Ring Verse: Difference between revisions
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Normally the One Ring appears perfectly plain and featureless, but when heated in a fire the inscription appears in fiery letters inside the Ring. | Normally the One Ring appears perfectly plain and featureless, but when heated in a fire the inscription appears in fiery letters inside the Ring. | ||
It seems that the inscription uses Elvish lettering because the other Rings of Power were made by the Elves. [[Isildur]] was the first to notice the letters. When he had cut the ring from Sauron's hand, it was burning hot, and so Isildur was able to transcribe the inscription before it faded. He described them to be of a style " | It seems that the inscription uses Elvish lettering because the other Rings of Power were made by the Elves. [[Isildur]] was the first to notice the letters. When he had cut the ring from Sauron's hand, it was burning hot, and so Isildur was able to transcribe the inscription before it faded. He described them to be of a [[Tengwar#The_General_Use|style]] "of [[Eregion]]". The mode of writing was the one used also in [[Westron]]. | ||
[[Gandalf]] first learned of the Ring-inscription when he read the [[Isildur's scroll|account]] that Isildur had written before marching north to his death and the loss of the Ring. When Gandalf subsequently heated the ring that [[Bilbo Baggins]] had found and passed on to [[Frodo Baggins|Frodo]] the inscription appeared, leaving him in no doubt that it was the One Ring. | [[Gandalf]] first learned of the Ring-inscription when he read the [[Isildur's scroll|account]] that Isildur had written before marching north to his death and the loss of the Ring. When Gandalf subsequently heated the ring that [[Bilbo Baggins]] had found and passed on to [[Frodo Baggins|Frodo]] the inscription appeared, leaving him in no doubt that it was the One Ring. | ||
==Meaning== | ==Meaning== | ||
The inscription read: | The inscription read: |
Revision as of 09:06, 13 September 2008
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The Ring-inscription is a Black Speech inscription in Tengwar upon the One Ring, symbolising the Ring's power to control the other Rings of Power, and perhaps being part of the spell that give it its powers.
Description
Normally the One Ring appears perfectly plain and featureless, but when heated in a fire the inscription appears in fiery letters inside the Ring.
It seems that the inscription uses Elvish lettering because the other Rings of Power were made by the Elves. Isildur was the first to notice the letters. When he had cut the ring from Sauron's hand, it was burning hot, and so Isildur was able to transcribe the inscription before it faded. He described them to be of a style "of Eregion". The mode of writing was the one used also in Westron.
Gandalf first learned of the Ring-inscription when he read the account that Isildur had written before marching north to his death and the loss of the Ring. When Gandalf subsequently heated the ring that Bilbo Baggins had found and passed on to Frodo the inscription appeared, leaving him in no doubt that it was the One Ring.
Meaning
The inscription read:
Ash nazg durbatulûk, ash nazg gimbatul, ash nazg thrakatulûk, agh burzum-ishi krimpatul
These words, are physically painful to any Elf who hears them (as well as any other words of that language), most probably because of the power and the shadow they bring (the Shadow being the more harmful to the elves).
Roughly translated, they mean:
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them
There is also a poem about the Rings of Power, that contain these lines. Probably it was composed by the Free Peoples during the wars with Sauron, after the revelation of the truth about the Rings of Power but it is a mystery how and when the composer knew the spell of the Ring Inscription to incorporate it into the poem.
It is also possible that it has been a song by the Dark Forces of Sauron, and after the wars, it somehow "leaked" to the tradition of the Free Peoples who won.
- Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,
Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls 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 lie.
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them,
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
References
- A drawing of the Inscription appears in Book I, Chapter 2 of The Fellowship of the Ring, "The Shadow of the Past".
- The Black Speech phrase appears in Book II, Chapter 2, "The Council of Elrond",
Note: some recent editions of The Fellowship of the Ring accidentally omit the first two clauses of this phrase from Chapter 2.
Portrayal in adaptations
Tolkien describes the inscription to be in the inner side of the Ring. For visual purposes, Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy, has the inscription being both externally and internally. This was the case also with the replicas of the Ring for the movies' merchantize.