Did the Ring Need a Label?

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by Galadriel55

Sauron has no need to tag the Ring, but he put a significant amount of power in such a small thing. How do you transfer your power to an object? I don't think there's a yes or no answer to this question; however, I highly doubt that Sauron just said, "Let it be done!", and it was done. In my opinion, he didn't just dump all his power at once into it, but rather etched that verse into the Ring's being. Not into the gold itself, but into its essence.

The Ring itself was only a container though, a vessel to house a piece of Sauron's essence. The writing was a physical part of the Ring, I think, though it could only be seen under certain conditions.

Originally Posted by Galadriel55

And it was so potent that you could see it come through when you brought the Ring closer to fire. Hence, you do not only see some random inscription, but it tells you something about the nature of the Ring in ways other than words. The fire aspect simply reflects its "place of birth", so to speak. The Elven characters denote the contributors of the art that allowed such a Ring to be made. And lastly, the Black Speech - well, this one's pretty obviously pointing to Sauron and the Ring's will and purpose.

I don't see the purpose behind the writing, though. That the inscription was a conscious act of Sauron's seems clear.
Again, he would not have considered though the possibility that any hand other than his own would ever touch the Ring, so to whom would the "message" from the Ring be addressed?

Originally Posted by Aganzir

Words have power in Middle-earth. Gandalf had to say Naur an edraith ammen in order to light the fire at Caradhras - he couldn't just snap his fingers.

I do see a possibility that an incantation was necessary to enable the One to take control of the other Rings of Power, hence Sauron's words when he put it on, as perceived by the wearers of the Three. Why else would he have spoken them?

Originally Posted by Aganzir

There are also other instances of using writing/runes for magical purposes. I don't think the doors of Moria would function without the inscription, and I also seem to remember the dwarves put some runes on the troll hoard in the Hobbit. Perhaps they are needed to make an item remember the purpose for which it has been crafted.

I think the Doors of Durin's markings were both a nod to their maker, and a sly way to have the password plainly visible. Necessary to open? Hm. I don't know.

As for the runes marking the place of the troll-treasure, I'd always thought them merely a means for recognizing the spot where it was buried, though it does say in TH that "spells" were placed over it.

Originally Posted by Aganzir

Or then Sauron was just showy.

Maybe it's as simple as that: sheer arrogance, with open disdain for the lesser beings he was going to enslave with his Ring.

Originally Posted by William Cloud Hicklin

Words have power in Middle-earth.

Notice both the effect of, and the reaction to, Gandalf's uttering the ring-verse (in Black Speech) at the Council. One also gets the impression from the Moria episode that a Word of Command (whatever that is, but certainly a word) is about the most potent thing a Wizard can cast.

Indeed. Gandalf speaking the inscription in the Black Speech is always a striking moment when I read that passage.

[Galadriel55]

Originally Posted by Inziladun

The Ring itself was only a container though, a vessel to house a piece of Sauron's essence. The writing was a physical part of the Ring, I think, though it could only be seen under certain conditions.

It's true that the writing is a physical aspect of the Ring, but, like in many other instances in the legendarium, the physical is but a reflection of the inner essence. I do not think the writing was there just for decoration (oooh, shiny letters!), so in my eyes it does decode its power and personality. And though its power is, as you say, Sauron's power, the verse does not read "One Lord to rule them all", it reads "One Ring to rule them all". The Ring, while still being part of Sauron, gets a sort of independent status.

Originally Posted by Inzil

I don't see the purpose behind the writing, though. That the inscription was a conscious act of Sauron's seems clear.
Again, he would not have considered though the possibility that any hand other than his own would ever touch the Ring, so to whom would the "message" from the Ring be addressed?

In my opinion he didn't just carve letters, but he defined the Ring's essence. And, when I imagine it, I don't see him carving at all - I see him saying, and I see him, for lack of better word, breathing in his power. The writing is a conscious act as much as the transfer of power is, but it's not a message to anybody. It's more of a statement of being.

[Alfirin]

Originally Posted by Galadriel55

It's true that the writing is a physical aspect of the Ring, but, like in many other instances in the legendarium, the physical is but a reflection of the inner essence. I do not think the writing was there just for decoration (oooh, shiny letters!), so in my eyes it does decode its power and personality. And though its power is, as you say, Sauron's power, the verse does not read "One Lord to rule them all", it reads "One Ring to rule them all". The Ring, while still being part of Sauron, gets a sort of independent status.

Agreed. Indeed it sort of has to. If it didn't the sotry as we know it really couldn't come to be. If the ring was not sort of disconnected from Sauron, hiding it would probably be impossible (Sauron can sense when the ring is found generally , but if it didn't have a sort of independent existance, I tend to think Sauron would always be aware of EXACTLY where it was, much as you are aware (more or less) where you own hands are, getting it back would be sort of irrelevant (if the ring was merely a conduit for Saurons powers (allowing the wearer to tap them), as opposed to a vessel (holding those powers perpetually), then those powers would probably return to Sauron when the ring was not being used by anyone (say when it was in the river) or used by someone who really didn't know the extent of it's powers (i.e. pretty much everyone who did use it in the book and 99.9% of the denizens of Middle Earth who theoretically could wear it) and the concept of using it to overthow Sauron sort of a contradiction in terms (if the ring was not a seperate entity, and did not hold the power it did independent of Sauron then trying to use it to destroy him would be like trying to will someone to kill themselves, pretty hard to do.)

Originally Posted by Galadriel55

In my opinion he didn't just carve letters, but he defined the Ring's essence. And, when I imagine it, I don't see him carving at all - I see him saying, and I see him, for lack of better word, breathing in his power. The writing is a conscious act as much as the transfer of power is, but it's not a message to anybody. It's more of a statement of being.

I think this is well borne out by the circumstances under which the inscription can be read. To be visible, the ring has to be put in a fire/heat source, then taken out and. On Sauron's own hand, the inscription was presumably always visible, since Saurons hands, if I recall, burned like Melkor's. Once removed however, it was unlikey that anyone would see it since the circumstances for revealing it would be bizarre, as few people in posession of a gold ring are going to toss it in a fire and then pull it out immediately (especially since they wouldn't know the ring cools down so rapidly after being in the fire) by the time they waited the time it would take a normal gold ring to be safe to handle, the inscription would probably be invisible again (It's never said explicity, but since Gandalf has to do the fire trick in the first place, I tend to thing the inscription fades rapidly once the ring is removed from the fire.) How Gandalf knows that will work I do not know (my best guess is that he read an account of the battle by Isildur or someone else that mentioned the inscription and its fading as the ring cooled, and simply worked out what would be needed to reveal it again) Even if someone did try to heat it (say a dwarf who didn't care for the workmanship and wished to smelt the ring for it's gold content) they probably wouldn't know what it said (few men or dwarves probably know Black Speech, at least the High form used by Sauron and his higher ups. Remember the version Orcs use is debased.) would assume it was some sort of Elven charm/curse and think no more of it. )

[Puddleglum]

Originally Posted by Alfirin

How Gandalf knows that will work I do not know (my best guess is that he read an account of the battle by Isildur or someone else that mentioned the inscription and its fading as the ring cooled, and simply worked out what would be needed to reveal it again)

Yes, that's exactly how he knew. He reports so at The Council.

More particularly, he notes that Saruman has made comments about the Ring being "round and unadorned, but the maker had set signs on it that one might be able to read." He then deduces that, since Saruman's knowledge must have a source, and since Isulder's hand alone ever touched the Ring (other than Sauron) before it was lost, Saruman *must* have read an account by Isuldur. That leads Gandalf to visit the archives in Minas Tirith where he finds a scroll "unread by any eyes other than Saruman's and his since the kings failed" in which Isuldur reports:

It was hot when I first took it, hot as a glede, and my hand was scorched, so that I doubt if ever again I shall be free of the pain of it. The ring misseth, maybe, the heat of Sauron's hand which was black and yet burned like fire - and so Gil-galad was destroyed. Already the ring cooleth and the writing fades. Mayhap the writing would become visible again if the ring were put into a fire, but for my part I will risk no hurt to this thing: of all the works of Sauron the only fair. It is precious to me, though I buy it with great pain.

Of passing side interest, in this account, is that the Elvish king died by being grabbed and burned by the heat of Sauron's hands.

And, of course, there is the (not-too-subtle) key word that keeps cropping up through the history of the Ring, right to the moment of it's destruction ... preciooooouuuusssssssssssss <g>

[Morthoron]

Just be glad the Food and Drug Administration didn't mandate a lengthier warning label:

Common Side Effects of the One Ring include:

feeling thin and stretched;
mood or behavior changes;
agitation, hostility, aggression;
thoughts of suicide, such as hurling oneself from a cliff;
megalomania, feelings of grandeur;
hallucinations, particularly being watched by a Great Eye.

Prolonged effects of using the One Ring include:

schizophrenia, bad grammar, speaking of oneself in the third person;
hair loss, lisping, sun-sensitivity, weight loss, cannibalism;
aversion to po-ta-toes, ropes and cooked meat;
feeling of invisibility and eventual wraithdom.

Noldorin Elves, Dunedain (particularly those with strong Numenorean bloodlines) and members of the Istari should not use the One Ring as the aforementioned effects are heightened in these subjects; Hobbits and retrograde Stoors, although more tolerant of the One Ring, suffers adverse long term damage from prolonged usage.

Consult your local wizard or half-elven loremaster if you believe you have come in contact with the One Ring.

[William Cloud Hicklin]

I'm surprised it didn't, since naturally all the lawyers in Middle-earth were in the service of the Dark Tower