This article refers to the ring itself. For other namesakes, see Barahir (disambiguation).



The Ring of Barahir was an ornate silver ring given to Barahir by the Elven king Finrod Felagund, in reward for saving his life in the Dagor Bragollach. It was a sign of eternal friendship between Finrod and the House of Barahir and it became an heirloom of his kin.

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Description

The ring was described as the likeness of two serpents intertwined with eyes made of green jewels. This was the symbol of the House of Finarfin. The serpents met beneath a crown of golden flowers that one upheld and one devoured. The jewels, at least, were crafted in Valinor and sometimes seemed to burn with green fire.[1]

(…)green jewels gleamed there that the Ñoldor had devised in Valinor. For this ring was like to twin serpents, whose eyes were emeralds, and their heads met beneath a crown of golden flowers, that the one upheld and the other devoured; that was the badge of Finarfin and his house.

Tolkien described the ring in verse in the Lay of Leithian:

Proud are the words, and all there turned

to see the jewels green that burned

in Beren’s ring. These Gnomes had set

as eyes of serpents twined that met

beneath a golden crown of flowers,

that one upholds and one devours:

the badge that Finrod made of yore

and Felagund his son now bore.

While the Ring of Barahir was not known to contain any magic or power, it is notable as one of the oldest crafted objects in Middle-earth. Lasting through the War of the Ring but having been crafted in or before the First Age, the Ring of Barahir was thousands of years older than any of the Rings of Power. The Palantíri however, are cited by Gandalf as being forged possibly by Fëanor, which would place their origin in the Age of the Trees.

History

" There King Finrod Felagund, hastening from the south, was cut off from his people and surrounded with small company in the Fen of Serech; and he would have been slain or taken, but Barahir came up with the bravest of his men and rescued him, and made a wall of spears about him; and they cut their way out of the battle with great loss. Thus Felagund escaped, and returned to his deep fortress of Nargothrond; but he swore an oath of abiding friendship and aid en every need to Barahir and all his kin, and in token of his vow he gave to Barahir his ring." — The Silmarillion, Of the Ruin of Beleriand and the Fall of Fingolfin

The ring was forged by the Noldor in Valinor, at some point prior to the beginning of the First Age. It was brought to Middle-earth by Finrod Felagund as an heirloom of the House of Finarfin.[2] Finrod carried the ring until the year FA 455, when Barahir, an Edain, saved his life during the Dagor Bragollach. Finrod gave Barahir the ring as a sign of friendship between himself and Barahir's house.

Barahir would bear the ring for the remainder of his life, until he was waylaid by orcs led by Gorgol, who took Barahir's hand and ring.[3] Both hand and ring, however, were retrieved by Barahir's son Beren when he avenged his father. Beren laid the hand to rest with his father's remains, but kept and wore the ring.[1] Beren later used the ring to prove his lineage to Thingol when he first entered Doriath and again when he sought Finrod's help in the quest for the Silmaril.

The ring was passed from Beren in direct line to Dior , then his daughter Elwing and her son Elros , who brought it to Númenor during the Second Age . It was an heirloom of the kings of Númenor until Tar-Elendil gave the ring to his eldest daughter Silmariën , who was not allowed to succeed him on the throne. She in turn gave the ring to her son Valandil , first Lord of Andúnië . It was handed down to succeeding Lords of Andúnië to the last one, Elendil

In the Third Age the ring was again passed in direct line from Elendil, to Isildur, to the Kings of Arnor, and then Kings of Arthedain. The last King of Arthedain, Arvedui, gave the ring to the Lossoth of Forochel; thankful for the help he received from them. It was later ransomed from the Snowmen by the Dúnedain of the North, after which it was kept safe at Rivendell.[5]

Eventually, it was given by Elrond to Aragorn , son of Arathorn , when he was told of his true name and lineage, together with the shards of Narsil . In the year 2980 of the Third Age , in Lórien Aragorn gave the ring to Arwen Undómiel at their betrothal.

Nothing is said of the fate of the ring in the Fourth Age, but it was most likely either again passed to the Kings of Gondor and Arnor, descendants of Aragorn and Arwen, or it went with Arwen to her grave in Cerin Amroth.

Portrayal in adaptations

In Peter Jackson's movie versions of the Lord of the Rings, Aragorn wears the Ring of Barahir. In the extended DVD edition of the Two Towers, Saruman was able to identify him through that ring.

Gallery

Translations

Foreign Language Translated name Afrikaans Ring van Barahir Albanian Unaza e Barahir-it Amharic ሪንግ ኦፍ ባራሂር Arabic خاتم باراهير Armenian Բերահիրի օղակաձեւ Azerbaijani Barahirin Üzüyü Basque Barahirren eraztuna Belarusian Cyrillic Кольца Барахира Bosnian Barahirs prsten Breton Gwalenn o Barahir ? Bulgarian Cyrillic Пръстен на Барахир Catalan L'Anell de Bàrahir Cebuano Singsing sa Barahir Chinese (Hong Kong) 巴拉漢之戒 Cornish Besow Barahir ? Croatian Barahirov prsten Czech Barahirův prsten Danish Barahirs Ring Dutch Ring van Barahir Esperanto Ringo de Barahir Filipino Singsing ni Barahir Finnish Barahirin sormus French Anneau de Barahir Galician Anel de Barahir German Barahirs Ring Greek Δαχτυλίδη του Μπάραχιρ Gujarati બારાહિરની રિંગ ? Hausa Zobe na Barahir Hebrew טבעת בראהיר Hindi ड़िङ ओफ़ बरहिर् Hmong Nplhaib ntawm Barahir Hungarian Barahir Gyűrűje Icelandic Hringur Barahir Igbo Mgbanaka nke Barahir Italian Anello di Barahir Irish Gaelic Fáinne de Barahir Japanese バラヒアの指輪 Kazakh Бараһірің сақинасы (Cyrillic) Barahiriñ saqïnası (Latin) Kurdish Qulp ji Barahir (Latin) Kyrgyz Cyrillic Бараhир шакеги ? Latin Inauris Barahir Latvian Gredzens Barahir Lithuanian Žiedas barahir Macedonian Cyrillic Прстен на Барахир Malaysian Cincin Barahir Maltese Ċirku ta ' Barahir Marathi बाराहायर्स रिंग ? Mongolian Cyrillic Бараhир-ийн бөгж Nepalese बाराहिरको औँठी Norwegian Barahirs Ring Pashto انگشتر باراهیر Persian انگشتر باراهیر Polish Pierścień Barahira Portuguese Anel de Barahir Romanian Inelul lui Barahir Russian Кольцо Барахира Scottish Gaelic Fàinne de Barahir Serbian Барахиров прстен (Cyrillic) Barahirov prsten (Latin) Sinhalese බරාහිර්ගේ වලල්ල Slovak Barahirov Prsteň Slovenian Barahirjev Prstan Spanish Anillo de Barahir Swedish Barahirs Ring Tajik Cyrillic Ринги Барахир Thai แหวนแห่งบาราเฮียร์ Turkish Barahir'in Yüzüğü Ukrainian Cyrillic Кільце Барахіра Urdu بارہیروں کی انگوٹی ? Uzbek Бараҳир Халққа (Cyrillic) Barahir Xalqqa (Latin) Vietnamese Nhẫn của Barahir Welsh Cylch Barahir Yiddish רינג פון באַראַהיר