#LORD OF THE RINGS SOCIAL QUESTIONS FULL#

What could a significantly powerful wearer do? Almost anything. what can the Ring do? In and of itself, nothing. A lesser being just becomes a slave to the will of the Ring, because it takes power to wield power. And that's what happens if someone like Gandalf, or Galadriel, or Elrond (or Cirdan, or Saruma) was to wear it. they'd add their own not-insignificant power to his, becoming virtually unstoppable. The greatest powers in Middle Earth all know: if they wear it, they become Sauron. There is no being alive in Middle Earth who could wrest it to his own will and 'repurpose' it for good. It contains all his malice, all his cruelty. Sauron poured the greatest part of his own personal power into it. And while other powers have waned (the kingdom of Numenor, the Elves, the Dwarves), his powers have not. He commanded Balrogs (plural!) at the height of their power long before he truly came into his own. Power hungry beings seek to endear themselves to him. Weak-willed beings like orcs and trolls flock to him and take strength from his will. Sauron has the power within him to shape the world. He's the original lieutenant to the GREATEST EVIL THAT HAS EVER BEEN (Melkor/Morgoth the Valar), and was one of the most powerful beings in his own power strata (the Maiar) BEFORE he ever joined with Melkor and absorbed a significant amount of his power. Sauron isn't just a man or even a wizard. This is the part of the tale that is not told in the main body of LotR. This is because even though Sauron did not directly assist in their making, his magic, his power was in the creation of all the Great Rings, and in the fullness of his power he could gain control of the Three and perceive the minds of their owners (at the time: Galadriel, Gil-Galad, and Cirdan). Prior to the first War of the Ring and the Last Alliance of Elves and Men, the Three were not worn and were kept hidden.

So, since his hand was not in their making, as long as Sauron was not in full command of his powers, the Elven lords could use the rings openly. And by the time that they got around to making their masterworks, the Three, they had an idea about Sauron and what he was doing, and they made the three in secret. well, the makers of the rings were Elves themselves. So the 7 rings (which also had Sauron's hand in their making) instead worked to increase their greed to the point of near-suicidal mania. They can be killed, but they cannot be broken or bowed to another's will. The Dwarves were made differently from other races, and have it within them to resist domination. Sauron's hand was in their making, and those rings are forever bound to him, and to the part of him that is within the One. In a real way they cannot die, because their lives, their very WILL is now bound to the One Ring. The power of the One Ring bound the bearers of the 9 into unending servitude. If there had been no One Ring ever made, there would never have been Nazgul, and the mortal men who owned the 9 would have eventually died and passed the 9 on to other men. For Men, the 9 granted power through force of arms. For the Elves, the 3 rings enabled them to preserve the old ways, the high magic of the First Age. In the case of Dwarves, the 7 rings enabled them to accumulate vast wealth.

So, each ring given to a Lord of a people took on some of the attributes of that people. We're talking about the kind of WILL it takes to command the allegiance of an entire race. there were many lesser rings made with trivial powers) all were imbued with WILL.

#LORD OF THE RINGS SOCIAL QUESTIONS FULL#

Lord of the rings social questions