The Lord Of The Rings: 10 Most Powerful Items In Middle Earth
3. The Palantir
Dark, perfectly smooth spheres, the Palantir are among the creepier things on this list. Whilst not inherently evil, these crystal balls were used by Sauron to spy across all Middle Earth to seep fear, lies and corruption into the hearts of men.
The seeing-stones are the equivalent of a webcam for Middle Earth, albeit far more elitist as that there are only seven of them. Whoever has one is able to keep in contact with anyone else who has one too. Sounds neat.
But like Gandalf warned, you never know who else might be watching.
Sauron used the Palantir to not only convince Saruman to join him, but also sway Denathor, steward of Gondor, that there was no hope of victory against the armies of Mordor. Thanks to these seeing stones, Sauron was able to spread his influence across the lands of Middle Earth, regaining his dominance and asserting his power without ever having to leave Mordor.
However, when Pippin looked into the stone at Orthanc, he unwittingly tricked Sauron into revealing some of his plans. So, there's a little karma for the dark lord there.