Nenya

History and context

Celebrimbor makes the Three in Eregion. Sauron does not directly participate in their making, but the work belongs to the larger body of ring-lore whose vulnerability is revealed when he puts on the One. Galadriel’s keeping of Nenya is not publicly advertised to ordinary visitors. Frodo perceives the Ring during his encounter with her in Lothlórien, while Sam’s experience of the scene differs. This difference illustrates that the narration of supernatural perception does not always give every observer the same information. Lothlórien’s particular relationship to time, memory and preservation is closely associated with Galadriel’s power and stewardship.

Literary context and distinctions

Nenya does not make Lothlórien a realm outside every possible historical consequence. Galadriel understands that Sauron’s recovery of the One would expose the Elven works, while its destruction will also end the continuing power on which their preservation depends. Her refusal of Frodo’s offer therefore involves accepting loss rather than discovering a cost-free way to keep her realm unchanged. The description “Ring of Water” should not be turned into an invented list of combat abilities. Tolkien’s account is more concerned with preservation, temptation and the ending of an age than with a mechanical system of elemental powers.

Primary references

• The Fellowship of the Ring, “The Mirror of Galadriel”.
• The Silmarillion, “Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age”.
• The Return of the King, “The Grey Havens”.