The Fellowship of the Ring

The Fellowship of the Ring is the first of three volumes of the epic novel The Lord of the Rings by the English author J. R. R. Tolkien. It takes place in the fictional universe Middle-earth. It was originally published on July 24, 1954 in the United Kingdom. The volume consists of a Prologue "Concerning Hobbits, and other matters" followed by Book I and Book II.

Title and publication note

Tolkien conceived of The Lord of the Rings as a single volume with six sections he called "books" along with extensive appendices. The original publisher made the decision to split the work into three parts. It was also the publisher's decision to place the fifth and sixth books and the appendices into one volume under the title The Return of the King, in reference to Aragorn's assumption of the throne of Gondor. Tolkien indicated he would have preferred The War of the Ring as a title, as it gave away less of the story.

Before the decision to publish The Lord of the Rings in three volumes was made, Tolkien had hoped to publish the novel in one volume, or combined with The Silmarillion. At this stage he planned to title the individual books. The discarded title for Book I was The Return of the Shadow or The Ring Sets Out. Book II was titled The Fellowship of the Ring or The Ring Goes South.

Plot summary

The Prologue is meant primarily to help people who have not read The Hobbit understand the events of that book, along with some other information that the author felt is relevant to set the stage for the novel.

Book I

The first chapter in the book begins quite lightly, following the tone of The Hobbit, which is more of a children's story than The Lord of the Rings. Bilbo is celebrating his 111^th (or eleventy-first, as it is called here) birthday on the same day that Frodo Baggins, his heir, is celebrating his 33^rd birthday (his 'coming of age'). At the birthday party, Bilbo disappears after his speech, to the surprise of all. Bilbo departs from the Shire, the land of the Hobbits, for what he calls a permanent holiday. He leaves his remaining belongings including his home, Bag End and, after some persuasion by the wizard Gandalf, the Ring he had found on his adventures (with which he used to make himself invisible), to Frodo. Gandalf warns Frodo to keep the Ring safe and secret from others, and leaves on business.

Over the next seventeen years Gandalf visits Frodo; staying briefly before going off again. Then one spring night Gandalf arrives to alert Frodo to the darker aspects of the Ring which Bilbo had previously only used to make himself invisible: it is the One Ring of Sauron, the Dark Lord. Forged by Sauron himself, the Ring was used by Sauron to subdue and rule Middle-earth. In the War of the Last Alliance, Sauron was defeated by the Elven King Gil-galad and Elendil, High King of Gondor, though they themselves perished in the deed. The Ring was cut off from Sauron by Isildur, son of Elendil. Sauron was thus overthrown and he fled, and so, for many years, peace returned to Middle-earth. But the Ring itself was not destroyed: Isildur kept the Ring for himself after cutting it from Sauron. However, Isildur was slain in the Battle of the Gladden Fields and the Ring was lost in the Great River, Anduin; whereupon it came into the hands of the creature Gollum, who possessed the Ring for many years. The Ring then passed to Bilbo Baggins, as told in The Hobbit, and so passes into the hands of Frodo. Sauron had now arisen once again, and had returned to his stronghold in the land of Mordor, and was exerting all his power to find the Ring. Gandalf details the evil powers of the Ring, and its ability to influence the bearer and those near him, if it is borne for too long a time. Gandalf warns that the Ring is no longer safe in the Shire because, after some investigation of his own, Gandalf has gleaned from Gollum himself that Gollum had gone to Mordor, where he was captured and was tortured into revealing to Sauron that a Hobbit named Baggins from the Shire possesses the Ring. Heeding Gandalf's advice, Frodo decides that it is best to remove the Ring from the Shire. Gandalf hopes Frodo can reach the elf-haven of Rivendell, where he believes Frodo and the Ring will be safe from Sauron, at least for a while, and where those of most concern of Middle-Earth can decide the fate of the Ring. Sam Gamgee, Frodo's gardener, is discovered listening in on the conversation. Out of loyalty to his master, Sam decides to accompany Frodo on his journey.

Over the summer Frodo makes plans to leave his home at Bag End, under the guise that he is moving to a remote region of the Shire to retire. He makes plans to "move" in the Autumn after Bilbo's and his birthday. Helping with the plans are Frodo's friends Peregrin Took (or Pippin for short), Meriadoc Brandybuck (Merry), Samwise Gamgee (Sam), and Fredegar Bolger (Fatty). However, Frodo does not tell them of his true intentions to leave the Shire, nor does he tell them about the Ring.

At midsummer, Gandalf informs Frodo that he must leave on pressing business, but will return before Frodo leaves. Frodo enjoys his last few weeks at home awaiting the return of Gandalf. But as his birthday and departure approach, Gandalf is not seen or heard from. Regretfully, Frodo decides to leave without Gandalf. Merry and Fatty take the last of Frodo's possessions by cart to his new home in Crickhollow. Frodo, Sam, and Pippin go by foot using the less used roads to travel unnoticed.

On their journey the three hobbits encounter the Black Riders; Ringwraiths or the Nazgûl who serve Sauron. There are nine such Ringwraiths and are "the most terrible servants of the Dark Lord." The hobbits discover that the Nazgûl are looking for Frodo and the Ring. But with help of some Elves and Farmer Maggot they eventually reach Crickhollow on the eastern borders of the Shire. There Merry, Pippin, Sam, and Fatty reveal that they know of Frodo's plan to leave the Shire and of the existence of the Ring. Sam, Merry, and Pippin decide to leave with Frodo, while Fatty stays behind as a decoy.

The Hobbits, in hopes of eluding the Nazgûl, travel through the Old Forest and Barrow-downs, and with the assistance of Tom Bombadil, are able to reach the village of Bree, where they meet Strider, a friend of Gandalf who becomes their guide to Rivendell.

Even with Strider's help, this portion of the journey is not without further hardships. The worst of these occurs when, while at the hill of Weathertop, five of the Nazgûl attack the travellers. Frodo is stabbed by the chief of the Nazgûl (the Witch-king of Angmar), with a cursed blade. The Nazgûl are driven off for a while by Strider. Part of the knife remains inside Frodo, causing him to become increasingly ill as the journey to Rivendell continues. Strider leads the hobbits on old paths avoiding the main road. As the travellers near their destination they meet Glorfindel, a mighty Elf-Lord from Rivendell, who helps them reach the River Bruinen on the border of Rivendell. But the Nazgûl, now at their full strength of nine, spring a trap at the Ford of Bruinen. Glorfindel's horse outruns the pursuers and carries Frodo across the Ford. As the Nazgûl attempt to follow, a giant wave in the shape of charging horses appears bearing down on the Nazgûl. The flood was commanded by Elrond, the mighty Lord of Rivendell. The Nazgûl, trapped between the rushing water and seeing Glorfindel, an Elf-Lord revealed in his wrath, are swept away by the river, as Frodo finally collapses into unconsciousness on the riverbank.

Book II

Book II opens at Rivendell in the house of Elrond. Frodo is healed by Elrond and discovers that Bilbo has been residing in Rivendell. A Council is held by Elrond and is attended by Gandalf and many others, including Frodo and Bilbo. Elrond tells the history of the One Ring of Sauron, and about the War of the Last Alliance, and how the Ring was lost to Middle-Earth for a time after the Battle of the Gladden Fields. Gandalf continues the tale, and narrates how the Ring was found by Gollum. Bilbo and Frodo narrate their own adventures about the finding of the Ring and Frodo's journey to Rivendell. Gandalf also explains why he could not accompany Frodo from the Shire. He had gone to Isengard, where the powerful wizard Saruman dwells, to seek help and counsel. Saruman was head of the White Council and the greatest of the Istari. He had long studied Sauron's arts, and the lore of the One Ring. However, Saruman has turned traitor, as Gandalf finds out much to his dismay; Saruman now desires the Ring for himself. Saruman imprisons Gandalf in his tower, Orthanc, rightly suspecting that Gandalf knew where the Ring was. Gandalf, however, does not yield and manages to escape from Orthanc. He learns that Saruman is not yet in Sauron's service, and was mustering his own force of Orcs. Gandalf spreads the tidings that Saruman was now a foe, and heads towards Rivendell, knowing that he could not reach the Shire in time to accompany Frodo. In the Council, a plan is hatched to cast the One Ring into the fires of Mount Doom in Mordor and destroy the Ring and end Sauron's power for good. Frodo is chosen to be the Ring-Bearer, and sets forth from Rivendell with eight companions: two Men, Strider (revealed to be Aragorn, Isildur's heir) and Boromir, son of the Steward of the land of Gondor; the Prince of the Silvan Elves of Mirkwood, Legolas; Frodo's old friend and powerful wizard, Gandalf; Gimli the Dwarf; and Frodo's three Hobbit companions. These Nine Walkers were chosen to represent all the free races of Middle-Earth and as a balance to the Nazgûl. They are also accompanied by Bill the Pony, whom Strider and the Hobbits acquired in Bree as a pack horse. Their attempt to cross the Misty Mountains is foiled by heavy snow, and they are forced to take a path under the mountains via the mines of Moria, an ancient dwarf kingdom, now full of orcs and other evil creatures. During the battle that ensues, Gandalf battles a Balrog of Morgoth, and both fall into an abyss.

The remaining eight members of the Fellowship escape from Moria and head toward the elf-haven of Lothlórien, where they are given gifts from the rulers Celeborn and Galadriel that in many cases prove useful later during the Quest. After leaving Lórien, the Ring's evil and corrupting powers begin to show. When Frodo is alone for a while to decide the future course of the Fellowhip, Boromir tries to take the Ring from him. Frodo, to escape from Boromir, ends up putting on the Ring. While the rest of the Fellowship scatter to hunt for Frodo, Frodo decides that the Fellowship has to be dissolved, for the Ring was too evil and was setting to work within the Fellowhip itself. Frodo decides to depart secretly for Mordor, but is joined by the Sam and they set off together to Mordor. The Fellowship of the Ring is dissolved

Chapter summaries

Book I

• I - A Long-expected Party - details Bilbo and Frodo's birthday party, ending with Bilbo leaving the Shire. The name is a reference to "An Unexpected Party," the first chapter of The Hobbit.
• II - The Shadow of the Past - Gandalf reveals to Frodo the true nature of the Ring and that it must be taken to Mordor and destroyed. Sam, who has been listening at the window, agrees to accompany Frodo.
• III - Three is Company - Gandalf leaves the Shire for a short trip, but promises to return. Frodo sells Bag End to further the ruse that he is broke and thus retiring to a small house at Crickhollow in the area beyond Bucklebury in Buckland. In reality, Frodo plans to leave the Shire from Buckland without it being noticed. Mysteriously, Gandalf does not return, and so Frodo, Sam and Pippin set out walking through the East Farthing of the Shire towards Buckland and encounter a Black Rider. They also meet Gildor Inglorion an elf, with other elves, who warn them to fear the Black Riders.
• IV - A Short Cut to Mushrooms - The walking party meets Farmer Maggot, a fierce old hobbit from Frodo's childhood. Frodo finds that Maggot actually has a kind nature and also learns that the Black Riders are searching other parts of the Shire for 'Baggins.' Maggot sneaks the party to the Buckland Ferry in his waggon, where they meet up with Merry.
• V - A Conspiracy Unmasked - At Frodo's new house at Crickhollow, Frodo wrestles with how to tell Sam, Merry, Pippin, and Fredegar 'Fatty' Bolger, about his quest, only to learn that they have known much of it all along, All the hobbits except Fredegar decide to leave the next day through the Old Forest, while Fredegar remains behind to act as a decoy and inform Gandalf of Frodo's plans. The Old Forest is rumoured to be a dangerous place, but Frodo wants to avoid the main roads at all costs in order to evade the Black Riders.
• VI - The Old Forest - Although trying to avoid it, the hobbits are 'herded' by the trees to the River Withywindle, the "queerest part of the whole wood." The hobbits all suddenly fall asleep, lulled by the spells of Old Man Willow. Merry and Pippin are trapped inside the evil tree, but are freed by Tom Bombadil.
• VII - In the House of Tom Bombadil - The hobbits are invited to Tom's house and meet his "pretty lady," Goldberry. Tom gives them food and lodging and tells them stories about nature and history. Interestingly, Tom is not affected by the One Ring; it can neither make him invisible, nor hide Frodo from him. Tom tells the hobbits how to safely travel the Barrow-downs without running afoul of the evil wights who haunt them.
• VIII - Fog on the Barrow-downs - Travelling through the Barrow-downs, the hobbits are captured by a Barrow-wight, then rescued (again) by Tom Bombadil. The hobbits are given special weapons from the barrow: enchanted daggers of the Men of Westernesse that were forged to fight Sauron and his minions, including the Witch-king of Angmar.
• IX - At the Sign of the Prancing Pony - The hobbits reach the Inn of the Prancing Pony at Bree, where Frodo uses a false name, Underhill, rather than Baggins. Still, all the hobbits behave in a naïve fashion: after supper, Merry decides to go for a stroll while the other three go to the Common Room for a drink. There Frodo meets Strider, a menacing man who seems to know much about Frodo. Then Pippin, forgetting the need for secrecy, begins a tale of Bilbo. Frodo sings a song in order to stop Pippin from talking too much. In the middle of Frodo's song, he slips and falls, and his finger 'accidentally' slips through the Ring (the Ring may be trying to reveal Frodo), causing Frodo to vanish and starting a bigger commotion among the guests than Pippin's tale would have done. Frodo escapes into a corner, where Strider tells him that several people in the Inn saw what happened. Strider uses this to persuade Frodo to agree to meet with him in Frodo's rooms. Soon after, the innkeeper, Barliman Butterbur, also requests a private audience with Frodo.
• X - Strider - Strider, after convincing Frodo he means no harm, pledges to save the hobbits from peril if he can. Butterbur gives Frodo a letter from Gandalf, which Butterbur had failed to deliver to him at the Shire as he was asked to by Gandalf. It tells Frodo that Strider is actually Aragorn, a friend of Gandalf's and confirms that Frodo may trust Strider. Shortly afterwards Merry runs into the room, frightened, having seen people from Bree talking to some Black Riders. Strider decides that their chambers aren't safe and, after setting up decoys, has Butterbur move the hobbits to another room.
• XI - A Knife in the Dark - In Buckland, Fredegar Bolger flees the house before the Black Riders can enter and rouses Buckland. Some Bree folk, agents of the Black Riders, attack the Inn at night, destroying the room the hobbits were supposed to stay in and scaring away all the horses in Bree, including the hobbit's ponies. The hobbits are forced to buy a scrawny pony from Bill Ferny (a spy for the Riders). With Strider, they quickly leave the town, passing through the Midgewater Marshes to reach a famous hill called Weathertop. Disaster follows when the party is attacked by five Black Riders. Frodo, succumbing to the Riders' command, puts on the Ring. He then tries to fight them off but to no avail. The Nazgûl's leader (the Witch-king of Angmar - Frodo now notices that he wears a crown), stabs Frodo with a Morgul-blade, poisoning him. Then the Riders seem to be driven off with fire by Strider. They believe, however, that they have only to wait until Frodo's wound overcomes him.
• XII - Flight to the Ford - Strider attempts to heal Frodo with a plant called athelas which relieves Frodo's pain, but Strider knows that only Elrond, Master of Rivendell, can heal this wound. On the way, the party passes the trolls that were turned to stone in The Hobbit. They get closer to Rivendell with no sign of the Riders. Eventually, they meet the Elf-lord Glorfindel from Rivendell, who has fought the Riders before and, as a High Elf, is feared by them. Glorfindel then accompanies them to the Ford of Rivendell. When they are within sight of the Ford, the Riders close in upon the party. Frodo is forced to flee on Glorfindel's horse. Frodo tries to make a last stand at the River, but is overcome by his wound and the power of the King of the Black Riders. The Riders are almost upon him when the River rises up in a flood caused by Elrond and Gandalf and washes the Black Riders away as Frodo falls unconscious.

Book II

• I - Many Meetings - After awakening from a sleep of four days, Frodo meets Gandalf and Bilbo again, as well as Glóin (one of the dwarves from The Hobbit), Elrond and others.
• II - The Council of Elrond - A council is attended by many emissaries of the Free Peoples; Gandalf tells the story of his escape from Saruman; they decide that the Ring must be destroyed and Frodo offers to take it to Mordor, and Gandalf and several others agree to accompany him. During the meeting Elrond proclaims the formation of the Fellowship of the Ring.
• III - The Ring goes South - The nine members of the Fellowship travel south through Hollin; they try to take the road over the mountain Caradhras but are forced to turn back.
• IV - A Journey in the Dark - They travel to the gates of Moria, where they have to deal with the Watcher in the Water, an aquatic monster in the lake in front of it. Gandalf eventually opens the doors. Throughout their journey in Moria, Frodo hears strange footsteps and spots glowing eyes in the darkness. After passing through the city of Dwarrowdelf, the Fellowship reaches the tomb of Balin.
• V - The Bridge of Khazad-dûm - Attacked by orcs in Balin's tomb, they make their way to the narrow bridge of Khazad-dûm, pursued by orcs and trolls. Before crossing the bridge, they encounter a Balrog. Gandalf holds the Balrog off, and both fall into the abyss, much to the dismay of the company.
• VI - Lothlórien - The company meets the elves of Lórien. The elves reluctantly agree to let Gimli the dwarf pass. Aragorn takes Frodo to the hill of Cerin Amroth.
• VII - The Mirror of Galadriel - The company meets Celeborn and Galadriel. Frodo and Sam are shown the mirror of Galadriel, in which they see several strange visions including the destruction of the Shire and the Eye of Sauron. Galadriel gives encouraging advice to Frodo and Sam.
• VIII - Farewell to Lórien - The elves give the company cloaks, waybread and other gifts; they leave Lórien in boats, travelling down the Great River Anduin.
• IX - The Great River - While travelling, the Fellowship notices Gollum following them along the river on a log; as the group travels, they must come to grips with several choices: they can either cross the east bank of the river and continue on the road towards Mordor, or they can go towards Gondor, and help fight off Mordor's forces. The third choice is the breaking of the Fellowship.
• X - The Breaking of the Fellowship - The company arrives at Parth Galen; they still face the various paths before them. The choice is given to Frodo, who thinks it over alone. Alone, that is until Boromir arrives, and attempts to convince Frodo to go towards Gondor. When that fails, he tries to take the Ring from Frodo, who puts it on to escape him. When Frodo does not arrive back at camp, and Boromir reveals what has happened, other members of the company scatter in an attempt to find the Ringbearer. Frodo and Sam go across the river and head towards Mordor alone.

Members of the Fellowship of the Ring

See also: List of Middle-earth characters

In The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien mostly refers to the group as the "Company of the Ring", or "the Company" for short, rather than "Fellowship of the Ring" or "Fellowship". This is demonstrated by Robert Foster's The Complete Guide to Middle-earth, which lists more page references for "Company..." than "Fellowship..." (and in fact the group appears under the entry "Company of the Ring".) However, since "Fellowship of the Ring" was used as the title of the first volume of the book, it has become the familiar term.

See also

• The Lord of the Rings (animated film)
• The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (live-action film)
• The Lord of the Rings (stage musical)

External links

• Detailed summary and analysis of The Fellowship of the Ring
• Detailed summary and analysis of characters, themes, and symbols of The Fellowship of the Ring
• The Fellowship of the Ring at the Internet Book List