Lord of the Rings: What Does the One Ring Actually Do?
In the tale known as “The Hobbit”, Bilbo Baggins first encountered the enigmatic One Ring during a riddle-playing contest against the subterranean creature Gollum. Initially, it was just a mystical bauble that proved useful when Bilbo had to infiltrate the lair of the dragon Smaug as a burglar. However, author J.R.R. Tolkien chose to expand its importance in his subsequent three-part series, “The Lord of the Rings”. This expansion required what we now call retcons, and even necessitated the reprinting of “The Hobbit” to reflect these changes.