According to my "Lord of the Rings: Weapons and Warfare" book-of-the-film-of-the-book, the movie Nine rings were silver, set with a red amber stone, with the Witch-King's ring also having gold 'clasps' on either side of the ring enclosing the stone. The pictures in the book show the rings as having become corrupted by Sauron's evil until the metal is twisted and covered in images of skulls and bones and general unpleasantness, while a black 'pupil' in the middle of the amber making them look like the Eye of Sauron.
As for canonical accuracy, I can't say exactly what the Nine would have looked like. I checked 'Of the Rings of Power' in the Silm, and the only ones with an appearance described are the One and the Three, but I would suspect that all Nine would in actuality be different in appearance, and the Witch-King's would not be 'extra special' as it is in the movies, remembering that the Elves of Eregion made the rings and certainly never intended them as a 'set'. It does say that Sauron corrupted the rings in the Silm, but whether this refers to physical appearance or just the power of the rings I can't tell and I don't recall ever hearing anything definite about it.
The strong impression I get from the movies is that the Nine were created evil and twisted because they were intended for the Nazgul, but that doesn't fit at all with canon, unless Annatar/Sauron was a good deal more subtle and powerful than we've been told.
I've tried to find a picture on the web, but to no avail. If you want, I can scan the pages in so you can have a look.
Hmmmm... that's very interesting. Does the book have before-and-after shots, or is it just as they would have appeared in LOTR? What I need to describe is what it would have looked like when the man-who-would-be-Witch-king first received it. That's definitely food for thought, though. Thanks!
I remember looking for this for a story. I remember this from the Council of Elrond:
' "The Nine, the Seven, and the Three," he said, "had each their proper gem. Not so the One. It was round and unadorned, as it were one of the lesser rings
We don't know what the gem was, but we do know that the rings were fair to look at. And then Sauron perverted them, per the Silmarillion:
And all those rings that he governed he perverted, the more easily since he had a part in their making, and they were accursed, and they betrayed in the end all those that used them.
I would think that the person receiving the ring saw something of power and beauty, not something perverted and grotesque.
Okay. That does help somewhat, since that part of the story ends before any physical perversion would show up; he's definitely morally perverted and fading, and he loses all he hoped to gain, but he's had the ring on for so long that he doesn't even notice its appearance. Thanks, Nilmandra. :)
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ramblin_rosie
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Date: 2006-03-26 12:37 am (UTC)As for canonical accuracy, I can't say exactly what the Nine would have looked like. I checked 'Of the Rings of Power' in the Silm, and the only ones with an appearance described are the One and the Three, but I would suspect that all Nine would in actuality be different in appearance, and the Witch-King's would not be 'extra special' as it is in the movies, remembering that the Elves of Eregion made the rings and certainly never intended them as a 'set'. It does say that Sauron corrupted the rings in the Silm, but whether this refers to physical appearance or just the power of the rings I can't tell and I don't recall ever hearing anything definite about it.
The strong impression I get from the movies is that the Nine were created evil and twisted because they were intended for the Nazgul, but that doesn't fit at all with canon, unless Annatar/Sauron was a good deal more subtle and powerful than we've been told.
I've tried to find a picture on the web, but to no avail. If you want, I can scan the pages in so you can have a look.
Elcalion
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Date: 2006-03-26 12:57 am (UTC)That's definitely food for thought, though. Thanks!
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Date: 2006-03-26 04:50 am (UTC)' "The Nine, the Seven, and the Three," he said, "had each their proper gem. Not so the One. It was round and unadorned, as it were one of the lesser rings
We don't know what the gem was, but we do know that the rings were fair to look at. And then Sauron perverted them, per the Silmarillion:
And all those rings that he governed he perverted, the more easily since he had a part in their making, and they were accursed, and they betrayed in the end all those that used them.
I would think that the person receiving the ring saw something of power and beauty, not something perverted and grotesque.
But that was all I recall finding.
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Date: 2006-03-26 05:23 am (UTC)Thanks, Nilmandra. :)