# What happened to the Nine Rings? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** middle-earth\ **Created:** [April 12, 2021, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-nine-rings/939868 "2021-04-12T20:25:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2021, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-nine-rings/939868/21 "2021-04-13T02:47:08Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > On that note, was Saruman’s Ring left lying on the ground of the Shire when he died by Wormtongue’s hand? What was Saruman’s ring? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2021, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-nine-rings/939868/22 "2021-04-13T02:53:07Z")
He studied as much on the Ring Lore as he could and forged his own ring in imitation of Sauron. He revealed it to Gandalf when he captured Gandalf. No real indications was ever mentioned of it having any powers though or what powers. Both Saruman and Sauron were originally Maiar of Aulë. So they shared the craft knowledge. ---
**Author:** ![Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mundane_super_hero/32/6304_2.png) [@Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mundane_Super_Hero)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2021, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-nine-rings/939868/23 "2021-04-13T03:38:51Z")
Never in my life have I ever wanted so badly to gather a huge backpack of my things, to find a creepy grave diggers house in the middle of an old abandoned cemetery, to dig through to a Stephen King portal, and to find myself in a very different world ( somewhat well armed). ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2021, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-nine-rings/939868/24 "2021-04-13T12:18:18Z")
From the wonderful FAQ of the Rings: [http://oakroadsystems.com/genl/ringfaq.htm#Q79-Fate](http://oakroadsystems.com/genl/ringfaq.htm#Q79-Fate) ### C9. What ultimately happened to the Seven and the Nine Rings? ( _last revised 3 Feb 2002_ ) They were **destroyed** , according to Tolkien: “And so indeed it has since befallen: The One and the Seven and the Nine are destroyed, and the Three have passed away.” [[Silm: Rings](http://oakroadsystems.com/genl/ringfaq.htm#RefSilm) (299)] **The Seven** : Four of them were consumed by dragons, presumably while the Dwarf-lords were wearing them, long before the War of the Ring [[LotR I 2](http://oakroadsystems.com/genl/ringfaq.htm#RefLotR) (64)]. The other three were in Sauron’s keeping. Last to be retaken was the Ring borne by the ancestors of Thorin Oakenshield. Thorin’s father, Thráin II, was captured in Mirkwood and taken to Dol Guldur (Sauron’s headquarters at the time), where he was tortured and the Ring taken from him [[LotR App A(III)](http://oakroadsystems.com/genl/ringfaq.htm#RefLotR) (1114)]. (See “[Were the Rings originally intended for Dwarves and Men?](http://oakroadsystems.com/genl/ringfaq.htm#Intent)” for a story about the origin of this Ring.) **The Nine** were [in Sauron’s keeping](http://oakroadsystems.com/genl/ringfaq.htm#Q79-SauronHeld) at the end of the Third Age. At the time of the War of the Ring, Sauron had twelve Rings in his possession: all of the Nine, and the three of the Seven that had not been destroyed. It’s hard to see how merely having the debris of the Barad-dûr fall on them could have destroyed small metal objects, and Tolkien gives no details. But it’s a moot point: once the One was destroyed [all the other Rings lost their powers](http://oakroadsystems.com/genl/ringfaq.htm#Q1-Powers). [[Silm: Rings](http://oakroadsystems.com/genl/ringfaq.htm#RefSilm) (287)] ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2021, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-nine-rings/939868/25 "2021-04-13T13:20:46Z")
> [@Mundane\_Super\_Hero](#): > > find myself in a very different world ( somewhat well armed). With what? A sturmgewar with silver bullets? ---
**Author:** ![Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mundane_super_hero/32/6304_2.png) [@Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mundane_Super_Hero)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2021, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-nine-rings/939868/26 "2021-04-13T16:38:42Z")
It’d type it all out because typewriter ink is the closest I’ll get. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2021, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-nine-rings/939868/27 "2021-04-13T16:59:32Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > It’s hard to see how merely having the debris of the Barad-dûr fall on them could have destroyed small metal objects, and Tolkien gives no details. But it’s a moot point: once the One was destroyed [all the other Rings lost their powers](http://oakroadsystems.com/genl/ringfaq.htm#Q1-Powers) Has anyone looked in the Safety Deposit Box of the Bank of Mordor? That’s where I’d put them. Even if they didn’t have their powers anymore, they’d be great souvenirs. I’ll bet geeky Elvenlord collectors would pay a lot of mithril for them. Although they really belong in a _mathom_ house. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2021, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-nine-rings/939868/28 "2021-04-13T18:02:43Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Has anyone looked in the Safety Deposit Box of the Bank of Mordor? That’s where I’d put them. Sauron was more subtle than that. I would check lockers at bus stations in the Shire. ---
**Author:** ![psiekier](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psiekier/32/116_2.png) [@psiekier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psiekier)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2021, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-nine-rings/939868/29 "2021-04-13T19:11:45Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > With what? A sturmgewar with silver bullets? A magic book … a shotgun … a chainsaw … and an Oldsmobile with a giant propeller on the front. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/CZ-wU5RXw2o/hqdefault.jpg "Army of Darkness Official Trailer #1 - Bruce Campbell Movie (1992) HD") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZ-wU5RXw2o) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2021, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-nine-rings/939868/30 "2021-04-13T20:40:23Z")
One does wonder, though, why Sauron never redistributed those of the Seven that he had. That he couldn’t control their original wielders was due to the nature of the Dwarves, not the nature of the Rings. So why not give them to more men, or to elves? ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2021, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-nine-rings/939868/31 "2021-04-13T20:44:46Z")
Didn’t he offer the Rings to the dwarves in the Lonely Mountain, or am I remembering a scene from the History of Middle Earth? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2021, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-nine-rings/939868/32 "2021-04-13T20:48:23Z")
At the Council of Elrond, Gloin mentioned the offer of Ring(s) to King Dáin in exchange for help in finding Bilbo and general support. > The Lord Sauron the Great, so he said, wished for our friendship. Rings he would give for it, such as he gave of old. And he asked urgently concerning hobbits, of what kind they were, and where they dwelt. “For Sauron knows,” said he, “that one of these was known to you on a time.” ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2021, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-nine-rings/939868/33 "2021-04-13T21:05:16Z")
Yeah, but I think it would be seriously unrealistic for anyone to count on Sauron’s abiding by his promise once he got hold of the One Ring again. AIUI, this whole Ring-giveaway business was a ploy of Second Age Sauron when he had less power and more credibility as an ally among (at least some) Elves, Dwarves and Men. It was a sneaky infiltration scheme to deceive and then dominate people that he didn’t have the sheer might to just stomp on. Third Age Sauron is No More Mister Nice Guy. He’s back, he’s bad, and his cover is blown: for the most part, he knows he’s not going to get anywhere anymore with any strategies more subtle than just stomping and terrorizing people. IMHO the offer of Rings to Dwarves of the Lonely Mountain was a miscalculation based on the notion that these remote northern troglodyte hicks might still be largely ignorant about Sauron’s real nature and be more willing to take his negotiations at face value. But as I said, I doubt he’d ever have followed through on the offer if they had accepted it. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2021, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-nine-rings/939868/34 "2021-04-13T23:01:11Z")
I think it’s more that he was counting on the Dwarves saying “Ooh, gold! Shiny!”. Which dwarves do, after all, have a predisposition towards. Unfortunately for him, they also have a predisposition towards “Baruk khazad! Khazad ai-menu!”. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2021, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-nine-rings/939868/35 "2021-04-13T23:52:12Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Baruk khazad! Khazad ai-menu Love that part about them. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2021, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-nine-rings/939868/36 "2021-04-14T13:57:37Z")
Wherever the Nine Rings are, physically, I think the Ringwraiths still have them, in some fashion. Sauron has a burning desire to reclaim the One Ring; that’s the central conflict that drives the entire plot of _Lord of the Rings_. Clearly he is able to _possess_ the Ring, though he is at this point an incorporeal being; he can use its power, despite not having a finger to put it on. I suspect that’s the same for the Ringwraiths - they can use their rings, even if they can’t wear them. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2021, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-nine-rings/939868/37 "2021-04-14T14:25:08Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > Clearly he is able to _possess_ the Ring, though he is at this point an incorporeal being; he can use its power, despite not having a finger to put it on. That’s not consistent with what Gollum said. He was tortured in Barad-Dur, saw Sauron, and said that he only had nine fingers. > [@](#): > > Frodo: “It was Isildur who cut off the finger of the Enemy.” > > "Yes, He has only four fingers on the Black Hand, but they are enough,’ said Gollum shuddering. “And He hated Isidur’s city.” ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2021, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-nine-rings/939868/38 "2021-04-14T14:53:10Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > > [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > > > Clearly he is able to _possess_ the Ring, though he is at this point an incorporeal being; he can use its power, despite not having a finger to put it on. > > That’s not consistent with what Gollum said. He was tortured in Barad-Dur, saw Sauron, and said that he only had nine fingers. > > > [@](#): > > > > Frodo: “It was Isildur who cut off the finger of the Enemy.” > > > > "Yes, He has only four fingers on the Black Hand, but they are enough,’ said Gollum shuddering “And He hated Isidur’s city.” Point taken. It occurred to me after I posted that a Ringwraith was able to stab Frodo with a knife, and break Éowyn’s arm with a mace, so they’re clearly able to manipulate physical objects. And Merry’s blade pierced the Witch-King’s “undead flesh, breaking the spell that knit his unseen sinews to his will.” So I misremembered, and the Ringwraiths _did_ have bodies, of some fashion. And so, apparently, did Sauron; although he was also incarnated as the Lidless Eye. Maybe then the Ringwraiths still possessed their rings. ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2021, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-nine-rings/939868/39 "2021-04-14T15:29:13Z")
I always interpreted the Nine (and the survivors of the Seven) being _held_ by Sauron as being _controlled_ by Sauron and not _physically possessed_ by Sauron. As opposed to the Three which were hidden from him and beyond his control. Based on the comments of posters who have delved much more deeply into the (back)story I’m probably wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2021, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-nine-rings/939868/40 "2021-04-14T16:04:58Z")
I was sure that the Rings were in the physical possession of Sauron, as a means of control of the Wraiths, but I could be wrong. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-nine-rings/939868.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-nine-rings/939868.md?page=3)