The Vyne is a stately home in Hampshire, England built by one of Henry VIII courtiers. This lovely house holds a secret, very possibly the ring that inspired Tolkien to write the Lord of the Rings.

This ring placed for years within a glass cabinet in Vyne house was made in the 4th century AD. It is made of solid gold, a ten sided facetted hoop with a top panel engraved with an intaglio of the god Venus. What makes this ring remarkable is that it was found at a temple site near Lydney with a Roman lead tablet bearing an inscription. The inscription described the ring and predicted a curse of woe against anyone who would steal the ring.

Tolkien, at that time an Oxford don was good friends with Mortimer Wheeler an archaeologist who was at work investigating the finds at Lydney. It is almost certain that Mortimer would have told his friend about this engraved gold ring and the curse that was attached to it.

A ring and a curse, sounds very much like the plot for the Lord of the Rings, does it not ?

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