The One Ring

Creation


The One Ring was created by the Dark Lord Sauron following his departure from Eregion in order to enlarge his own might by combining it with the power of the Elven smiths, and thus to give him control over the other Rings of Power, which had been made by Celebrimbor and his people with Sauron's assistance. Sauron forged the One Ring secretly in the fires of Mount Doom. His will was then inside a Ring that could control the other Rings. Thus, he was more powerful than ever before when he wore the Ring, but became much weaker when he lost it. Though it appeared to be made of simple gold, the Ring was virtually impervious to damage, and could only be destroyed by throwing it into the pit of the volcanic Mount Doom in which it had originally been forged. This Ring also basically meant that unless you destroyed the ring you could never truly kill Sauron because a piece of him was inside of the Ring and would never leave the world while the Ring still lived.

Appearance
Physically the Ring resembled a geometrically perfect circle of pure gold, this perfection and purity being part of its allure. Unlike the lesser Rings, it bore no gem. It seems to have been able to expand and contract, in order to fit its wearer's finger or slip from it treacherously. Its identity could be determined by a simple (though little-known) test: when heated in fire, fine lines of fire, forming a script, would appear running along on the inside and outside of the Ring. The letters were an inscription in Tengwar of the Black Speech of Mordor, citing a section of poetry from part of its lore:


 * Ash nazg durbatulûk, ash nazg gimbatul,
 * ash nazg thrakatulûk, agh burzum-ishi krimpatul.

These are the first two lines from the end of a verse about the Rings of Power:


 * One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
 * One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.