- ''Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky, - Seven for
the Dwarf-lords in their halls 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." --- J.R.R. Tolkien's epigraph to The Lord of The
Rings. The Rings of Power were the masterwork of the elven-
smiths of Eregion headed by Celebrimbor, who was descended from
Fëanor. The impetus for their creation came from Sauron, who
could at that time still assume an appearance fair enough to
deceive the Elves. A total of nineteen Rings of Power were
forged by the Elves, sixteen of which Sauron had a direct hand
in creating. The greatest three Rings Celebrimbor crafted alone.
Many other lesser rings were made, described in the The
Silmarillion and by Gandalf, though they were generally
considered as having been mere essays in