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It has been said that more rings were made but they are of a lesser
nature than the Great Rings of Power. Gandalf suggests as much
when he explains the history of the Rings of Power to Frodo:
"In Eregion long ago many Elven-rings were made, magic rings
as you call them, and they were, of course, of various kinds:
some more potent and some less. The lesser rings were only
essays in the craft before it was full-grown, and to the
Elven-smiths they were but trifles - yet to my mind dangerous
for mortals. But the Great Rings, the Rings of Power, they
were perilous." [The Fellowship of the Ring]
Another allusion to more rings is made when Sauron invaded Eregion
to reclaim by force all the rings he had sought to rule by the
forging and wearing of the One:
"There Sauron took the Nine Rings and the lesser works of the
Mírdain; but the Seven and the Three he could not find."
[Unfinished Tales]
We are not told how many of these lesser rings were made, nor of
the nature of their power. Their use is nowhere recorded in the
history of Middle-earth.
It is also possible that Saruman himself created a minor ring as is
suggested in the Fellowship of the Ring during the Council of
Elrond where Gandalf is recounting his capture in Isengard:
"But I rode up to the foot of Orthanc, and came to the stair of
Saruman...He wore a ring on his finger." In the same section
Saruman declares "For I am Saruman, the Wise, Saruman the Ring-maker,
Saruman of Many Colours." [The Fellowship of the Ring]
We are told in several places that the study of the lore of the
Rings of Power was Saruman's province. It is quite possible and
plausible that Saruman created his own ring of power and used this
ring to control and dominate his army of orcs, wargs, and half-breeds.
After all he was a Maia (of Aulë, the smith) and possessed
great power.
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