When were the Rings of Power forged? Lord of the Rings’ most powerful items’ history

Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings series chronicles a major event: the forging of the Rings of Power. When they were forged and how many there are are important details in the franchise lore.

Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings followed Frodo, Sam, and their fellowship as they ventured to Mount Doom to destroy the One Ring, a powerful artifact belonging to the Dark Lord Sauron.

That was the Third Age of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth, while The Rings of Power takes place in an uncharted time: the Second Age, with showrunners JD Payne and Patrick McKay building the story from The Silmarillion (essentially a textbook about the sprawling world).

As the title suggests, we see the forging of the hallowed objects, and The Rings of Power Season 2 heavily features them. Spoilers for The Rings of Power Season 1 to follow…

When the Rings of Power were made

The Rings of Power were forged during the Second Age of Middle-earth. This period spans around 3,400 years, described by Tolkien as “the dark years for Men of Middle-Earth, but the years of the glory of Númenor.”

Sauron forged The One Ring seen in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

While we visited the island kingdom in The Rings of Power Season 1 Episode 3, Númenor is doomed to fall in 3319 SA, 22 years before the big battle that marks the end of the Second Age and the beginning of the Third.

However, the rings were forged during a much earlier time. According to Tolkien’s timeline, the rings began being forged around 1500 SA. However, Celebrimbor’s Three Elven Rings were completed around 90 years later, and Sauron forged the One Ring after another 10 years.

So, all the rings were forged between 1500 and 1600 SA.

Who forged the Rings?

The Lesser Rings were created by the Gwaith-i-Mírdain (also known as the Elven-smiths) of Eregion, headed by Celebrimbor, grandson of Fëanor.

Celebrimbor is key to the forging of the Great Rings.

Celebrimbor forged the Three Elven Rings on his own, and Sauron never touched them.

Sauron secretly forged The One Ring in the heart of Mount Doom, bestowing it with the power to dominate the rest of the rings.

How many Rings of Power are there?

There are 20 Rings of Power, also known as the Great Rings.

It’s worth remembering Tolkien’s Ring Verse, read by Galadriel in the teaser for the series:

‘Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,
Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,
Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die,
One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them,
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.‘

The Elven smiths forged 19 rings, with Celebrimbor crafting the three strongest rings alone. They were named Narya the Ring of Fire, Nenya the Ring of Water, and Vilya the Ring of Air.

For a recap, read our Rings of Power Season 1 ending explained. We’ve also written about Rhûn, The Rings of Power cast, the Istari, and is The Rings of Power based on a book.