Rings Of Power

Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium are magical rings created by Sauron or by the Elves of Eregion under Sauron's tutelage. Sauron intended the rings to subvert these races of Middle-earth to his power, since the One Ring was the Ruling Ring that controlled the others. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings is largely concerned with the attempt of Sauron to recover the One and the efforts of the West to forestall him by destroying it. Tolkien's essay "Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age" in The Silmarillion gives the background of the making of the rings. At the end of the First Age, Sauron evaded the call of the Valar to surrender, and fled to Middle-earth. Its purpose was domination over the other Rings and their powers, and the opening of the thoughts and wills of their wearers to his view and control. Sauron invaded the West to recover the rings that the Elves had made, and much of the West, including Eregion, was destroyed before he was driven back to Mordor.