Board Thread:Fun and Games/@comment-33719810-20180317041546/@comment-33185350-20180317142450

Saruman was certainly dabbling in ring forging, though I doubt he had the skill to do much even with all his knowledge. We can’t say for sure because the book never describes what his ring does. Perhaps it helps enhance his voice and make him more persuasive? I doubt it does much other than store his power, as Sean said, or possibly slightly enhance some abilities.

About the Dwarven rings, just to clarify here’s the quote I had in mind:

“This may prove the foundation of new fortune for you yet, though that seems unlikely. But it needs gold to breed gold.” - The Return of the King, Appendix A.

It’s interesting to note that the foundations of Barad-dûr were made with the power of the ring, so they cannot be undone without destroying it. If Sauron had the Ring he would probably would be able to protect and preserve his lands and works in a manner similar to the Elves, but much more powerfully. Just a thought.

The Mirror of Galadriel in The Fellowship of the Ring has some more insights on what the Ring does. We can see a glimpse of what Galadriel would look like if she wielded it:

“She stood before Frodo seeming now tall beyond measurement, and beautiful beyond enduring, terrible and worshipful.”

It sounds similar to Frodo in my last post, though more exaggerated. A Dark Lord wielding the ring would likely be as terrible, if not more, though I’m not sure about beautiful. Galadriel says “All shall love me and despair!” which seems to indicate how people would be forced to obey her.

The One’s domination over the others is given some specifics as well. Frodo says, “...Why cannot I see all the others and know the thoughts of those that wear them?” To which Galadriel replies he does not have the strength of will, though it could be done. It seems to follow that one could control the minds of those who wear the other rings.