[Finwe]

Whoa, Aman, you don't need to write in all capitals, we'll read what you're saying!

The Elven Rings did not corrupt their bearers because there was nothing of Sauron's active malice in them. True, the Big S. was planning on making the Elven Rings, but he never really got around to actively doing it. Celebrimbor beat him to it. I think that made Sauron really angry was that there was nothing of his will in the Rings, and thus, could not control the Elves through those Rings. That was why he went after the Elven Rings with such fervor. After he forged the One Ring, and Celebrimbor (silly git!) perceived him, Celebrimbor knew. He just knew. That was why he sent the Elven Rings into hiding with Galadriel, Gil-galad, and Cirdan. He knew that with them, Sauron wouldn't be able to get them, and that if Sauron managed to corrupt the Elven Rings, the trio would immediately stop using the Rings.

After the Big S. mustered up his huge army of mindless minions, he marched on Eregion. Of course, at that time, he had no way of knowing that the Elven Rings were safely bestowed upon their bearers. He attacked Eregion, and captured the chief treasury of the Gwaith-i-Mirdain. He captured Celebrimbor, and started torturing him. Celebri, being the Noldo that he is, resisted. But finally, the torture grew too great, and he told Sauron where the Nine Mortal Rings and the Seven Dwarven Rings were, since he considered those less important than the Elven Rings. He knew that the Dwarves would be devilishly hard to corrupt, and as for Men, they asked for it. Of course, this didn't satisfy Sauron. He wanted the three Elven Rings, but Celebrimbor wouldn't tell him. Finally, Sauron just killed Celebrimbor, and used his body (shot through with arrows, mind you) as a banner, and marched on Elrond's forces who were probably fleeing north with the remnants of the Gwaith-i-Mirdain.

Elrond managed to get to Imladris, and founded a refuge there. There, he held out, while Sauron made sure that a relatively large army was kept there to keep Elrond busy. Then, he turned his attention west, to Gil-galad. His one greatest mistake was to assume that all three were with Gil-galad, when they were not. Galadriel had one. If he had concentrated initially on besieging Lothlorien, he would have eventually broken through her leaguer, and probably gotten Nenya. Thankfully, though, he didn't. He turned west to Gil-galad and Cirdan, who by now, were pretty desperate for help.

Earlier, during the time of King Tar-Meneldur of Numenor, Gil-galad had sent a letter to Numenor, through the King's son Aldarion, saying that the old alliances should be kept between Elves and Men, and that a Dark Power was growing in Middle-earth. Now, it was Numenor that answered. King Tar-Minastir sent out a huge navy to the aid of Middle-earth. And as usual, it had impeccable timing.

Picture it. Sauron was waylaying Eriador as he went, and I think that Gil-galad and Cirdan were getting more and more frightened. They knew that their forces were not enough to last against an army the size of Sauron's. Finally, Sauron attacked. He slowly drove the Elves back, until they reached the river Lune. There, they held. They had to hold. Gil-galad and Cirdan were holding that line in desperate defence of the Grey Havens, for they knew that the Havens were their last hope. If worst came to worst, and they could not hold out, they could all pile into Grey Ships, and sail out for a while, because Sauron and his minions were afraid of water (thanks to Ulmo!).

With impeccable timing, just as Sauron was about to burst through the line, the navy sent by Tar-Minastir sailed up into the harbor, and all those seven-foot-something Numenoreans jumped out, waving their swords and screaming battle cries. Needless to say, morale was good. Together, the Elves and the Numenoreans pushed Sauron back, out of Eriador, and back to Mordor. When Imladris was finally free of its besieging army, Elrond came along to help. Together, they chased Sauron all the way to the Dagorlad, where they decimated the last of his army, leaving him with only a handful of bodyguards. The Big S. stayed put in Barad-dur until the Battle of the Last Alliance.

After everyone got back to their respective kingdoms, the first White Council was called. It was decided that Eregion would not be rebuilt, and that Imladris would become the eastern outpost of the Elves. It was also then that Gil-galad gave Elrond Vilya. All three Ring-bearers decided that it was still too risky to use the Three, and they hid them away.

We all know what happened with the Last Alliance, so I won't bother to explain that.

Galadriel, being the last of the direct line of the House of Finwë in Middle-earth, enjoyed a great deal of status. After the One Ring was lost, she was finally able to use Nenya to fortify Lothlorien. Her kingdom soon became one of the greatest of the Elven Kingdoms, pretty much the last one, although it remained mysterious to all except the Elves and Elf-friends. She could sense much of what was going on in the world around her through Nenya, and so, she kept a watch on the world, knowing that Sauron would one day return.

When the Necromancer began to resurface in Dol Guldur, Galadriel was probably the first one to notice. Dol Guldur was fairly close to her borders, compared to Imladris, and she could see into others' minds. She probably stopped using Nenya as much as she did before, and alerted all the others on the White Council. Predictably, no one really did anything, since there was no real way that they could tell if it was Sauron, and not just another Dark Lordling.

At the end of The Hobbit, the Necromancer was forced out of Dol Guldur by the White Council, having been prevailed upon by Gandalf and Galadriel, and fled to Mordor. Then, he took up his old identity as Sauron, and from there, we all know the story.

The Elven Rings were not evil at all, they were merely subject to an evil power, there's a difference. All of the Ringbearers knew that either way, their powers were doomed. If Frodo succeeded, and the One Ring was destroyed, then their Rings' powers would fade. If Frodo failed, and Sauron recovered the One Ring, then they would not be able to use their Rings. It wasn't a nice choice. But the important thing was, that Galadriel resisted the allmighty lure of the One Ring, and that itself proved that there was no taint in her.