Thinking the Lord of the
Nazgûl’s
ring of power was left fallen upon the battlefield is a logical conclusion for a reader who isn’t conversant with
Letters of JRR Tolkien or
Unfinished Tales or
History of Middle-earth – or The Tolkien Forum.
Even a casual first-time reader knows at this point that the
Ringwraiths are
Ring-wraiths because they wore
the Nine Rings, so it’s a natural conclusion that when their leader dies, he leaves behind
the ring he wore. You’d have to be a very careful, attentive reader to notice that
Sauron has taken the Nine Rings to himself, presumably until he can re-obtain
the One Ring.
The logic here must be his possessing the Nine Rings makes it easier for him to control the Nine Nazgûl. There is a TTF member,
Gordis, who has spent a good deal of time thinking about this problem: If I understand her correctly, I believe she argues (or argued) that the Nine Ringwraiths enjoyed considerable freedom of action after
Gil-galad and
Elendil discomfited Sauron, enabling
Isildur to take the One Ring so that Sauron’s “spirit fled”, as
Gandalf described it to
Frodo. If
Gordis becomes aware of this thread – and I hope she does! - she can speak for herself; but I think her position that Sauron’s absence gave the Ringwraiths some reprieve from his overwhelming and domineering personality is probably accurate.
“
Possession is nine-tenths of the law,” is an old adage (its origins are discussed
here), and in the case of the One Ring represented an effectively mortal threat to Sauron. If another, powerful individual (say, Gandalf) obtained the Ring, Sauron would be effectively reduced to impotence, as he was when it was destroyed, since his native power was bound up in the Ring and would be transferred to another.
As long as Sauron lacked possession of his Ring, the wielders of the Three Rings were free to use their
Rings of Power for the purposes for which they were made: “understanding, making, and healing, to preserve all things unstained. … But all that has been wrought by those who wield the Three will turn to their undoing, and their minds and hearts will become revealed to Sauron, if he regains
the One.”
That implies that Sauron cannot see into the minds and hearts of the Nine Nazgûl without his
One Ring, either. If that’s the correct interpretation of Tolkien’s tale, then it makes sense that he would take their Rings of Power from them as “pledges of [their] conduct, to be returned later,” as Gandalf put it in rather different circumstances to
Saruman, who took offense; but I don’t think the Ringwraiths were able to present much resistance to Sauron
in his actual presence when he demanded their Rings. And though it is a mighty interesting matter to speculate upon - perhaps some did resist, or sought to avoid him - I imagine the prospect of their master’s finding his Ring and wreaking vengeance upon a recalcitrant
Ringwraith was probably enough to encourage them to coöperate immediately.
Finally, Gandalf hints at the beginning in his conversation with Frodo in
Bag End that Sauron has physical possession of the Nine Rings rather than the Ringwraiths themselves: “The Ringwraiths are deadly enemies, but they are only shadows yet of the power and terror they would possess if the
Ruling Ring was on their master’s hand again.” I interpret that to mean that once in possession of the One Ring, Sauron could then safely (for him!) return the Nine Rings of Power to his servants, who could then in turn use the powers of their Rings once more.
Tidenergy, it was also my first impression that the
Witch-king’s Ring of Power was left upon the field before the Gates of
Minas Tirith. But after many(
!) re-readings and pouring over the other
books -
Letters,
Unfinished Tales, and the various volumes of
History of Middle-earth that cover the writing of
The Lord of the Rings - I must conclude that Sauron took the Nine Rings from the Nazgûl in order to better control them until he could re-obtain the Ruling Ring. Remember, the whole point of
the Rings of Power was so that Sauron could
control other people: he wasn’t about to let the Ringwraiths do as they pleased until he managed to scrounge up his own Ring once again. Sauron was the ultimate control freak. He’d fit right into today’s headlines out of Washington or Silicon Valley or Moscow or Beijing. That’s what gives the story its pointy end.
But if you disagree, by all means, gather your arguments, don’t be shy, and don’t be cowed by our different opinions! Put
your case forward. And welcome to The Tolkien Forum.
