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I was reading through some of the questions and answers here on the Rings of Power and I just wondered why the ring effects, affected different races in a slightly different way.

I know other questions ask and answer some of these things, but I just wondered why the Rings of Power caused greed in Dwarves for ever more amounts of treasure.

It's true that Dwarves loved mining and loved wealth and were built of sturdier stuff than men, but why did the Rings of Power not control Dwarves in the way the other Rings of Power controlled men and why did it produce greed and not invisibility?

Mithical
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spiceyokooko
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  • This is a duplicate of http://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/3701/what-special-powers-did-the-dwarf-rings-give-their-users?rq=1 which provides many details about these effects. – Eureka Dec 20 '12 at 13:23
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    @Eureka I asked why they caused greed, not what effects they gave. I did make reference to other questions and answers in my own question, but none of the other questions or answers dealt with why they caused greed hence my question. – spiceyokooko Dec 20 '12 at 13:25
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    From Lynn Fredricks answer: "Look at the effects of the 16 - they enable things highly desirable to the receiver. Humans desire unending life (the Downfall of Numenor), and dwarves dream of great wealth. Their desires are fulfilled, but in an awful way since they were tainted by Sauron." You can look at Thorin from the Hobbit for an example of dwarf that never touched any Ring but was ultimately betrayed by his lust for gold. – Eureka Dec 20 '12 at 13:33
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    @Eureka I'm looking for a little more evidence than someone's personal (un-cited) opinion. – spiceyokooko Dec 20 '12 at 13:36

2 Answers2

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Why did the Rings of Power not control the Dwarves in the same way the other Rings of Power controlled men? Why doesn't it produce invisibility ?

It's due to the natural resistance of the Dwarves. There were made hard like stone by their maker Aule, the Vala linked to rocks and stones. When Eru put the first dwarves to sleep, so that the Elves remain the First Born, Aule gave them even greater resistance so they could survive millenia of slumber. They are immensely resistant to hunger, thirst, pain, can spend a long time without sleeping, and very resistant to corruption.

Consequence (from the Silmarillion):

“The Dwarves indeed proved hard to tame, ... nor can they be turned to shadows.”

Why does it create greed? No hard proof in canon. But we know that the rings try to temp their bearers according to their nature:

Wild fantasies arose in his mind; and he saw Samwise the Strong, Hero of the Age, striding with a flaming sword across the darkened land, and armies flocking to his call as he marched to the overthrow of Barad-dur. And then all the clouds rolled away, and the white sun shone, and at **his command the vale of Gorgoroth became a garden of flowers and trees and brought forth fruit. He had only to put on the Ring and claim it for his own, and all this could be.

Sam, a gardener, sees himself producing gardens with the Ring. It seems probable that the rings saw gold as the easiest way to corrupt the dwarves, who already loved it as the people of Aule.

Voronwé
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    If the rings tempt their bearers according to their nature, and this is deemed to be the 'accepted' answer, why were Elves immune to this and removed their rings and hid them from Sauron? – spiceyokooko Dec 20 '12 at 13:47
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    They were not immune. The Threes were made in secret, so they were not corrupted by Sauron. –  Dec 20 '12 at 13:52
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    That's not the case though is it? > Sauron encouraged and assisted the Elves in forging the Rings of Power, though in secret Sauron forged his own; the One Ring to rule the Elvish rings. However, as soon as Sauron put the Ring on his finger the Elves sensed his treachery, and thus removed their rings and hid them. http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Sauron So the question remains, why were the Elves not affected in the same was as Dwarves and Men? – spiceyokooko Dec 20 '12 at 14:56
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    We can also look at Galadriel's own description of what would happen if she took the One. The rings prey on the weaknesses of their victims, tempting them strongly to do whatever they are already tempted to do. – DJClayworth Dec 20 '12 at 14:58
  • @spiceyokooko That question regarding the elves really deserves to be asked on its own, and not as a sub-question comment to an answer. – Xantec Dec 20 '12 at 14:59
  • @Xantec You might be right. Im just questioning the popular answer given here that the rings corrupted the wearers, if it applied to Dwarves, why not Elves if that was the case? – spiceyokooko Dec 20 '12 at 15:01
  • perhaps you are focusing too much on the word corruption. There is certainly canon that supports the "unsullied" assertion of the 3 elvish rings. The ring of power gave the wearers power, but the power itself vies with their wisdom. The 3 elvish rings may have been "uncorrupted," but the very knowledge used to create them came from Sauron himself. Certainly Elrond and Galadriel are proud and powerful and the rings enhanced their own desires to achieve their own ends. Sauron was "only less evil than Morgoth by the fact that he once served another." For Tolkien, power IS corruption. – horatio Dec 20 '12 at 15:09
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    The three were not NOT made by Sauron, and remained good. –  Dec 20 '12 at 15:09
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    The others were partially made by him, and therefor corrupt. –  Dec 20 '12 at 15:17
  • @spiceyokooko: If we take as given that the rings tempt (or provide power to) their bearers according to their nature, then we can see that it did have the same effect on the elves; The elves desire to slow time, to preserve beauty. And this is exactly what Elrond and Galadriel did -- the founded kingdoms of timeless beauty, set apart from the rest of middle-earth. – Sean McMillan Dec 21 '12 at 21:13
  • @SeanMcMillan Why do you ascribe that to the power of their rings rather than an innate inherent trait of the Elves themselves? – spiceyokooko Dec 21 '12 at 21:18
  • @DJClayworth Took the One Ring (the most powerful of all the rings containing most of Sauron's power) yes, but I'm talking specifically about the Dwarven Rings and Elven rings - they did't have the power of the One Ring. Galaldriel talks about The One ring, not about the others. – spiceyokooko Dec 21 '12 at 21:21
  • @spiceyokooko: you read me backwards; The rings reflect the nature of the bearer; If the bearer is an Elf, the rings will provide (increase?) the power to preserve. If the bearer is a dwarf, the rings will provide the power to increase wealth. – Sean McMillan Dec 27 '12 at 19:15
  • @SeanMcMillan That has nothing do with the bearer’s race, the Elven rings were made differently than the others. That was their intended power, regardless of who wore it. – suchiuomizu Apr 28 '21 at 16:00
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When the Rings of Power were created by Sauron, they harnessed the power to (in a very simplified explanation) enlarge the desires of the races that possessed them, as seen in the Dwarves' greed for money, and Man's greed for power. The 3 Rings that Elrond, Galadriel, and Gandalf bore (or the Elvish Rings) were not fully corrupted as the Elves who made it (Sauron made the Rings for the Dwarves and Men) realized that Sauron had dark purposes in mind for the Rings, and hid them away afterward, therefore preventing the corruption of the three Elvish rings. All ring-bearers, however, are able to sense the presence of other Rings, including the Ring of Power, as seen when Galadriel was able to tell that Frodo had the Ring when he came near.

Razar Mackham
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  • Hi, welcome to SF&F. This doesn't seem to properly answer the question, since you gloss over exactly the details you need to expand on. You need to turn your first sentence into the core of your answer and put in all the details you are eliding, and remove everything following as incidental. You might want to read [answer]. – DavidW Apr 27 '21 at 22:31
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    Sauron only made the One by himself, the Seven and Nine were made by Sauron (in disguise) and the Elves working together, while the Three were made by the Elves alone (but based on what they learned from Sauron). The Elves had no idea of the truth until after all of them were made, the Elven rings were only different due to no direct involvement from Sauron. – suchiuomizu Apr 27 '21 at 23:20