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Old 09-25-2017, 09:29 PM   #17
Johnny1A.2
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Default Re: full list of powers for the seven dwarven rings of power

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Originally Posted by jason taylor View Post
Men seem to be the only race in Middle Earth that can create empires without the Dark Lord's help. That was the kind of power Sauron was really most interested in. In a sense the rings given to Dwarves hurt them less for the same reason THE ring did not hurt Bombadil at all. It was not the kind of power they wanted and the kind they did want they got-and paid for. But curmudgeonly and avaricious as Dwarves are they don't seem have had an imperialistic impulse. They certainly had a tribalistic impulse but it was limited in it's demand.
Other races can create empires, but by the late Third Age only Men tend to do it. The Elves did create extensive empires in the First Age, esp. in Beleriand, and probably elsewhere the Silvan Elves did as well. But by the Third Age, those realms were either conquered by the enemy, wiped away by natural or supernatural cataclysms, or dwindled away as more and more of the greatest of the Elves went over the Sea.

Gil-galad, for ex, ruled a large empire in the Second Age, at its peak his dominion was said to extend to the edge of Mirkwood in Wilderland, and throughout most of Eriador and the upper Anduin Valley. At one time in the Second Age, Legolas' grandfather Oropher also ruled a substantial realm that included most of Mirkwood, and somebody ruled a realm that was centered on but larger than Lothlorien, though different writings differ on just who it was.

But by the Third Age the Elves are a dwindling folk, more and more going over the Sea, probably the exodus was greater than their female fertility rate. To make it worse, a disproportionate percentage of those departing were Noldor and Sindar Elves, by far the most capable and able and knowledgeable Elves of Middle-earth. So the Elvish realms were shrinking, while Mannish populations were rising everywhere except for the Northwestern region.

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As for why the rings were not given to nine more men, Sauron needed the rings to enthrall the first nine. The Nazgul were unique among his subjects in allowing Sauron to their competence for granted without fear of mutiny. They also had an exanimate aura of fear that allowed them to keep the other slaves in line. Giving away the rings would hurt that; the Nazgul would put their loyalty to the rings not to Sauron. It would be like Napoleon ceasing to feed the Imperial Guard. Sauron had enough preternatural spooks and wights under his thumb as well as enough corporeal monsters and enough orcs, and enough just plain human soldiers and slaves. He needed someone to both keep all that mess in line and be trustworthy enough to do his bidding. What other kind of creature, for instance, could he have sent to grab the ring in the early part of the book?
Exactly. To give one of the Nine to another Man would be to destroy one of the Nazgul he already had. Then he'd have to wait for a new one to 'form', which takes time, and there's always the chance of it going sour and maybe even losing a Ring.

I suspect that if he regained the One, he might have given the surviving Seven Rings to various Men, though, to create additional Nazgul. Once he had the One back, 'losing' a Ring would no longer be possible in practice.
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