The Seven Dwarf Rings: Durin's Ring, the Story and Replicas

The Seven are the rings Sauron gave to the Dwarves, and they are the rings that failed him. Dwarves could not be turned into wraiths or bent to his will, so the Seven did the only thing they could: they made their owners hungry for gold. One of them belonged to Thrór, the King under the Mountain whose treasure Smaug seized, although The Hobbit never mentions it.

For the full set of twenty, see how many Rings of Power are there?, or return to the Lord of the Rings rings overview.

The Seven in Tolkien's books

The Seven were made in Eregion in the Second Age, alongside the Nine, by the Elven smiths with Sauron's guidance. Sauron gave them to the lords of the Dwarves. The Dwarves of Durin's line held a different tradition: that their ring was given to Durin III, king of Khazad-dûm, by the Elves themselves.

The rings did not work as Sauron intended. Dwarves resisted being dominated and could not be turned into shadows. What the rings did was kindle greed, and Tolkien says each of the Seven became the foundation of one of the great Dwarf hoards. Gold draws dragons, and four of the rings were consumed in dragon fire. Sauron took the other three back.

The last one was the ring of Durin's house. It passed down to Thrór, King under the Mountain, and to his son Thráin. Sauron took it from Thráin in the dungeons of Dol Guldur, where Gandalf later found Thráin dying. Little of this is in The Hobbit; the history is told in the appendices to The Lord of the Rings and at the Council of Elrond.

The Seven on screen

The prologue of The Fellowship of the Ring shows the Dwarf lords wearing their rings. Peter Jackson's Hobbit films tell Thráin's story differently from the books: in The Desolation of Smaug a flashback shows his ring taken by the Orc Azog rather than by Sauron.

Amazon's The Rings of Power builds much of its Dwarf story around the rings. In the second season Durin III uses one of the newly made rings to restore Khazad-dûm, and it soon makes him greedy, which is close in spirit to Tolkien even though the events are new.

Seven Rings replicas

Badali Jewelry makes a Dwarven Ring of Power under its licence from Middle-earth Enterprises. It is a heavy sterling silver ring with black antiquing, red enamel details and a 10 mm stone, at $389 with a choice of seven stone colours. It is cast to order in US sizes 10 to 15 only, weighs about 24 g and is about 20 mm wide, a ring sized and styled for big hands. Badali says the design is inspired by Tolkien's books.

We found no ring of the Seven at Wētā Workshop, Jens Hansen or The Noble Collection. Noble sells rings worn by Thorin in The Hobbit films, but they are not presented as one of the Seven.

Before you buy

At US size 10 and up, the Dwarven ring starts where many other licensed rings stop. If you are not sure of your size, our ring size converter and One Ring size guide explain how to measure, and why a wide ring needs a little more room. The rings of Men are on the Nine Rings page.