The new Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2 teaser hints that even more magical bling is headed Middle-earth’s way ā including the dwarven rings. So, who made the dwarven rings?
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The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’s Dwarven Rings, Explained
According to J.R.R. Tolkien’s original Middle-earth canon, the elves made the dwarven rings. In fact, the elves made all rings of power, save for the One Ring, which Sauron created himself. And speaking of Sauron, it’s important not to downplay his role in all this. The dark lord of Mordor taught Celebrimbor and the other elven smiths of Eregion how to forge magical fingerwear before they cottoned on to their teacher’s true nature. By that point, Celebrimbor and the gang had already made quite a few magic rings, including the seven that wound up on the dwarf lords’ stubby digits.
The elves didn’t crank out the dwarven rings with their eventual owners in mind, though. Instead, Sauron handled the distribution duties. How did Sauron get his hands on them? By force, of course. Middle-earth’s would-be ruler laid waste to Eregion and took Celebrimbor captive, torturing the smith about the rings’ whereabouts. Celembrimbor eventually cracked and gave up what would eventually be known as the dwarven rings. Sauron then gifted six of the rings to the dwarves (Celebrimbor had already sent the seventh to King Durin III for safekeeping in Khazad-dĆ»m).
Why was the ordinarily stingy dark lord in such a charitable mood? Because he thought the rings would give him power over the dwarves via the One Ring. Essentially, this was the same scheme he pulled off to great effect with the kings of men (later, the NazgĆ»l). It didn’t prove as effective with the dwarves, however, and all the dwarven rings really did was make their owners a bit more greedy.
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How Many Rings of Power Are There in Total?
In The Lord of the Rings and other associated works, Tolkien confirms that 20 rings of power exist. Admittedly, the elves whipped up plenty more, but these pale in comparison to the so-called “great rings” that dominate the narrative. Here’s how the full 20 breaks down:
- The three elven rings
- The seven dwarven rings
- The nine rings for men
- The One Ring
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What happened to them all? Well, Sauron never tracked down the elven rings (poor Celebrimbor took their location to his grave). So, they stayed with the elves, ending up with Galadriel, Elrond, and the wizard Gandalf. The dark lord had better luck with the dwarven rings, stealing back three (the rest were gobbled up by dragons). And he scooped up the nine rings he gave the future Nazgƻl following the assault on Eregion. As for the One Ring, it was destroyed in the fires of Mount Doom, as seen in The Lord of the Rings.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2 premieres on Prime Video on August 29, 2024.
Published: May 15, 2024 11:56 am