What Was Elrond's Ring in The Lord of the Rings? (2024)

The Rings of Power were the most important objects in J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. With help from Annatar, the fair guise of the Dark Lord Sauron, the Elven smith Celebrimbor created the Nine Rings for the race of Men and the Seven Rings for the race of Dwarves. Using what he learned, he later made the Three Rings for his fellow Elves. Though Sauron had no hand in the creation of the Elven Rings of Power, they were still subject to the dominion of the One Ring because Celebrimbor used Sauron's techniques to craft them. Nenya, the Ring of Water, went to Galadriel, who kept it with her in Lothlórien. Narya, the Ring of Fire, went to an Elven shipwright named Círdan, who later gave it to Gandalf. But the most powerful of the Elves' Three Rings was Vilya, the Ring of Air. It went to Elrond Half-elven, the herald of High King Gil-galad and future Lord of Rivendell.

Vilya briefly appeared in Peter Jackson's film adaptations, but it was not a focus. The Three Rings played a much larger part in Prime Video's The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. Season 1, Episode 8 "Alloyed," showed the creation of Vilya as well as the other Elven Rings of Power. At Halbrand's suggestion, Celebrimbor mixed mithril with gold and silver from Valinor to create an alloy that enhanced mithril's magical properties. The series portrayed the Three Rings as the first Rings of Power rather than the last. In both versions, Celebrimbor hoped they would prevent the Elves from fading, although The Rings of Power turned this into a much more time-sensitive issue. Further, in the novel, only one of the Three Rings was made of mithril, and metal was not the source of their power.

Elrond's Ring Had Connections to a Powerful Vala

Vilya was set with a sapphire that Tolkien described in the chapter "The Grey Havens" from The Return of the King as "a great blue stone." For this reason, it was also known as the Blue Ring or the Ring of Sapphire. Blue was a color more commonly associated with water than air, but there was an important reason that the Ring of Air contained a sapphire. The divine spirit Manwë, the Vala of wind and the sky wielded a sapphire scepter, so Celebrimbor chose to honor him by placing a sapphire in the Ring of Power that aligned with his element. Manwë was the most powerful Vala, so it was fitting that Vilya was the most powerful of the Three Rings. But exactly what powers did it have?

There were a few abilities that the Three Rings shared. In the chapter "Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age" from The Silmarillion, Tolkien wrote that all the Elven Rings of Power "could ward off the decays of time and postpone the weariness of the world." Their primary purpose was to maintain and preserve rather than create change. Likewise, they were not designed to be weapons of war. When Glóin suggested using them to fight Sauron in the chapter "The Council of Elrond" from The Fellowship of the Ring, Elrond replied, "Those who made them did not desire strength or domination or hoarded wealth, but understanding, making, and healing." That last trait was especially important to Elrond, as he was a renowned healer; he mended Frodo's Morgul wound upon his arrival in Rivendell, and later in The Lord of the Rings, Aragorn said that Elrond's healing skills surpassed his own.

Elrond's Ring Made Rivendell a Paradise

• Nenya was invisible to all but the Ring-bearer, which may have also been true of Narya and Vilya.
• Celebrimbor sent Nenya and Vilya to Gil-galad, who then gave them to Galadriel and Elrond.
• The three elements of the Elven Rings mirrored the resting places of the three Silmarils: the sea, a fiery chasm, and the sky.

The Elven Rings of Power also affected the land around them. In "Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age," Tolkien wrote, "Where [the Three Rings] abode their mirth also dwelt and all things were unstained by the griefs of time." In Rivendell and Lothlórien, time seemed to pass differently as a result of the Rings of Power slowing the decay of Middle-earth. In The Lord of the Rings, Bilbo remarked that he was unable to keep track of days in Rivendell, and the mortal members of the Fellowship experienced a similar effect in Lothlórien. The atmosphere of Rivendell put its inhabitants at ease, healing their spirits just as Elrond healed their bodies. The effect of the Three Rings was made even more clear by their absence: there was no Ring of Power in Mirkwood, so unlike the other Elven Realms, Legolas' homeland became infested by darkness and monsters.

Additionally, Vilya had a unique effect. In the aforementioned passage from The Silmarillion, Tolkien explained that the stars shined especially brightly over Rivendell. This furthered Vilya's connection to Manwë, as his beloved wife Varda was the Vala of stars. When Frodo was in Rivendell in The Lord of the Rings, he described watching the stars grow brighter as the moonlight faded away. As beautiful as the stars were, there was an ominous undercurrent. Frodo noticed a fiery red star in the south that symbolized the ever-vigilant Eye of Sauron. But crucially, this was only a metaphor, as Sauron did not know where Vilya was. He had tortured Celebrimbor to reveal the bearers of the Seven Rings, but he never learned the locations of the Three Rings.

Elrond Was Uniquely Suited For His Ring

• Vilya meant "air" or "sky" in the Elvish language of Quenya.
• Elrond did not wear Vilya before Sauron's defeat in the War of the Last Alliance for fear of drawing Sauron's attention.
• Tolkien referred to the wielders of the Three Rings as the Three Keepers.

Though it was called the Ring of Air, The Lord of the Rings never showed that Vilya could control air. Elrond had more of an affinity for water-based magic. For example, he flooded the river Bruinen to prevent the Nazgûl from chasing Frodo, a feat that Jackson's The Fellowship of the Ring instead gave to his daughter, Arwen. However, symbolically speaking, Elrond was perfect for the Ring of Air. Tolkien often linked Elrond to the sky, specifically the night sky. According to the chapter "Many Meetings" from The Fellowship of the Ring, Elrond's "eyes were grey as a clear evening, and in them was a light like the light of stars." He was also able to read moon runes in The Hobbit, and a possible translation of his name was "Star Dome." Additionally, Rivendell was a windy place; it was at the edge of a mountain gorge, and there was more open space than in other Elven realms.

Elrond kept Vilya a secret from nearly everyone, although some Elves deduced that he possessed it because of how wondrous Rivendell was. His caution paid off, as he successfully protected Vilya from Sauron for the entirety of the War of the Ring. Following the destruction of the One Ring, the other Rings of Power lost their magic. Regardless, Elrond continued to wear Vilya for the rest of his time in Middle-earth. When preparing to depart for the Undying Lands, Frodo and Sam saw Vilya for the first time. This was the only time that Tolkien mentioned Vilya by name in The Lord of the Rings, other than in the appendices. Tolkien's choice to describe Vilya in one of the final pages of his novel indicated that he deemed it an important image that should remain in his readers' minds. In the first season of The Rings of Power, the Elves did not don their Three Rings, but they will surely have a crucial part to play in the future of the series.

The Lord of the Rings

The Lord of the Rings is a series of epic fantasy adventure films and television series based on J. R. R. Tolkien's novels. The films follow the adventures of humans, elves, dwarves, hobbits and more in Middle-earth.

Created by

J.R.R. Tolkien

First Film

The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring

Latest Film

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

Upcoming Films

The Lord of The Rings: The War of The Rohirrim

First TV Show

The Lord of the Rings The Rings of Power

Latest TV Show

The Lord of the Rings The Rings of Power

First Episode Air Date

September 1, 2022

Cast

Elijah Wood , Viggo Mortensen , Orlando Bloom , Sean Astin , Billy Boyd , Dominic Monaghan , Sean Bean , Ian McKellen , Andy Serkis , Hugo Weaving , Liv Tyler , Miranda Otto , Cate Blanchett , John Rhys-Davies , Martin Freeman , Morfydd Clark , Ismael Cruz Cordova , Charlie Vickers , Richard Armitage

Character(s)

Gollum , Sauron

Summary

The Lord of the Rings is a long-running fantasy franchise created by J.R.R. Tolkien. The core series consists of four primary books: The Hobbit, The Fellowship of the Ring, the Two Towers, and The Return of the King, all of which have been adapted into films. The Lord of the Rings core franchise centers around Frodo Baggins, a living being known as a hobbit, and a group of heroes from the various kingdoms such as the kingdom of man, the kingdom of dwarves, and the kingdom of elves. Together with the great wizard Gandalf, the group will embark on a perilous quest across Middle Earth to take The One Ring to Mount Doom to destroy it, before it can corrupt anyone and return to the hands of the evil entity known as Sauron, hellbent on conquering all of Middle Earth. The original novel/prequel films, The Hobbit, stars Frodo's uncle Bilbo Baggins as he embarks on a quest from the comfort of his home and seeks the treasure of a dragon known as Smaug. Bilbo stumbles upon The One Ring on his quest, and finds himself amidst a great war. The most recent media for the franchise is the currently airing The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, airing exclusively on Prime Video.