

Tolkien suggested that Sauron did not discover where the Three were hidden, though he guessed that they were given to Gil-galad and Galadriel. Gil-galad later entrusted Vilya to his lieutenant Elrond, and Narya to Círdan the Shipwright, Lord of the Havens of Mithlond and leader of the Falathrim or "People of the Shore". According to Unfinished Tales, at the start of the War of the Elves and Sauron, Celebrimbor gave both Narya and Vilya to Gil-galad, High King of the Noldor. In an unused draft by Tolkien, Galadriel counselled Celebrimbor to destroy all the Rings when Sauron's deception was revealed, but when he could not bear to ruin them, she suggested that the Three be hidden. Īccording to Johann Köberl, Tolkien struggled with the notion of a "special status" for the Elven-Rings, and considered having The Three set free when the One Ring was destroyed. The Rings had earlier been named Kemen, Ëar, and Menel, meaning the Rings of Earth, Sea, and Heaven. Some of the descriptions, such as that Vilya was the mightiest of the Three, and that Narya was called "The Great", were added at the galley proof stage, just before printing. In Fisher's view, Tolkien found it difficult to work these Rings both into the existing story of the One Ring, and into the enormous but Ring-free Legendarium.

Jason Fisher, writing in Tolkien Studies, notes that Tolkien developed the names, descriptions and powers of the Three Rings late and slowly through many drafts of his narratives. Others have noted that their power was benevolent, in sharp contrast to the One Ring, and could be used to protect and to heal and that Tolkien uses the Three Rings to elaborate the angelic and sacrificial aspects of the Elves in the battle between good and evil in the War of the Ring.

They were taken from Middle-earth to the blessed realm of Valinor at the end of the Third Age, after the destruction of the One Ring.Ĭommentators have observed that the Three Rings enabled the Elves to halt the passage of time within their realms, especially in Lothlórien where Galadriel wielded Nenya. Upon perceiving Sauron's intent, the Elves hid the Three from him. However, they were still forged by Celebrimbor with the arts taught to him by Sauron and thus were still bound to the One Ring. These were free of Sauron's influence, as he did not have a hand in their making. The Three Rings were made by Celebrimbor after Sauron, in the guise of Annatar, had left Eregion. After the One Ring, they are the most powerful of the twenty Rings of Power. In Tolkien's mythology, the Three Rings are magical artefacts forged by the Elves of Eregion. For other uses, see Three Rings (disambiguation).
