Anthony Lawther
Well-Known Member
In a number of discussions to this point, the number of Rings and their recipients seems to be taken as happening by design, as described in the Ring-rhyme.
I wondered what evidence there was for this, and haven't found anything truly satisfying. This blog entry draws an interesting conclusion:
The Seven and the Nine weren't created for the Dwarves and Men respectively, but by Elves and for Elves, with the guidance of Sauron. Their distribution to these other groups is Plan B. The only reference I've found for the Seven being given to the leaders of the seven kindreds is not a Tolkien publication. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to access a copy, so I can't pursue the source of the claim further.
While there is a nice coincidence between Seven Rings and Seven Dwarven Kings (and a pleasing rhyme) the stories as developed by Tolkien don't fall out that way.
When reading Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age in The Silmarillion, it is easy to read the passage where the Elves recognise that Sauron has put on the One and remove their rings as talking solely about the Three, but a closer reading suggests that it is all of the other Rings of Power: The Three, The Seven, The Nine, and the lesser rings.
Sauron's assault on Eregion then secures him all but the Three which he then redistributes (details in Unfinished Tales of Numenor and Middle-earth and Letter 131.)
As Nogrod and Belegost are (all but?) destroyed with the sinking of Beleriand, and in the following century Dwarves from here began relocating to Khazâd-Dum, would there be enough power left in those houses to warrant the receipt of Rings of Power? Giving multiple Rings to multiple Kings living in the one place would seem to be likely to cause more friction among those populations than we have textual evidence for.
Given Gil-Galad's proximity to the Ered Luin, it seems unlikely that Sauron could get Rings to the Dwarves there (if the Lords of Nogrod and Belegost didn't relocate) without discovering a way to besiege or even overcome the Elves remaining in Western Eriador.
Finally, given that the general trend within the corpus of Arda is for a spectrum of resistance to or compliance with the Enemy that spans West to East, is it reasonable to conclude that the Dwarves furthest East were most easily swayed to Sauron's cause, as appears to be the case with Men?
If so, is it reasonable to think that those houses furthest East might have been given multiple Rings, with the descendants of Nogrod and Belegost missing out?
I haven't found textual evidence either for or against this position, but I'm interested in the thought of others, or if others can find the evidence I've missed.
I wondered what evidence there was for this, and haven't found anything truly satisfying. This blog entry draws an interesting conclusion:
The Seven and the Nine weren't created for the Dwarves and Men respectively, but by Elves and for Elves, with the guidance of Sauron. Their distribution to these other groups is Plan B. The only reference I've found for the Seven being given to the leaders of the seven kindreds is not a Tolkien publication. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to access a copy, so I can't pursue the source of the claim further.
While there is a nice coincidence between Seven Rings and Seven Dwarven Kings (and a pleasing rhyme) the stories as developed by Tolkien don't fall out that way.
When reading Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age in The Silmarillion, it is easy to read the passage where the Elves recognise that Sauron has put on the One and remove their rings as talking solely about the Three, but a closer reading suggests that it is all of the other Rings of Power: The Three, The Seven, The Nine, and the lesser rings.
Sauron's assault on Eregion then secures him all but the Three which he then redistributes (details in Unfinished Tales of Numenor and Middle-earth and Letter 131.)
As Nogrod and Belegost are (all but?) destroyed with the sinking of Beleriand, and in the following century Dwarves from here began relocating to Khazâd-Dum, would there be enough power left in those houses to warrant the receipt of Rings of Power? Giving multiple Rings to multiple Kings living in the one place would seem to be likely to cause more friction among those populations than we have textual evidence for.
Given Gil-Galad's proximity to the Ered Luin, it seems unlikely that Sauron could get Rings to the Dwarves there (if the Lords of Nogrod and Belegost didn't relocate) without discovering a way to besiege or even overcome the Elves remaining in Western Eriador.
Finally, given that the general trend within the corpus of Arda is for a spectrum of resistance to or compliance with the Enemy that spans West to East, is it reasonable to conclude that the Dwarves furthest East were most easily swayed to Sauron's cause, as appears to be the case with Men?
If so, is it reasonable to think that those houses furthest East might have been given multiple Rings, with the descendants of Nogrod and Belegost missing out?
I haven't found textual evidence either for or against this position, but I'm interested in the thought of others, or if others can find the evidence I've missed.