by
Poet's Day

One Ring

One Ring
by
Poet's Day

This week’s poem is taken from The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien because I have been listening to the audiobook of The Fellowship of the Ring, read by Andy Serkis and because I recently backed a Kickstarter for The One Ring role-playing game which I received last week.

One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them

J.R.R. Tolkien (1892—1973)

Poem 199. One Ring to Rule Them All

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.

This is the poem that Tolkien wrote for the beginning of the Lord of the Rings, and it briefly tells the back story to that epic tale. Sauron is the Dark Lord (as all who have seen the movie trilogy will know already), and this poem is perhaps the spell he weaves when creating the One Ring or perhaps he is gloating about its power.

The three rings of the elven-kings are free of Sauron’s evil influence but their power is tied to the One Ring nonetheless; the seven rings of the dwarves are lost, and the nine “Mortal Men doomed to die” have become the Nazgul: the Ring-Wraiths under the command of Sauron. Mordor is Sauron’s country.

I have an audio file of Tolkien himself reading this and other poetry, and I am enjoying Andy Serkis’s performance of the first part of the trilogy.

The role-playing game is beautifully presented and I’m keen to read through it and understand how it works; and if I don’t have the time, the starter set has enough of the game to get an idea, at least.