The Ring conferred power to overthrow the wills of other beings, regardless of whether they were wearing Rings. However, this was only in proportion to the user’s native capacity. In the same way, it amplified any inherent power its owner possessed. Gollum eventually left Misty Mountains to find the Ring. Sauron tortured him and interrogated. He learned that the Ring was found and was being held by one “Baggins”, in the land of the “Shire”. Elendil and Gil-galad destroyed Sauron’s physical forms at the end of The Last Alliance, at their own expense. Elendil’s son, Isildur cut the Ring from Sauron’s hand on the slopes Mount Doom.

The Anglo-Saxon name for the place was Dwarf’s Hill, and in 1932 Tolkien traced Nodens to the Irish hero Nuada Airgetlam, “Nuada of the Silver-Hand”. Shippey believed this was a “keystone influence” on Tolkien’s Middle-earth. It combined a god-hero with a ring, dwarves and a silver-hand. John M. Bowers, a scholar of English literature, writes that Celebrimbor, the https://tongarirocrossing.com/not-quite-ready-for-the-tongariro-crossing-challenge-try-the-tama-lakes-track-instead/ Elven-smith who forge the Elf-rings is the Sindarin name for “Silver Hand”. In a speech by Elrond, Tolkien states that such a defeat was impossible in the waning years the Third Age, when the strength and influence of the free peoples was greatly diminished. The hobbits, followed by Gollum, reached Mount Doom, where Frodo was overcome by the Ring’s power and claimed it for himself. At that moment, Gollum bit off his finger, taking back the Ring, but, gloating, he and the Ring fell into the fires of Mount Doom.

• There are no tracks to the lakes. The descent is via steep gullies.
• Below Ngauruhoe are ancient ridges that were survivors of glacial cycles which ravaged this region long ago.
• Don’t take the Track on the left as it it s the lower track to the falls and less scenic.
• Tama Lakes occupy six explosion craters, created around 10,000 years ago during an explosive eruption period.
• It can be walked in either directions, starting at Whakapapa Village and ending at Ohakune Mountain Road.

He destroyed Eregion and killed Celebrimbor, the maker of the three Elf-rings. King Tar-Minastir of Numenor sent a great fleet to Middle-earth, and with this aid Gil-galad destroyed Sauron’s army and forced Sauron to return to Mordor. Critics have compared the story with the ring-based plot of Richard Wagner’s opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen; Tolkien denied any connection, but at the least, both men drew on the same mythology. Tolkien’s analysis on Nodens, an obscure pagan God with a temple in Lydney Park where he studied Latin inscriptions, including one that contained a curse against the thief.

Climb the ridge towards Red Crater, before turning off towards the summit of Mt Tongariro. From the summit, leave the marked track, descending south-west across the headwaters of the Whanganui River to pick up a strong ridge – known as Hardmans Ridge – offering easy travel to Pt1409. 17km long and will take up to 5 hours return from Whakapapa Village.

You would be most comfortable in hiking shoes for the last section of Upper Tama Lakes, but you can also use trainers. Continue down Ngauruhoe Terrace where you will see the beginning of the track to the Taranaki Falls & the Tama Lakes. Do not take the Track on your left, as it is the lower track to the falls. It is also less scenic. The track is suitable to all ages and runs along a well-maintained track. It is flat until the Lower Tama Lake, with gradual inclines.

We are familiar with the challenges that the mountains present and can help you overcome them. Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings film trilogy portrays the wearer of the Ring as moving through a dark realm where everything is distorted. The effects of the Ring on Bilbo and Frodo are obsessions that have been compared with drug addiction; the actor Andy Serkis, who played Gollum, cited drug addiction as an inspiration for his performance. Jens Hansen Gold & Silversmith, Nelson, New Zealand, designed and created the actual ring for the films. It was based on a simple marriage ring.