Synopsis
Sixty years after Bilbo’s journey, his nephew Frodo inherits the ring Bilbo found under the mountains — and learns from Gandalf that it is the One Ring, forged by Sauron to master all others. Pursued by the Nazgûl, Frodo leaves the Shire with Sam, Merry and Pippin, gathers allies at Bree and Rivendell, and there learns that the Ring can only be destroyed in the fires of Mount Doom. So begins the Fellowship of the Ring: nine walkers, elves and men, dwarves and hobbits, set against the Nine Riders. The volume closes in grief and division at the falls of Rauros, as the company is scattered and Frodo and Sam row on alone toward Mordor.
Setting
The Shire, the Old Forest, Bree, the Weather Hills, Rivendell, the Misty Mountains, Moria and Lothlórien.
Chapters
1.A Long-Expected Party
Bilbo’s farewell feast marks his hundred-and-eleventh birthday and his sudden departure, leaving the Shire and the Ring behind.
2.The Shadow of the Past
Gandalf explains the true history of the Ring, the forging of the rings and the Danger of Sauron’s search; Frodo must leave the Shire.
3.Three is Company
Frodo slips away eastward with Sam, and the Black Riders are first glimpsed upon the roads and in the woods.
4.The Old Forest
The hobbits cut through the Old Forest with Pippin’s recklessness and are nearly swallowed by Old Man Willow.
5.In the House of Tom Bombadil
Bombadil rescues the hobbits and offers a strange reminder that some powers lie far outside the war of the Ring.
6.A Knife in the Dark
At the ruined watchtower of Weathertop Frodo is wounded by the Witch-king’s Morgul-blade, a hurt that never fully heals.
7.Flight to the Ford
Glorfindel finds the company, and Frodo is carried across the Bruinen before the flood-horses and Elrond’s enchantment sweep the Riders away.
8.The Council of Elrond
Envoys of many peoples debate the fate of the Ring; Frodo volunteers to bear it, and the Fellowship of nine is chosen.
9.The Bridge of Khazad-dûm
In the Mines of Moria the company is assailed; Gandalf faces the Balrog on the narrow bridge and falls into the abyss.
10.The Mirror of Galadriel
In Lothlórien Galadriel shows Frodo and Sam visions past and possible, and refuses the Ring offered freely to her.
11.The Breaking of the Fellowship
At Amon Hen the company is divided in battle; Boromir dies defending the hobbits, and Frodo and Sam cross the river alone.
Themes
- friendship and loyalty
- the corrupting lure of power
- providence and pity
- the small overcoming the great
- loss of innocence
Where to go next
Publication note
Publication note
Sources
The Lord of the Rings · 1954–55
Three volumes: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, The Return of the King.