Power of the One Ring
Rit S.

I do not know as much as others of Middle-earth, besides the tale that is told in Lord of the Rings, because I have not read other works that deal with it. But as to how the Ring fell from Sauron in the first place I often wondered as well. If the Ring were to give Sauron enough power to enslave Middle-earth at the end of the Third Age, why was it not already enslaved by him before? (or indeed why did it not start as soon as Sauron forged it? And if Sauron had the power to forge a Ring of that much power, why did he need the Ring? If I remember correctly, the One Ring was forged by Sauron alone, and not with the help of the Elves, right?) The answer I came up with for myself (which maybe proven wrong or contradictory with other information) is that Sauron was not powerful enough to use the Ring to its full power before. As someone else mentioned the Ring gives only power in proportion with the power of its bearer. It seems that Sauron at the end of the Third Age is almost as powerful as he wa

Or perhaps the diminishing power of the Elves in Middle-earth is responsible for Sauron's increased power (and thus increased ability with the Ring). Without the power of the Elves opposing him, either a) Sauron himself is more powerful or b) the power of the Ring has grown stronger. I would tend to think that A is more likely to be true, but like I said, I don't know all that much about these matters.