Middle-earth objects

Objects from the fictional Middle-earth legendarium.

Weapons

Sting

Sting is the sword wielded by Bilbo and Frodo Baggins. It was made by the Elves of Gondolin in the First Age, and its blade glows blue if Orcs are near. It was found alongside the swords Glamdring and Orcrist during the events of The Hobbit when Bilbo and his companions came upon the hoard of the trolls they met earlier. More a dagger than a sword, Bilbo got the small sword to fit his size. After defeating the spiders of Mirkwood he named the sword "Sting". When Bilbo left the Shire in Lord of the Rings, he took Sting with him to Rivendell. Before the Fellowship set out from Rivendell, Bilbo gave Frodo his sword Sting and his mithril-shirt. Samwise Gamgee carries Sting for a while after leaving the supposedly dead Frodo, but later returns it to him.

Armour

Mithril-shirt

Mithril-shirt was a small chainmail shirt made of mithril. It was given to Bilbo Baggins by Thorin Oakenshield from the hoard of the dragon Smaug in the Lonely Mountain. When Bilbo left the Shire in Lord of the Rings, he took the Mithril-shirt with him to Rivendell. Before the Fellowship set out from Rivendell, Bilbo gave Frodo his sword Sting and his mithril-shirt. The mithril-shirt was among the things taken from Frodo when he was imprisoned at theTower of Cirith Ungol and later presented to his allies at the Morannon. Gandalf took Frodo's things, which were later returned to him.

Rings of Power

The Rings of Power were a group of twenty rings made by the Elves of Eregion and Sauron. Those who wore one of the Rings of Power were called Ring-bearers.

The Three Rings

The Three Rings of the Elves were made by Celebrimbor. These three were not influenced by Sauron, and were free of Sauron's taint, but later were still bound to the One Ring.

Vilya

Vilya, the Ring of Air or Ring of Sapphire was one of the Three Rings. It was a golden ring with a blue stone. Celebrimbor sent the ring Vilya Gil-galad, who later gave it to Elrond before his death in the Siege of Barad-dûr.

Nenya

Nenya, the Ring of Adamant and the Ring of Water, was one of the Three Rings. It was a ring made of mithril and set with a white stone. The ring Nenya was given to the Lady Galadriel, who used it to preserve and protect Lothlórien.

Narya

Narya, also named the Ring of Fire or Red Ring, was one of the Three Rings. It was a ring with a red stone. According to the Unfinished Tales, Celebrimbor sent Narya together with the ring Vilya to Gil-galad, who later gave Narya to Círdan. According to The Lord of the Rings, it was directly to Círdan. Círdan later gave the ring to Gandalf, who wore it until he left Middle-earth at the end of the Third Age together with the other Ring-bearers.

The One Ring

The One Ring was one of the Rings of Power. It first appeared in The Hobbit as an unimportant magic ring making its wearer invisible, but in the later The Lord of the Rings became the object of the central quest.

The One Ring was created by Sauron alone, in the Sammath Naur in Mount Doom, sometime during the Second Age. With this Ring he planned to control the other Rings of Power and their wearers. In the One Ring Sauron put half of his power and lifeforce and will, which made it very powerful. But this also meant that when the Ring was cut from his hand later that he was instantly defeated and without power or form for a long time. But because part of his power and life was in the One Ring, Sauron would exist as long as the Ring remained. The Ring could only be destroyed by casting it back into the Sammath Naur where it was forged.

The One Ring appeared as a simple golden ring without any decoration or stones. If the Ring was put into fire, the heat would reveal a fiery inscription in the Black Speech written in Tengwar letters:

Ash nazg durbatulûk, ash nazg gimbatul, ash nazg thrakatulûk, agh burzum-ishi krimpatul.

Translated roughly the inscription means:

One ring to rule them all, One ring to find them, One ring to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them.

Sauron lost the One Ring when it was cut from his hand by Isildur during the last battle of the Siege of Barad-dûr. Isildur was advised by both Elrond and Círdan to destroy the Ring, but he refused and kept the ring as a weregild for his father and brother. When Isildur later journeyed north, he was attacked by Orcs, resulting in the Disaster of the Gladden Fields. While Isildur tried to get the Ring to safety by crossing the river Anduin, it slipped from his finger and he was shot by archers, earning it the name Isildur's Bane. The One Ring remained lost for two and a half millenia. It was found again by the Stoor Hobbit Déagol while fishing in the Gladden Fields in T.A. 2463. He was killed by is friend Sméagol, later known as Gollum, who took the Ring and took it with him into the caves under the Misty Mountains, where the Ring prolonged his life and changed him over a time of five hundred years. As told in The Hobbit, Gollum lost the Ring in the caves where it was found by Bilbo Baggins in T.A. 2941. Bilbo took the Ring with him on his return to the Shire; he later left it for his heir Frodo Baggins when he left. In September of T.A. 3018, Frodo set out on his quest to take the One Ring to Rivendell, and after that to take it to Mount Doom and destroy it. In March T.A. 3019, the One Ring was destroyed when Gollum slipped and fell into the Sammath Naur while holding onto the One Ring.