more than 9?

[Estelyn Telcontar]

The more I think about the Sil passages I quoted, the more I'm convinced that the Rings of Power were all originally made by the Elves for themselves! I find no indication that they intended them for other races, and no reference to others having them before Sauron "collected" and distributed them.

Sauron first intended to use the Elven rings (all of them) to control the Elves.

But Sauron guided their labours, and he was aware of all that they did; for his desire was to set a bond upon the Elves and to bring them under his vigilance.

But the Elves were not so lightly to be caught.

Giving the Rings to Men and Dwarves was apparently Plan B, after Plan A had failed.

The only differences mentioned about the various rings are: the Three which were saved by the Elves were the last that they had made; they had the greatest powers; Sauron had no part in their making and never even touched them. Other than that, I find no textual evidence for variations in the kind of corruption that the other rings would cause. We do read about "lesser rings", so I would assume that there were various degrees of strength to them. However, I see no indication that the sixteen major rings differed in any way.

It would be interesting to know what Sauron did with the Dwarven rings he recovered - their exact number is not told here. Why didn't he put them to use? Was it too late, perhaps happening after he had lost the One? It doesn't seem like that would be the case. Why would he let an opportunity to enslave new subjects pass by?