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 Rings

Were Other Rings Made?


From: Erik Tracy

It has been said that more rings were made but they are of a lesser nature than the Great Rings of Power. Gandalf suggests as much when he explains the history of the Rings of Power to Frodo:
    "In Eregion long ago many Elven-rings were made, magic rings as you call them, and they were, of course, of various kinds: some more potent and some less. The lesser rings were only essays in the craft before it was full-grown, and to the Elven-smiths they were but trifles - yet to my mind dangerous for mortals. But the Great Rings, the Rings of Power, they were perilous."
    [The Fellowship of the Ring]
Another allusion to more rings is made when Sauron invaded Eregion to reclaim by force all the rings he had sought to rule by the forging and wearing of the One:
    "There Sauron took the Nine Rings and the lesser works of the Mírdain; but the Seven and the Three he could not find."
    [Unfinished Tales]
We are not told how many of these lesser rings were made, nor of the nature of their power. Their use is nowhere recorded in the history of Middle-earth.

It is also possible that Saruman himself created a minor ring as is suggested in the Fellowship of the Ring during the Council of Elrond where Gandalf is recounting his capture in Isengard:
    "But I rode up to the foot of Orthanc, and came to the stair of Saruman... He wore a ring on his finger." In the same section Saruman declares "For I am Saruman, the Wise, Saruman the Ring-maker, Saruman of Many Colours."
    [The Fellowship of the Ring]
We are told in several places that the study of the lore of the Rings of Power was Saruman's province. It is quite possible and plausible that Saruman created his own ring of power and used this ring to control and dominate his army of orcs, wargs, and half-breeds. After all he was a Maia (of Aulë, the smith) and possessed great power.
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