Flammifer
Well-Known Member
What are the powers of the One Ring? What power would it add to Sauron if he recovered it? What power would it grant to another wielder who wanted to use it against Sauron? What do we know about the power of the Ruling Ring at this point (the end of the Council of Elrond)?
Well, we do not know a lot, but I have tried to assemble all that we do know. Please add if I have missed any evidence.
According to Gandalf:
I think we know, that the Ring makes the bearer invisible when worn. It extends life. It creates strong possessiveness in its bearer. It was created to rule, find, bring, and bind the other Rings. It was used to bind and rule the Ringwraiths.
I think we accept that it could ‘lay bare all that was wrought’ by the Three to a powerful wielder. It might allow a powerful wielder perhaps even to defeat Sauron. (Suggested by Saruman and Elrond, hinted at by Gandalf, - though confirmed by none of them). That such a powerful wielder could turn into a new Dark Lord. I think we can accept that the Ring is, ‘altogether evil’. It was made by evil, for evil, and evil (of some sort) was placed within it. However, is anything in Arda ‘altogether evil’? (I know that this could get into the thorny problem of the redemption of orcs.) We can also accept that Elrond believes that if the One is destroyed the Three will fail.
I think we should have some questions about: “The Enemy still lacks one thing to give him strength and knowledge to beat down all resistance, break the last defences, and cover all the lands in a second darkness. He lacks the one Ring.” (Gandalf asserts this in ‘The Shadow of the Past’, but Elrond seems to think that Sauron has enough power without the Ring to overcome all, in ‘The Council of Elrond’). “The Ring tries to get to its master”. Yes, the fact that it slipped off Isildur’s finger, and Gollum’s is suggestive, but are we ready to ascribe situational awareness and some sort of consciousness to the Ring yet? More dubiously, that “the very desire of it corrupts the heart.” It is hard to accept ‘corruption of the heart’ as a power of the Ring. This because we have contrary evidence. Bilbo carried the Ring for 61 years. Do we see any evidence of his heart having been corrupted? Well, he did lie about the exact circumstances in which he acquired the Ring, and he did indulge in a few somewhat mean-spirited gift tags when he departed Bag End, but if this is the extent of the corrupting power of the Great Ring, it is not very worrying! Of course, Elrond did not say, “The Ring corrupts the heart”. He said, “The very desire of it corrupts the heart”. He is specifically referencing Saruman. Do we need to believe that this is a power of the Ring? Is it not more that power corrupts, and even the desire for power corrupts – witness Saruman (who has never been close to the Ring, so unlikely that it corrupted him)?
So, if that is what we know about the Power of the Ring, let us try to speculate about a few questions:
What power would Sauron gain if he re-gained the Ring?
I speculate that the only power he would gain would be the power to command the Three, and lay bare all that they had wrought? And would he even be able to command the Three (and their bearers)? They were hidden from him (spiritually I suspect, as well as physically) the last time he tried to find them, bring them, bind them, and rule them. Perhaps they could be hidden from him again. Maybe all he could do is lay bare all that they had wrought? Still a considerable gain for Sauron. But, if Elrond is right, no one can resist the Ringless Sauron. Is Sauron’s effort to re-gain the Ring driven more to stop it falling into the hands of a rival than to add to his own power?
Sauron made the Ring to ‘rule all the others’. He put ‘a large part of his former powers into it’, so it could do so. Would he get ‘a large part of his former powers’ back if he re-gained the Ring? Maybe, if he could somehow extract them, but then wouldn’t he lose the power to ‘rule all the others’? Was putting some of his powers into the Ring to get domination over the other Rings an irreversible process? It is possible to infer that if Sauron recovered the Ring, he would get some of his ‘former powers’ back. But would he? He put those powers into the Ring in order to ‘trade’ them for the power to dominate the other Rings. Is there any evidence that he could get them back? If he did, would he lose the power to dominate the other Rings?
How much does Sauron need the Ring anyway? His greatest triumph by far was engineering the corruption and downfall of Numenor, which he did without the Ring, having left it behind in his safety deposit box in Middle-earth. (Not that we know this at the time of the Council. However, the attendees might know it, if Elrond covered it when “Of Numenor he spoke, its glory and its fall”.)
What power would a powerful new wielder gain that would possibly allow them to overcome Sauron?
Well, presumably, they could command the Nazgul? That would weaken Sauron and strengthen the opposition. That might be enough to win the war. They might also gain power over the Three and their wielders (though they might encounter the same issues that Sauron did)? They would presumably become invisible if wearing the Ring? If Mortal Men (or Hobbits) they would presumably have extended lives? Is there any evidence that they would gain direct power over Sauron?
What powers does the Ring have, other than the power to rule, find, bring, bind, the other Rings?
Well, we know it does have some other powers (rather curious powers). It extends lifespan. (Why? Unlikely to be useful or tempting in Rings made for Elves? Does not work on Dwarves (though we will not know this until the Appendices). Not likely to be a useful feature of the One Ring, as far as Sauron is concerned (as he lives forever anyway. Seems to at any rate. Comes back from the dead, as we are told at the Council.)
It induces possessiveness in its bearers. Why?
It makes the bearer invisible when worn. A very curious power? Does it make Sauron invisible when he wears it? If it did, how did Gil-galad, Elrond, Elendil, and Isildur fight and kill him on the slopes of Orodruin? How did Isildur see the Ring, and the hand, to cut the Ring from it with his father’s hilt shard? If it does not make Sauron invisible, why does it do this to others?
Does JRRT cunningly induce the reader to imagine more power in the One Ring, at the time of first reading ‘The Council of Elrond’, than the evidence really supports? I think we tend to ascribe to the Ring the power to amplify the power of the bearer to dominate the wills of others. But, besides dominating the wills of the bearers of the other Rings, is there any evidence that this power extends to all and sundry?
What should we be thinking about the powers of the One Ring, if we were first-time readers finishing ‘The Council of Elrond’?
Well, we do not know a lot, but I have tried to assemble all that we do know. Please add if I have missed any evidence.
According to Gandalf:
- “A mortal who keeps one of the Great Rings does not die,” (but becomes wraithified eventually).
- “The Enemy still lacks one thing to give him strength and knowledge to beat down all resistance, break the last defences, and cover all the lands in a second darkness. He lacks the One Ring.”
- “He let a great part of his own former power pass into it, so that he could rule all the others.”
- “If he recovers it, then he will command them all again, wherever they be, even the Three, and all that has been wrought with them will be laid bare, and he will be stronger than ever.”
- The Ring tries to get to its master: abandoning Isildur and Gollum.
- “Already you too, Frodo, cannot easily let it go, nor will to damage it.”
- “With that power I should have power too great and terrible. And over me the Ring would gain a power still greater and more deadly. Do not tempt me! For I do not wish to become like the Dark Lord himself. Yet the way of the Ring to my heart is by pity, pity for weakness and the desire of strength to do good.”
- “Nine he gave to Mortal Men, proud and great, and so ensnared them. Long ago they fell under the dominion of the One, and they became Ringwraiths, shadows under his great Shadow, his most terrible servants.”
- Power to make its bearer invisible, when worn. It engenders strong possessiveness in its bearers – Isildur, Gollum, Bilbo, Frodo. It extends life – Gollum and Bilbo. It put the Ringwraiths under Sauron’s domination.
- “The Ruling Ring? If we could command that, then the Power would pass to us.”
- It was made to rule, find, bring, and bind the other Rings (and, presumably, their bearers?).
- “It is altogether evil.”
- “Its strength is too great for anyone to wield at will, save only those who have already a great power of their own.”
- “The very desire of it corrupts the heart.”
- “If any of the Wise should with this Ring overthrow the Lord of Mordor, using his own arts, he would then set himself on Sauron’s throne, and yet another Dark Lord would appear.”
- “Maybe when the One has gone, the Three will fail, and many fair things will fade and be forgotten. That is my belief.”
I think we know, that the Ring makes the bearer invisible when worn. It extends life. It creates strong possessiveness in its bearer. It was created to rule, find, bring, and bind the other Rings. It was used to bind and rule the Ringwraiths.
I think we accept that it could ‘lay bare all that was wrought’ by the Three to a powerful wielder. It might allow a powerful wielder perhaps even to defeat Sauron. (Suggested by Saruman and Elrond, hinted at by Gandalf, - though confirmed by none of them). That such a powerful wielder could turn into a new Dark Lord. I think we can accept that the Ring is, ‘altogether evil’. It was made by evil, for evil, and evil (of some sort) was placed within it. However, is anything in Arda ‘altogether evil’? (I know that this could get into the thorny problem of the redemption of orcs.) We can also accept that Elrond believes that if the One is destroyed the Three will fail.
I think we should have some questions about: “The Enemy still lacks one thing to give him strength and knowledge to beat down all resistance, break the last defences, and cover all the lands in a second darkness. He lacks the one Ring.” (Gandalf asserts this in ‘The Shadow of the Past’, but Elrond seems to think that Sauron has enough power without the Ring to overcome all, in ‘The Council of Elrond’). “The Ring tries to get to its master”. Yes, the fact that it slipped off Isildur’s finger, and Gollum’s is suggestive, but are we ready to ascribe situational awareness and some sort of consciousness to the Ring yet? More dubiously, that “the very desire of it corrupts the heart.” It is hard to accept ‘corruption of the heart’ as a power of the Ring. This because we have contrary evidence. Bilbo carried the Ring for 61 years. Do we see any evidence of his heart having been corrupted? Well, he did lie about the exact circumstances in which he acquired the Ring, and he did indulge in a few somewhat mean-spirited gift tags when he departed Bag End, but if this is the extent of the corrupting power of the Great Ring, it is not very worrying! Of course, Elrond did not say, “The Ring corrupts the heart”. He said, “The very desire of it corrupts the heart”. He is specifically referencing Saruman. Do we need to believe that this is a power of the Ring? Is it not more that power corrupts, and even the desire for power corrupts – witness Saruman (who has never been close to the Ring, so unlikely that it corrupted him)?
So, if that is what we know about the Power of the Ring, let us try to speculate about a few questions:
What power would Sauron gain if he re-gained the Ring?
I speculate that the only power he would gain would be the power to command the Three, and lay bare all that they had wrought? And would he even be able to command the Three (and their bearers)? They were hidden from him (spiritually I suspect, as well as physically) the last time he tried to find them, bring them, bind them, and rule them. Perhaps they could be hidden from him again. Maybe all he could do is lay bare all that they had wrought? Still a considerable gain for Sauron. But, if Elrond is right, no one can resist the Ringless Sauron. Is Sauron’s effort to re-gain the Ring driven more to stop it falling into the hands of a rival than to add to his own power?
Sauron made the Ring to ‘rule all the others’. He put ‘a large part of his former powers into it’, so it could do so. Would he get ‘a large part of his former powers’ back if he re-gained the Ring? Maybe, if he could somehow extract them, but then wouldn’t he lose the power to ‘rule all the others’? Was putting some of his powers into the Ring to get domination over the other Rings an irreversible process? It is possible to infer that if Sauron recovered the Ring, he would get some of his ‘former powers’ back. But would he? He put those powers into the Ring in order to ‘trade’ them for the power to dominate the other Rings. Is there any evidence that he could get them back? If he did, would he lose the power to dominate the other Rings?
How much does Sauron need the Ring anyway? His greatest triumph by far was engineering the corruption and downfall of Numenor, which he did without the Ring, having left it behind in his safety deposit box in Middle-earth. (Not that we know this at the time of the Council. However, the attendees might know it, if Elrond covered it when “Of Numenor he spoke, its glory and its fall”.)
What power would a powerful new wielder gain that would possibly allow them to overcome Sauron?
Well, presumably, they could command the Nazgul? That would weaken Sauron and strengthen the opposition. That might be enough to win the war. They might also gain power over the Three and their wielders (though they might encounter the same issues that Sauron did)? They would presumably become invisible if wearing the Ring? If Mortal Men (or Hobbits) they would presumably have extended lives? Is there any evidence that they would gain direct power over Sauron?
What powers does the Ring have, other than the power to rule, find, bring, bind, the other Rings?
Well, we know it does have some other powers (rather curious powers). It extends lifespan. (Why? Unlikely to be useful or tempting in Rings made for Elves? Does not work on Dwarves (though we will not know this until the Appendices). Not likely to be a useful feature of the One Ring, as far as Sauron is concerned (as he lives forever anyway. Seems to at any rate. Comes back from the dead, as we are told at the Council.)
It induces possessiveness in its bearers. Why?
It makes the bearer invisible when worn. A very curious power? Does it make Sauron invisible when he wears it? If it did, how did Gil-galad, Elrond, Elendil, and Isildur fight and kill him on the slopes of Orodruin? How did Isildur see the Ring, and the hand, to cut the Ring from it with his father’s hilt shard? If it does not make Sauron invisible, why does it do this to others?
Does JRRT cunningly induce the reader to imagine more power in the One Ring, at the time of first reading ‘The Council of Elrond’, than the evidence really supports? I think we tend to ascribe to the Ring the power to amplify the power of the bearer to dominate the wills of others. But, besides dominating the wills of the bearers of the other Rings, is there any evidence that this power extends to all and sundry?
What should we be thinking about the powers of the One Ring, if we were first-time readers finishing ‘The Council of Elrond’?