Ring of Barahir

The Ring of Barahir is the one significant ring in Tolkien that does nothing at all. Made by the Noldor in Valinor before the Sun first rose, it was given by Finrod Felagund to a mortal outlaw on the battlefield of the Fen of Serech in F.A. 455, to settle a debt - and its owners keep saying out loud that it has no power beyond the esteem of people who love their house. This is the biography of that object: Barahir's death at Tarn Aeluin, Gorlim's betrayal, the severed hand at Rivil's Well, Beren holding the ring aloft in Menegroth and Nargothrond, and Finrod casting down the crown of Nargothrond and dying in his own captured fortress to honour the promise it stood for. Plus the scoop from the drafts - it began as a Feanorian ring, given by Celegorm - and the four-word hedge in Appendix A where Tolkien quietly declines to confirm that the ring on Aragorn's hand is the same ring.

Published

14 August 2026

Runtime

30 min 16 sec