Poll What was the ring in Lord of the Rings?

[Timofnine]

I have never seen ‘The Lord of the Rings’, but I roughly know the storyline as it is part of ‘pop culture’, it’s just like how almost everyone can summarise the Star Wars storyline (which I have never seen either).

A thought has just crossed my mind about this film, maybe if I watched it the question would be answered, but I hear that it is a very long film.

I know that a variety of characters are chasing after a ring. This ring ‘enchants them’. I think that one character (at least) became obsessed with this ring, Sméagol I think that he was called. I think that armies actually fought over this ring too.

My question is this? Just what type of ring was it?

Was it a magical ring? A ring of power? Or was it something far more simpler all along?

Was it a wedding/engagement ring? Were all of the characters in the movie franchise/books chasing something as simple as ‘love’?

Would one person wanting to love and be loved in return explain the entire plot of all the books? Who or what were all the characters aspiring to ‘love’?

Like I said, maybe I should read them or at least cheat and watch the film and find out for myself. I just don’t have the attention span for the films.

 

[Grendelsbayne]

I have never seen ‘The Lord of the Rings’, but I roughly know the storyline as it is part of ‘pop culture’, it’s just like how almost everyone can summarise the Star Wars storyline (which I have never seen either).

A thought has just crossed my mind about this film, maybe if I watched it the question would be answered, but I hear that it is a very long film.

I know that a variety of characters are chasing after a ring. This ring ‘enchants them’. I think that one character (at least) became obsessed with this ring, Sméagol I think that he was called. I think that armies actually fought over this ring too.

My question is this? Just what type of ring was it?

Was it a magical ring? A ring of power? Or was it something far more simpler all along?

Was it a wedding/engagement ring? Were all of the characters in the movie franchise/books chasing something as simple as ‘love’?

Would one person wanting to love and be loved in return explain the entire plot of all the books? Who or what were all the characters aspiring to ‘love’?

Like I said, maybe I should read them or at least cheat and watch the film and find out for myself. I just don’t have the attention span for the films.

Long story short, a long, long time ago an evil Angel who everyone didn't really know was evil yet forged a ton of magic rings that gave great power to whoever wore them. He gave three rings to the elves, seven to the kings of men, nine to the dwarf lords in their halls. And, of course, in secret, he made the One Ring which had the power to control all the other rings and corrupt the people that wore them. Then he tried to take over the world, everyone who wasn't under his control banded together and killed him. They went to destroy the One Ring so this all could never happen again and the leader of the men, Isildur, said 'No, I want this for myself' and kept it. He was almost immediately killed in a swamp and the ring disappeared from history until - a few millenia later - Smeagol and his brother Deagol fished it out of a river and immediately started fighting over it. Smeagol killed Deagol and spent the rest of his life hiding in caves, where Bilbo Baggins stumbled across him and stole the Ring. Years after that Bilbo very reluctantly gave the ring to Frodo Baggins to go and finally destroy it. And that's the story/quest of the LOTR.

 

[FPAlpha]

To be honest - just read the book.

It is an amazing fantasy tale and rightfully a literary classic - just read a chapter every other day if it's too much to blast through as fast as free time permits and enjoy the ride. After that, if you want, watch the movies which are equally brilliant yet deviate a bit from time to time without compromising the characters or the story too much.

 

[Timofnine]

Long story short, a long, long time ago an evil Angel who everyone didn't really know was evil yet forged a ton of magic rings that gave great power to whoever wore them. He gave three rings to the elves, seven to the kings of men, nine to the dwarf lords in their halls. And, of course, in secret, he made the One Ring which had the power to control all the other rings and corrupt the people that wore them. Then he tried to take over the world, everyone who wasn't under his control banded together and killed him. They went to destroy the One Ring so this all could never happen again and the leader of the men, Isildur, said 'No, I want this for myself' and kept it. He was almost immediately killed in a swamp and the ring disappeared from history until - a few millenia later - Smeagol and his brother Deagol fished it out of a river and immediately started fighting over it. Smeagol killed Deagol and spent the rest of his life hiding in caves, where Bilbo Baggins stumbled across him and stole the Ring. Years after that Bilbo very reluctantly gave the ring to Frodo Baggins to go and finally destroy it. And that's the story/quest of the LOTR.

So only the ‘one ring’ was destroyed? Were all the other groups allowed to keep their rings? Why were the rings spread out so unevenly? This is an unfair spread of power. Or was there a reason for the imbalance?

It sounds to me like the one ring was some kind of a hack, but why would this character ‘hack’ it’s own plan?

Could anyone else ever forge another ‘one ring’ or corrupt the remaining rings in any way? What is the benefit of even keeping rings? Would anything untoward happen if all rings were taken away? After all, they were all made by the ‘bad angel’ so why would he give them the rings if he didn’t have an ulterior motive and at the very least a back up plan just incase the ‘one ring’ was destroyed? If destroying the ‘one ring’ made everything good again, why did he create all of the other rings if he was bad? Surely any ‘power’ that he created was corrupt? If I knew that an ‘evil angel’ had created my wedding ring I would flush it down the toilet straight away!

Alternatively, on mirror Middle Earth, surely if the ring was indeed based on love, the ‘one ring’ was uniting all of the species of ‘Middle Earth’ with this love? The evil angel would be good on a mirror middle earth would it not?

Maybe someone needs to write a Lord of the Rings spin off show with a mirror universe episode as part of it’s run.

Lastly, was there more peace with the ring existing or without the ring existing on this M class, Earth like planet called Middle Earth? Did we ever see what would happen if the rings united everyone or was it just hear say?

Maybe some people after the ring were corrupt? Not the dark angel?

 

[FPAlpha]

Seriously dude.. you seem quite intrigued and interested so just go and read the book. If it hooks you then read The Hobbit which is sort of a prequel to Lord of The Rings ( even written before LotR) and if you really went off the deep end you can read The Silmarillion, which is sort of the history and legends book of that whole fantasy world that tells the story of how the world came to be, the gods that created it, how the races came to be and all the legendary heroes and even grander battles they fought against the evil Overlord.

Even LotR is far too big to explain everything on such a message board, just experience it for yourself.

 

[saddestmoon]

Yeah, reading the books will give you all (or at least most) of the information that you seek.

 

[Timofnine]

Yeah, reading the books will give you all (or at least most) of the information that you seek.

Ok, I’ll start with the Hobbit. I think that there is a copy where I work so I can start tomorrow.

 

[fireproof78]

The lore is deep. It is not a simple answer. Even the Hobbit will not explain it fully.

 

[Timofnine]

The lore is deep. It is not a simple answer. Even the Hobbit will not explain it fully.

Ironically, I remember having a copy of the Hobbit when I was a kid. I have no idea where it came from. I never read it though, the only books that I ever wanted to read were Star Trek books! I did enjoy looking at the maps that were dispersed in between all of the chapters though… especially the double page map spread at the start of the book, they definitely gave me inspiration; they seemed like treasure maps and always fascinated me. I think I tried to align them up to an atlas at one point, but it never worked out…

 

[Relayer1]

Ok, I’ll start with the Hobbit. I think that there is a copy where I work so I can start tomorrow.

That's good.

You've taken your first step into a larger world.

 

[Captain pl1ngpl0ng]

and some time in 2023 when you are done with the LOTR universe, you should definetly
consider giving Star Wars a go....

 

[fireproof78]

Ironically, I remember having a copy of the Hobbit when I was a kid. I have no idea where it came from. I never read it though, the only books that I ever wanted to read were Star Trek books! I did enjoy looking at the maps that were dispersed in between all of the chapters though… especially the double page map spread at the start of the book, they definitely gave me inspiration; they seemed like treasure maps and always fascinated me. I think I tried to align them up to an atlas at one point, but it never worked out…

Heh, it's funny since Tolkien attempted to use parts of England to create his maps but ultimately went with his own thing.

But, that said, the Hobbit is just one step that doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of what "The Ring" does in Lord of the Rings.

 

[StarCruiser]

Yep - "The Hobbit" is nice little book but, was actually meant for younger readers. Doesn't even begin to cover the whole thing.

Gotta start somewhere and that's really a better starting point that "The Silmarillion" (fascinating read but...wow...hard one too).

 

[Saul]

In the films the ring is more like a drug. In the books it's more like an ultimate weapon of terrible destruction. They're both worth your time. I might suggest watching the movies first, that way the books will feel even richer when you read them.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

Long story short, a long, long time ago an evil Angel who everyone didn't really know was evil yet forged a ton of magic rings that gave great power to whoever wore them. He gave three rings to the elves, seven to the kings of men, nine to the dwarf lords in their halls. And, of course, in secret, he made the One Ring which had the power to control all the other rings and corrupt the people that wore them. Then he tried to take over the world, everyone who wasn't under his control banded together and killed him. They went to destroy the One Ring so this all could never happen again and the leader of the men, Isildur, said 'No, I want this for myself' and kept it. He was almost immediately killed in a swamp and the ring disappeared from history until - a few millenia later - Smeagol and his brother Deagol fished it out of a river and immediately started fighting over it. Smeagol killed Deagol and spent the rest of his life hiding in caves, where Bilbo Baggins stumbled across him and stole the Ring. Years after that Bilbo very reluctantly gave the ring to Frodo Baggins to go and finally destroy it. And that's the story/quest of the LOTR.

Erm...seven rings to the Dwarves and nine to Men (hence the 9 ringwraiths not being 3 feet tall)

 

[Ethros]

These replies.. if he's had 20 years to watch the first film and couldn't be arsed I'm pretty sure he's not gonna read three massive books is he

 

[Sketcher]

The only solution then:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Ring

 

[fireproof78]

These replies.. if he's had 20 years to watch the first film and couldn't be arsed I'm pretty sure he's not gonna read three massive books is he

Depends on the person. My wife never did until she saw a clip of Fellowship. Then she binged them all and read the books in a month. This was 14 years post release.

 

[publiusr]

Remember, WWI loomed large in the minds of not only Tolkien, but Dunsany.

I think the ring symbolized industry/modernity…same as with WIZARDS. Dunsany wrote about furnaces glaringly into the night. But with the ring destroyed…things were to be…more plain.

There was a price to be paid in its destruction. That’s a story yet to be told.

Except how the hobbits might have been a little taller towards the last…

 

[Orphalesion]

So only the ‘one ring’ was destroyed? Were all the other groups allowed to keep their rings? Why were the rings spread out so unevenly? This is an unfair spread of power. Or was there a reason for the imbalance?

It sounds to me like the one ring was some kind of a hack, but why would this character ‘hack’ it’s own plan?

Could anyone else ever forge another ‘one ring’ or corrupt the remaining rings in any way? What is the benefit of even keeping rings? Would anything untoward happen if all rings were taken away? After all, they were all made by the ‘bad angel’ so why would he give them the rings if he didn’t have an ulterior motive and at the very least a back up plan just incase the ‘one ring’ was destroyed? If destroying the ‘one ring’ made everything good again, why did he create all of the other rings if he was bad? Surely any ‘power’ that he created was corrupt? If I knew that an ‘evil angel’ had created my wedding ring I would flush it down the toilet straight away!

Alternatively, on mirror Middle Earth, surely if the ring was indeed based on love, the ‘one ring’ was uniting all of the species of ‘Middle Earth’ with this love? The evil angel would be good on a mirror middle earth would it not?

Maybe someone needs to write a Lord of the Rings spin off show with a mirror universe episode as part of it’s run.

Lastly, was there more peace with the ring existing or without the ring existing on this M class, Earth like planet called Middle Earth? Did we ever see what would happen if the rings united everyone or was it just hear say?

Maybe some people after the ring were corrupt? Not the dark angel?

I can try to explain it as easily as possible. Also none of this is a spoiler, since it happens before the books evenstart.
Tolkien's world is in a progressive state of decay and downfall. The Elves, who are immortals have tried at various points to stop that. The last such an attempt came when Sauron (under a disguise) taught them how to create the magic rings that would make the Wearer more powerful in various ways. All of the rings were originally meant to be used by Elves to battle Middle Earth's decay.
However Sauron, who yes can be called something like a fallen Angel tricked them, in the way the rings were created it would allow him to control the wearer and corrupt them. To do that he created the One Ring/Master Ring and poured a lot of his own essence into it (that's just how "magic" works in Middle Earth)
The Elves noticed his evil influence and stopped the rings and hid the 3 most powerful rings they created in secret places (those are the 3 Elven rings in the poem)
Sauron made war against the Elves and seized the 16 less powerful rings. Since the Elves would no longer listen to Sauron, he instead gave the Rings he conquered to Seven Dwarf Lords (since there were originally seven dwarf tribes) and the remaining 9 to humans.
There was another war against Sauron he was seemingly defeated, so the Elves used their 3 remaining rings to create beautiful sanctuaries. Over time a lot of the non-immortal folks forgot the details and that's where the famous poem about the rings comes from. Sauron never gave the 3 rings to the Elves, those were just the ones they managed to save from falling into his hands.
That's why the distribution is so uneven, nothing about it was planned from the start.