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It was created by the Dark Lord Sauron during the Second Age in order to enlarge his own might by combining it with the power of the Elven Smiths, and thus to give him control over the other Rings of Power, which had been made by Celebrimbor and his people with Sauron's influence. To do this, he concentrated within it part of his own fëa ("soul" or "spirit") - thus he was more powerful than ever before when he wore the Ring, but became much weaker when he lost it. Though it appeared to be made of simple gold, the Ring was virtually impervious to damage, and could only be destroyed by throwing it into the pit of the volcano in which it had originally been forged. Unlike the lesser Rings, it bore no gem, but its identity could be determined by a simple (though little-known) test: when heated in a fire, it displayed in fiery letters in the language of Mordor a section of poetry from part of its lore - the Ring-inscriptionTolkien's fictional world of Middle-earth, 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. Normally the One Ring appears perfectly plain and featureless, bu.
When a person wore the ring, he would be partly "shifted" out of the physical realm into the spiritual realm. There, if he managed to consciously subdue the Ring's will with his own, he could wield all the powers that Sauron had before he lost the ring; especially he could control and enslave the will of others. A side effect (but usually the first effect noticed) of the Ring was that it made the wearer invisible to physical beings like living MenThe race of Men in J. Tolkien's Middle-earth books, such as The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings refers to humanity and does not denote gender. They are distinct from the various humanoid races, though some, like hobbits, are probably human in origin, and but highly visible to spiritual beings like wraiths, dimmed the wearer's sight, and sharpened his hearing. This "shadow world" was the world the Wraiths were forced to live in always, but it was also a world in which the CalaquendiIn the works of J. Tolkien, the Calaquendi (singular Calaquend are the Elves of Light those who dwelt in Valinor. Another name for them is Amanyar "Those of Aman". They include the Vanyar, Noldor, and those Teleri who passed over Belegaer, as well as the (Elves of Light) held great power: therefore GlorfindelIn the fiction of J. Tolkien, Glorfindel is an Elf, a character that appears on a couple of occasions in the tales of Middle-earth. Glorfindel first comes in as a Noldo in the account of the escape of Tuor, Idril, Earendil and many others from the fall of was able to stay the Witch-king at the Battle of FornostTolkien's fictional universe of Middle-earth, the Battle of Fornost was the battle that defeated Angmar. The Battle of Fornost was fought in the year 1975 of the Third Age by an army under Earnur, Crown-Prince of Gondor against Angmar. While the battle wa and later again at the ford of BruinenTolkien's fictional universe of Middle-earth, the river Bruinen or Loudwater is a river which appears in The Hobbit as well as The Lord of the Rings. The Bruinen began with two tributaries in the Misty Mountains, one of them was began at the High Pass whe at Rivendell.
The enigmatic Tom Bombadil was unaffected by the Ring, or rather, the Ring had no effect on him. This may be explained in many ways. (See the article on Tom Bombadil, which includes some theories.)
In Peter Jackson's movie trilogy, the wearer of the Ring is portrayed as moving to a shadowy realm where everything is distorted, but this cannot have been Tolkien's intention, or Bilbo Baggins or Frodo Baggins would surely have reported it. For cinematic purposes it was necessary to use a dramatic visual effect for the shadow world, but in the books Bilbo especially is clearly able to function perfectly normally while wearing the Ring.
Part of the nature of the Ring is that it slowly but inevitably corrupted its wearer, regardless of any intentions to the contrary. Whether this was specifically designed into the Ring's magic or is simply an artifact of its evil origins is unknown. (Sauron might be expected to endow his One Ring with such a property, but he probably never intended anyone besides himself to wear it.) For this reason the Wise, including Gandalf, Elrond and Galadriel, refuse to wield it in their own defense, but instead determine that it must be destroyed.
After its original forging, the Ring was cut from Sauron's hand by Isildur, who lost it in the River Gladden just before he was killed. The Ring remained hidden in the river bed for almost two millennia, until it was discovered on a fishing trip by a Stoor Hobbit named Déagol. He was murdered by his cousin Sméagol, who stole the Ring, and was changed by the Ring's influence over many ages into the unpleasant creature known as Gollum. As is told in The Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins found the Ring while he was lost in the caverns of the Misty Mountains, near Gollum's lair and found the invisibility it bestowed useful in his quest. (When The Hobbit was written Tolkien had not yet conceived of the Ring's sinister back-story.)
Some decades later, following the counsel of his friend the Wizard Gandalf, Bilbo gave the Ring to his nephew and adopted heir Frodo. This first willing letting-go of the Ring in its history sets in motion the train of events that leads eventually to its unmaking, an example of the interplay between seeming chance and destiny that is a constant implicit theme in The Lord of the Rings.
By this time Sauron had begun to regain his power, and the Dark Tower in Mordor had been rebuilt. In order to prevent the recapture of the Ring, Frodo and eight other companions set out from Rivendell for Mordor in an attempt to destroy the Ring in the fires of Mount Doom. This was the only way to destroy it, as it was otherwise impossible to harm; when heated in fire, it did not even grow warm but remained cool to the touch.
Physically the Ring resembled a geometrically perfect circle of pure gold, this perfection and purity being part of its allure. It seems to have been able to expand and contract, in order to fit its wearer's finger or slip from it treacherously. In Peter Jackson's film The Fellowship of the Ring, the Ring can be seen contracting to fit Isildur's finger. When heated in fire, the Ring would bear the following inscription in Elvish ( Fëanorian) letters in the language of Mordor:
These are the first two lines from the end of a verse about the Rings of Power (see entry):
The story of the Quest to destroy the Ring is told in Tolkien's novel The Lord of the Rings, as is most of the Ring's history.