The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Summary and Analysis

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (1892–1973) was an English writer who wrote some of the most influential fantasy books of all time: The Hobbit, and the Lord of the Rings trilogy, as well as other books in the Middle-Earth universe. He took inspiration for these books and the world of Middle-Earth from experiences in his life. For example, Bilbo Baggins' home, Bag End, is named after his aunt's farm of the same name. His experience of hiking in the Alps inspired the Misty Mountains, and his experiences in World War I partly inspired the Fall of Gondolin. Tolkien wrote The Lord of the Rings from 1937 to 1949.

In the first chapter of The Fellowship of the Ring, we learn about Bilbo Baggins, a rich, eccentric hobbit who lives in The Shire. He is turning 111 years old and will depart the Shire in search for adventure, leaving his belongings to his cousin, whom he adopted, Frodo Baggins. At the birthday party, Bilbo uses a magic ring that lets him go invisible to escape the party and get back to his home, where he is unwilling to leave it to Frodo with the rest of his belongings until Gandalf, his wizard friend, convinces him to do so. This chapter starts the exposition, and introduces some characters which will be important later on in the story, like Frodo and Gandalf.

In the second chapter, the exposition continues with a fast-forward to Frodo's fiftieth year, the same age as Bilbo was when he began his adventures. Gandalf arrives after a long absence and tells Frodo that the ring that Bilbo had left him was one of the Great Rings, magical rings created for Elves, Dwarves and Men. This specific Ring belonged to the Dark Lord Sauron, the main antagonist of this story, and if he managed to regain it, he would be able to rule the world. Frodo suggests destroying the ring, and Gandalf tells him that the only way to do that is to cast it into the fires of Mount Doom, where the ring was forged. Frodo decides to hold on to the Ring until Gandalf can find someone to dispose of it, even if that means leaving the Shire. They find Sam, his gardener, eavesdropping, and he decides to go with Frodo to help him keep the Ring safe.

This section wraps up the exposition by introducing another main character (Sam) and introducing the conflict and main antagonist. The One Ring, and the rest of the Great Rings that were corrupted by Sauron (three of the Dwarven Rings, as the other four were destroyed by dragons, and the nine presented to Men) are a symbol for the corrupting nature of power, as we find out that the more one wears these rings, the more they fade into the Shadows. In the case of the One Ring, it turned Sméagol from a normal hobbit into the murdering, vile creature known as Gollum. The rising action begins when Frodo finds out about the Ring and has to do something about it. The conflict is that between good and evil, where good is represented by Frodo, Gandalf, and the rest of the people whose objective it is to destroy the Ring, and evil is represented by Sauron, the Ring, and his minions.

In the third chapter, the rising action begins when Gandalf leaves to get news outside the Shire, promising that he will be back for Frodo's fiftieth birthday, when he plans to leave Bag End, selling it to the Sackville-Bagginses and moving to his childhood home of Buckland, near the borders of the Shire, from which he will be able to leave the Shire unnoticed. However, Gandalf doesn't return in time for the party, and Frodo, Sam, and Pippin leave to go to Buckland. On the second day of their travels, they come across a Black Rider who appeared to have been sniffing to find Frodo; however, he leaves before the hobbit is discovered. Later, they encounter a Black Rider again, which dismounts its horse and moves menacingly towards the hobbits. However, Elves arrive and the Black Rider flees. The Elves feed the hobbits and Frodo talks with their leader, who doesn't want to tell him about the Black Riders but encourages him to stick to the plan he made with Gandalf.

As previously mentioned, the Ring is a symbol for power that can corrupt, and these Black Riders are kings of Men who have been corrupted by the power of the Rings that they were given and are now Sauron's minions. They are searching for the Ring to bring back to their master, and represent workers of evil. In this case, the Elves, who save Frodo from the Ringwraiths multiple times throughout this book, represent workers of good. This section also introduces Pippin, another important character.

In the fourth chapter, Frodo, Sam, and Pippin leave the place where the Elves were the night before. They decide to cut through a forest to shorten their road, but miscalculate and come out of the forest near the property of a farmer that Frodo had gotten in trouble with when he was younger. In the forest, they saw another Black Rider and had heard a strange, unnatural scream which they thought came from one of the Riders. Farmer Maggot lets the hobbits stay at his home and tells them of a Rider who came to ask about Baggins. They eat dinner at his home, and he takes them to the Ferry in his cart, where they meet Merry, who had come searching for them. At Frodo's new home, Merry and Pippin reveal that they knew all about the Ring and Frodo's plan to leave the Shire to destroy it from Sam, and they were coming along to help him complete his quest.

This section sort of introduces the theme of friendship and fellowship (it was in the title of the book!). Even though the theme does appear before in this book, it really begins here, when we find out that Merry and Pippin are willing to go into danger with Frodo and Sam to help them. The theme of hospitality also appears when Farmer Maggot helps Frodo, Sam, and Pippin when they come to his house.

Next, the hobbits go into the Old Forest to avoid the open road, where they might meet the Black Riders. The Forest is very dark and dank and seems very alive. The forest and the road represent the unknown, where adventure can be found. In fact, the trees even deliberately drop branches and try to dissuade the travelers from entering the forest. Later, the hobbits come to a tree standing next to a river. They all fall asleep next to the tree, except for Sam, who comes back to find Frodo in the river and Merry and Pippin swallowed by the cracks in the tree. However, Merry and Pippin are saved by Tom Bombadil, who is traveling on the path and gets them out of the tree. Later, they visit his home, and he seems to know about their quest and tells them many stories. Tom is also not affected or tempted by the Ring.

Tom Bombadil appears to be an embodiment of the master of Nature, as he mentions having been in Middle-Earth before the Elves awoke and having seen the first raindrop and the first acorn, etc. Tom is also mentioned as not owning anything, but being the Master over the things in his land. In this case, Tom doesn't need or want anything the Ring has to offer, so he isn't affected by it, and can even see Frodo when he is wearing the Ring.

After the hobbits leave Tom Bombadil's house, they enter the Barrow-downs, an ancient, haunted land that is dotted with barrows: tombs where kings of the distant past were buried, and are often haunted by Barrow-wights. The Barrow-downs are another of the various challenges the hobbits must overcome before they complete the first stage of their quest, so far, the Black Riders and the hostile Old Forest were also similar obstacles.

At noon, the hobbits decide to rest at a large stone pillar embedded in the earth, and they unknowingly fall asleep and awake later, when fog rolls in. They get lost in the fog and separated, and are caught by a Barrow-wight. However, before it kills them, Frodo manages to cut off the Barrow-wight's hand and Tom Bombadil shows up to save them. After returning their ponies to them, he leads them to the edge of his land and tells them the way to go to the Prancing Pony, an inn in the town of Bree, where we will meet another important character.

This section continues the theme of friendship, which has been prevalent so far, as Tom Bombadil, who saved them before, comes to do so again. However, this section is also a good example of the excellent worldbuilding in Tolkien's stories. The inclusion of the Barrow-downs and the Old Forest makes the hobbits' quest much more interesting than a quick cut to the Prancing Pony, which is where a much more important scene happens. The inclusion of these areas also make the world of Middle-Earth more believable, as this world appears to have a long, mysterious history that isn't directly presented to the reader, but is very intriguing.

The hobbits arrive at the Prancing Pony, an inn where they plan to stay for the night. They are given a hobbit-sized room, and everyone, except for Merry, decides to go to the common room. There, they meet other hobbits as well as men. One such man is Barliman Butterbur, the innkeeper, who seems to have a slight memory of the name Underhill that Frodo is using to not be recognized. This is an example of showing the reader that Barliman knows something about this business, but not telling us directly.

Frodo meets a Ranger named Strider in the common room, who also seems to know about him and tells him to stop Pippin and Sam from talking so much because they might endanger him. Frodo decides to sing a silly song to attract attention away from his friends, but he unfortunately manages to put the Ring on and disappears. Later, Strider tells Frodo that he knows of his quest and that the Black Riders are in the area, having passed through Bree.

This section continues the theme of the mysterious stranger. This theme is also present in the case of the Black Riders, Tom Bombadil, and Gandalf, to an extent. This section also introduces the theme of deceiving appearances, where Frodo uses an alias name to conceal his identity.

After the hobbits go back to their room, they meet Strider waiting there. He tells them that he wants to come with them because he knows of what they have in their possession. However, the hobbits are not sure of this suspicious-looking man who knows about them. This interaction with Strider tells us that he knows something of Frodo's quest, without explicitly telling the reader this information.

Butterbur then arrives, telling Frodo that Gandalf had given him a letter to be forwarded to the hobbit, but he forgot to send it to the Shire. The letter tells Frodo that Gandalf had important business elsewhere and told him to start off on his journey earlier than he did. It also tells him of a Ranger named Strider, whose real name is Aragorn, and who will help him on his journey.

This section furthers the themes of the mysterious stranger and deceiving appearances. Frodo mentions that he was not initially so suspicious of Aragorn because even though he looked foul, he seemed fair, where a servant of Sauron would look fair but seem foul.

The next morning, the hobbits find that their room had been attacked by the Black Riders during the night, and they were only saved because they followed Strider's instructions and trusted him. This section shows that trusting Strider, like Frodo initially did, was, after all, a good idea.

Later, the hobbits find that all their ponies had been stolen. They decide to buy the only pony available, one belonging to Bill Ferny, who they suspect had sold them out to the Black Riders. After a long trek in the wilderness, they make it to a large hill called Weathertop, where they are attacked by the Black Riders. Frodo gives in to the temptation to put on the Ring, and a Black Rider stabs him with a knife.

This section furthers the theme of exploring the wilderness, which was started previously in the Old Forest and the Barrow-downs. However, this time around, the hobbits have an experienced Ranger with them to show them the correct paths to take through the forests and swamplands.

After Frodo is stabbed, the hobbits and Strider decide to hurry to get to Rivendell so that Frodo's wound can be healed by the Elves there. Throughout their adventures towards the elf-city, Strider once again shows how useful he is as a companion in the wilderness, leading the hobbits towards Rivendell and helping to slow down Frodo's sickness by using Athelas.

In the wilderness, the hobbits come across the Three Trolls that Gandalf had turned to stone in The Hobbit. This is an allusion to a previous book that Tolkien had written. They meet an Elf named Gildor who lends Frodo his horse to be able to get away from the Black Riders. Later, the Riders chase Frodo, and he manages to get across the Ford of Bruinen, near Rivendell. When the Black Riders try to cross, they are swept away by a wave that comes down the river. Frodo then passes out of pain.

This section continues the theme of exploring the wilderness and that of actions and consequences. In this case, Frodo's action of putting on the Ring had the consequence of him getting stabbed and poisoned by the Black Rider.

Later, Frodo awakes in Rivendell. Gandalf tells him about how Elrond managed to heal him of the Ringwraith's knife wound, which left behind a splinter that was digging its way to his heart to turn him into a Ringwraith.

That day, a feast is held in honor of Frodo's recovery. There, he meets Glóin, one of the dwarves in The Hobbit, whose son, Gimli, will be an important character later in this story. He also meets Bilbo, who recites a really, really long poem about Ëarendil the Mariner, Elrond's father. Frodo also learns that Aragorn is actually one of the Dúnadan, the Men of the West, and is the descendant of the Kings of Númenor. Thus, the hidden identity of the Ranger is revealed.

This section continues, showing us the effects of the Ring on different people associated with it. When showing the Ring to Bilbo, the old hobbit tried to grab it from Frodo, who became very possessive towards it. This is a foreshadowing that Frodo will not be able to destroy the Ring when provided the opportunity.

The next day, Frodo, Gandalf, and Bilbo attend the Council of Elrond, where many other important figures in Middle-Earth are gathered to learn about the Ring and figure out what to do with it. This section shows how important it is to ally and team up against danger.

Elrond tells everyone about the Rings of Power, three of which were made for the elves, seven made for the dwarves, and nine made for kings of men. However, Sauron created One Ring, which had power over all the others except for the Three, which were hidden from him. Gandalf also tells about how he escaped from Saruman, a wizard who used to be good, but allied himself with Sauron and is now evil.

This section continues the theme of good being corrupted, and shows several scenarios of this corruption, in Saruman's alliance with Sauron, the Rings, and especially Isildur, who kept the One Ring after taking it from Sauron instead of destroying it. This is also happening to Frodo, as we saw earlier in the episode with Bilbo.

Gandalf also tells of what he did after escaping Saruman, namely, visiting Rohan, an important kingdom in Middle-Earth and how he got one of the best horses in the world from there, named Shadowfax. Later, he made his way back to the Shire, but found out that Frodo had left and was with Aragorn in the wilderness. This shows Gandalf's dedication to helping Frodo get the Ring to Rivendell, even though he could not physically be there when Frodo was on the way.

The council then has a discussion on what to do with the Ring. Some options they considered included giving it to Bombadil, throwing it into the Sea, sending it to Valinor, the land of the Elves far beyond the reaches of Sauron, and destroying it in the fires of Mordor, and the last option was deemed the best because it was the one that Sauron would least expect. Frodo volunteers to take the Ring to Mordor, and Sam volunteers to go with him.

This section concludes the Council of Elrond and continues the theme of allying against a greater danger. Later, a Fellowship will be created to take the Ring to Mordor, consisting of nine companions who volunteer to help Frodo on this journey. These companions include the four hobbits, Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin, as well as Aragorn, Gandalf, a man from Gondor (another important kingdom that is currently fighting against Mordor) named Boromir, Legolas, an Elf, and Gimli. This fellowship is a contrast to the nine Black Riders, which is a fellowship of evil men who serve Sauron.

After all the members of the Fellowship are selected, the day draws near when they must leave on their journey. Before leaving, Bilbo gives Frodo his sword Sting and the mithril chainmail he was given by Thorin. This section shows how Bilbo is passing on his adventurous legacy to Frodo, giving him the things he used in his adventure in The Hobbit.

Later, the Fellowship embarks on their journey, traveling South, from Rivendell to their eventual destination of Mordor. Eventually, they make it to Caradhras, a famed mountain underneath which lies the ancient abandoned dwarf-city of Moria. However, they cannot pass over Caradhras because of a snowstorm that traps them on the cliffside. After getting off the cliff, they make it to the foot of the mountain and decide to pursue a different path.

This section continues the theme of exploration and the worldbuilding that was present earlier in the book (especially in the sections with the Old Forest and the Barrow-downs). We are now finding out about more of Middle-Earth from these descriptions of the land which the Fellowship passes through.

After the Fellowship escapes the mountains, they make camp and try to decide what to do next. Boromir suggests going through the Gap of Rohan, a passageway between Isengard and Rohan to get to Gondor faster. However, this path is watched by Saruman, the traitorous wizard who trapped Gandalf. The only other option is through the mines of Moria, an ancient dwarf kingdom that had been abandoned for a long time. This section continues the worldbuilding of Middle-Earth by telling us about more locations within the world, which will be important later in the story.

Before they can finish debating where to go, they are attacked by wargs, a type of gigantic wolf that is used by orcs. After killing the leader of the wargs, they decide that the only option they have is to go to Moria, as they would be attacked by more wargs and even orcs if they tried to go through the Gap of Rohan. Later that night, the wargs attack again. The next morning, the Fellowship heads towards the gates of Moria, which they reach and manage to open. However, a creature living in a lake grabs Frodo before they manage to get into the mountain. They manage to free Frodo and get into Moria, and the creature destroys the gates, blocking them inside the ancient dwarf kingdom.

This section continues the themes of exploration and the value of teamwork. If Frodo had attempted this journey alone, he would not have even made it to Moria, but because of the efforts of the whole Fellowship, they managed to hike all the way here and survive the snows of Caradhras and the warg and lake dweller attacks.

The Fellowship starts its travels through Moria after a meal in the darkness. After walking a while through the ancient dwarf city, they come to a fork in the road that Gandalf does not remember. Frodo hears the sounds of footsteps in the cave when they are not moving, making him suspicious of pursuit. This section continues developing Gandalf's character as a trustworthy guide.

Pippin drops a stone into a well out of curiosity, and later, the Fellowship hears hammering sounds in the deep. Later, Gandalf figures out the correct way, and they ascend a staircase into a gigantic hall. In the hall, Gandalf and Gimli tell the rest of the Fellowship about Moria and how the Dwarves discovered mithril, a very rare and strong material that was extremely valuable. However, in their quest for mithril, the dwarves uncovered Durin's Bane, which drove them out of Moria.

This section continues telling us about Moria and tells us about why it was abandoned. Greed drove the dwarves to delve deeper, eventually uncovering a Balrog, an ancient demon, that drove them out of their city. This balrog became known as Durin's Bane.

The Fellowship discovers Balin's tomb and finds a tome nearby which tells of his colony's rise and fall, which happened when they were attacked by Orcs. Then, they hear drums in the deep and realize they are being attacked as well. This section reveals what happened to Balin's colony, something we found out about way back in Rivendell.

The Fellowship manages to escape the tomb by running down a staircase. At the bottom, they find the bridge leading out of Moria; however, they are confronted by Durin's Bane. Gandalf stays behind on the bridge to fight the balrog, and gets dragged down into the chasm underneath the bridge when the balrog falls off.

This section shows how evil multiplies on its own, as the balrog and the Orcs are not affiliated with either Sauron or Saruman, but they attack the travelers anyway. This section also shows the influence of the Ring over different forms of life, as an Orc attacks Ring-Bearer Frodo, who is running away, instead of the other members of the Fellowship, who are armed.

The Fellowship continues their adventures by visiting the Mirrormere, an ancient dwarf landmark which is very important to their culture. Aragorn helps Sam and Frodo, who were wounded in the fight at Balin's tomb, and they cross into the outskirts of Lothlorien. This section continues the worldbuilding of Middle-Earth by showing us an important landmark for the dwarves and one for the elves, the Nimrodel River.

Later, they meet some Elves, who let them in a treehouse to avoid the orcs that are searching for them. The next day, they enter Lothlorien, and the whole party is blindfolded until they reach the elf-city. When they arrive there, they see the city, which is built into the gigantic mallorn trees.

This section continues the theme of exploration and the worldbuilding of Middle-Earth by describing two important areas in two different cultures, which contrast these two cultures. The dwarves are more industrial, and prefer their homes in the mountains close to their mines, where the elves generally prefer nature, and build their homes in the trees or in areas where they can see the stars.

After entering Lothlorien, the Fellowship is taken to see the Lord of Lothlorien, Celeborn and his wife, Galadriel. The rulers of Lothlorien know about the Fellowship's quest and are saddened to find out that Gandalf fell in Moria. They let the Fellowship rest in their city until they are ready to continue their quest. This section shows how useful it is to have allies.

During their stay in Lothlorien, Sam and Frodo were invited by Galadriel to look into Galadriel's Mirror, a magical mirror made of water that can show the future or reveal information about a specific subject. Galadriel is also tempted to take the Ring, when Frodo offers to give it to her, but she resists the temptation, telling him that she would use it out of a good will at first, but she would eventually become as much of a tyrant as Sauron if he gave it to her. This contrasts with Boromir, who is tempted by the Ring and would have taken it to defend Gondor.

Before leaving Lothlorien, the travelers are gifted with some Elven clothing that would help disguise them in the Wilds, some elvish bread called lembas, and boats that would carry them down the River, towards Gondor and Mordor. This section continues the previous chapter's themes of the importance of allies.

While leaving Lothlorien, the Fellowship comes across a large boat in the shape of a raft, where they meet Galadriel and Celeborn for the last time. This section shows us how Gimli's character develops. At the beginning of the book, Gimli was very suspicious of the Elves, but upon coming to Lothlorien and seeing the wonders of their kingdom and being received kindly, he comes to realize that they don't mean him harm or hate the Dwarves. He is the most affected upon leaving Lothlorien among all the Fellowship.

After receiving gifts from Galadriel and Celeborn, the Fellowship continues on their journey down the Anduin River. They float down the river for a few days, and Sam mentions to Frodo that he suspects that Gollum is tracking them, as he saw a "log with eyes" following them. Frodo also saw Gollum in Moria. This section introduces us with a new character who will be important in the next two books.

Later, the Fellowship is attacked by Orcs while they are going down the river. Legolas manages to shoot some dark creature down, and the next day, they change course to bypass some dangerous rapids. They make it past the Argonath, the ancient border of Gondor, and get to a chain of three islands set before a large waterfall.

This section continues developing Aragorn's character as the leader and epic hero of this story, and we can see his transition from a Ranger in the wilderness to the king of Gondor that he will be by the end of the Lord of the Rings series.

After arriving at Rauros Falls, the Fellowship finds out that Orcs are near their camp by looking at Frodo's blade, and the next morning, they have to decide where to go: to Gondor or towards Mordor. Frodo is given this choice because he is the Ring-bearer, and he leaves the camp to think about his decision.

Boromir goes to try to convince Frodo to go to Gondor and entrust him with the Ring so he can try his plan on defeating Sauron with it, but Frodo does not want to give him the Ring. Boromir tries to take it from him, but Frodo uses the Ring and escapes. He decides to go to Mordor alone, as he thinks the rest of the Fellowship might also be corrupted by the Ring. Later, when the rest of the Fellowship is waiting for Frodo to come back, they realize that both he and Boromir are gone, and they go to look for him. Sam realizes that Frodo will try to leave without the rest, and he goes back to the boats to accompany his master on his journey.

This final section in The Fellowship of the Ring shows how the fellowship, which is the main theme in this book, is broken, and each of the characters will go off in their separate ways. Frodo and Sam will travel to Mordor, Merry and Pippin will be taken by Orcs, and Legolas, Gimli, and Aragorn will go to Rohan to try to save the kidnapped hobbits.