The Fellowship of the Ring

The Fellowship of the Ring, first volume (1954) in the trilogy that forms the famed fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien, whose academic grounding in Anglo-Saxon, Celtic, and Norse mythology helped shape his fictional world. The three-part work, set in the land of Middle-earth, forms a sequel to Tolkien’s The Hobbit (1937) and constitutes one of the most successful novels in publishing history. The epic tale continued in The Two Towers (1954) and The Return of the King (1955).

Summary

The story begins in the Shire—a part of Middle-earth where the small, good-natured, quietly domestic hobbits live—as the eccentric hobbit Bilbo Baggins is celebrating his “eleventy-first” (111th) birthday. During the party Bilbo announces his departure and disappears with the use of the magical ring that makes its wearer invisible; his discovery of the ring is chronicled in The Hobbit. Before leaving the Shire, however, he returns home. Although he intends to give all his possessions to his young relative and heir, Frodo, at the last minute he balks at leaving behind the ring. However, he is persuaded to do so by the wizard Gandalf, who later learns that Frodo’s ring is the One Ring, the most powerful of the 20 Rings of Power. It was fashioned by Sauron, the Dark Lord of Mordor, to rule the other rings and enable him to conquer and enslave the world. The One Ring will also eventually corrupt its possessor. Sauron wants the ring back and knows that it is in the Shire. Gandalf tells Frodo to take the ring to the one place where it can be destroyed—the place where it was forged, the fires of the Cracks of Doom under Orodruin (the Fire-mountain), in the very heart of Sauron’s realm of Mordor.

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So begins Frodo’s quest. Accompanied by his friends Sam, Merry, and Pippin, he departs the Shire, bound for Rivendell, where Elves live. As soon as he sets out, he finds that there are Black Riders on his trail. To avoid them, the hobbits travel through the Old Forest. There Merry and Pippin are caught by a malevolent tree, but they are rescued by Tom Bombadil, “Master of wood, water, and hill.” Later they reach Bree, the chief village of Bree-land, where both hobbits and Men live. At an inn they meet the Ranger called Strider, or Aragorn, and, when the hobbits depart, he joins them as their guide. After a few days on the road, they are attacked by Black Riders, and Frodo is injured by a weapon that could put him under Sauron’s power. Later they encounter the Elf Glorfindel, who has come to help them reach Rivendell. He sends Frodo on his horse, and the hobbit escapes capture by the Black Riders only when a river rises and washes them away.

At Rivendell the ruler Elrond heals Frodo. Gandalf is also there, and he explains that the Black Riders are Ringwraiths—nine kings who were given Rings of Power and thus came under Sauron’s control. Eventually Frodo goes forth to complete the quest, now as part of a Company of the Ring, comprising nine companions, who counterbalance Sauron’s nine Ringwraiths. This fellowship consists of Frodo and his fellow hobbits Merry, Sam, and Pippin; two Men, Aragorn and Boromir; Legolas the Elf; Gimli the Dwarf; and Gandalf. As they embark on their perilous quest, they are thwarted in their attempt to cross over a mountain range and instead travel through the Mines of Moria. In the underground passages they are attacked, first by Orcs and then by a Balrog. Gandalf defeats the Balrog but is himself lost. The surviving companions follow Aragorn to the Elvish forest of Lothlórien. After resting, they resume their journey, but the ring’s mighty power begins to corrupt and entice even members of the fellowship. Eventually, Frodo and Sam decide to strike out for Mordor on their own. The fellowship is broken, but the quest continues.

Analysis and adaptation

The book is about power and greed, innocence and enlightenment. Ultimately, it describes a battle of good against evil, of kindness and trust against suspicion, and of fellowship against the desire for individual power. This is also a story about war, no doubt drawn from Tolkien’s own experience in World War I. The enduring fascination of the mythology of Middle-earth can be seen in the success of the film The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), directed by Peter Jackson, and in the plethora of dictionaries, encyclopaedias, and games based on Tolkien’s works.