Something I've never quite understood... (Why a Ring?)

This may or may not be a ridiculous question. But I've wondered this ever since I first read the books, eight years ago, and I'm wondering it still. Perhaps one or more of you will have some insight into this.

Why on Middle-Earth did Sauron pour his life-force into something as small and, more importantly, easily misplaced as a ring?

Granted he wouldn't expect it to ever leave his hand, but surely someone as intelligent and skilled as the Dark Lord should have had the foresight to build in a fail-safe. At the very least, it could have been something a trifle larger- say, an armband? The Lord of the Armband wouldn't have sounded as cool as the Lord of the Ring, yeah, but it would be easier to track down, yes?

Furthermore, why tie your life-force to something physical at all? Why not ferret it away on the astral plane or somewhere else safe?

Also... what would have happened had one of the rings of the Nine been seperated somehow from its owner? The Nine are halfway between living and true death... so, if such a thing were to happen, could it swing either way? The reason for this second question is a resultof a roleplay begun by myself and a group of friends, who set up a sort of 'what if' scenario: What if the aforesaid situation were to happen? What if someone were to be stabbed by a Morgul blade and didn't find healing in time?

The result was actually great fun- we had a female Ringwraith (the result of the latter situation) wandering about, and played around with both of the speculated outcomes in the former scenario. But still, the questions remain.

No disrespect is meant for the aforementioned beings/people. My friends and I are all officially part of the "We Love Sauron" cult, which seems to be distressingly small these days.

[The Saucepan Man]

surely someone as intelligent and skilled as the Dark Lord should have had the foresight to build in a fail-safe.

He did. Well, two actually. First, no one could willingly destroy it. And secondly, it was imbued with part of his will so that it had a will of his own and, if lost, could take steps to make its way back to him. This it could do either by slipping off its bearer's finger (as it did with Gollum), or by forcing its bearer (or those around him *coughBoromircough*) to succumb to it.

The only drawback, absent divine intervention (doh! ) would be if someone more powerful than Sauron could use it against him. And the only one capable of doing so was Gandalf (and conceivably Saruman), who wasn't around when he made it. And even then, they would have become corrupted, and in effect, mastered by the Ring (and therefore a part of Sauron's will).

[Fordim Hedgethistle]

Sauron made the One Ring to rule the other Rings of Power: you need a Ring to rule the Rings? This makes an odd kind of sense to me -- his own innate power had not worked, he had been unable to subdue Middle-Earth on at least two occaisions, so the only recourse was to take the gamble of depending upon a new kind of 'technology'; his power couldn't be imposed on others, so he develope a cunning way to have his power be accepted by those he could seduce. He had to give some of himself (his evil) to bind others to him -- just like people in love have to give of themselves to bind themselves together.

As to the Nazgul and their Rings, by the time of the War of the Ring, the no longer wore their Rings -- if they did, then when their bodies were destroyed by Elrond and Gandalf at the Fords of Bruinen then they would have lost their Rings and been either freed of fully dead. I think that the final result of having become a Wraith is that the 'technology' of the Ring was no longer needed in direct application -- like with Gollum, even after he lost the Ring it still exercised total control of him.

[Voralphion]

Furthermore, why tie your life-force to something physical at all? Why not ferret it away on the astral plane or somewhere else safe?

Sauron had to put his power into the ring so he could control the others. His ring had to be more powerful than the others so only his direct physical power would be enough in order to be more powerful than the elven rings

[Rilwen Gamgee]

One possible reason that Tolkien used the One Ring as a main source of power is he was trying to emphasize the point that Sauron had almost all of Middle-earth at his disposal: right at his fingertips. This sort of power probably coudn't have been explained the same way if the weapon was, say, a frying pan (or a sword).

[dancing spawn of ungoliant]

One reason for using a ring could be that rings possessed at that time (I think) a certain value. They told the family the ring's bearer belonged, great lords had rings as a sign of their social status and they were beautiful things. Or that could be one explanation, why they made the nine, the seven and the three rings. Then Sauron made, as he was mocking all other ring bearers, a master ring.

[Orofaniel]

One possible reason that Tolkien used the One Ring as a main source of power is he was trying to emphasize the point that Sauron had almost all of Middle-earth at his disposal: right at his fingertips. This sort of power probably coudn't have been explained the same way if the weapon was, say, a frying pan (or a sword).

Just a comment on this one; There are probably many reasons why Tolkien sued “a Ring”. I do think however that he was inspired by Norse Mythology, which many have said before me. Rings are in Norse mythology a sign of power and fortune/wealth. Sauron's Ring was definitely a powerful Ring.( )

I have a couple of very interesting examples that'll bind the tales about Rings in Norse mythology together with LotR, but I'm afraid I'll turn this topic away from it originally theme.

[Lathriel]

I see a ring as a symbol of something precious and something that can't be lost that easily because Sauron wore it like a wedding ring which you never ever take off. Also if this was kind of like a wedding ring you could say that with his ring he was bound to his power as a husband is bound to his wife.

Maybe that is reaching a little far but I thought it was an interesting thought.

[Estelyn Telcontar]

This is an interesting question, which I hope will generate some good discussion! Those who read here might also want to go back to previous old threads on this topic: Why a Ring?(1) and Why a Ring?(2). For an interesting and amusing thread on the aspect of the ring as a 'wife', check out The One Ring?. Enjoy!

[Silmiel of Imladris]

Originally Posted by Ebonymist

Why not ferret it away on the astral plane or somewhere else safe?

Yeah! A fellow new ager! I don't know much about the planes yet so correct me if I am wrong but the astral plane would be very safe for it is the easiest the get too. The elves could easily dip into that power. The atherial plane would be that safe either becasue other things live there. (For those who don't know about astral plane think of of body expirence or in the movie terms when Arwen appears to Aragorn after he falls off the clif)

[Isowen]

A very good topic. I think that although the ring could be easily misplaced, Sauron did not expect to be destroyed and the ring taken from him by a man (and he doubted the strength of men!) But I think it was also quite clever, as the ring was indestructable, and I don't think Souron expected anyone to come into Mordor and destroy the ring, as that is the only way it can be unmade.
I'm not exactly sure why he chose to bind himself to a ring but I do understand why he chose something he made; because not many understand such a thing and he knew (or so I think) that if he was destroyed, he would always have the ring to bring him back to his old evil self