# magic ring

By [rollinro.eth](https://paragraph.com/@rollinro) · 2023-04-14

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A **magic ring** is a mythical, folkloric or fictional piece of jewelry, usually a [finger ring](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_\(jewellery\)), that is purported to have [supernatural](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_\(supernatural\)) properties or powers. It appears frequently in [fantasy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fantasy) and [fairy tales](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairy_tale). Magic rings are found in the folklore of every country where rings are worn.[\[1\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_ring#cite_note-sherman-1) Some magic rings can endow the wearer with a variety of abilities including [invisibility](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invisibility) and [immortality](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immortality). Others can grant wishes or spells such as neverending love and happiness. Sometimes, magic rings can be cursed, as in the mythical ring that was recovered by [Sigurd](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigurd) from the hoard of the dragon [Fafnir](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fafnir) in [Norse mythology](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norse_mythology)[\[2\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_ring#cite_note-Byock-1990-1999-2)(pp 14, 57–59) or the fictional ring that features in [_The Lord of the Rings_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lord_of_the_Rings). More often, however, they are featured as forces for good, or as a neutral tool whose value is dependent upon the wearer.[\[1\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_ring#cite_note-sherman-1)

A finger ring is a convenient choice for a [magic item](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_item): It is ornamental, distinctive and often unique, a commonly worn item, of a shape that is often endowed with mystical properties (circular), can carry an enchanted stone, and is usually worn on a finger, which can be easily pointed at a target.[\[3\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_ring#cite_note-Grant-Clute-1997-3)

History
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Statue in [Scheveningen](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scheveningen), Netherlands, depicting a variation on the fairytale "[The Fisherman and His Wife](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fisherman_and_His_Wife)"[\[4\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_ring#cite_note-4)

Early stories of magical rings date to [classical antiquity](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_antiquity). [Plato](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plato), in the second book of [_The Republic_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Republic_\(Plato\)), tells a story about the [Ring of Gyges](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_of_Gyges), which conferred [invisibility](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invisibility) on its wearer.[\[5\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_ring#cite_note-5) The shepherd [Gyges](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gyges_of_Lydia), who found it in a cave, used its power to seduce the queen, kill the king and take his place. Earlier accounts of [Gyges](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gyges_of_Lydia), however, who was king of [Lydia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lydia), make no mention of a magic ring. Magic powers are not generally attributed to rings in ancient [Greek legend](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_legend), although many other magical objects are listed, particularly in the [Perseus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perseus#Adventures_with_the_Gorgons) myth.

[Josephus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josephus) (8.2) repeats an anecdote of one Eleazar who used a magic ring to exorcise demons in the presence of [Vespasian](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vespasian).

[J.G. Frazer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_George_Frazer), in his study of magic and superstition in [_The Golden Bough_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Golden_Bough), has speculated to the effect that rings can serve, in the "primitive mind", as devices to prevent the soul from leaving the body and to prevent demons from gaining entry.[\[6\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_ring#cite_note-Frazer-1922-abg-1996-6) A magic ring, therefore, might confer immortality by preventing the soul's departure and thwart the penetration of any harmful magic that might be directed against the wearer. These magical properties inhibiting egress of the soul may explain "an [ancient Greek](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Greece) maxim, attributed to \[the ancient philosopher and mystic\] [Pythagoras](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pythagoras), which forbade people to wear rings".[\[6\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_ring#cite_note-Frazer-1922-abg-1996-6)(p 293)

### Medieval demonology and alchemy

Traditional medieval Arabic and Hebraic [demonology](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demonology) both cultivated the legend of the [Ring of Solomon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_of_Solomon), used to control [demons](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demons) and / or [djinn](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Djinn). For example, magic rings feature in [_Arabian Nights_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabian_Nights), where Judar bin Omar, a fisherman finds the ring of Al-Shamardal, the enchanter[\[7\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_ring#cite_note-7) and Ma'aruf, the cobbler discovers Shaddád ibn Aad's signet.[\[8\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_ring#cite_note-8) The powers of both magic rings come from the servant [djinn](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Djinn) who are magically confined in them.[\[a\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_ring#cite_note-10) In the story of Aladdin and the Magic Lamp, [Aladdin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aladdin) also summons a second [djinn](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Djinn) from a finger ring given to him by the Maghrabi Magician.[\[10\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_ring#cite_note-11) By the [Renaissance](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renaissance) era Solomon's ring had been adopted into Western [magic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renaissance_magic), occultism, and alchemy.

Magic rings are known in medieval Jewish esoteric tradition; they are mentioned in the [Talmud](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talmud) and [Midrash](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midrash). Solomon's magical ring had many properties in legend: making him all-knowing, conferring him with the ability to speak with animals, and bearing the special [sigil](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigil_\(magic\)) that sealed [genies](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Djinn) into bottles.[\[3\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_ring#cite_note-Grant-Clute-1997-3) A story about [King Solomon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Solomon) and a ring is found in the [Babylonian Talmud](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babylonian_Talmud),[\[11\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_ring#cite_note-12) but rings are more fully discussed in Jewish mystical literature. The power of a ring is in the divine name with which it is inscribed; such rings are used to invoke and command various guardians of heavenly palaces and to gain entrance to those heavens.[\[b\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_ring#cite_note-14) In the [Zohar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zohar), God is thought to own and use a signet ring, or, at least, a signet.[\[13\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_ring#cite_note-15)

### Germanic mythology

_Further information:_ [_Anglo-Saxon runic rings_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Saxon_runic_rings)

"Brynhild, Sigurd and the Rings" Faroe stamp depicting magical rings from Norse mythology

A small number of [Anglo-Saxon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Saxon) finger rings dating to the [Viking Age](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viking_Age) bearing [runic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Runic_alphabet) inscriptions of apparently magical significance have been discovered in [England](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/England), such as the [Kingmoor Ring](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingmoor_Ring) and the [Bramham Moor Ring](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bramham_Moor_Ring). Rings endowed with special properties were significant in pagan Scandinavia. A 10th century pagan Icelandic chieftain had a temple in which an arm ring rested upon an "altar", and upon which all oaths in the district were to be sworn, according to the 13th-century _Eyrbyggja Saga_.[\[14\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_ring#cite_note-16)

An early magical ring in European mythology is the [arm ring](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arm_ring) named [Draupnir](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Draupnir) worn by the god [Odin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odin). Because its only reported function was to create more gold arm bands every nine days, _Draupnir_ may have been a [religious symbol](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_symbol) which represented the increasing of wealth. The ring was placed onto [Baldr](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baldr)'s funeral pyre, but Baldr gave Draupnir back to [Hermodr](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herm%C3%B3%C3%B0r) and so the ring was returned to Odin from the land of death.[\[15\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_ring#cite_note-Byock-2005-17)

Another Germanic ring was called [_Andvarinaut_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andvarinaut), the famous [“Ring of the Niebelungs”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nibelungenlied) from a medieval Icelandic retelling from ancient poetry of the [_Saga of the Volsungs_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saga_of_the_Volsungs) and _The_ [_Nibelungenlied_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nibelungenlied). It eventually becomes the property of the hero Siegfried or [Sigurd](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigurd); it is a gold ring that the dwarf [Andvari](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andvari) cursed; later, Odin and [Loki](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loki) stole it.[\[2\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_ring#cite_note-Byock-1990-1999-2)(pp 29, 80–82) This ring was acquired from the dragon [Fafnir](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fafnir) by Sigurd, when Sigurd killed him, and with possession of the ring, Sigurd inherited its curse.

How the ring [Andvarinaut](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andvarinaut) came to be cursed is explained in detail in _The Volsunga Saga_,[\[2\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_ring#cite_note-Byock-1990-1999-2) as is the elaborate sequence of events of how the curse plays out for Sigurd, involving Sigurd changing shapes with his brother-in-law Gunnar.[\[16\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_ring#cite_note-18) However, what magical _use_ Andvarinaut might have to make it desirable is never specifically given in the narrative: The curse on it is simply a source of disaster for every person who owns it; its principal characteristic in the story is that nearly everyone wants to get it, except Sigurd, who has got it, but does not understand _what_ it is that he's got.[\[2\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_ring#cite_note-Byock-1990-1999-2)

### Medieval romance

[Sir Yvain](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_Yvain) is given a magic ring by a maiden in [Chrétien de Troyes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chr%C3%A9tien_de_Troyes)' 12th-century Arthurian romance [_The Knight of the Lion_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yvain,_the_Knight_of_the_Lion). This finger ring can be worn with the stone on the inside, facing the palm, and then it will make the wearer invisible.[\[17\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_ring#cite_note-19) The 14th century Middle English Arthurian romance [_Sir Perceval of Galles_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_Perceval_of_Galles) has the hero, [Perceval](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perceval), take a ring from the finger of a sleeping maiden in exchange for his own, and he then goes off on a series of adventures that includes defeating an entire Saracen army in a [Land of Maidens](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_of_Maidens). Only near the end of this romance does he learn that the ring he was wearing is a magic ring and that its wearer cannot be killed.[\[18\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_ring#cite_note-20)

Similar rings feature in the 14th century medieval romance [_Sir Eglamour of Artois_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_Eglamour_of_Artois) and the 12th century [_Floris and Blancheflour_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floris_and_Blancheflour),[\[19\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_ring#cite_note-21)[\[20\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_ring#cite_note-22) and in [Thomas Malory](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Malory)'s _Tale of Sir Gareth of Orkney_, in his 15th century epic [_Le Morte d'Arthur_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Morte_d%27Arthur), in which [Gareth](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gareth) is given a ring by a damsel who lives in [Avalon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avalon) that will render him invulnerable to losing any blood at a tournament.[\[21\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_ring#cite_note-Vinaver-Malory-1977-23)[\[c\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_ring#cite_note-24)

In the medieval collection of Welsh tales called the [_Mabinogion_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mabinogion), one of the romances – [_Geraint ab Erbin_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geraint_ab_Erbin) – has the [eponymous](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eponymous) character find a ring that grants him the powers of invisibility when worn.[\[22\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_ring#cite_note-gorddcymru.org-25) The Scottish ballads [_Hind Horn_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hind_Horn) and [_Bonny Bee Hom_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonny_Bee_Hom) both include a magic ring that turns pale when the person who received it has lost the person who gave it.[\[23\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_ring#cite_note-26)

### Later literature

[François Fénelon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fran%C3%A7ois_F%C3%A9nelon), Archbishop of Cambrai, developed the motif of a magical invisibility ring in his literary fable _History of Rosimund and Braminth_.[\[24\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_ring#cite_note-27) The tale was translated by [Andrew Lang](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Lang) as _The Enchanted Ring_ in his _Green Fairy Book_.[\[25\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_ring#cite_note-28)[\[26\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_ring#cite_note-29)

### Folklore

In [folkloristics](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folkloristics), tale type ATU 560, "The Magic Ring", of the international [Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aarne-Thompson-Uther_Index), was named after the magical object the hero receives in the tale.[\[27\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_ring#cite_note-30)[\[28\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_ring#cite_note-31)

Modern fiction
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Magic rings occur in a myriad of modern fantasy stories as incidental objects, but many novels feature a ring as a central part of the plot. Like other [magical objects](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_item) in stories, magic rings can act as a [plot device](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plot_device), but in two distinct ways. They may give magical abilities to a person who is otherwise lacking in them, or enhance the power of a [wizard](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wizard_\(fantasy\)). Or alternatively, they may function as nothing more than [MacGuffins](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacGuffin), that is, objects for which it is the characters' desire to obtain them, rather than any innate power that they possess, that moves the story along. [J.R.R. Tolkien](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J.R.R._Tolkien)'s [_The Hobbit_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hobbit), for example, involves a magical ring which allows [Bilbo Baggins](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bilbo_Baggins) to be instrumental in a quest, matching the abilities of the dwarves.[\[29\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_ring#cite_note-32) In the _Volsunga Saga_, on the other hand, the magic ring that [Sigurd](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigurd) takes from the dragon Fafnir is a symbolic item, cursed by the dwarf [Andvari](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andvari) from whom it was stolen by [Loki](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loki); the ring is a plot device that creates a sense of inevitable disaster as the story unfolds.[\[2\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_ring#cite_note-Byock-1990-1999-2)

[https://opensea.io/assets/0xf1801cF2E2a5058af8FA3aafb75c54eefE29e173/2](https://opensea.io/assets/0xf1801cF2E2a5058af8FA3aafb75c54eefE29e173/2)

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*Originally published on [rollinro.eth](https://paragraph.com/@rollinro/magic-ring)*