Originally, 19 rings were forged and 16 were distributed by Sauron to the 3 dominant races in Middle-earth. However, many do not know how the lord managed to make everyone swallow the pill, and thus dominate the world. We will clarify this for you.
The creation of the rings
The quote in The Lord of the Ringsfilm as book, is clear: “Three Rings for the Elven-kings under heaven, Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their abodes of stone, Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die, One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne in the Land of Mordor where the Shadows. One Ring to rule them all, one Ring to find them,n Ring to bring them all and in darkness bind them to the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.” However, if this genesis serves as a starting point for Tolkien’s work, many do not know precisely how Sauron went about it. forge 16 rings, rule the Nazgûl, pervert the kingdoms of dwarves and men, and dominate all of Middle-earth.
Most of the rings of power were thus forged by an Elf (aided by Sauron) in an enterprise of world conquest and domination of kingdoms. The manufacture of the Rings began around the 1500s of the Second Age. The seven rings for dwarves and the nine for men were forged by the Elves with immediate assistance from Sauron. Then the Elves created 3 other rings on their side, devoid of the influence of Sauron, thanks to the knowledge of the latter.
In order to control the rings and their bearers, Sauron forged about 500 years later a unique and evil ring, more powerful than all the others by infusing it with a good part of his power. It was at this precise moment that the Elves of Eregion learned of Sauron’s ruse, as he put his ring on his finger. If they hid all the rings, Sauron raised an army, and found the rings (except the three forged by Elves), and ravaged Eregion.
The Perversion of Kingdoms
After his defeat by the Númenoreans and Isildur in the Last Alliance of Elves and Men, Sauron distributed the seven rings to the dwarves and the nine to men. If the former were difficult to subdue, the latter were easily dominated: the nine lords who received a ring used it to increase their power, but one after the other, they fell into the realm of shadows, becoming specters entirely subject to the will of Sauron: the Nazgûl therefore (of which we give you some details here). But a question remains. How did all these beautiful people accept the coming and the project of the Dark Lord, knowing that he was a servant of Melkor, the first evil lord of Middle-earth?
Obviously, Sauron did not present himself to the various kingdoms as such, but disguised as Annatar, a then popular elf of Celebrimbor (who forged the rings), but also from most of the other kingdoms. Quickly affiliated with some sort of “lord of offerings“, Sauron set himself up as an extreme benefactor, and shared the riches with his hosts. This is why the Elves of Eregion accepted his coming and his enterprise (namely, Galadriel, on the other hand, has always been wary of him).
If we do not know exactly on what date he distributed the seven rings to the dwarves and the nine others to the men, the fact remains that once threaded, the men quickly fell under the yoke of the lord of darkness, and the dwarves, s they could not be controlled, were corrupted, and sank under their greed, this attracting the Dragons who coveted their treasures.
Many mysteries remain as to certain parts of the history of the Lord of the Rings, because of the richness of its universe and its lore. For example, you can find these 14 things you didn’t know about the creatures of Middle-earth, here.
