A Chain of Custody: Listing the Ringbearers

Yes, it’s the sort of thing one does in lockdown. Sitting down, and compiling a complete chain of custody for the One Ring. It’s actually a deceptively tricksy exercise: there are some curious cases of brief handling that need to be noted.

Anyway, here is the list, from the Ring’s creation to its destruction. For the dating of the Disaster of the Gladden Fields, and Bilbo’s finding of the Ring, I am indebted to this timeline. The rest is from Appendix B of The Lord of the Rings.

The colour-coding is as follows:

• Gold: Claimed possession of the One Ring, and wore it.
• Purple: Claimed possession of the One Ring, but did not wear it.
• Turquoise: Wore the One Ring, but did not claim possession of it.
• Green: Handled the One Ring, but neither claimed it nor wore it.

My reasoning for Isildur wearing the Ring more than once? How else did he know that it turned mortals invisible prior to fleeing the Orcs?

NAME	OBTAINED RING	LOST RING	LENGTH OF TENURE	NOTES
1. Sauron	S.A. c.1600 (Created)	S.A. 3441	c. 1841 years	Forged the Ring. Wore the Ring at all times, including in Númenor.
2. Isildur	S.A. 3441	4th October: T.A. 2	2 years	Cut the Ring from Sauron’s corpse. Must have worn the Ring at least twice.
NONE	4th October: T.A. 2	T.A. 2463	2461 years	Lost in Anduin after it slipped from Isildur’s finger.
3. Déagol	T.A. 2463	T.A. 2463	< 1 hour	Found the Ring.
4. Sméagol (Gollum)	T.A. 2463	Before 1st July: T.A. 2941	478 years	Killed Déagol, and seized the Ring. Wore the Ring many times.

NONE	Before 1st July: T.A. 2941	1st July: T.A. 2941	Several days	Lost in the tunnels of the Misty Mountains after it slipped from Gollum’s finger.
5. Bilbo Baggins	1st July: T.A. 2941	22nd September: T.A. 3001	60+ years	Found the Ring. Wore the Ring many times.
6. Gandalf	22nd September: T.A. 3001	22nd September: T.A. 3001	< 2 hours	Acting on Bilbo’s behalf, he handled an envelope with the Ring inside. He placed the envelope on the Bag End mantelpiece and waited for Frodo.
7. Frodo Baggins	22nd September: T.A. 3001	13th April: T.A. 3018	16+ years	Left the Ring by Bilbo. Unknown if he wore the Ring during this time.
8. Gandalf	13th April: T.A. 3018	13th April: T.A. 3018	< 1 hour	Handed the Ring by Frodo. Handled the Ring, and threw it into the Bag End fire. He then removed it, and returned it to Frodo.
9. Frodo Baggins	13th April: T.A. 3018	27th September: T.A. 3018	5+ months
10. Tom Bombadil	27th September: T.A. 3018	27th September: T.A. 3018	< 1 hour	Handed the Ring by Frodo. Wore the Ring once (27th September). Returned it to Frodo.
11. Frodo Baggins	27th September: T.A. 3018	20th October: T.A. 3018	< 1 month	Wore the Ring thrice (27th September, 29th September, 6th October)
12. Unknown	20th October: T.A. 3018	24th October: T.A. 3018	< 5 days	Took the Ring from the unconscious Frodo. Put the Ring on a new chain, and returned it to Frodo.
13. Frodo Baggins	24th October: T.A. 3018	13th March: T.A. 3019	< 5 months	Wore the Ring twice (26th February)
14. Samwise Gamgee	13th March: T.A. 3019	14th March: T.A. 3019	< 2 days	Took the Ring from the unconscious Frodo. Wore the Ring twice (13th-14th March), and returned it to Frodo.

15. Frodo Baggins	14th March: T.A. 3019	25th March: T.A. 3019	< 12 days	Wore the Ring once (25th March)
16. Sméagol (Gollum)	25th March: T.A. 3019	25th March: T.A. 3019 (Destroyed)	< 1 hour	Attacked Frodo and seized the Ring. Fell into the Crack of Doom.

• May 7, 2020
• Reading, Tolkien essays
• 1 Comment