 The Elves who stayed in Middle-earth where Melkor once was dominant, being in bodies and surrounded by things that are themselves marred and subject to decay by the influence of Melkor, created the Elven Rings out of a desire to preserve the physical world unchanged; as it were in the Undying Lands of Valinor, home of the Valar.Without the rings they are destined to eventually "fade", eventually becoming shadows in the physical world, prefiguring the concept of Elves as dwelling in a separate and often-underground (or overseas) plane in historical European mythology.Mortals who wear a Ring of Power are destined to "fade" much more rapidly, as the rings unnaturally preserve their life-span turning them into wraiths.