Can you clear something up for me?

[Teresa Edgerton]

But apparently NOT illegal to rifle through your father's files after he's dead and publish all the file copies of his correspondence, Lace.

(Let all of us be warned, lest our heirs embarrass us with posthumous revelations.)

[Sirathiel]

Well, while reading I was already correcting what wasn't 100% in my head till I came to Kelpie's post. Nothing to add to that! Great reply.

On the Silmarillion: yes, it's a wonderful source of background information, but for me it was a bit too much.... I'll never get the names of the oldest of the elves... most of them start with a 'F'. I'll never remember who was who's child, father, spouse etc. But still it's most interesting!

[Teresa Edgerton]

I have a big problem keeping all the Fingolfins and Finarfins apart, too. Feanor stands out because of the role he plays, but his half-brothers and nephews are far too easily confused for me.

On the other hand, the web is full of people who seem to have NO trouble telling them apart -- and who make my amateur attempts at Tolkien scholarship look absolutely puny.

[Lacedaemonian]

I once new all of the peoples but now would require a rejog for the names of the dwarfs in the Hobbit.

[Shoegaze99]

Kelpie pretty much polished most of this stuff off, offering a good overview of things and a good summary for those unfamiliar with the subject.

A few clarifications/additional things to add:

Originally Posted by The Master™

The Dwarves and Elves appear to be protected by their magics from the corrupting effects of the rings...

Neither the elves nor the dwarves were protected from the corrupting power of the Rings. The dwarves certainly succumbed to the lure of the seven dwarven rings, though most ended up lost forever. (The dwarves were somewhat resistant to Sauron’s direct corruption, hence they did not become wraiths, but the rings appeared to increase their lust for gold, which caused them a great deal of problems. Three rings were recovered by Sauron and the remainder were lost).

Galadriel points out that the One Ring would consume her were she to take it, and the three elven rings were protected with secrecy lest Sauron know where they were. (Of all the Rings of Power, they were not corrupting because Sauron had not taken part in their crafting). Further, Tolkien points out in the book that were Sauron to regain the One Ring, he would know where the elven rings were and have control of them and their deeds.

The Dwarves (other than those killed in Moria) would be in their various mines throughout Middle Earth...

One would think the most notable thing to mention would be Lonely Mountain, the destination of Bilbo’s quest in The Hobbit.

There are also the dwarves of the Iron Hills, where Dain came from to help Thorin in the Battle of Five Armies, and the dwarves of the Blue Mountains west of The Shire. I believe Tolkien mentions in passing these dwarves occasionally passing through the Shire.

From the way things seemed to be, the rings were created long before Sauron tried to take over the world...

Sauron was a known evil from the start, one of the most powerful of the Maiar and serving as Morgoth’s lieutenant, as Kelpie points out. For a time, Sauron had control of Angband (“the first Mordor,” sort of) until Morgoth’s/Melkor’s return from imprisonment. Sauron remained a known villain throughout the early elvish wars, and into Beren’s era.

Sauron fled into the East following Morgoth’s defeat, returning to Middle Earth at the start of the second age and crafting his abode in Mordor. This was when he became the Dark Lord, openly declaring his desire to rule the world – while at the same time lurking among the elves in another form, learning the craft of ring making and forging the One Ring.

Maybe it was several hundred years beforehand...

At roughly the same time, actually. Or thousands of years after, if you consider his time serving under Morgoth.

Originally Posted by Silk

From my knowledge of the Silmarillion, Sauron was something like the apprentice of the last great baddy (like in Spiderman there's the Green Goblin then there's teh green bolin's son) who was the original owner of Mordor and had a name like Morgoth.

As noted above, Sauron settled in Mordor, Not Morgoth. Morgoth founded Angband, his great fortress in the northern wastes of Middle Earth. Angband began as an outlying fortress of Utumno, Morgoth’s original lair, but Utumno was destroyed by the Valar.

[Raynor]

Originally Posted by Kelpie

After his downfall, Sauron supposedly repented and reformed, but in essence he violated the terms of his parole and returned to his former ways.

Although Sauron did ask Eonwe for pardon after the war of wrath, he was responded that only Manwe could judge him. I don't think that Eonwe ever mentioned parole on his part.
[quote=Shoegaze99]Of all the Rings of Power, they were not corrupting because Sauron had not taken part in their craftingQUOTE]
They still were made using Sauron's lore, so they remain a gateway to his influence. Gandalf does point out in the Shadow of the past, that all Rings are dangerous for mortals (hobbits included).

Sauron was a known evil from the start

Nobody is evil from the start as Elrond points, in the Council of Elrond chapter. Even Melkor first desired to do the right thing for the Children of Eru (even after Ainulindale); of Sauron, it is told in Myths Transformed that he was good in the begining and he desired order, that being the very thing that attracted him to Melkor - his power to put Sauron's plans into action.

[hypocriticHarkonnen]

but if i remember correctly, Sauron was already preeetty much corrupted by evil by the time the Rings were constructed. Am I right in saying that he helped make the Elven Rings under the pretext of being friendly? Then he used whatever knowledge he gained from the Elves to make the One? Or did he already have prior knowledge about 'ring-forging' (for lack of a better term)?

[Raynor]

but if i remember correctly, Sauron was already preeetty much corrupted by evil by the time the Rings were constructed.

Indeed; IIRC,, Of the voyage of Ereandil and the War of Wrath, Silmarillion, states that the bonds Melkor set upon him were too strong.

Then he used whatever knowledge he gained from the Elves to make the One?

I know of no such refference; quite the contrary - he taught the elves the lore of ring-making, that is why he is capable of controlling with the One each and every ring they made, regardless of whether they made them with or without his presence; no books, no quotes

[Teresa Edgerton]

Originally Posted by Raynor

Although Sauron did ask Eonwe for pardon after the war of wrath, he was responded that only Manwe could judge him. I don't think that Eonwe ever mentioned parole on his part.

Since he was allowed to seek Manwe's pardon on his own, instead of immediately escorted back to Valinor to be judged -- to me that sounds exactly like he had given his parole.

According to my dictionary, this is one definition of parole: 2. Mil. the promise of a prisoner of war that if he is released he either will return to custody at a specified time or will not again take up arms against his captors

It hardly makes sense, given the way Tolkien describes the situation, that Eonwe would have allowed Sauron his freedom on any other terms.

[Raynor]

Since he was allowed to seek Manwe's pardon on his own, instead of immediately escorted back to Valinor to be judged -- to me that sounds exactly like he had given his parole.

Well, the exact text is:

Originally Posted by Of the rings of power and the third age

But it was not within the power of Eönwë to pardon those of his own order, and he commanded Sauron to return to Aman and there receive the judgement of Manwë. Then Sauron was ashamed, and he was unwilling to return in humiliation and to receive from the Valar a sentence, it might be, of long servitude in proof of his good faith; for under Morgoth his power had been great. Therefore when Eönwë departed he hid himself in Middle-earth; and he fell back into evil, for the bonds that Morgoth bad laid upon him were very strong.

Sauron was "commanded" to go with Eönwë to Aman and he "hid" when Eönwë departed; it doesn't look like a pardon to me. Then again, we may agree to disagree.

[pyan]

Originally Posted by Lacedaemonian

I once new all of the peoples but now would require a rejog for the names of the dwarfs in the Hobbit.

Thorin Oakenshield, Oin, Gloin, Dwalin, Balin, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Fili, Kili, Dori, Nori and Ori.

There you are, mate - happy to help!

[Frontierzone]

I had to rewrite. See below.

[Frontierzone]

Originally Posted by The Master™

Right, in no particular order...

All the rings were made by Sauron... And gifted to the three races... They are what created the Nazgul... (or the WraithRiders)... The nine human kings were (allegedly) corrupted and became undead!!!

The Dwarves and Elves appear to be protected by their magics from the corrupting effects of the rings...

(Galadriel and Elrond, I understand were two of the three elves to receive the rings)

The Dwarves (other than those killed in Moria) would be in their various mines throughout Middle Earth...

The One Ring was supposed to bring all the other rings together, so would overwhelm the Elf and Dwarf wearers... And bring Sauron the power to rebuilt his body and full powers...

Hope that helps...

Actually, if I recall correctly, Sauron, disguised as Annatar, tricked Celembrimbor into forging all of the Rings of Power, save the One Ring, which he made in secret. Celembrimbor later found out about Sauron's treachery, and told his kin, who hid the Three Elvin Rings.

The others were taken by Sauron, and corrupted by him. He then forged the Master Ring, the One Ring to rule them all. But the Three Elven Rings were not taken, and therefore, remained uncorrupted. Sauron then distributed the Seven Rings to the Dwarves, and the Nine to nine kings of men. The Dwarven kings were relatively unaffected, save for the fact that they seem to have become even more greedy and selfish. At least, Durin seemed to.

Only the mortal men were fully corrupted by their Rings. They became the Nazgul, or Ringwraiths.

Ooops, I should have read Teresa Edgerton's reply BEFORE writing this one. Sorry. Teresa is pretty much right on the money, on all counts. Maybe I should bow out, before i trip over my own ego. (Gulp)