The event
The returned hobbits rouse the Shire and overthrow Saruman’s ruffians.
Consequences
The Shire is healed but changed; Saruman and Gríma die there, and Frodo’s role is to restrain vengeance.
Participants
CharacterFrodo Baggins
The hobbit of the Shire who carried the One Ring across Middle-earth to Mount Doom and destroyed it.
CharacterSamwise Gamgee
Frodo’s loyal gardener and companion, who carried him — and, briefly, the Ring — to the end of the quest.
CharacterMeriadoc Brandybuck
A clever Brandybuck who rode to war with Rohan and helped slay the Witch-king at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields.
CharacterPeregrin Took
The youngest hobbit of the Fellowship, who became a knight and guard of Gondor and saved Faramir from Denethor’s pyre.
CharacterSaruman
The chief of the Wizards, whose study of Sauron’s power corrupted him into a would-be rival lord.
CharacterGríma Wormtongue
Théoden’s treacherous counsellor, secretly in Saruman’s service.
Place
Sources
The Lord of the Rings · 1954–55
Three volumes: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, The Return of the King.