Glorfindel, regardless of Gandalf's knowledge of the Ring- which was strong and he certainly knew enough to make the deduction I talked of- the point is that SAURON made the same deductive process, as described in FOTR. And Sauron DEFINITELY knew how they all worked!
But Gandalf knew plenty. He went to all the bother of that confirmation purely because Saruman- who knew more- had insisted that it was not on Middle-Earth.
However, I have checked this in the Silmarillion. Tolkien says that the Great Rings confer invisibility- EXCEPT the Elven Ones. Of course, this would have made little difference to Gandalf's elimination process as he knew full well where the Elven ones were anyway, so he knew that Bilbo could not have found one of them, quite aside from him also knowing the Elven ones had jewels on them.
And yes- ALL the Great Rings stop working without the One Ring.
So without the One Ring, the rest of the Great Rings of power become jewelry?
I knew the 9 Rings of Men turned you invisible. That's why the Ringwraiths are invisible!
I think that unless someone has taught you how to use it or if you have the power to, the Ring just turns you invisible. Needless to say, it definitely has the power to do great things...great and terrible things...like Voldemort's wand. 😄
They passed into the Realm of Shadow. Which is actually what the Ring DOES- it is not literal invisibility. That is why you can see the Nazguls for what they are when you wear the Ring because you are in their world. They have great trouble interacting with the real world themselves, but once Frodo put on the ring they could see him at once.
well, i was just reading the posts and i think there are some misconceptions of the rings of power. first off the the one ring did not make any one who wore it invisible (look at sauron) the powers it would give you would be based upon the power you your self had. that is why gandalf was affraid to take. he is very powerful, therfore the ring would bestow even greater powers to him. now it needs to be explained that there are two worlds, the living world and the spirit world. when frodo wore the ring it took him out of the living world and put him in the spirit world. a wraith lives almost wholy in the spirit world that is why they appear invisible in the living world (except they are clothed in black). elves similtaneously live in both. that is why when frodo was stabbed and arwen came to him she was robbed in white, her image in the spirit world. then the camera took the view of the living world and showed here in green clothing. now the reason why all the other rings become trinckets once the one ring was destroyed is because they were all made at the same time and the one ring was made to have power over them all, thus they are all tied together. its kind of like the elven rings were made to offset the evil of the other rings, so once that evil is destroyed, there power (the power to opose the evil rings) is gone. hopefully this helps and i would be glad to hear others views on the subject.
turin has hit most of the nails on the head there.
Sauron was not originally know as evil, this he hid. He was clever and went into hiding when his master, Melkor (the first Dark Lord), was captured. Later and still not revealed his true nature, he had the rings crafted by the elven smiths of Eregion, whom he seduced. These, as you know were gifted by Sauron to those he deemed. It was from the elven smiths that he learned the art of crafting the final ring himself, which he made in secret and betrayed the elven smiths. Into this ring, he poured his own power and his evil so as to control the wearers of the other rings. The nine men were easily swayed by promises of power etc, the dwarf rings were lost and he had no real control over the elves, thus Galadriel was able to wear hers openly. The main power within the ring was that of control, that and Saurons own power. Without it, he was still strong, but with it, even stronger. the invisibility question is covered by turin in the post previous to this.
It was within Galadriels ring that the power of Lothlorien lay. It was said that should the one ring be destroyed, then Lothlorien would fade. Basically, the ring could survive, even back with Sauron, and so Lothlorien would still remain, without it, all rings were powerless, and thus would mean the end of Lothlorien etc. This is one of the reasons she does not take the ring, she knows it would magnify her own power, but in doing so, corrupt was was intended to be good, into evil. She chooses to allow the ring to be destroyed, knowing what it would mean to them, and allow the forest to fade into history and for her people to pass back to the undying lands. The alternative, if it were to fall back into Saurons hands (stating the obvious here - sorry!!) would mean him destroying all in his path, which again, would spell the end of the elves.
Gandalf, did not know that the ring was "the one ring" (though he does know "off" the one ring) for it had been lost for over a thousand years. He had no reason to suspect that it was until the latter time of Bilbo's possession of it. As he mentions, there are many magical rings, and none which should be used lightly. Events unfold which leads him to believe that the ring is more than it seems, hence he then goes off to research its history. It is then that he discovers the history of Smeagol/Gollum, when he is captured by the elves of Mirkwood. Everything pieces together which leads him believe it is the one, though the final test is that of fire, which reveals the writing (written on my signature below, in the language of Morgoth, in "common tongue" "one ring to rule them, one ring to find them" etc). Essentially then, the power, then, of the ring, is exactly that....to rule them, to find them, to bring them, to bind them.
Hope this helps. Ive tried to cover in some detail some of the points which seem to have only been touched on in other responses. If you want any further info, then let me know.
Dont take this the wrong way, but if you are really interested in fully understanding the history of the ring, then Id firstly suggest reading the three books (including the apendices), also The Silmarilion (though that one is very heavy going).
Except in that what Turin says is misleading. Tolkien SPECIFIES that The Great Rings cause invisibility EXCEPT the Elven ones. If you are powerful enough, he also specifies, you can CONTROL that invisibility, as Sauron did- though it is worth noting that Sauron could do that anyway. This power of the Rings is a direct result of his influence on them, hence it not being present in the Elven ones.
It is obvious that invisibility is a blanket power of the Great Ring no matter who you are- else why would the exact same power affect Isildur, Smeagol, Bilbo and Frodo?
The Rings were not made at the same time; the One Ring was made decidedly after the others. The Elven Rings were not made to balance anything because when made the Elves did not know of any evil involved with the Rings- none of them knew until the moment Sauron first put the One Ring on. They were made, like all the others, because the Elves thought they were cool means of enhancing their power.