DID incantations and spells fill the air as the curse was evoked and brought down on the gold ring, which lies at the centre of a centuries’ old Hampshire mystery.

Many believe this ancient Roman ring inspired JRR Tolkien to write his famous book, The Hobbit, now transformed into a box office hit at cinemas around the world.

Hidden away from the public gaze for generations, the ornately inscribed ring is today the centrepiece of a brand new exhibition being staged at The Vyne, the elegant National Trust property near Basingstoke.

A new exhibition room, created in partnership with the Tolkien Society, sees the piece of jewellery properly displayed for the first time, and tells its remarkable story.

Unearthed in the county back in the late 18th century and then forgotten about for decades, the ring is set within a large, contemporary display unit.

Visitors can closely study the ring as it revolves, and learn more about the curse laid on the thief who stole it, and how Tolkien himself may have heard about the legend.

For many years, the ring, discovered close to the country estate, inscribed in Latin and inset with an image of the goddess Venus, lay disregarded in a corner of the library at The Vyne.

The ring was found in a farmer’s field in 1785 at Silchester, an old Roman town with a famous excavation site, four miles from The Vyne.

As the years of grime were cleaned away from the ring, the words, “Senicianus live well in God”, emerged from around the surface of the Roman artefact.

Nothing seems to have been heard of the ring until the following century when a “curse tablet” was found at the former site of a Roman temple in Lydney, Gloucestershire, about 80 miles away from The Vyne.

Written on the tablet was a plea from a Roman called Silvianus, asking Nodens, the god of the Lydney temple, to return a ring, stolen by Senicianus, and placing a curse of ill health on the thief.

The translation read: “To the God Nodens.

Silvianus has lost a ring … among those who bear the name of Senicianus to none grant health until he bring back the ring to the temple of Nodens …”

The great archaeologist, Sir Mortimer Wheeler, the director of later excavations at Lydney, realised the connection between the ring and the curse tablet, and in 1929 he asked JRR Tolkien, who was Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford University, to work on the derivation of the name “Nodens”.

Tolkien visited the Temple of Nodens on a number of occasions, and it is highly likely that he would have been made aware of the existence of the ring at this time.

What is certain is that, a year later, Tolkien was working on The Hobbit.

The area around the temple was known as Dwarf’s Hill, believed to have been an Iron Age fort containing mines.

Was this the inspiration for the dwarves in The Hobbit?

It is not known when, or why, the ring later came to reside at The Vyne.

The estate’s then owner, Chaloner Chute, included information about the ring in his History of the The Vyne, published in 1888 and one of the most scholarly of 19th-century country house histories.

The ring is larger than average, with a diameter of 25mm and weighing 12g, and may have been made to wear on a thumb and over a glove.

It is probably 4th century, has a ten-faceted hoop and a bezel mounted on the top engraved with an image of the goddess of Venus.

Dr Lynn Forest-Hill, education officer for the Tolkien Society said: “We were delighted to partner the National Trust in this project, and to assist with research that may shed further light on the history of this mysterious piece of gold.

“The result is a unique exhibition that delves into the ring’s past, and allows visitors to decide for themselves if this is The One Ring?

“The influences most often cited for Tolkien’s creation of The One Ring usually take the form of literary or legendary rings such as the Ring of the Niebelungs, or the old king’s ring in the 14th-century story of Bevis of Hampton, a legend closely associated with Southampton.”

The ring has also influenced The Vyne’s modern day gardens, as an area of walled garden has been transformed into the “Hidden Realm”, a children’s adventure play area based on the fantasy landscapes of Tolkien’s Middle-earth.

Encompassing elements of jungle, mountain and stream, the Hidden Realm, the first of its kind in the country, has at its centre a network of turf-covered tunnels installed with sound tubes, to allow children to talk to each other.

An Iron Age wooden fort and bridge, wide slide, trickling stream and large limestone-bordered sandpit surround the tunnels, while a giant warrior’s helmet lies half emerged in the ground, as if abandoned after battle.

 For more information about The Vyne and exhibition featuring the Roman ring log on to: nationaltrust.org.uk/vyne