No. of Recommendations: 2
There is much I could say here, but I will leave it to Tolkien (emphasis is mine):
'What are you saying, Gandalf?' asked Pippin.
'I was just running over some Rhymes of Lore in my mind,' answered the wizard. [...] 'About the palantíri of the Kings of Old,' said Gandalf.
'And what are they?'
'The name meant that which looks far away. The Orthanc-stone was one.'
'Then it was not made, not made' – Pippin hesitated – 'by the Enemy?'
'No,' said Gandalf. 'Nor by Saruman. It is beyond his art, and Sauron's too. The palantiri came from beyond Westernesse, from Eldamar. The Noldor made them Fëanor himself, maybe, wrought them, in days so long ago that the time cannot be measured in years. But there is nothing that Sauron cannot turn to evil uses. Alas for Saruman! It was his downfall, as I now perceive. Perilous to us all are the devices of an art deeper than we possess ourselves. Yet he must bear the blame.'
The wisest character in the series has this to say about them
"If all the seven stones were laid out before me now, I should shut my eyes and put my hands in my pockets."
When someone tells you who they are it is advisable to believe them. Their valuation is also very silly.
