JRR. Tolkien is an absolute genius. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring is the first novel in the trilogy of the Lord of the Rings. (L.O.T.R. was ment to be published as one book, but was broken into three parts because of its sheer size.) In the story, young Frodo Baggins, a hobbit, inherits a magical ring from his uncle, Bilbo. Frodo soon learns from the wizard Gandalf that his ring is no ordinary ring. It is the One Ring, forged by the Dark Lord Sauron in the fires of Mount Doom, over three thousand years ago. Sauron, an ancient spirit of unimaginable power and cruelty, poured all of his hatred and power into the Ring. The One Ring is pure evil. It was made to control many other rings, of lesser power. These other rings were given to the different peoples of Middle Earth, and allowed them to create many wonderful works, like Lothlorien, the home of some of the Elves.
The One Ring becomes all the more frightening when is becomes known that it has a will of its own and can drive men insane. Frodo must take the Ring to Rivendale, the home of the elves under the leadership of Lord Elrond. The entire way to Rivendale, Frodo is hounded by servants of the Dark Lord, who has come back to life after being killed three thousand years ago. The most evil servants are the Nazgul, who are the Ring Wraiths. These "wraiths" once were kings of men, but were given nine rings of power by the Dark Lord. One by one they fell into Darkness (evil under the control of Sauron). They now know nothing except the pursuit of the Ring. The wraiths are niether living nor dead. Frodo finaly makes his way to Rivendale, where Elrond holds a secret council to determine the fate of the Ring. It is agreed by all save Boromir, a man from Gondor, that the Ring must be taken deep into the land of Mordor (the home of the Dark Lord) and cast back into the Cracks of Doom. Only there could the Ring be destroyed. After much debate and little progress, Frodo volunteeres to take the Ring to Mordor. The wizard Gandalf, the elf Legolis, the dwarf Gimli, the ranger Aragorn (earlier in the book known as Strider), Boromir, and three of Frodos fellow hobbits agree to help Frodo destroy the Ring. Elrond declares them to be the Fellowship of the Ring. The fellowship must endure many hardships along the way to Mordor, including Gandalf's falling into shadow in the Mines of Moria and Boromir's death in Amon Hen in the Ancient realm of Gondor. This is a thoroughly fascinating tale of the contest between good and evil. |