What Are The Three Rings Of Elves Forged By Calebrimbor?

Calebrimbor finally created the three Elven rings from the rare mithril. Because of it, unbeknownst to him, the fate of the entire Middle Earth was

By Mohit Srivastava
October 17,2022
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“Three rings for the Elven-kings,  under the sky

Seven for the Dwarf-lords, in their halls of stone

Nine for Mortal Men, doomed to die

One for the Dark Lord, on his dark throne…”

Amazon Prime’s ambitious show – Lord of the Rings: Rings Of Power has recently culminated its long (a bit sluggish) run of 8 episodes for its first season. The last episode (titled ‘Alloyed’) was packed with many surprises. Some big questions were answered: What is the Stranger’s identity, or who and where is Sauron? However, the one thing that we shall focus on here is the three Elven rings that Calebrimbor made. What are they and what is their role in the history of middle-earth? Let’s see.

(This article contains spoilers from Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power Episode 8)

Calebrimbor’s creations

Calebrimbor and Elrond about to forge the three rings

One of the greatest Elven Smiths on Middle Earth (as Elrond himself mentioned earlier), Calebrimbor even struggled with forging Mithril. Mithril – one of the rarest elements mined by the Dwarves at Khazad-Dum (check out our elaborate article on Mithril here). Sauron, however, disguising himself as Helbrand, helped him in forging the element. Galadriel, Celebrimbor, Helbrand, and Elrond come together to forge Mithril into something more powerful. They wanted to make something that could further strengthen Elves and their powers. Alloying the mithril with the Gold and Silver from Finrod’s dagger (which symbolizes the Two Trees of Valinor), Calebrimbor finally succeeds in forging the three elven rings.

Why did Sauron help?

Helbrand reveals himself to be Sauron to Galadriel

I have been awake since before the breaking of the first silence. In that time…I have had many names. – Sauron to Galadriel

It is finally revealed that the real identity of Helbrand is none other than the evil Dark Lord – Sauron. Whenever the elven smith struggled with forging mithril, it was Sauron (as Helbrand) who came to his aid. He was the one who gave him ideas to overcome them. Sauron wanted to subject the rings to the powers of the One Ring whilst it remained in Sauron’s possession. Initially, Sauron had wanted to make a crown from the mithril, a crown with immense power within it. However, later they all agreed to make a more compact and portable thing out of it – a ring.

Prior to their making, Galadriel, Celebrimbor, and Elrond discussed to find s a way of preventing the concentration of power (of the resulting powerful alloy) in a single being’s hands. So, they decide to make two rings. But, once Galadriel learns of Sauron’s deception, she decides to make three rings and not two. Because they believe that, “One will always corrupt. Two will divide. But with three, there is balance.”

The Three Rings

The Three Elven Rings

Calebrimbor always wanted to make his heritage proud. He wanted to craft something as beautiful and powerful as the Silmarils, the powerful gems crafted by his grandfather – Feänor. The three Elven rings contain the powerful Silmarils at their center (for more on Silmarils, read here). These rings will be known by three names – Narya (the Ring of Fire), Nenya (the Ring of Water), and Vilya (the Ring of Air). Each of the three Elven rings possesses the power to prevent the continued fading of the Elves, making them essential for sustaining their continued existence on Middle-earth. Their appearance is also different – Narya is red, Nenya is white, and Vilya is blue. They all have different abilities, like,

  • Narya‘s properties give it bearer resistance to the weariness of time, as well as the power to inspire others to resist tyranny, domination, and despair.
  • Nenya grants the power of preservation, protection, and concealment from evil to its bearer.
  • The most powerful, Vilya, enhances the abilities of its bearer.

It is to be noted here that, in the original J.R.R.Tokien’s lore, only Nenya was known to be forged from the Mithril, the rest others’ elemental ingredients are not specified. However, owing to the lack of presence of concrete source material, the screenwriters of the show seem to have taken this liberty.

The Keepers of the Rings

The three-ring keepers (as shown in LOTR)

As soon as the rings were forged, they were assigned to three different bearers. Since this shall only be shown in the second season of the series, we shall limit ourselves to what the author said about the bearers of the three Elven rings in his works. According to Tolkien lore, the rings – Vilya and Narya will initially be sent to High King Gil-Galad (of Lindon), who will divide them between Elrond (lord of Rivendell) and his fellow Cirdan (lord of Mithlond). Later, Cirdan passed on his ring (Narya) to Gandalf, the wise. Nenya was given to Galadriel (Lady of Lothlórien and mother of Elrond’s wife Celebrían) and remained with her forever. However, with the destruction of the One Ring, the three rings lost their power, and all passed across the sea with their bearers.

Which route will the Rings of Power showrunners shall take, still remains to be seen, as it shall only be revealed when the second season premiers. For now, the first season of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is available to stream on Prime Video.