Magic Ring - Mythology and Folklore

Mythology and Folklore

An early magical ring in European mythology is the arm ring named Draupnir worn by the Norse god Odin. Because its only reported function was to create more gold arm bands every nine days, Draupnir may have been a religious symbol which represented the increasing of wealth. The ring was placed onto Baldr's funeral pyre, but Baldr gave Draupnir back to Hermod when he came looking for him in Hel and so the ring was returned to Odin from the land of death, with its new-found ability to replicate. Another Norse ring was called Andvarinaut. Andvarinaut is the famous Ring of the Niebelung from The Volsunga Saga and The Nibelungenlied, which eventually becomes the property of the hero Siegfried or Sigurd. How it came to be cursed is explained in detail in The Volsunga Saga, Andvarinaut's use is never specifically given in the story: its curse is simply a source of disaster for every person who owns it, its principal characteristic is that nearly everyone wants to get it, except Sigurd, who has got it, but doesn't know what it is.

Magic rings are certainly known in Jewish lore; they are mentioned in the Talmud and 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 that sealed genies into bottles. A story about King Solomon and a ring is found in the Babylonian Talmud, 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. In the Zohar, God is thought to own and use a signet ring, or, at least, a signet.

The ancient Greek philosopher Plato, in the second book of The Republic, tells a story about the Ring of Gyges, which conferred invisibility on its wearer. The shepherd Gydes, who found it in a cave, used its power to seduce the queen, kill the king and take his place. Earlier accounts of Gyges, however, who was king of Lydia, make no mention of a magic ring. Rings are not generally attributed with magic powers in ancient Greek legend, although many other magical objects are listed, particularly in the Perseus myth.

A small number of Viking Age finger rings bearing runic inscriptions of apparently magical significance are known, among them the Kingmoor Ring and the Bramham Moor Ring.