While Tolkien built the largest and most consistent fictional universe he sure didn't mind being

vague at times -- so if you finished the story and then thought: wait, what can this ring

do and where did it come from? This is your video.

First thing first: The One Ring is not the only ring -- it's Lord of the Ring*s*, after

all -- and that lord is Sauron.

Long before this story starts, Sauron disguised himself and came to the elves to work with

their master craftsman Celebrimbor to forge the rings of power. Together they made 16

-- called the lesser rings, then Celebrimbor took Sauron's formula and made three on his

own that turned out more powerful than the original 16.

Why make rings based on the suggestion of a stranger whose resume has a millennia-long

gap? Because he promised the rings would fix the Elves biggest problem: this world is winding

down. The amount of big and awesome and magic decreases as a function of time here.

For elves, magic *immortal* creatures, this is bad news. Sauron said the rings would preserve

what their wearers cared about most. That's why the Elven kingdoms are so fantastical

compared to the rest of the world -- their rings have preserved them

Unlike the famous poem implies, the elves made all the rings for themselves intending

exactly 0 to get into the hands of men or dwarves, whom the elves think are stinky -- so

obviously something went wrong. Which brings us back to The One Ring to rule them all.

Sauron's chief ability's is to dominate the minds of others -- that's partly why he's

able to control such large armies -- and he secretly made the The One Ring as a kind of

lens to focus this power -- his formula for ring construction, unknown to Celebrimbor,

also made the wearers of the nineteen rings more vulnerable.

Basically: The One Ring buffs his psy attack and the other rings debuf psy defense.

Plan A was to control a bunch of high-level elves. But when he put The One ring on, the

elves' base-level stats allowed them to resist and take off their rings just in time.

Sauron captured Celebrimbor and tortured him until he gave up the 16 lesser rings -- but

he died before revealing who was protecting the three most powerful ones.

So Sauron now had 16 mind-controlling rings and had to turn to plan B: dwarves.

Sauron manipulated sevens rings into the hands of the dwarven kings but that didn't work

well either -- Dwarves are a kind of clockwork creature Sauron found impossible to control.

But the rings weren't super helpful for dwarves either who loved treasure above all else so

the rings grew their hordes large enough to attract dragons who ate the dwarves and their

precious rings.

Finally, in the hands of men, ever the corruptible species, the rings worked as expected: Sauron

controlled their minds. And, as mortals, they valued their lives the most, which the rings

stretched for 1,000s of years. Stretched so thin the men turn into invisible wraiths.

Anyway, these domination plans don't go unnoticed, there�s a big war -- Sauron is defeated

and fades and The One Ring is lost.

But the One ring is tricksy. It has a mind of its own and wants to get back to Sauron,

which brings us back to its powers:

First: the ring tempts everyone (Well, almost everyone) with promises that, yes this little

ring can be a mighty weapon or a tool to reshape the world, and gosh, don't you just look like

the best guy to use it? Let's go vanquish the powerful-demigod who lives over there

to get started, shall we. Hmmm?

This is why the Hobbits made great ring bearers: because they're pretty happy with the way

things are and don't aspire to greatness. Of course, there's Gollum who started out

as a hobbit, but all things considered he held out pretty well for a couple hundred

years. Set the ring on the desk of most men and they wouldn't be able to finish their

coffee before heading to Mordor to rule the world and do it right this time.

It's worth considering that The One Ring's promises are just lies -- that no one could

*really* overthrow Sauron with it -- The Ring only wants to trick its wearer to get found

which brings us to...

Invisibility.

Which outside the minds of characters, is the only, tangible power the ring displays

for everyone else -- Invisibility seems great -- but while you're hiding from that troll

you shine like a beacon in the unseen world. Where the, also invisible ring wraiths, can

easily spot you.

In summary:

The One Ring a) Turns you invisible in the most unhelpful

manner b) Is probably filled with lies, because

c) It's part of Sauron and works for him.

He's so connected to it, that its destruction ends him for good. But the formula also intertwines

The One Ring with all the rest. And so when it fails, so do they.

This is why the elves are *so somber*. Victory over Sauron also means that the rings won't

preserve their kingdoms anymore -- and all will diminish. These books are the end of

the age of magic and the beginning of the age of men.

(Link to LoTR wallpapers at the end) Hello Internet, if you like LOTR and this

artwork, I�ve made a wallpaper pack of every piece of art available over at Patreon. They�re

all available in 4K so you can use them on anything from a huge screen all the way down

to your iPhone. Click here to go check them out.