In the inscription of the One Ring, what or who does "them all" refer to?

Question

Recall that Sauron has inscribed the One Ring with the following words.

One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them

In this inscription, what or who does the “them all” refer to? Does it refer to the other rings of power? The lords that bear the other rings of power? Or all the masses of elves, dwarves and humans? Or is it left deliberately vague who or what the ring is to rule?

See also an earlier question Is the ring poem slightly inaccurate? Who wrote it?

Answer 1

This is made clear in the essay Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age, published in The Silmarillion:

Now the Elves made many rings; but secretly Sauron made One Ring to rule all the others, and their power was bound up with it, to be subject wholly to it and to last only so long as it too should last.

The choice of phrase can hardly be accidental here: it's explicit that the purpose of the One Ring was to rule the other Rings, and not to rule their bearers.

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Note from the accepted answer to the question you link (which is IMO correct) that the "one Ring to rule them all..." part (i.e the Ring inscription itself) was composed first, with the other lines added by person or persons unknown at a later date. At the time the other Rings were made, there was actually no distinction between the Seven and the Nine, with only the Three being in any way different.

Answer 2

The full verse is:

Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,

Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,

Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die,

One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne

In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.

One Ring to rule them all. One Ring to find them,

One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them

In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.

The verse as a whole describes the Rings of Power. The first half enumerates them, and the second half establishes the One as their master. Since the other rings are associated each with a whole race, the implication is that the One is meant to rule over all races via the other rings, but the literal wording refers to the rings themselves.

Answer 3

"them all" refers to the other rings Sauron created the one ring with the intention of ruling the 3 Elven rings, the 7 Dwarven rings and the 9 rings of men.

The other 19 rings were made by Elven Smiths of Eregion, led by Celebrimbor.

He was hoping to use the rings of power to seduce the Great Rulers of Middle Earth towards evil. IIRC in the books Elrond has one Elven ring, Galadriel has another and Gandalf has the third of the Elven rings. It is believed the Dwarven rings were lost and, we all know the tale of the nine.

For those that don't: The nine rings of men were given to powerful men, Kings and Warriors 3 were Numenorean, these men were corrupted by the ring and transformed into the Ringwraiths.

I would say it does not only refer to the rings but also the rulers who wear the rings by proxy anyway.

Answer 4

So the rings of power played on the weakness of character of the bearers and Sauron's ring bound any wearing them to it. The rings were a tool through which Sauron sought to conquer the realm of Middle Earth. Given Tolkien's background Sauron is a representation of Satan and the rings symbolic of sin; Sauron's being forged in secret just as Satan's rebellion was in the spiritual (unseen) realm, but the rings given to those on middle earth made their trials visible to others. Some were not seduced or controlled by the trial, others, like the nine were consumed entirely and become slaves even in death.