What Powered The Three?

[Gothmog, LoB]

Originally Posted by Zigûr

I always thought that the reason for that was simply because the bearers of the Three literally took them off their hands when they heard Sauron incanting the Ring-inscription as he placed the One upon his finger.

Yeah, that's the best take on that. Sauron had no hand in the creation of the Three and did thus have no clue what exactly Celebrimbor did with them. Presumably the guy had some intriguing ideas how to expand on Annatar's general 'Ring of Power' concept Sauron himself never thought about.

Sauron certainly would have figured out what the Three could do and how to use them for his own ends but nothing came of that when Celebrimbor literally took of the Three - and I actually think he literally wore the Three on his fingers when he heard Sauron speak/think those words about the purpose of the One Ring. In his hubris Celebrimbor could easily have intended to use the Three all for himself to make his Eregion the greatest paradise (and himself the most powerful Noldo) this side of the ocean.

Whether the Three - or the Rings of Power aside from the One Ring - had any power source in a conventional sense I don't know. But I doubt it. They weren't engines, after all. Even in the case of the One I'd not say that Sauron had to put parts of himself in there to keep the thing working but rather that this was an integral part of his wish/spell to control both the other rings and their bearers.

[William Cloud Hicklin]

We know that Gil-Galad gave Narya to Cirdan when he marched ioff to the Last Alliance, presumably since there was no point in bringing it along, he couldn't wear it. I think it highly likely that Elrond similarly stashed Vilya at Rivendell.

The Third Age was different, since the One was lost.

[cellurdur]

The rings enhanced the powers of the wielder and were used to preserve things. I would say that with all sub-creation a some part of Celebrimbor's own essence did go int the three. It's the case for all sub-creation in Tolkien.

I also believe just like how Celebrimbor (possibly) tapped into the power of the sun for the Elessar, he additionally tapped into some of the raw materials whether it be light, earth or water as a source of power from the rings.

What I think is controversial is that despite what Elrond says, I believe Celebrimbor in addition tapped into some small part of Morgoth's power and this is why they were linked to the One.

Preserving the world and stopping change, in my opinion was not a completely good act and went contrary to the nature.

[Gothmog, LoB]

Originally Posted by cellurdur

The rings enhanced the powers of the wielder and were used to preserve things. I would say that with all sub-creation a some part of Celebrimbor's own essence did go int the three. It's the case for all sub-creation in Tolkien.

I also believe just like how Celebrimbor (possibly) tapped into the power of the sun for the Elessar, he additionally tapped into some of the raw materials whether it be light, earth or water as a source of power from the rings.

What I think is controversial is that despite what Elrond says, I believe Celebrimbor in addition tapped into some small part of Morgoth's power and this is why they were linked to the One.

Preserving the world and stopping change, in my opinion was not a completely good act and went contrary to the nature.

I guess Celebrimbor could not go behind the concept 'Rings of Power' in his efforts. The basic spells/magics/forging techniques/whatever would have been the same in all the Rings of Power. The Three would be the least corrupt because Celebrimbor focused exclusively on his own Elvish preservation agenda and not on other things Sauron might also have put into the other rings.

Whether Elves (or Men) can put parts of themselves into their sub-creations in any real sense (and not just in metaphorical sense - like, say, 'he put his heart into his work') the way the Valar/Maiar could is completely unclear. I'm not sure how this is supposed to work.

[cellurdur]

Originally Posted by Gothmog, LoB

I guess Celebrimbor could not go behind the concept 'Rings of Power' in his efforts. The basic spells/magics/forging techniques/whatever would have been the same in all the Rings of Power. The Three would be the least corrupt because Celebrimbor focused exclusively on his own Elvish preservation agenda and not on other things Sauron might also have put into the other rings.

Whether Elves (or Men) can put parts of themselves into their sub-creations in any real sense (and not just in metaphorical sense - like, say, 'he put his heart into his work') the way the Valar/Maiar could is completely unclear. I'm not sure how this is supposed to work.

It seems like this is something that Men can't do except the ones with Elvish blood, but we have seen the Pukel men and Eol do similar.

[Gothmog, LoB]

Originally Posted by cellurdur

It seems like this is something that Men can't do except the ones with Elvish blood, but we have seen the Pukel men and Eol do similar.

Oh, right, didn't think about that. However, Anglachel-Gurthang seems to be a very special weapon made from the iron of a meteor. I'm not sure we should attribute the ability of the sword to speak to parts of Eöl's spirit in the blade. That could well also be part of the special magic of the sword.

I mean, Gurthang also was able to kill Glaurung with just one stroke. Unless we assume the sword pierced his heart or cut through a very important artery this isn't very likely. It seems that sword had the power to kill pretty much any thing.

The Pukel men are a different case. No idea how those did work.