I don't think any of the other Rings were formally element-associated. The dwarven rings were supposed to be good with gold, supposedly.

I think the Dwarf and Man rings were substantially lesser than the Elf rings -- they were, like, pawned off on assistants to make, whereas Celebrimbor made the Elf rings himself. This is why the Elf rings are more powerful, and have names, and not-coincidentally have not led their owners weeping and screaming to Sauron's doorstep, as the other sets of rings have done.

Certainly, in the text, the One Ring changes the user's perception, in addition to making him invisible. It also changes how the user feels about himself -- Samwise the Brave, Gollum the Great -- making him feel more powerful in quasi-benevolent or fishy ways, depending on his own nature. Sam scares the daylights out of the Cirith Unglo people, basically by dint of having the ring (whether or not it's on at any given moment); they see him as something far more powerful than he actually is in physical form.

People tend to flock towards the Ring, or its bearer: several times, when critters attack the Fellowship, they go for Frodo first.

Sauron made the dwarf and man rings specifically to enthrall the users, I think.

What is it with me and the double posting this week?

My brother and I had a big discussion about the Elf rings a few weeks ago. We finally went to Encyclopedia of Arda for lots of really good info about Middle Earth. I think they have info about the rings of the Dwarves and Men.

For example "By the end of the Third Age, Sauron had recovered three of the Seven [Dwarf] Rings to himself, and the other four had been consumed by dragons."

ETA: spelling

Heee! Through the lotrquotes LJ community: The Entire Silmarillion... in 1000 words or less.

Ha! That's great. The Quest For The Shiny!

So the Elvish rings were basically protect-y rings, whereas the Dwarvish rings and rings of Men were made specifically as a way to give Sauron a line in to control them?

This is why the Elf rings are more powerful, and have names, and not-coincidentally have not led their owners weeping and screaming to Sauron's doorstep, as the other sets of rings have done.

There's alos the point that Sauron had no part in the forging of the Elven rings, and therefore they were not corrupted, whereas the 9 (for Men) and the 7 (for Dwarves) were. Apparently, the 9 allowed the men to gain power, while the 7 enhanced Dwarven fortunes. The Dwarven rings also increased their greediness and xenophobia, IIRC.

Did Tolkein ever explain, in the books or his letters, why so much power was put into physical objects, rings?

That's straight from the Norse myths he drew from. See: Ring Cycle by Wagner.

Tolkien actually hated comparisons to the Ring of the Niebelung. (Although it is an obvious comparison). In one of Christopher Tolkien's History of Middle-Earth series, Morgoth's Ring, I think there is much discussion about rings and power, although I haven't really gone through the volume myself. (Morgoth's Ring was Arda (the Earth) itself, meaning that Mogoth had his power tied to the physical world).

[Edited to add that one of the themes in Tolkien's work was binding power to physical objects, manifested in the One Ring and why when it was destroyed, Sauron disappeared.]

From Una's link, this cracked me up:

BEREN: Ooo! Pretty elf lady!

THINGOL: You can have her if you ... BRING ME A SHINY!