Author: J.R.R. Tolkien
Second edition, paperback. 1966. Publishers: George Allen and Unwin Summary: A long time ago in Middle Earth, Lord Sauron created a ring and literally put his mind in it. It had incredible power and defeated entire elf/men-armies. Then Isuldur, king of Gondor cut It of its hand and Sauron was defeated. But the ring lived on. After Isildur was killed by the orcs, in landed in a river and was long time forgotten. Until Smeagol the Hobbit found it. There it stayed for years and Smeagol slowly turned in an evil creature, renamed Gollum, until it was taken from him by the young hobbit Bilbo Baggins. For a long time Bilbo kept the ring as his little secret, but he got old, and wanted to see Middle Earth once more before he died, so he left everything to his cousin Frodo, including the ring. During this whole time, Sauron had been regaining strength and started to build an army again even though he wasn’t ‘solid’ yet. He commanded the Nazgul to find the bearer of the Ring and to ruin everything in their path. And so Frodo had to flee, together with his gardener Samweis Gamgee and his cousins Merry and Pippin. During their escape they meet a strange man who called himself Strider. He takes them to Rivendell, an Elven-city. There Frodo gets reunited with his old friend Gandalf, and to his amaze, his uncle Bilbo. In Rivendell a council is called upon by Elrond, ruler of the city, to discuss who will take on the quest and who will join him. The quest of course, is to take the ring and to throw in Mount Doom (in Mordor), which is the only place that can destroy the ring and therefore kill the evil mind of Sauron. Frodo will be the ring bearer, and his companions will be Gandalf, Sam, Merry, Pippin, Boromir the warrior from Minas Tirith, Legolas the elf from Mirkwood, Gimli the dwarf and..Strider, actually called Aragorn and heir of the king of Gondor! He feels it’s time to take the crown and become the king of entire Middle Earth, so he joins them. So their long journey starts. Unfortunately, in the mines of Moria, they lose Gandalf after a huge demon-like creature named Balrog dragged Gandalf into a large shaft. Then Aragorn took the lead. When they’re almost half way, Boromir’s mind gets taken over by the ring. He’s trying to steal it from Frodo but Frodo uses the ring to become invisible and flees from the strong warrior. Full of regret Boromir tries to fight of all the orcs that suddenly appeared and started to attack Merry and Pippin. But he lost the battle. Merry and Pippin were taken by the orcs, Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas followed the ugly creatures after giving Boromir a proper burial. And Frodo and his everlasting friend and companion Sam crossed over the river and headed for Mount Doom. Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli are trying to catch up with the orcs that took Merry and Pippin. Frodo is encountered by the creature Gollum and he becomes their guide to Mordor, because he wants his ‘preciousss’ ring back. He thinks he can somehow set them up during the journey. Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli bump into an old friend. Gandalf has sort of been reincarnated and had now returned as Gandalf the White, the most powerful wizard, now even stronger than Saruman. Merry and Pippin freed themselves from the rude orcs after they got into a battle with the Rohorrim, warriors of Rohan. They meet an extraordinary creature called an Ent. His name is Treebeard and he looks, well, like a walking tree. They get to experience an Entmoot. A meeting with a lot of Ents who discuss thing very, very slowly. After 3 days they’ve decided to destroy Isengard. Home of Saruman and destroyer of many fellow-trees. The 4 companions reach Edoras, capital of Rohan. There Gandalf releases Théoden, king of Rohan, from the evil disease Saruman put in his mind. When they hear they’re going to be attacked by ten-thousands of orcs they depart for Helm’s Deep where a huge battle takes place. Even though they lost a huge part of their men, the good guys concurred. Frodo, Sam and Gollum’s journey isn’t going very fast, since the gate they were supposed to go in, that’ll lead them to Mordor, is sealed, so they have to take another way. There they first encounter Faramir, brother of Boromir, who, after a swift but intense interrogation lets them go, and then, after walking hundreds of stairs to the get encountered by a not so trustful creature called Shelob. It appeared that Gollum made a deal with the animal that she could eat the two companions if she’d (somehow) gave the ring back to Gollum. No so trustworthy after all… In the meantime Aragorn, Gandalf, Legolas and Gimli find their two small companions on the ruined grounds of Isengard. Merry and Pippin are guarding the tower where Saruman and Wormtongue are now locked up. But bad news reached them. Sauron is leading his army towards Minas Tirith, city of the King where the white tower stands. Théoden decides to help the Gondorians, since they are neighbours and all… With the fasted horse there is, Shadowfax, Gandalf is going ahead with Pippin, to tell the Gondorians they’re coming to help. Merry stays with Aragorn and they head back for Edoras, to recruit more men. Then they too head for Gondor. When the battle around the city is almost lost, Aragorn and his companions arrive with a huge army, including the living dead, elves and men. The orc-armies are defeated but Theoden lost his life whilst fighting a Nazgul. Merry, Faramir and Eowyn (niece of Theoden) end up badly injured, but Aragorn heals them. Now the last fase of the battle starts. Almost every creature that can fight heads for Mordor to give the final blow to Sauron his armies under the leadership of Aragorn, the almost-king of Middle Earth. After being paralyzed by Shelob, and wrongly pronounced dead by Sam, Frodo is taken by the orcs. Fortunately they couldn’t find the ring because Sam took in to finish the task they started. After hitting himself on the head lots of times for his stupidity, Sam releases Frodo and set off to do the last part of their journey. They are now in Mordor and Mount Doom is getting nearer every day. The ring takes its toll and Frodo is completely exhausted because the ring is becoming heavier and heavier. When they finally reach Mount Doom, Frodo gets taken over by the ring, and he doesn’t want to throw it in the fires anymore. When Sam tries to reason with him, Frodo knocks him out and flees. But he stumbles upon an unwelcome friend. After a huge fight, Gollum bites the finger with the ring of Frodo’s hand but not paying attention to the huge gap beside him, Gollum came, Gollum saw, Gollum concurred, but then Gollum fell in the fires of Mount Doom, along with the ring. Sauron is defeated. And so are the 8 Nazgul that are left and whom are terrorizing the armies of the good guys. Their spirits can finally rest, and so can the entire folk of Middle Earth. The eight Companions have all survived, one missing a finger. After a huge feast where Aragorn, now called Elessar, takes the crown, the seven Companions head back for their homes. However, the Hobbits get an unpleasant welcome when they reach their land. Everything is ruined and rampaged. They find out Saruman has taken over. But not for long. After being thrown out by the Hobbits under the lead of Merry and Pippin, Wormtongue, seriously irritated by his boss Saruman, sleds the old wizard’s throat and kills himself by breaking his neck after a fall. Gandalf is going away for, probably, a long long sleep. Gimli and Legolas visit every corner of Middle Earth together. Merry marries (lol) and becomes head of something, I’m not sure what it is. Pippin becomes mayor. Sam marries his love of his life Rose and they get 2 children. Frodo lives with the Gamgies for the rest of his life, until he heads with Gandalf and Bilbo for the Grey Harbours, where they take a ship to an unknown land and stay there for the rest of their lives. And Aragorn/Elessar makes Middle Earth peaceful again. He gets respect fom every inhabitant and is called the best king ever. He and his elf-wife Arwen get two sons. This was the story of The Ring and fortunately, for most characters, all well, ends well. Characters: First, I’m going to describe the fellowship as it left from Rivendell. Frodo Baggins: The ring bearer. A hobbit of kind and adventurous nature. He lives with his uncle and friends in Hobbiton, and so far has led a happy life. After his uncle Bilbo left the ring to Frodo, he was set upon a heavy task. To bring the ring to Mordor and throw it in Mount Doom. However, the task becomes heavier because the ring sucks the happiness out of its bearer. We see Frodo change from a merry hobbit into a serious, frightened hobbit. Thanks to his companion Samwise Gamgee, he remains himself. Samwise Gamgee: Faithful companion of Frodo. Sam, born as a son of a gardener, inherited his fathers skills and became the gardener of Frodo and Bilbo Baggins. His life makes a huge change when he ‘accidentally’ hears Gandalf and Frodo talk about the ring, and is forced to come along. He takes its task as Frodo’s protector (which Gandalf has given him) very seriously, and stays with Frodo to the very end of the incredible journey. If it wasn’t for this hobbit, Frodo would be long dead. Gandalf the Grey, Mithrandir (elvish): the Wizard
Gandalf, an old friend of Bilbo Baggins, has suspected the rising of Sauron for many years, but couldn’t do much about it for his boss, Saruman, has joined the evil destroyer.
He’s very well loved by Frodo and the inhabitants of the Shire. He takes the task upon him as the leader of the Fellowship. He’s presumed dead when he falls in the shaft in Moria, but returns in The Two Towers, as a whole new, more powerful person and wizard.
Aragorn, Elessar, Strider, and so on.
Aragorn has many names, for the hobbits, he’s called Strider, for the reader he’s called Aragorn, and for his people, his name is King Elessar.
At first we see Aragorn as an ordinary strider, but we later discover he’s the heir of the Gondorian throne. His role is one of the most important in the book. After Gandalf had fallen in Moria, he takes the task to lead the fellowship upon him.
His strength, smartness and pride eventually lead him to the throne.
Legolas: the wood-elf from Mirkwood.
Probably, along with Gandalf, the eldest of the fellowship, since he’s an elf, and immortal.
He respects nature, and with his keen eyes and sharp hearing, he can see or hear an enemy coming from far, far away. He’s also an excellent shooter, and can hit a moving target with no problems.
Gimli: son of Gloin, dwarf.
Even though he’s not very large, you don’t want to meet him when he’s angry. He and his axe are serious murder weapons. At first, he and Legolas are not fond of each other, since there has always been sort of a cold war between Elves and Dwarves, but when the journey continues, they become the best friends.
Merry and Pippin: two happy hobbits.
Without actually knowing what great dangerous journey lay ahead, they volunteered as the last two companions of the fellowship, and sort of regretted that later on during the book.
Still, their role in this Fellowship became much more important when they distracted the attention from Frodo and Sam, pretending they were the ring bearers.
And at last, Boromir: captain of Gondor, heroic warrior, future leader of Minas Tirith
…unfortunately not. As a proud man, Boromir didn’t like taking orders from Aragorn, who was going to be his future king. He was a brave warrior and killed almost every enemy in his path. When the end of the fellowship was near, the ring took over Boromir and he tried to steal it from Frodo. Frodo fled and Boromir was left with an enormous feeling of guilt. He died protecting Merry and Pippin. He would never see the white tower of Minas Tirith again.
This was the fellowship, now I’m going to give a short summary of the rest of the characters in the Lord of the Rings.
Sauron: evil ruler of Mordor. Creator of The Ring. He tries to take over entire Middle Earth.
Saruman: Messenger of Sauron. Leader of the wizards until Gandalf reappears. Creator of Uruk-hai, a new, strong kind of orcs.
Bilbo Baggins: Uncle of Frodo. Took the ring from Gollem during one of his journeys.
Gollum: Creature that was a hobbit long time ago. Stole the ring from his friend after killing him first and slowly turned into a schizophrenic Smeagol/Gollem creature. Followes the Ring Bearer Frodo from beginning to the end and guides the two hobbits to Mordor, for his own reasons ofcourse.
Elrond: An old and wise elf. Leader of Rivendell, son of Galadriel and father of Arwén. Friend of Gandalf and bearer of one of the three rings created for the elves.
Galadriel: Female elf. Lady of Lothlorien. She has an eye on everyone. Second bearer of the elf ring.
Arwén: Female elf. Future wife of Aragorn. They loved each other from the very beginning.
Theoden: King of Rohan.
Denethor: Ruler of Minas Tirith. Father of Boromir and Faramir.
Faramir: younger brother of Boromir.
Eomer: Cousin of Theoden, older brother of
Eowin: Falls in love with Aragorn, but eventually marries with Faramir. Grima Wormtongue: Manipulator of Théoden and secret ally of Saruman. Haldir: Warrior of Lothlorien. The Nazgul: The nine Men doomed to die. However, their spirits lived on, doomed to serve Lord Sauron. They were once proud kings of nine lands, but were slowly taken over by their rings. Now their task is to find the Ring Bearer and bring him to Sauron. The Narrator is the all knowing J.R.R. Tolkien himself, for he sometimes says something in the book that will happen later on. Time: The story is told in Hobbit-counting years. (does that make sense to you?) It’s the year 3001, I think, and the whole story takes about 4 months. Place: the place is of course Middle Earth. Their journey goes through the Shire, Rivendell, Rohan, Isengard, Gondor and so on. Theme: This story is mainly about courage, I think, the courage of Frodo, the little hobbit. It is also about not underestimating the little things, as Sauron did with the hobbits. And finally it is about the fight between good and evil. Opinion: I think this book is the best book one has ever written. It totally takes you out of the ‘ordinary’ world. The story has a character for every type of reader. I myself, am the most fond of Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas and therefore find the parts including them the most fun to read. There’s a lot a person can say about this book but I can only advice someone to read it too, because I’m not very much of a reader, but totally got into this never boring story.
Second edition, paperback. 1966. Publishers: George Allen and Unwin Summary: A long time ago in Middle Earth, Lord Sauron created a ring and literally put his mind in it. It had incredible power and defeated entire elf/men-armies. Then Isuldur, king of Gondor cut It of its hand and Sauron was defeated. But the ring lived on. After Isildur was killed by the orcs, in landed in a river and was long time forgotten. Until Smeagol the Hobbit found it. There it stayed for years and Smeagol slowly turned in an evil creature, renamed Gollum, until it was taken from him by the young hobbit Bilbo Baggins. For a long time Bilbo kept the ring as his little secret, but he got old, and wanted to see Middle Earth once more before he died, so he left everything to his cousin Frodo, including the ring. During this whole time, Sauron had been regaining strength and started to build an army again even though he wasn’t ‘solid’ yet. He commanded the Nazgul to find the bearer of the Ring and to ruin everything in their path. And so Frodo had to flee, together with his gardener Samweis Gamgee and his cousins Merry and Pippin. During their escape they meet a strange man who called himself Strider. He takes them to Rivendell, an Elven-city. There Frodo gets reunited with his old friend Gandalf, and to his amaze, his uncle Bilbo. In Rivendell a council is called upon by Elrond, ruler of the city, to discuss who will take on the quest and who will join him. The quest of course, is to take the ring and to throw in Mount Doom (in Mordor), which is the only place that can destroy the ring and therefore kill the evil mind of Sauron. Frodo will be the ring bearer, and his companions will be Gandalf, Sam, Merry, Pippin, Boromir the warrior from Minas Tirith, Legolas the elf from Mirkwood, Gimli the dwarf and..Strider, actually called Aragorn and heir of the king of Gondor! He feels it’s time to take the crown and become the king of entire Middle Earth, so he joins them. So their long journey starts. Unfortunately, in the mines of Moria, they lose Gandalf after a huge demon-like creature named Balrog dragged Gandalf into a large shaft. Then Aragorn took the lead. When they’re almost half way, Boromir’s mind gets taken over by the ring. He’s trying to steal it from Frodo but Frodo uses the ring to become invisible and flees from the strong warrior. Full of regret Boromir tries to fight of all the orcs that suddenly appeared and started to attack Merry and Pippin. But he lost the battle. Merry and Pippin were taken by the orcs, Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas followed the ugly creatures after giving Boromir a proper burial. And Frodo and his everlasting friend and companion Sam crossed over the river and headed for Mount Doom. Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli are trying to catch up with the orcs that took Merry and Pippin. Frodo is encountered by the creature Gollum and he becomes their guide to Mordor, because he wants his ‘preciousss’ ring back. He thinks he can somehow set them up during the journey. Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli bump into an old friend. Gandalf has sort of been reincarnated and had now returned as Gandalf the White, the most powerful wizard, now even stronger than Saruman. Merry and Pippin freed themselves from the rude orcs after they got into a battle with the Rohorrim, warriors of Rohan. They meet an extraordinary creature called an Ent. His name is Treebeard and he looks, well, like a walking tree. They get to experience an Entmoot. A meeting with a lot of Ents who discuss thing very, very slowly. After 3 days they’ve decided to destroy Isengard. Home of Saruman and destroyer of many fellow-trees. The 4 companions reach Edoras, capital of Rohan. There Gandalf releases Théoden, king of Rohan, from the evil disease Saruman put in his mind. When they hear they’re going to be attacked by ten-thousands of orcs they depart for Helm’s Deep where a huge battle takes place. Even though they lost a huge part of their men, the good guys concurred. Frodo, Sam and Gollum’s journey isn’t going very fast, since the gate they were supposed to go in, that’ll lead them to Mordor, is sealed, so they have to take another way. There they first encounter Faramir, brother of Boromir, who, after a swift but intense interrogation lets them go, and then, after walking hundreds of stairs to the get encountered by a not so trustful creature called Shelob. It appeared that Gollum made a deal with the animal that she could eat the two companions if she’d (somehow) gave the ring back to Gollum. No so trustworthy after all… In the meantime Aragorn, Gandalf, Legolas and Gimli find their two small companions on the ruined grounds of Isengard. Merry and Pippin are guarding the tower where Saruman and Wormtongue are now locked up. But bad news reached them. Sauron is leading his army towards Minas Tirith, city of the King where the white tower stands. Théoden decides to help the Gondorians, since they are neighbours and all… With the fasted horse there is, Shadowfax, Gandalf is going ahead with Pippin, to tell the Gondorians they’re coming to help. Merry stays with Aragorn and they head back for Edoras, to recruit more men. Then they too head for Gondor. When the battle around the city is almost lost, Aragorn and his companions arrive with a huge army, including the living dead, elves and men. The orc-armies are defeated but Theoden lost his life whilst fighting a Nazgul. Merry, Faramir and Eowyn (niece of Theoden) end up badly injured, but Aragorn heals them. Now the last fase of the battle starts. Almost every creature that can fight heads for Mordor to give the final blow to Sauron his armies under the leadership of Aragorn, the almost-king of Middle Earth. After being paralyzed by Shelob, and wrongly pronounced dead by Sam, Frodo is taken by the orcs. Fortunately they couldn’t find the ring because Sam took in to finish the task they started. After hitting himself on the head lots of times for his stupidity, Sam releases Frodo and set off to do the last part of their journey. They are now in Mordor and Mount Doom is getting nearer every day. The ring takes its toll and Frodo is completely exhausted because the ring is becoming heavier and heavier. When they finally reach Mount Doom, Frodo gets taken over by the ring, and he doesn’t want to throw it in the fires anymore. When Sam tries to reason with him, Frodo knocks him out and flees. But he stumbles upon an unwelcome friend. After a huge fight, Gollum bites the finger with the ring of Frodo’s hand but not paying attention to the huge gap beside him, Gollum came, Gollum saw, Gollum concurred, but then Gollum fell in the fires of Mount Doom, along with the ring. Sauron is defeated. And so are the 8 Nazgul that are left and whom are terrorizing the armies of the good guys. Their spirits can finally rest, and so can the entire folk of Middle Earth. The eight Companions have all survived, one missing a finger. After a huge feast where Aragorn, now called Elessar, takes the crown, the seven Companions head back for their homes. However, the Hobbits get an unpleasant welcome when they reach their land. Everything is ruined and rampaged. They find out Saruman has taken over. But not for long. After being thrown out by the Hobbits under the lead of Merry and Pippin, Wormtongue, seriously irritated by his boss Saruman, sleds the old wizard’s throat and kills himself by breaking his neck after a fall. Gandalf is going away for, probably, a long long sleep. Gimli and Legolas visit every corner of Middle Earth together. Merry marries (lol) and becomes head of something, I’m not sure what it is. Pippin becomes mayor. Sam marries his love of his life Rose and they get 2 children. Frodo lives with the Gamgies for the rest of his life, until he heads with Gandalf and Bilbo for the Grey Harbours, where they take a ship to an unknown land and stay there for the rest of their lives. And Aragorn/Elessar makes Middle Earth peaceful again. He gets respect fom every inhabitant and is called the best king ever. He and his elf-wife Arwen get two sons. This was the story of The Ring and fortunately, for most characters, all well, ends well. Characters: First, I’m going to describe the fellowship as it left from Rivendell. Frodo Baggins: The ring bearer. A hobbit of kind and adventurous nature. He lives with his uncle and friends in Hobbiton, and so far has led a happy life. After his uncle Bilbo left the ring to Frodo, he was set upon a heavy task. To bring the ring to Mordor and throw it in Mount Doom. However, the task becomes heavier because the ring sucks the happiness out of its bearer. We see Frodo change from a merry hobbit into a serious, frightened hobbit. Thanks to his companion Samwise Gamgee, he remains himself. Samwise Gamgee: Faithful companion of Frodo. Sam, born as a son of a gardener, inherited his fathers skills and became the gardener of Frodo and Bilbo Baggins. His life makes a huge change when he ‘accidentally’ hears Gandalf and Frodo talk about the ring, and is forced to come along. He takes its task as Frodo’s protector (which Gandalf has given him) very seriously, and stays with Frodo to the very end of the incredible journey. If it wasn’t for this hobbit, Frodo would be long dead. Gandalf the Grey, Mithrandir (elvish): the Wizard
Eowin: Falls in love with Aragorn, but eventually marries with Faramir. Grima Wormtongue: Manipulator of Théoden and secret ally of Saruman. Haldir: Warrior of Lothlorien. The Nazgul: The nine Men doomed to die. However, their spirits lived on, doomed to serve Lord Sauron. They were once proud kings of nine lands, but were slowly taken over by their rings. Now their task is to find the Ring Bearer and bring him to Sauron. The Narrator is the all knowing J.R.R. Tolkien himself, for he sometimes says something in the book that will happen later on. Time: The story is told in Hobbit-counting years. (does that make sense to you?) It’s the year 3001, I think, and the whole story takes about 4 months. Place: the place is of course Middle Earth. Their journey goes through the Shire, Rivendell, Rohan, Isengard, Gondor and so on. Theme: This story is mainly about courage, I think, the courage of Frodo, the little hobbit. It is also about not underestimating the little things, as Sauron did with the hobbits. And finally it is about the fight between good and evil. Opinion: I think this book is the best book one has ever written. It totally takes you out of the ‘ordinary’ world. The story has a character for every type of reader. I myself, am the most fond of Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas and therefore find the parts including them the most fun to read. There’s a lot a person can say about this book but I can only advice someone to read it too, because I’m not very much of a reader, but totally got into this never boring story.
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