Skip to main content

tolkiens legendarium - Was Frodo able to see that Gandalf wore Narya and Elrond wore Vilya?


Frodo sees Nenya on Galadriel's finger after looking into the Mirror of Galadriel, and yet Sam is unable to see it. Galadriel also says the following:



It is not permitted to speak of it, and Elrond could not do so. But it cannot be hidden from the Ring-bearer, and one who has seen the Eye. Verily it is in the land of Lorien upon the finger of Galadriel that one of the Three remains. This is Nenya, the Ring of Adamant, and I am its keeper.




So does this mean that Frodo would have been able to see both Vilya on Elrond's finger and Narya on Gandalf's finger? I am assuming that the Three are like the One in the sense that they must physically be worn in order to utilise their power. Or does the quote by Galadriel mean that literally only one who is Ring-bearer and one who has seen the Eye is able to see the other rings?


Of course, being able to simply see the rings does not imply he would necessarily know what they were, but clearly Sam was unable to see Galadriel's ring at all. Could Frodo see Narya and Vilya when in Rivendell?



Answer



No, the fact that Frodo saw Galadriel's Ring does not mean he saw Elrond's and Gandalf's. After all no mention is made of it, and it is a "big deal" that he saw it on Galadriel's finger. It seems unusual to let it pass if he noticed either Gandalf's or Elrond's so I think it's reasonable to assume that he did not, in fact, see it.


Having said that, I think the key is in the paragraph you quoted:



But it cannot be hidden from the Ring-bearer, and one who has seen the Eye.



Frodo never saw Gandalf or Elrond between seeing the Eye in Galadriel's Mirror and destroying the One Ring. I think it was the combination of the two, being the Ring-bearer and also witnessing Sauron's Eye, that allowed Frodo to perceive Galadriel's Ring given her comment. After all, even in Galariel's case, Frodo did not notice her Ring until after witnessing the Eye in her Mirror.



The Three were definitely seen in the conclusion of the LotR:



Elrond wore a mantle of grey and had a star upon his forehead, and a silver harp was in his hand, and upon his finger was a ring of gold with a great blue stone, Vilya, mightiest of the Three. But Galadriel sat upon a white palfrey ... On her finger was Nenya, the ring wrought of mithril, that bore a single white stone flickering like a frosty star.


...


Frodo saw that Gandalf now wore openly upon his hand the Third Ring, Narya the Great, and the stone upon it was red as fire.



So it may also be that either Elrond, Galadriel and Gandalf had used their powers to hide the Three, or the Three had an equivalent power that could be turned on and off, and Galadriel chose to reveal her's to Frodo deliberately. It's implied, though not explicit, that Sam could see the Three at this time.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

harry potter - Did Dolores Umbridge Have Any Association with Voldemort (or Death Eaters) before His Return?

I noticed that Dolores Umbridge was born during the first Wizarding War, so it's very likely she wasn't a Death Eater then (but she is pretty evil -- who knows?). After that Voldemort was not around in a way that could affect many people, and most wouldn't know he was planning to rise again. During that time, and up through Voldemort's return (in Goblet of Fire ), did Umbridge have any connection with the Death Eaters or with Voldemort? Was she doing what she did on her own, or was it because of an association with Voldemort or his allies? Answer Dolores Umbridge was definitely not a good person. However, as Sirius points out, "the world isn't split into good people and Death Eaters". Remember that he also says that he doesn't believe Umbridge to be a Death Eater, but that she's evil enough (or something like that). I think there are two strong reasons to believe that: Umbridge was proud to do everything according to the law, except when she trie...

futurama - How much time is lost in 'Time Keeps on Slippin''

In time Keeps on Slippin' , Farnsworth creates a basketball team which he matures by abusing Chronitons. This leads to time skipping forward by random, but ever increasing amounts. How much time was skipped in this way? Answer Unfortunately, I don't think a good estimate can be made for this, for two reasons: Many of the time skips move forward by an indeterminate amount of time. At one point, the Professor mentions localized regions of space skipping forward much more than others. We then see two young boys on the street below complaining about having to pay social security, only to suddenly become senior citizens and start complaining about wanting their money. Thus, each individual could have experienced a different amount of time skippage.

aliens - Interstellar Zoo story

I vaguely remember this story from my childhood: it was about an interstellar zoo that came to Earth with lots of bizarre and unusual species, and humans would file through and gape at all the crazy looking creatures from other planets. The twist came at the end when the perspective shifted to the other side of the bars and we discovered that the "creatures" were traveling through space on a kind of safari. They thought they were the visitors and we were the animals. Neither side knew that the other side thought they were the zoo creatures. Answer Got it. Zoo, by Edward D. Hoch. Published in 1958. Link to Publication History Link to PDF

tolkiens legendarium - Did Gandalf wear his Ring of Power throughout the trilogy?

After Gandalf discovered that Sauron was back and sent Frodo on his quest to Rivendell, did he continue to wear Narya (one of the Three Rings)? It seems like a huge risk to continue to wear it after the Nazgûl (Ringwraiths) started to try and reclaim the One Ring; if they managed to get the ring to Sauron, couldn't he be corrupted by his power? Whatever powers Narya bestows upon him couldn't possibly be worth the huge risk, could it? Answer When Sauron forged the one ring and put it on his finger, the other ring bearers were immediately aware of him and his intentions and removed their own rings. There is no reason why they couldn't merely do so again. As soon as Sauron set the One Ring upon his finger they were aware of him; and they knew him, and preceived that he would be master of them, and of all they wrought. Then in anger and fear they took off their rings. "Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age," Silmarillion