Where was the Ring when Numenor was destroyed?
[This updates question V.E.3 of the Tolkien LessFAQ.] This question is answered in detail in Letter #211. Tolkien says that when Sauron was taken to Numenor as a prisoner, “he naturally had the One Ring”. He goes on to say that at the time of the Akallabeth, “Though reduced to ‘a spirit of hatred borne on a dark wind’, I do not think one need boggle at this spirit carrying off the One Ring, upon which his power of dominating minds now largely depended.” We know that Sauron could (eventually) rebuild a physical body even in spirit form, so carrying the Ring to safety seems plausible as well. (In fact, the Valar and Maiar must have used this sort of ability to shape the world in the first place.) A passage from “Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age” in The Silmarillion is sometimes cited as evidence that, contrary to the statements above, Sauron left the Ring in Mordor before going to Numenor. In that essay, after Sauron returned to Middle-earth and rebuilt his body, “He took up again
[This updates question V.E.3 of the Tolkien LessFAQ.] This question is answered in detail in Letter #211. Tolkien says that when Sauron was taken to Numenor as a prisoner, “he naturally had the One Ring”. He goes on to say that at the time of the Akallabeth, “Though reduced to ‘a spirit of hatred borne on a dark wind’, I do not think one need boggle at this spirit carrying off the One Ring, upon which his power of dominating minds now largely depended.” We know that Sauron could (eventually) rebuild a physical body even in spirit form, so carrying the Ring to safety seems plausible as well. (In fact, the Valar and Maiar must have used this sort of ability to shape the world in the first place.) A passage from “Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age” in The Silmarillion is sometimes cited as evidence that, contrary to the statements above, Sauron left the Ring in Mordor before going to Numenor. In that essay, after Sauron returned to Middle-earth and rebuilt his body, “He took up again
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