Did Tolkien ever comment on the inaccuracy of the inscription on the One Ring?

Question

We all know what was written on the surface of the One Ring—visible when the metal was heated, as it had been upon Mairon the smith's hand.

Ash nazg durbatulûk, ash nazg gimbatul,
ash nazg thrakatulûk, agh burzum-ishi krimpatul.

One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.

However, it occurred to me that the claims of this verse are not entirely accurate.  The One Ring gave Sauron the power to rule the other rings and their wearers.  For the sixteen rings that he himself had helped create, his power over them remained even after he lost the One.
However, the other parts of the verse seemed to be more "aspirational" than real.  In particular, the One Ring did not give him the ability to find the Three, which he had never touched.  As long as they were inactive, he was never able to locate them.  He thus could not gather them to himself the way he did the others.
Did Tolkien ever comment on this question, in his essays or letters?  Was it merely a matter of the Dark Lord's hubris, thinking that he would be able to master all the Great Rings, including the Three, and bring them under his dominion?  Or did the question pass unnoticed?

Todd Wilcox · Answer

Gandalf says more than once that if he regains the One, then all that is protected by the Three will be laid bare. Before Isildur cut the Ring from Sauron, the elves and men were stronger and could resist him. If I recall correctly, he had gathered the others to him before the last alliance. And since he hasn’t touched the Three directly, they could hold out against him in the earlier age.
Also remember that when he forged the One, I’m pretty sure he didn’t know of the Three. So if the inscription was put there when it was forged (highly likely) that suggests the Lay of Beleriand was composed after the inscription, and likely after Isildur took the ring.
So perhaps at the time of its forging, the inscription was aspirational with respect to the Three but only because Sauron was ignorant of the Three. By the end of the Third Age, the power of the elves has waned and the One would have indeed given Sauron mastery over the Three (according to Gandalf, at least).
Furthermore it’s not clear how much power he has over the Seven. He reclaimed them or they were consumed by dragons, but that doesn’t mean his power over them was strong while he was without the one. The Nine corrupted the wearers themselves, and I recall Gandalf talking about men being most susceptible among the races of Middle Earth. It’s entirely possible that either Sauron destroyed the remaining of the Seven or they simply lay hidden and dormant somewhere in Mordor or Dol Guldur.

OrangeDog · Answer

If any of the other rings were in active use, then the verse is correct.

Sauron could not discover them, for they were given into the hands of the Wise, who concealed them and never again used them openly while Sauron kept the Ruling Ring [...] yet they also were subject to the One.
-- Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age

It is not until after the Last Alliance that the holders of the Three start to use them. It is also made clear that should Sauron recover the One, then the works of the Three (e.g. Rivendell and Lothlorien) would be under his control.

If he recovers [the One], then he will command them all again, wherever they be, even the Three, and all that has been wrought with them will be laid bare, and he will be stronger than ever.
-- The Fellowship of The Ring

Did Tolkien ever comment on the inaccuracy of the inscription on the One Ring?

2 Answers

Add your own answers!

Ask a Question