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    What are the Seven Dwarf-Lord Rings? – Let’s Get Nerdy!

    Ashley Victoria RobinsonBy 1 Comment5 Mins Read

    Amazon Studios The Rings of Power is here. We want all Spoilerites to have the best viewing experience possible and have the widest knowledge base about the Second Age of Middle-Earth. This is a weekly Let’s Get Nerdy article series highlighting a different piece of Tolkien I think you need to know about!

    In past articles I have answered the question: 

    Last week’s feature on Durin’s Folk was such a smash I thought I’d write more about J.R.R. Tolkien’s dwarf characters and culture. In the original poem we know so well, which has shaped so many people’s understanding of what the “rings” in The Lord of the Rings are there is the iconic lines:

    Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone

    Though, admittedly, Tolkien shares with readers the least amount of information about who these Dwarf-

    Annatar and The Seven Rings by: Liz Danforth

    Lords are, what the names of their rings are, or if they share any particular abilities or special powers like we know about Nenya, Narya, and Vilya (the Elf Rings).

    There is some detail given including the name of the most famous of the Dwarf-Lord Rings known as the Ring of Thrór. According to the book canon it was the first forged and the last taken back by Sauron. Description such as this usually belie a sense of additional weight or power when Tolkien lays them at the feet of magical objects. The Ring of Thrór is unique in how it was gifted to the dwarves in the first place. The six other rings were given by Sauron (disguised as Annatar at the time), to dwarf-lords and kings. This ring was given from Celebrimbor, himself, to King Durin III of Khazad-dûm – whose line it remained in for millenia. 

    Readers of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings will know the line of Durin eventually succumbed to their own greed. The Ring of Thrór is said to amplify the skills of the bearer, however, as dwarves are considered to have hard hearts and be somewhat closed off – at least compared to Tolkien’s humans and hobbits – so this ring amplified the bearer’s greed as well. 

    The Ring of Thrór

    The Ring of Thrór was eventually lost by Thrór’s son, Thráin. It was taken from Thráin by The Dark Lord Sauron, himself.

    If the name “Thráin” is pinging something in the back of your brain it’s probably because Thráin is the father of Thorin Oakenshield – the leader of The Company in The Hobbit.

    The greed and ingenuity The Seven Rings inspired in the Dwarf-Lords led to the forging of The Seven Hoards. These were seven legendary treasure hoards. It is not confirmed, but considered to mean there is one hoard per dwarf clan as there are Seven Dwarf Clans in Middle-Earth. 

    Fun fact: Sauron didn’t actually reclaim all of The Seven Dwarf-Lord Rings because four of them were eaten by dragons and he only managed to salvage two, meaning there were two either lost forever or slowly, slowly digested by great beasts that speak kind of like Benedict Cumberbatch.

     

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    She/her. Canadian actress. Bi Queen. Canadian co-host of Geek History Lesson. Canadian comic book writer: Witchblade, Apollo IX, Jupiter Jet series, Science! The Elements of Dark Energy, Aurora and The Eagle. Award-losing: actor, writer, podcaster. https://linktr.ee/AshleyVRobinson

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    1 Comment

    1. Filbert66 on

      Seven Rings, eh? Obviously Tolkien’s came first.

      Why was Sauron intent on reclaiming these rings? Was he somehow melting them down back into his One Ring? What did he do with the Ring of Thrór?

      Reply

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