Links: Official movie site Discover the history, myth, and cultural forces that inspired The Lord of the Rings and explore the parallels between the imaginary world of Middle-earth and our own. A site dedicated to the memory and works of Oxford Professor John Ronald Reuel Tolkien A insider's guide to the Lord of the Rings movie The complete guide to Tolkien online |
Links: Official movie site Discover the history, myth, and cultural forces that inspired The Lord of the Rings and explore the parallels between the imaginary world of Middle-earth and our own. A site dedicated to the memory and works of Oxford Professor John Ronald Reuel Tolkien A insider's guide to the Lord of the Rings movie The complete guide to Tolkien online |
The Fellowship of the Ring This is the first of three books in The Lord of the Rings, a story set in the fictional world of Middle Earth. The Lord of the Rings is Sauron, the Dark Lord, who long ago lost the One Ring that holds much of his power. His overriding desire is to reclaim the ring and use it to enslave Middle Earth. Through strange circumstances, the ring falls into the hands of Frodo Baggins, a hobbit. Hobbits are a race of people half the size of men; they are generally content with living a comfortable life and minding their own affairs. Because of the ring, however, Frodo is caught up in business that will affect all of Middle Earth. At the advice of the wizard Gandalf, he sets out with three of his hobbit friends to keep the ring out of Sauron's hands. They are pursued by the nine Ringwraiths, servants of Sauron, but, with the help of a man named Strider, they make it safely to Rivendell, a home of elves. There, with the help of Elrond, Frodo accepts the burden of taking the ring to the only place it can be destroyed--the Cracks of Doom in the fiery mountain Orodruin, inside Sauron's realm of Mordor. A Fellowship is created to help him, consisting of Frodo, his servant Sam, two other hobbits, Strider, Gandalf, an elf named Legolas, a dwarf named Gimli, and a man from the south named Boromir. |
The Fellowship heads south and attempts to pass under the Misty Mountains through Moria, the ancient realm of the dwarves. There, Gandalf falls into the chasm of Khazad-dum while protecting the company from a terrible demon called a Balrog. The rest of the party continues on to Lorien, the forest of the Galadrim elves, where the Lady Galadriel tests their hearts and gives them gifts to help them on the quest. From there, they go down the Anduin River by boat. When they must return to land, they cannot decide whether to head toward Mordor on the east or toward the safety of Minas Tirith on the west. Boromir desires the ring and confronts Frodo, who decides that he must go to Mordor. However, Frodo cannot bear to take his friends with him or to subject them to further temptation, so he attempts to leave secretly and continue the quest alone. He does not, however, manage to elude his faithful servant Sam, so the two of them set out together for the realm of the Dark Lord. Synopsis from SparkNotes |
Pictures and descriptions of the characters in Fellowship of the Ring |
J.R.R. Tolkien The Hobbit The Lord of the Rings |