RING-BEARER

The term 'Ring-bearer' is used in J. R. R. Tolkien's high fantasy novel ''The Lord of the Rings'' to describe any being who has possession of the One Ring.
In ''The Lord of the Rings'', Frodo Baggins is appointed to be the 'Ring-bearer' by the Council of Elrond in Rivendell. He was to carry the One Ring from Rivendell to the Crack of Doom in Mordor and destroy it before Sauron's minions, the Ringwraiths, could retrieve it.
The title is also given to two other hobbits who carried the One Ring. They were Bilbo Baggins (who found the Ring in Tolkien's first novel, ''The Hobbit'') and Frodo's companion Sam Gamgee (who carried it briefly in Mordor). Because of their position as Ring-bearers, they were granted passage to the Undying Lands.
Others bore the Ring during its existence, but were not actually called "Ring-bearers" in any Tolkien work. They include:

★ Sauron, who made it.

★ Isildur, who cut it from Sauron's finger and bore it until it slipped off into the River Anduin just before his death.

★ Gollum, who murdered his friend Déagol to get it, and later took it back from Frodo just before inadvertently destroying it and himself.

★ Tom Bombadil, on whom it had no effect.
Two others handled the Ring but did not actually wear it: Déagol, who found it in the River Anduin but was murdered moments later, and Gandalf, who held it only long enough to toss it into Frodo's fireplace. (In the movie adaptations by Peter Jackson, Gandalf attempts to pick up the ring after Bilbo leaves, but is met with a vision of Sauron's eye and subsequently makes a point of not doing so again.)
One explanation for the titling of only the two Bagginses and Gamgee as "Ring-bearers" who may enter the Undying Lands whilst excluding the others has to do with their integrity while "bearing" the One Ring. The elder Baggins, after finding the One Ring while lost in the caverns of the Misty Mountains, used the One Ring for various purposes, but never to gain power over another individual. The younger Baggins took hold of the Ring in order to destroy it, and that remained his goal. Likewise, Gamgee took hold of the Ring in order to bring about its destruction. All three felt the corrupting effects of the Ring but were not corrupted.
Contrastingly, Isildur and Gollum were both corrupted by the Ring's effects. Bombadil was not corrupted, but as it had no effect on him, he was likewise unable to resist the corruption.
More loosely, the bearers of all the other Rings of Power may also be considered Ring-bearers.

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See also

See also

★ Rings of Power