I seem to be making a habit of discussing Ring-lore on this blog, which is wholly unintentional – but I came across a brief passage that intrigued me, that I’ve never properly noticed before, and that is entirely relevant to yet another misconception (exaggerated by the films) concerning the Ring.
It’s a relatively typical line of fan inquiry to ask why Sauron never ‘spotted’ Gollum or Bilbo while they wore the Ring, or why Frodo himself is only truly seen right at the end of his quest, when he claims the Ring for himself at the Crack of Doom. A quick Google search turns up all sorts of forum discussions and questions on the topic, and while the films undoubtedly don’t help, I do think that there’s some merit to it based solely on the books. Aragorn himself tells the hobbits that the Black Riders are ‘drawn’ by the Ring, and there are several memorable moments when Frodo, shrouded in the Ring’s invisibility, is nonetheless perceived by his enemies.
This question often goes hand in hand with yet another question that I’ve written about before; namely, how much of a will/consciousness the Ring actually possesses – I’ll save you a link click, it’s very little. The Ring seems to have a little more agency than a totally ordinary ring, to be sure, but it certainly does not have a ‘mind’. The Ring may be able to react to certain external factors (it does have a habit of slipping off fingers at inopportune moments, and the desire to put it on seems to be amplified by the Nazgûl), but in general, the Ring does not possess agency. Nor is it generally aware of its circumstances or surroundings (if it were, one would think that the big debate when everyone decides to destroy the damn thing might have made it a little more proactive).
All that being said, though, the Ring appears to be uniquely and horribly visible, especially to Sauron and his chief servants, yet there must also be limits to this visibility. If there were not, then Bilbo (wearing the Ring for weeks on end in Mirkwood, near to the Necromancer’s fastness of Dol Guldur) and Frodo (who came mere feet away from a Nazgûl in Woody End) should have been discovered, and yet they were not.
There are a few passages in the text when the Ring is clearly ‘seen’; namely, the attack on Weathertop, Amon Hen, and when Frodo claims it for himself at Mt Doom. Notably, not only is Frodo wearing the Ring in each of these encounters, but each seems to have some mitigating factor that allows Sauron or his servants to perceive him.
At Weathertop, Frodo puts the Ring on, and is in close proximity to the Nazgûl, who are also trying to hunt and trap and kill him at that very moment. At Amon Hen, Frodo is nearly seen by Sauron himself, while he is on the Seat of Seeing – while the exact nature of the Seat is never clarified or its mechanics explained, it seems to have both enhanced Frodo’s sight, and made him uniquely visible to others (notably, Gandalf also perceives Frodo on the Seat, and Frodo is able to wear the Ring both immediately before and after without seemingly being perceived…it is only while he is both on the Seat and wearing the Ring that Sauron seems to be aware of him). Then, finally, Frodo sets the Ring on his finger at Mt Doom having fully claimed it unto himself – and it seems to be the claiming of the Ring, just as much as the wearing of it, that alerts Sauron to where it is.
In addition to these passages, there are moments when some evil creature seems to be aware of the Ring’s presence in some way. Twice on the road from Hobbiton, a Black Rider stops and comes uncomfortably close to the hobbits, seemingly for no other reason than that it has a hunch. Gandalf wonders if the Watcher seized Frodo specifically because it was somehow drawn to the Ring. And the Witch-king pauses, discomforted, at the gates of Minas Morgul, seeming to feel the Ring’s presence.
…the Rider halted suddenly, right before the entrance of the bridge, and behind him all the host stood still. There was a pause, a dead silence. Maybe it was the Ring that called to the Wraith-lord, and for a moment he was troubled, sensing some other power within his valley. This way and that turned the dark head helmed and crowned with fear, sweeping the shadows with its unseen eyes. Frodo waited, like a bird at the approach of a snake, unable to move. And as he waited, he felt, more urgent than ever before, the command that he should put on the Ring. But great as the pressure was, he felt no inclination now to yield to it. He knew that the Ring would only betray him, and that he had not, even if he put it on, the power to face the Morgul-king – not yet. There was no longer any answer to that command in his own will, dismayed by terror though it was, and he felt only the beating upon him of a great power from outside. It took his hand, and as Frodo watched with his mind, not willing it but in suspense (as if he looked on some old story far away), it moved the hand inch by inch towards the chain upon his neck. Then his own will stirred; slowly it forced the hand back and set it to find another thing, a thing lying hidden near his breast. Cold and hard it seemed as his grip closed on it: the phial of Galadriel, so long treasured, and almost forgotten till that hour. As he touched it, for a while all thought of the Ring was banished from his mind. He sighed and bent his head.
At that moment the Wraith-king turned and spurred his horse and rode across the bridge, and all his dark host followed him. Maybe the elven-hoods defied his unseen eyes, and the mind of his small enemy, being strengthened, had turned aside his thought. But he was in haste. Already the hour had struck, and at his great Master’s bidding he must march with war into the West.
The Lord of the Rings, Book IV, Chapter 8, ‘The Stairs of Cirith Ungol’, by J.R.R. Tolkien
“Sensing some other power within his valley” is a pretty clear indication that the Ring gives off some extrasensory aura, visible to those with eyes to see. Yet even then, with the Ring on his very doorstep, the Witch-king fails to realise it – clearly, the Ring is not nearly so distinct as some people imagine it to be.
Anyway, all of this is to say that to my surprise, it turns out that the books directly address this…if fleetingly and in a somewhat incongruous moment. At the beginning of Book VI, as Sam finds his way through the twisting passages of Shelob’s tunnels, we get this passage (emphasis mine):
There he halted and sat down. For the moment he could drive himself no further. He felt that if once he went beyond the crown of the pass and took one step veritably down into the land of Mordor, that step would be irrevocable. He could never come back. Without any clear purpose he drew out the Ring and put it on again. Immediately he felt the great burden of its weight, and felt afresh, but now more strong and urgent than ever, the malice of the Eye of Mordor, searching, trying to pierce the shadows that it had made for its own defence, but which now hindered it in its unquiet and doubt.
LOTR, Book VI, Chapter 1, ‘The Tower of Cirith Ungol’
Even on the very border of Mordor, with the weight of the mind of Sauron pressing and probing to find his long-lost Ring, Sam is able to wear it and Sauron is none the wiser – because Sauron himself made the Ring to be hidden. Far from being a beacon, a great and compelling force that draws the gaze of Sauron and the Nazgûl and all fell beings, the Ring is cloaked, because Sauron himself made it so.
And this makes sense, really – since Sauron never wanted the Elves to know about the One in the first place. Not that that worked out particularly well for him, but his intent was surely that the One be wholly masked from all.
Now the Elves made many rings; but secretly Sauron made One Ring to rule all the others, and their power was bound up with it, to be subject wholly to it and to last only so long as it too should last. And much of the strength and will of Sauron passed into that One Ring; for the power of the Elven-rings was very great, and that which should govern them must be a thing of surpassing potency; and Sauron forged it in the Mountain of Fire in the Land of Shadow. And while he wore the One Ring he could perceive all the things that were done by means of the lesser rings, and he could see and govern the very thoughts of those that wore them.
But the Elves were not so lightly to be caught. As soon as Sauron set the One Ring upon his finger they were aware of him; and they knew him, and perceived that he would be master of them, and of all that they wrought. Then in anger and fear they took off their rings. But he, finding that he was betrayed and that the Elves were not deceived, was filled with wrath; and he came against them with open war, demanding that all the rings should be delivered to him, since the Elven-smiths could not have attained to their making without his lore and counsel.
The Silmarillion, ‘Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age’, by J.R.R. Tolkien
So Sauron was partially successful, I suppose – the Ring was indeed hidden (as indeed all Great Rings seem to be to some extent, depending on the sight of the beholder), but it could not be both secret and wielded – note that the Elves do not perceive the Ring being forged, they only become aware of it when Sauron himself claims it and wears it.
As much as the operation of magic rings can be said to make logical sense, I suppose this makes sense. The One is indeed hidden, until it is “turned on”, until it is used for its intended purpose. Claiming it means the determination to use and exercise the Ring’s power, and the Ring is made to operate on external things, on other people – it’s akin to turning on a torch, I suppose, and shining it in a wide dark place. The torch allows you to see, but it also allows others nearby to see the torch, to see where you are. But the torch is only visible to those nearby, and who are also in the darkness.
It’s not a perfect analogy, as the Ring seems to have ‘degrees’ of being on, and even when it is not being wielded at all (as in Morgul Vale) it clearly possesses some measure of potency that can be perceived. But I’d never properly noticed the passage quoted above, which makes it very clear that far from being horribly visible to Sauron, the Ring is itself uniquely and particularly invisible (beyond certain extenuating circumstances), and that this shrouding was intentional on the part of Sauron himself.
Which, given that the Ring itself is chiefly known for having the side effect of bestowing invisibility to at least its Mannish wielders, is strangely fitting.
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