The rings

[Mithrandir_on_tour]

I am a huge LOTR fan, and i am now in the process of reading the Hobbit and The Silmarillion. I have read the trilogy, at 14 years old. While talking about it with some friends last week, and also while reading stuff about it on Wikipedia, i realised one glaring part i never understood- what of the other rings? Obviously, i know what happened to the nine men, but how did it happen? What could their rings do? And how did sauron corrupt them with the One? And the Elves rings- what did they do? And how did Sauron plan to corrupt them? The same for the dwarves also. I just dont understand the purpose of the rings, or how Sauron planned to rule over them with the One. Some answers would be much appreciated.

[screams]

the rings gave them power to lead kingdoms. sauron wanted them all to have the rings so that when he put on his one ring, he had dominion over them... which gives reason why he would want them to be given power from their rings, so he could use them as puppets and control the world.

as you know, the nine turned to shadow. he retreived some of the seven... i think he only got four of those, from what i remember, and the rest were consumed by dragons. the elven rings were the most powerful, and they were the ones he wanted most. the elves could see through his plan, and took off their rings after he made the one, so that he could not control them. after the one ring was lost, they put them back on, and in lord of the rings, elrond, galadriel, and gandalf all weilded the three elven rings...

[Mithrandir_on_tour]

But why, if he wanted to use them as puppets, did he want to reclaim the rings? And what power did it give to the wearer?

[screams]

well, because the dwarves weren't snaired as easily as the nine. they only used theirs to get rich, and i don't think they really used them that much. after he put his ring on, and the elves hid theirs, i think the dwarves did the same, but i'm not totally sure. after they weren't using theirs, sauron tried to reclaim them.

the powers were prolonged life. the bearer would be how bilbo was, and not age very quickly... same with smeagol. eventually the long life would turn them into a shadow, until eventually they could never again be visible to the world, like the nazgul. they were also given power to turn invisible, and to see things in the invisible realm, but i don't think that all the rings were like that.

the elven rings were the most powerful. it was elrond's ring that created the flood when frodo was escaping from the nazgul to rivendell. gandalf used his to fight the balrog, and sort of helped the enemies of sauron want to do good things. i think sauron wanted these three the most, because the elves made them more powerful than the rest.

also, the powers were different with each wearer. a wiser and more powerful person would have greater power than someone who was unwise.

[Mithrandir_on_tour]

Right, thanks then! I think i get it now, although i'm still not exactly sure why he would bother reclaiming the dwarven rings or the elven rings, except simply so they didnt have them, and the elves couldn't use the powers they granted. i did some of my own research, and along with your points, i get it now! So thanks!

[Gil Galad]

A quick note on reclaiming the rings, Sauron wanted power, that was his only goal, total and unmatched power and control. He saw the power of the rings and wanted it for himself.
Hope this helps.

[Farar Stonehewer]

9 rings to men- later on to become the nazgul since Sauron corrupted them

3 rings to elves-Vilya, Nenya, and Narya still on the good side.

7 rings to dwarves-4 were said to be destroyed by fire, the other 3 eventually taken by Sauron, including Thrain's ring.

and of course the twentieth, the one ring

[lothlorien]

Which elves had the rings.  I know Giladriel had one (can't remember which one).  Elrond had the other, who had the third one?

[numenorian]

And Gandalf had the other

[lothlorien]

I thought so, but why did Gandalf have one of the Elven rings?

[numenorian]

As far as i remember it was supposed to be given to Saruman but Galadriel considered that Gandalf was more trustfull

[Gil Galad]

Cirdan the Shipwright gave him the ring

[Bombadil_Ulmo]

Ok...this topic hasn't been posted in for at least 120 days, but I'll post here anyway...Yeah, someone gave it to Gandalf...I can't remember who and I don't remember where I read it...

[Andúnië]

Of the 3 rings, Nenya was possessed by Galadriel, Vilya by Elrond, and Narya by Cirdan the Shipwright (Gil Galad already answered this), who later gave it to Gandalf.

[St. Jimmy]

I feel like I'm grave-digging on the first page, but oh well, I feel it's necessary to add...

Cirdan gave his ring to Gandalf because he deemed him (correctly) the wisest of the 5 Istari who arrived in the Havens. He gave it to the wisest rather than the leader, which proved to be a critical decision, as you can see.