The Lesser Rings

[radagastly]

Realizing that it's probably been a couple of years since I posted on a thread and certainly much longer than that since I started one, I decided to pose a question that has long puzzled me, or at least made me curious.

In "The Shadow of the Past," Gandalf tells Frodo:

In Eregion long ago many Elvin-rings were made, magic rings as you call them, and they were, of course, of various kinds: some more potent and some less. The lesser rings were only essays in the craft before it was full grown, and to the Elven-smiths they were but trifles--yet still to my mind dangerous for mortals. But the Great Rings, the Rings of Power, they were perilous.

So, does anyone know anything about these "lesser rings?" Just how many of these "practice" rings were made before the elves were skilled enough to start work on the "Great Rings?"What was the extent of their power? We know only the Great Rings gave long life and invisibility.

I'm also wondering what might have become of them. It's logical to think that they were not all left behind in Hollin when the elves took the Three and fled from Sauron. Despite considering them "trifles," they must have taken at least some of them with them or Gandalf would not know about them, or at least he would not bother to mention them or consider them "dangerous for mortals." Is there any evidence of any elves using any of these rings at the time of the War of the Ring? I'm sure that if they knew enough to refrain from wearing the Three while Sauron still held the One, they would have known to forgo the use of these rings as well. After all, they were included in "all" referred to in the ring poem (One ring to rule them all.)Might they have been distributed to anyone else, and, if so, to whom? Is anyone using any of them?

If Sauron did seize any of these lesser rings from his initial raid on Hollin, do any of his servants in the war of the Ring show any minimally enhanced abilities?

Finally, does Tolkien provide any more detailed information about these lesser rings beyond the tiny bits of text that merely indicate their existence?