One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.
The words of fire etched on Frodo's golden ring reveal the Baggins' family heirloom to be the most powerful and evil object in all of Middle-earth, a physical embodiment of the worst that is thought and felt: cruelty, domination, greed. Yet the Ring's true nature normally lies hidden beneath a "quite plain" exterior, a simple band of pure gold that seems unmarked and unremarkable. As characters interact with this apparently innocuous trinket, their temptation to take and use the Ring reinscribes those fiery letters and illustrates the present, active, and dangerous power of the Ring.
The powerful, such as Gandalf and Galadriel, desire to take the Ring, but they also fear the consequences of wielding its power. When, despairing of his ability to destroy the Ring, Frodo offers it to Gandalf, the wizard immediately refuses because he recognizes the danger: "the way of the Ring to my heart is through pity, pity for weakness and the desire of strength to do good." Because the Ring is evil, the wizard knows that any attempt to wield it for good purposes will be corrupted. Galadriel admits, "For many long years I have pondered what I might do, should the Great Ring come into my hands." The power of that temptation transforms her, so that "she stood before Frodo seeming now tall beyond measurement, and beautiful beyond enduring, terrible and worshipful." Nevertheless, her wisdom aids her in conquering that desire, for she knows the defeat of Sauron cannot be achieved by taking the Dark Lord's place.
