Isildur

dwarves of nearby Khazad-dum especially sent many to learn from him.

'Then one day a strange figure appeared at Celebrimbor's foundry. He gave his name as Annatar, which means Lord of Gifts, and he was a great smith in his own right. He became Celebrimbor's ablest student and chief assistant, then his colleague, for his skills were nearly equal to the master's. Together they worked in the smithy, day and night, year after year, their skills always increasing. Together they forged other Great Rings designed especially for the use of Men and Dwarves, as the Three were for Elves, and Celebrimbor gave them freely to the kings of those races, that they might use them for the good of their peoples.

'Then one day Annatar could not be found. He had left without a word, and none knew whence he had gone or why. Celebrimbor was much affected, for he felt that Annatar was close to achieving great success, even beyond his own. Then a few months later, Celebrimbor in a dream suddenly perceived his former student surrounded by flame. He was holding up a plain gold ring, his face transformed by triumph into a twisted mask of evil. Annatar held up the ring and spoke a dire spell. Though the language was harsh and horrible, Celebrimbor understood its meaning: 'One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them!' Then Celebrimbor knew Annatar's mind and will, and all his treachery was revealed at last.

'Then he knew his former student to be Gorthaur, called also Sauron the Enemy, who had been Morgoth's most powerful servant — a Maia from the origins of days, but turned entirely to evil. All had thought him lost in the downfall of Thangorodrim when the world was changed. And Celebrimbor knew also in that terrible moment that Sauron had succeeded in his desire to forge a Great Ring of Power. Working in the Sammath Naur, the Chambers of Fire within the volcano Orodruin in Mordor, he had forged a ring not only more powerful than the Three, for it contained much of his own great powers, but it gave him the ability to perceive the minds and doings of those who bore the other rings. Like a fisherman drawing in a net, the One could draw to it those who wielded the other Great Rings.

'Horrified, Celebrimbor immediately sent the Three into hiding and forbade their use. They were sent far away, for he knew that when Sauron learned that his betrayal was known he would attack Eregion to acquire the Three by force. And so it came to pass. Eregion was attacked and Celebrimbor himself fell in its defense. I am sure you all know of the war which followed, in which Eregion was destroyed and all of Eriador overrun, though all of us Exiles fought in its defense. We were hard-pressed even to defend Lindon itself, and we sought the aid of Tar-Minastir, mighty king of the Men of Numenor. He came with thousands of great ships full of warriors and together we swept across Middle-earth, driving the hosts of Sauron before us. Sauron fled into the east and was not seen again for many long yen. In the end he got his revenge upon Numenor by tricking its king Ar-Pharazon into assailing Valinor, and all the land of Numenor was destroyed, though Sauron himself nearly perished in the deed.

'Now he is risen once more, and still he bears the One Ring, seeking always for the other Great Rings. Of the Seven given to the Dwarves, some were consumed by dragons, but the others have all been drawn at last to Sauron and their owners slain. Of the Nine given to the kings of Men, all are now in his power. The kings who bore them were once bold and mighty warriors, using their rings as they saw fit, some better, some worse. But one by one they were drawn to leave their own lands and ride into Mordor. We can but guess at their motives. Some no doubt sought their fortunes, others power or fame. Some perhaps in their folly even thought to contend with Sauron and bring him down, that like Beren of old they would be sung as heros. But all were brought down by their own vain pride and found only eternal slavery in Sauron's service.They are become undead things, living long past the normal span of years given to men, but they no longer are their own masters, for they are now Sauron's most powerful slaves. They are the Ulairi, that now rule in Minas Ithil.'

There was murmuring in the hall at this.

'My Lady,' said Barathor. 'If we are to face these Ulairi we must know our enemy. What manner of powers do their rings give them?'

'We do not know the full extent of their powers, Lord Barathor,' replied Galadriel. 'Even Celebrimbor who made the Nine knew nothing of the incantations with which Sauron must have secretly enchanted them. But the souls of those that bear them have been stretched and drawn until they are bound to bodies that should have long since mouldered into the soil.'

'Do we then fight things of air and ether?' said Barathor. 'will our weapons even bite upon them?'

'They are living men yet,' said Isildur, 'though long past the age granted to even the greatest of the Men of Numenor. Your weapons should slay them. But when they launched their surprise attack upon Minas Ithil the guards on the walls were struck by a terrible unreasoning fear. They called it the Shadow of the Nine. Some brave men threw down their weapons and fell on their faces, rather than resist the coming of the Nine. Others stood firm, but told me they trembled in every limb and could barely raise their weapons, such is the fear that goes before them.'

Many more voices were raised in concern. They were ready to assail any army, but how could they hope to fight the undead?

'If their powers be so great,' said Ingold of Calembel, 'how can we hope to defeat them?'

Galadriel glanced at Isildur, and he nodded. Cirdan and Elrond, on either side of the Lady, rose to their feet. Then all three drew forth the chains around their necks and all could see the jewelled things shining there.

'Behold the Three,' said Galadriel.

An awed hush fell over the hall, for all knew they were in the presence of power beyond all understanding.

'Long have the Three been hidden,' said Galadriel, 'and never since their making have they been together in the same land, lest Sauron take them. Now all hiding is at an end, and the Three shall go to war.'

'But is it not dangerous in the extreme to bring them here?' said Meneldil, the Lord of Osgiliath. 'Will they not draw Sauron here to Osgiliath?'

'It is our belief that Sauron cannot perceive them until we put on the rings and wield their powers,' said Galadriel. 'Nevertheless, it is as you say dangerous in the extreme. Celebrimbor gave Vilya, the greatest of the Three, to Gil-galad, and it has been in his keeping ever since. But when the king went to war in Mordor, he deemed it unsafe to take Vilya with him and he left it in Lindon. Now at his bidding Elrond has fetched it here.'

'It is the hope of the Lords of the West,' said Isildur, 'that the Three will give us the strength to defeat the Ulairi at Minas Ithil.'

'But surely,' said Ingold, 'you are proposing to follow in the footsteps of them that became the Ulairi. Might not our Ringbearers become ensnared as were they? If Sauron's purpose is to draw the Three to himself, surely it is folly to bear them willingly to his doorstep.'

'It is a perilous chance indeed,' Galadriel replied. 'And we take this desperate step only because all others have failed.'

'We hope to use them only against Minas Ithil,' said Celeborn. 'We hope the Nine will not have power over the Three, which were never sullied by Sauron's evil. If we succeed there, it is our hope that the Army of the Alliance will destroy Sauron before he can come near the Three.'

'But think not,' said Galadriel, 'that the Three will make their bearers invincible warriors. They are not weapons and cannot be used to do harm, nor will they protect us from the blows of our enemies. But it is hoped that they will at least dispel the shadow of fear that surrounds the Nine. The Ulairi will be seen as they really are, stripped of all spells and illusion. Then it will be the task of edge and shaft to destroy them, not the Three.'

'But won't Sauron perceive the Three if we use them against the Ulairi?' asked Meneldil. 'Is that not taking a chance of giving Sauron exactly what he has sought for so long?'

'Yes, it is,' admitted Isildur. 'And that is the other part of Gil-galad's plan. Only the lure of the Three could draw Sauron out of Barad-dur. If he knows the Three are close at hand in Mordor, it is hoped he will not be able to resist attempting to take them.'

'Then we — all of us — are to be used as bait, to draw all of Sauron's forces against us?'

'Yes,' said Galadriel quietly. 'That is why we thought you must know of the Three, though we feared to reveal them openly.'

There was another silence. 'And what if Sauron does sally forth and the kings cannot stop him? asked Turgon. 'What if he comes against us? Will the Three avail us against him? If he is a Maia, can he even be slain?'

'In truth,' said Isildur, 'we do not know. Perhaps the Three together will have the strength to dispel the aura