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Shhh! It's a Secret Ring! - Page 12

© Michael Martinez

But if the Elves could stand forth and admit what they had done, perhaps the Dwarves were moved to confess that their ancestors had been given Rings. It may be that Gil-galad was able, with Durin's help, to bring all seven Dwarf lords to Imladris. And hearing that the Elves had betrayed everyone not once, but twice, most of the Dwarves may have elected to stand aside. They would keep their Rings, which obviously didn't prolong their lives, or turn them into wraiths. And they would let the world decide its own affairs. That seems a very Dwarvish attitude. Only the Longbeards developed any real affinity for the Eldar. Durin's folk had been joined by the Belegostians, who had also been friendly with the Eldar, but the Nogrodians had an ancient grudge against the Eldar. The four eastern groups may have been in the minority, but they certainly had little if any connection to the Elves and Dunedain. So, it must be that the Ring-rhyme was devised during the early years of the Last Alliance. Most likely it was composed at Imladris, soon after (if not during) whatever council Gil-galad held with the other rulers of Middle-earth. The Nazgul's nature and possession of the missing Nine Rings would have to be inferred, but it was by this time certain who had the Rings. And Middle-earth's best-kept secret was no longer really a secret. Yet Gil-galad would not have divulged who possessed the Three Rings. For safe-keeping he gave his two Rings to Elrond and Cirdan. Yet the Ring-rhyme says that the Three were bestowed upon Elven-kings. The rhyme-composer therefore could not have known where the Three were. He (or she) must have believed that Gil-galad, Oropher, and Amdir had the Three. Conveniently, all three died in the war, and no one claimed the Three from their bodies. So the Elves and their allies must have been thrown into doubt about who had the Three soon after Gil-galad's death. And that doubt would have been reflected in the Ring-rhyme if it had been composed after Gil-galad's death. And this brings us to the Third Age. The Last Alliance was victorious, and the victors always write the histories of wars. Scholars in Arnor, Gondor, Khazad-dum, and other lands must have recorded many things about the war. Arnor's libraries were eventually lost or destroyed. Gondor's wisdom declined, and most of its people forgot the greater part of their history. Khazad-dum was taken over by a Balrog, and most of Durin's Folk were scattered or slain. Yet a few people preserved a knowledge of ancient events here and there. If most of the Men of Arnor and Gondor at one time understood what the War of the Last Alliance was about, they would have passed on the knowledge. For there were still Rings of Power out there, and they were perilous things.

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