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“Let’s have a look at this ring of your uncle Bilbos
said Gandalf, lighting his pipe. Observe it closely,
and see what you can deduce about its previous owners.”
I held the ring in my hand.
“It is a plain ring, gold I don’t doubt, and strangely
heavy. It seems like a beautiful and precious heirloom
to me.”
“Do you see any scratches or markings of any kind ?”
“None whatsoever, it is perfectly unmarked, this ring
won’t give up its secrets easily.”
“Maybe so” said Gandalf and with a swift flick of his
deft hand he threw the ring into the fireplace. I gave
a startled shout.
“Don’t worry my dear Baggins your small fire would not
even melt ordinary gold, let alone this ring” said he
and leaned back in his chair with a contented expression:
“Now, we wait.”
I marveled at the intellectual capacity of my friend.
Knowing 20 different species of leaf by the ashes alone
was the least of his art, apparently he was also well-versed
in the arcane ring-lore.
When after a few minutes he took the ring out of the
fire and dropped it in my hand, it was still cool to
the touch, but now faint lines of spidery writing could
be seen on the hitherto unmarked surface.
“Something is written here but what is I cannot see.
The letters are elvish but the language is unknown to
me.”
“Let me see” said my friend and scrutinized the ring
intensely.
“The language is that of Mordor, which will not utter
here for fear of offending your landlady. What it says
in plain english is this:
One ring to rule them all
One ring to find them
One ring to bring them all
And in the darkness bind them”
My heart froze at these sinister words, but to me they
gave no clear meaning.
“How do you read this riddle ?” I asked my friend apprehensively
“Well these words are but part of a longer rhyme long
known in ringlore, and they clearly mark your uncle’s
ring as one of the great rings of power:
Three for the elven kings under the sky
Seven for the dwarf lords in their hallls of stone
Nine for mortal men, doomed to die
One for the dark lord on his dark throne
In the land of Mordor where the shadows lie
One ring to rule them all
One ring to find them
One ring to bring them all
And in the darkness bind them
In the land of Mordor where the shadows lie.
Now knowing as we do the whereabouts of the three elven
rings. Knowing that the dwarf-rings are alll accounted
for and knowing also the keepers of the nine rings given
to humans, what ring could this be, other than the one
ring forged by Sauron long ago and lost? Presuming that
the writing in the black speech is not proof enough,
this reasoning should convince you beyond doubt that
I am right. Your uncle Bilbo’s ring is indeed the Ruling
Ring.”
Gandalf re-lit his pipe with a satisfied smile:
“Really, my dear Baggins, it is elementary.”