The phrase comes from J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, where it describes the One Ring forged by Sauron to control the other Rings of Power. It became widely known through Peter Jackson's film trilogy, beginning with The Fellowship of the Ring in 2001, in which the inscription is narrated over dark, foreboding imagery. Online, the line spread as a shorthand for ultimate power, temptation and control, and creators still reuse it because audiences instantly recognise its meaning even without any other context from the story.