Posted: October 07, 1999 at 09:28:38: by Brian
If you check the various versions in Unfinished Tales and the Appendices to LotR, you'll find: (1) Who were the original holders of the three, and (2) The history of the forging and distribution of the rings.If I recollect, the seven and the nine were made with Sauron's aid, and then seized by Sauron and distributed by him to enslave the other races (although Durin's folk believe their ring was given to them by the Elves, NOT by Sauron, and therefore it had less power over them than the other six rings for the dwarves). The three, however, Sauron had no part in making; they were thus "purer", and more able to resist Sauron's influence. As for their original holders, according to UT I believe that Gil-Galad originally held two, and Galadriel one; they were given into their keeping after Sauron put on the One, seized the others, and revealed himself. Gil-Galad's went to Cirdan and Elrond, and Cirdan's was then given to Gandalf (Olorin) when he arrived in Middle Earth. I may have some of the details wrong...this IS from memory, after all, and I believe this section in UT is somewhat complicated (Christopher Tolkien had to select from lots of variant texts). However, at least, these would be the sources to go to! Hope this helps!
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