The Ring of Barahir: Aragorn's Ring and the Replicas

The Ring of Barahir is the ring Aragorn wears through The Lord of the Rings: two serpents with emerald eyes under a crown of golden flowers. It is not one of the Rings of Power and has no magic of its own. What it has is history. It is older than the Sun and Moon and has passed through almost every great house of Elves and Men in Tolkien's world.

This page follows that history, then looks at how the films use the ring and which replicas exist. For the Rings of Power proper, see the Lord of the Rings rings overview.

A ring older than the Sun

The ring was made by the Noldor in Valinor and brought to Middle-earth by Finrod Felagund. Its design was the badge of his house: two serpents with green eyes, their heads meeting beneath a crown of golden flowers, one serpent devouring and the other upholding it.

Finrod gave the ring to Barahir, a man who saved his life in battle, together with an oath of friendship. When Barahir was killed, his son Beren took it back, and later used it as a token to call on Finrod's help in the quest for a Silmaril, a story told in The Silmarillion.

From there the ring passes down the line of Beren's descendants to Elros, the first King of Númenor. One king gave it to his daughter instead of his son, and it went through the lords of Andúnië to Elendil, then to the kings of Arnor and Arthedain. When the last king of Arthedain was lost in the north, he gave the ring to the people who had helped him; the Rangers later bought it back, and it was kept at Rivendell.

Elrond gave it to Aragorn when he came of age, along with the shards of Narsil. Aragorn in turn gave it to Arwen when they were betrothed in Lothlórien. All of this is told in the appendices to The Lord of the Rings and in The Silmarillion, not in the main story.

The ring in the films

In Peter Jackson's trilogy Aragorn wears the ring throughout. The extended edition of The Two Towers has a short scene where Gríma describes it to Saruman, two serpents with emerald eyes, and Saruman recognises it as the Ring of Barahir. The films do not show Aragorn giving it to Arwen; their love story is told through other objects.

Ring of Barahir replicas

Badali Jewelry sells its version as the Engagement Ring of Aragorn and Arwen, under its licence from Middle-earth Enterprises. The sterling silver ring with green cubic zirconia eyes starts at $269, and the crown can be ordered in 14K gold. It is cast to order in US sizes 6 to 16, weighs about 17.6 g and is about 15 mm wide across the top. Badali describes the gold crown as book accurate. We review it in detail in Badali Ring of Barahir review.

Wētā Workshop sells a Ring of Aragorn in its Master Jeweller's collection: sterling silver and 22K gold with tourmaline, a limited edition of 25, made to order at $13,999. Wētā says it is made by the same jeweller who made the original, using the same design.

Jens Hansen sells Our Ring for Viggo, an unlicensed interpretation based on the book's description. The workshop does not claim to have made Aragorn's ring for the films; the rings it lists as its film work are the One Ring and Vilya.

Barahir as an engagement ring

The ring's story ends with a betrothal, so it is no surprise that jewellers sell it as an engagement ring. A sculpted ring like this is heavier and more detailed than a band, and the green eyes are small stones that need care. Our engagement rings guide covers what to check, and the ring size converter helps if you are buying for someone else's finger.

The licensed versions we track are listed below.