired by similar myths. Another influence may have been Tolkien’s study of an old pagan god named Nodens. At a temple in Lydney Park, he found a Latin curse about someone stealing a ring.

Tolkien said his story was not an allegory and that any connections to things like World War II or the atomic bomb were up to the reader. Some people have also compared the Ring to the Ring of Gyges from Plato’s Republic, which also made the wearer invisible, but there’s no proof that Tolkien took the idea from that story.

Purpose

The Dark Lord Sauron made the One Ring in the Second Age to control the free peoples of Middle-earth. Disguised as Annatar, the "Lord of Gifts," he helped the Elves of Eregion and their leader Celebrimbor create the Rings of Power. But in secret, he made the One Ring himself in the fires of Mount Doom to control the others.

Sauron intended it to be the most powerful of all Rings, able to rule and control those who wore the others. Since the other Rings were powerful on their own, Sauron was obliged to place much of his own power into the One to achieve his purpose.

Making the Ring made Sauron both stronger and weaker. With it, he could control the other Rings and became much more powerful than before: but by binding his power within the Ring, Sauron became dependent on it.

Appearance

The Ring looked like plain gold, but it couldn’t be damaged, not even by dragon fire. The only way to destroy it was to throw it into Mount Doom, where it was made. Unlike other Rings of Power, it had no gem, though it could change its size and maybe its weight. It could even slip off a finger on its own. To reveal its true identity, it had to be placed in fire. Then, glowing words in the Black Speech appeared, written using the Elvish Tengwar script. These words came from part of the Ring's full verse:

Black Speech written in Tengwar	Black Speech (Romanised)	English translation
	One Ring Media The inscription on the One Ring in the Lord of the Rings. "Ash nazg durbatulûk, ash nazg gimbatul, ash nazg thrakatulûk, agh burzum-ishi krimpatul".* The shepherd Gyges finds the magic ring, setting up a moral dilemma. Ferrara, 16th century Diagram of Brian Rosebury's analysis of The Lord of the Rings, as a combined Quest (to destroy the Ring) and Journey (as a series of Tableaux of places in Middle-earth); the two support each other, and must interlock tightly to do so Tolkien visited the temple of Nodens at a place called "Dwarf's Hill" and translated an inscription with a curse upon the thief of a ring. It may have inspired his dwarves, mines, rings, and Celebrimbor "Silver-Hand", the Elven-smith who forged Rings of Power. The Ring of Silvianus is a Roman gold ring of around the 4th century, found near a former Roman town, Silchester. Like the stone tablet at the temple of Nodens, it is inscribed with a curse on the ring-thief Senicianus. <span title=" transliteration" class="Unicode" style="white-space:normal; text-decoration: none">Ash nazg durbatulûk,    ash nazg gimbatul, Ash nazg thrakatulûk    agh burzum-ishi krimpatul.	One ring to rule them all,    one ring to find them, One ring to bring them all    and in the darkness bind them.