[Iarwain]

Hm. If you've seen the movies, they would lead you to believe that she is evil. She is not. Perhaps an explaination of the rings is necessary? Yes? Here we go...

WARNING!!! POSSIBLE SPOILERS CONTAINED BELOW!

Once upon a time in Middle-Earth there was Sauron. Sauron was not a nice guy. If you want more about Sauron, read the Silmarillion, or Ch.2 of FotR. Sauron was a Maia, which ment that he had special abilities, such as the ability to change his appearance. Now, everyone in Middle-Earth new that Sauron was a bad guy, and he didn't like the people that called him a bad guy. There were two groups that he really hated. Group one was the Numenorians, a powerful island nation of men that he feared deep down in the depths of his heart. Group two was the Elves, or to be more specific, the Noldor that remained in the far west of Middle-Earth. The elves had a high king at that time by the name of Gil-Galad. So, since Sauron hated the Noldor, he decided to trick them and get a boost in his power. So, he changed himself to look like an elf, and visited a particularly crafty bunch of elves that lived in Eregion, or Hollin. The head of these elves was Celebrimbor, a very prestigious guy with quite a heritage (but we won't get into that). Sauron called himself "Annatar" which means "the giver of gifts", and said that he could instruct them and increase their skills. So he taught them, and they listened, despite Gil-Galad's advice against Annatar (he had a feeling the guy was no good). In the end, Annatar taught them how to make rings of power. They made nineteen great rings in all, each with different powers and natures. Three of these, the three most powerful, were made by Celebrimbor himself. Their names were Narya, Vilya, and Nenya. After all the great rings were made, Annatar left the people of Eregion, and returned to Mordor as Sauron. There, he forged the One Ring, and the moment he put it on his finger, all the other ringbearers percieved him and what he had done. The took of their rings and hid them. Sauron wanted the rings, so he declared war on Eregion, and in the end he recovered all of the Great Rings except the three that Celebrimbor had made. These were given to great elves for safe keeping. Narya was given to Gil-Galad, Nenya was given to Galadriel, and Vilya was given Elrond. At this time, Sauron turned his focus from the Noldor to Numenor. He left Mordor and allowed himself to be taken captive by the Numenorian king, Ar-Pharazon, who was corrupted by Sauron, and sent a great fleet of ships to Valinor to conquer the Valar. Ar-Pharazon, however, was a fool and the fleet was destroyed, and Numenor itself was pulled beneath the sea, with Sauron on it. This was his first death, and represtented the loss of his shape-shifting abilities. He returned to Mordor and made a new body with the help of the Ring. By now, the Noldor were realizing the true threat of Sauron. Elendil and his two sons: Isildur and Anarion had landed in Middle-Earth, their companies being the only survivors from fallen Numenor. They built a massive empire, the products of which included Isengard, Minas Anor (later Minas Tirith), Minas Ithil (later Minas Morgul), Osgiliath, and the Argonath. As previously stated, around this time, the Noldor were worried about the growing threat Sauron posed to the freedom of Middle-Earth. They decided that they had best attack before his forces became too great. And they did. They mustered a great force, teaming up with the Dwarves of Moria and elsewhere, and the Numenorian Exiles of Gondor and Arnor. They were "The Last Alliance of Elves, Men and Dwarves". Before the alliance marched, Gil-Galad passed Narya to Cirdan the Shipwright. The Last Alliance stormed Mordor and defeated the armies of Sauron, until he alone remained. Then, Elendil and Gil-Galad fought Sauron, and all three died. Narsil, Elendil's sword, was broken as he fell, as was Aiglos, Gil-Galad's legendary spear. Isildur, who was standing near by, cut the One Ring from Sauron's hand and claimed it as his own: "This I will have as weregild for my father and my brother" he said. Of course you probably know how the story goes from here. Isildur marches with a small guard to Rivendell, but encounters a large group of Orcs in the Gladden Fields. Gollum finds the Ring, and then Bilbo, and then it is passed on to Frodo. But now we turn our focus back to the three "Elven" rings, made by Celebrimbor, and preserved from Sauron. Elrond kept Vilya, the most powerful, and Galadriel kept Nenya also, but Cirdan did not keep Narya. After the overthrow of Sauron by the Last Alliance, he went back to Lindon and waited. The Istari began to arive, Saruman came first, then Radagast and the two blue wizards, and last came Gandalf. Cirdan had some sort of forsight, and predicted that Gandalf would tread the hardest road, and so he passed Narya to the Grey Pilgrim, who kept for the duration of the War of the Ring. Because Sauron did not have the One Ring in the third age, and therefore had no power over the others, the Three were not dangerous to their keepers. The End (and yet also the beginning)

Iarwain

[ June 27, 2003: Message edited by: Iarwain ]