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Was Sauron aware of the existence of the Three Elven Rings when he forged the One? I am wondering if Tolkien's letters or materials ever address this.

The reason this question arises is that the wearers of the Three were immediately aware of Sauron's activity and purpose when he forged the One, and were able to remove them and attempt to hide all the rings. This seems like a pretty big flaw in Sauron's plan, and it seems unlikely that someone of his skill and cunning would be unaware that the rings (of his own design) would have this feature. Unless, the Seven and Nine whose forging he supervised were weak enough or had a "one way only communication" feature. Then, if Celebrimbor went on to create the Three of his own industry after Sauron had left Eregion, it's plausible that these turned out more powerful and with fewer "handicaps" built in, allowing the Elves to get the drop on Sauron.

RC_23
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    Duplicate of How did Sauron learn of the Three? – Valorum Dec 24 '23 at 17:16
  • "Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky," – Valorum Dec 24 '23 at 17:17
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    The linked question does not seem to arrive at a definitive answer, as maybe it was never explicitly stated by JRRT. However, looking at all the narratives, it seems unlikely that Sauron would have known of Celebrimbor making the Three alone, and not tried to interfere or taint them in some way. So it seems more plausible that Sauron did not know. The other question, which is not addressed elsewhere is, could the Elves have sensed the One Ring if they had only possessed the Nine and Seven, or was this a special ability of the Three? – RC_23 Dec 24 '23 at 19:42

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