Three Rings

The Three Rings are the three Rings of Power forged for and kept by the Elves of Middle-earth in the Second Age. They were named Narya, the Ring of Fire; Nenya, the Ring of Water (also called the Ring of Adamant); and Vilya, the Ring of Air, the mightiest of the three. Unlike the other Rings of Power, the Three were made by the Elven-smith Celebrimbor alone and were never touched by the hand of Sauron, which is why they remained unsullied by his evil.

The Three were fashioned not for conquest or domination but for preservation, understanding, and healing, to ward off the decay of time and keep unstained the beauty of the things the Elves loved.

Description

Each of the Three was set with a single gem. Narya, the Ring of Fire, bore a red stone and had the power to kindle hearts and resist weariness and despair. Nenya, the Ring of Water, was wrought of mithril and set with a white stone, and its power preserved and protected. Vilya, the Ring of Air, set with a blue sapphire, was accounted the greatest of the three.

Because the Three were bound to the One Ring, the Elves dared not use them while Sauron held the One. Only after Isildur took the One Ring from Sauron at the end of the Second Age did the keepers of the Three put them to use, and even then in secret.

Bearers

By the time of The Lord of the Rings, the keepers of the Three were among the greatest of the Elves. Galadriel of Lothlórien bore Nenya, with which she preserved her realm. Elrond of Rivendell bore Vilya. Narya, the Ring of Fire, was held by Círdan the Shipwright, who in time gave it to the wizard Gandalf, a fact revealed near the end of the tale.

Significance

The Three embody the Elves' tragic relationship to time: their power could preserve beauty and stave off decay, but only so long as the One Ring endured to sustain them. When the One Ring was destroyed, the power of the Three faded, and the works they had preserved began to pass, hastening the departure of the Elves from Middle-earth and the end of the Third Age.