How Many Rings of Power Are There? All Twenty Explained

The short answer is twenty. The longer answer explains why they were made, who ended up with them and why only one of them really matters by the time of The Lord of the Rings.

Where they came from

In the Second Age, the Elven smiths of Eregion, led by Celebrimbor, learned from a stranger who called himself Annatar, the Lord of Gifts. He was Sauron in disguise. With his teaching they made many rings, some lesser practice pieces and some great Rings of Power. Then Sauron made the One Ring in secret, to control all the others. The verse engraved on the One Ring sums up the plan, and our inscription article explains it.

The Three: rings of the Elves

Celebrimbor made the three Elven rings alone, without Sauron's hand on them, so they were never directly corrupted. Their power was to heal and preserve rather than to dominate.

• Narya, the ring of fire, set with a red stone. Círdan the shipwright held it and later gave it to Gandalf.
• Nenya, the ring of water, set with a white stone. Galadriel wore it in Lothlórien.
• Vilya, the ring of air, set with a blue stone and called the mightiest of the Three. It passed from Gil-galad to Elrond.

Even so, they were bound to the One Ring. When it was destroyed, their power faded too.

The Seven: rings of the Dwarves

Sauron gave seven rings to the Dwarf-lords. They did not turn the Dwarves into his slaves; Dwarves proved too stubborn for that. The rings mainly kindled greed for gold. By the time of The Lord of the Rings, dragons had consumed four of them and Sauron had taken back the other three.

The Nine: rings of Men

Nine rings went to mortal kings and lords. These worked exactly as Sauron intended. Over time their bearers faded into wraiths bound to his will: the Nazgûl, the Ringwraiths who hunt Frodo across Middle-earth.

The One

Sauron's own ring, forged in the fires of Mount Doom. It holds much of his power, and it can only be destroyed in the fire where it was made. That is the journey at the centre of the story. Our One Ring page follows it from Sauron to Frodo, and who made the One Ring? covers the real ring made for the films.

Rings that are not Rings of Power

The Ring of Barahir, the serpent ring that Aragorn gives to Arwen, is often counted by mistake. It is an old Elven ring with a long history, but it is not one of the twenty and has no power in the story. It is, however, a natural choice for an engagement ring, which our engagement rings guide covers.

Can you buy them?

Licensed replicas exist for most of these rings: the One Ring in many versions, all three Elven rings, the Ring of Barahir and designs based on the Nine and the Seven. Our overview of Lord of the Rings rings lists who makes each one, and for the One Ring in particular, One Ring replicas compared puts every licensed version side by side.