Every Bearer of the One Ring in Lord of the Rings: How They Got It, Lost It & What It Did to Them

Though Frodo destroyed it in the fires of Mount Doom, the One Ring still survives in the minds of Lord of the Rings fans. Forged by Sauron in J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy series, the Ring carried a shard of its master’s essence, granting total power but corrupting every being who dared possess it. Across thousands of years in Middle-earth, the Ring passed through many hands, some briefly and others for centuries; each bearer’s fate a microcosm of the Ring’s epic tale.

Finding its way from the Dark Lord to the humble hobbits, the Ring affected a range of Tolkien characters. Isildur’s pride doomed an age, Déagol’s fishing trip turned into a crime scene, and poor Gollum’s five-hundred-year obsession changed Middle-earth forever. Not to mention, there’s one mysterious Ring-bearer Tolkien never confirmed the identity of, but fans have been speculating for over 70 years. This is the full roll call of every character who ever wore, or held, the Precious.

9) Sauron

The story begins with the Dark Lord himself. Around S.A. 1600, Sauron forged the One Ring in the fires of Mount Doom, pouring much of his own essence into the weapon. With it, he enslaved the bearers of the other, lesser Rings of Power and nearly dominated Middle-earth outright. For over 1,800 years, he wielded it as a tool of tyranny and conquest.

But the Ring also became his weakness. In the Siege of Barad-dûr at the end of the Second Age, Sauron was overthrown when Isildur cut the Ring from his hand. Without it, his physical form was destroyed, and he became a shadow of his former self. His spirit endured, bound to the fate of the Ring until its ultimate destruction.

8) Isildur

The moment Sauron fell, the best thing for everyone would have been for the Ring to be promptly destroyed in the fire where it was made. Elrond and Círdan urged Isildur to cast it into Mount Doom, but instead he claimed it for himself as “weregild” for his fallen father and brother. That decision set the course for the Third Age.

Isildur bore the Ring for only two years before tragedy struck. On October 4, T.A. 2, he was ambushed by Orcs near the Gladden Fields. Attempting to flee, he slipped the Ring on his finger for invisibility, but it betrayed him, slipping away in the Anduin River. Isildur was killed, and the Ring was lost for centuries.

7) Déagol

More than two millennia later, the Ring surfaced again in the Gladden Fields. While fishing around T.A. 2463, Déagol spotted the sparkling golden band on the riverbed. Though he held it only briefly, the moment changed the course of his life and Middle-earth’s trajectory.

Before Déagol could enjoy his find, his cousin and friend Sméagol demanded the Ring. When Déagol refused, Sméagol strangled him and claimed the Ring for himself. Déagol’s death marked the beginning of Sméagol’s transformation, and an obsession that would last the life of the Ring itself.

6) Gollum (Sméagol)

After murdering Déagol, Sméagol fled with the Ring and retreated into the caves beneath the Misty Mountains. Over time, the Ring extended his life far beyond its natural span, but it also warped his body and mind until he became the pitiful creature known as Gollum. He bore the Ring for nearly five centuries, hiding it in darkness and isolation.

Though the Ring eventually abandoned him, slipping from his finger in an attempt to get back to its master, Gollum never stopped craving it. His all-consuming obsession became the defining force of his existence. In the end, his fate was tied to the Ring’s destruction, as he bit it from Frodo’s finger at Mount Doom, only to fall into the fire and perish with his “Precious.”

5) Bilbo Baggins

In T.A. 2941, Bilbo stumbled upon the Ring in Gollum’s cave while separated from Thorin’s company in The Hobbit. He later “won” it by outsmarting Gollum in a game of riddles, though he didn’t fully realize the implications of what he had claimed. Bilbo carried the Ring for nearly sixty years, keeping it tucked away in the Shire. 

Unlike Gollum, Bilbo was naturally good-natured and used it only sparingly, yet its corrupting influence still permeated his mind. His reluctance to part with it at Rivendell in The Fellowship of the Ring (the “scary-Bilbo” moment in the movie) showed us just how deeply it had wormed its way into his psyche. Still, Bilbo largely withstood the destructive allure and was able to part with the Ring, ultimately sailing to the Undying Lands to live out his days in peace. 

4) Frodo Baggins

On Gandalf’s advice, Bilbo left the Ring to his nephew Frodo, who became its most famous bearer. For seventeen years, he kept it in the Shire, unaware of its true danger. When Sauron’s servants began to stir, Frodo set out on the perilous quest to bring the Ring to Mordor.

Frodo’s journey tested his resolve, and by the time he reached Mount Doom, the Ring had claimed him completely. He declared it his own, slipping it onto his finger at the Cracks of Doom. Only Gollum’s intervention, biting off Frodo’s finger and tumbling into the fire, ultimately ensured its destruction. Still, the effect of the One Ring changed Frodo forever, leaving him unable to find peace in the Shire. In the end, he chose to sail to the Undying Lands with Gandalf, Bilbo, and the Elves.

3) Gandalf

Though he never truly wielded the Ring, Gandalf did hold it. On April 13, T.A. 3018, he cast it into Frodo’s hearth to test it. In the fire, the Elvish inscription appeared, confirming what he had feared all along: this was indeed the One Ring.

Most notably, Gandalf the Grey refused to take it, even when Frodo offered it. Knowing the temptation was too great, his own resistance limited, and his powers so strong they’d pose an even larger threat if he were to become corrupted, Gandalf chose to guide rather than wield. One of Middle-earth’s greatest and wisest defenders, he knew the Ring could not ever truly be mastered, only destroyed.

2) Tom Bombadil

Tom Bombadil briefly held the Ring on September 27, T.A. 3018, the day the hobbits escaped the Barrow-wights. Safe in his home in the Old Forest, Tom took the Ring from Frodo and slipped it onto his finger. Yet unlike every other bearer, Tom was completely unaffected. He didn’t turn invisible and returned it without hesitation. His immunity remains one of the most mysterious and hotly debated phenomena in the canon.

However, Tolkien himself addressed this in The Letters, clarifying that Bombadil was “not an important person” to the narrative but more so a figure representing a worldview detached from power and control. Unlike Sauron, who wanted domination, or even the Free Peoples who fought against him, Bombadil lived in a state of pure observation and delight in creation. Because of this, the Ring held no sway over him. 

1) Samwise Gamgee

Sam became a Ring-bearer late in the story, when Orcs captured Frodo in the Tower of Cirith Ungol. Believing his master dead, Sam took the Ring to continue the quest. For two days in March T.A. 3019, he bore its weight and even glimpsed visions of himself as a mighty warrior and savior of Middle-earth.

But Sam’s humility proved stronger than the Ring’s temptations. When he found Frodo alive, he surrendered it willingly, a choice that set him apart from nearly every other bearer. In many ways, Sam’s brief stewardship was the purest, showing that his innate goodness and love for his Friend were powerful enough to resist the glory offered to him.

Bonus: The Unknown Ring-Bearer

There is one final mystery in the Ring’s timeline. After Frodo was brought to Rivendell following his wounding by the Morgul blade, he awoke to find the Ring safely hanging on a chain around his neck. But someone had to have placed it there while he slept.

Whether it was Elrond or Gandalf, as many suspect, the truth remains unknown. It’s a moment only noticed and debated by superfans, but it raises intriguing questions: did someone else briefly touch the One Ring? If so, that would technically make them a Ring-bearer? Were they tempted to keep it for their own? Whoever it was, the ultimate destruction of the Ring hung in the balance for a moment as they removed it from his pocket and slipped it onto the chain. 

Who do you think was the “unknown” Ring-bearer in Rivendell? Let us know your thoughts in a comment below, and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!

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