




From a FAQ about the Rings:

Was Sauron visible when wearing the Ring?




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Also, what Oliver_C answered.

  • 3
    Do you have a citation for Sauron "using [the ring] to help create entire armies"? – user209 Dec 17 '12 at 23:08

Maybe its symbolic. The ring judges people in comparison to its lord, Sauron. So everyone else doesn't "exist" in front of him, in other words they are invisible. Tom is probably more powerful in comparison so the ring disappears. About spirit world answer, yes Sauron is a spiritual being but the ring keeps him linked to the mortal realm else he would vanish from the mortal plane entirely, as seen in the end of series.


The reason is because in the words of Gandalf "there is only one lord of the rings" and that is Sauron. The many will say that the ring turns the wearer invisible whereas in actual fact it merely has the potential to turn people invisible. Sauron was mostly visible whilst wearing the ring but he could have gone invisible if he wanted because he was the master of the ring's power, the other ring bearers however had no power over the ring and therefore could not make themselves visible whilst wearing it.

  • This by the way is why Tom Bombadill did not turn invisible, not because the ring had no power over him but because he had more power over the ring and could control its power. – Matthew Stevenson Mar 12 '15 at 10:52
  • This isn't a theory I know from reading all of Tolkien's works and asking myself the same question over and over. – Matthew Stevenson Mar 12 '15 at 10:57

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