I was commissioned to help make this ring in the spring of 2008 for a UK movie production of J. R. R. Tolkien’s “The Silmarillion” titled Born of Hope. Tolkien fans should recognize it as the Ring of Barahir who was the noted ancestor of Aragorn.
In The Silmarillion the Ring of Barahir is described:
“…green jewels gleamed there that the Noldor had devised in Valinor. For this ring was like to twin serpents, whose eyes were emeralds, and their heads met beneath a crown of golden flowers, that the one upheld and the other devoured; that was the badge of Finarfin and his house.”
(Silmarillion, p195)
I’m sure what inspired this ring was the study of Saxon and Roman artifacts found in the British Museum. There are a few ancient rings in their collection which have gems in the eyes, yet are a very basic snake shape. Together with E. Eglington I wanted to make something that instantly fit the description so as to be recognizable.
Symbolically, the serpents would represent the natural (humans) and supernatural (elves) that meet together in nature (golden crown of flowers and the green eyes). The rings are sterling silver with green cubic zircon eyes and gold plated flowers. The 2 initial models were a size 14 and a size 12.
More productions photos can be found here
More on The Silmarillion here
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