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A brief summary of J.R.R.Tolkien's "THE LORD OF THE RINGS" for the fantasy-impaired
Second edition by Jack A. Barker 2000 Contents
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The Poem Background Characters The Hobbit Book I: Return of the Shadow Book II: The Fellowship of the Ring Book III: The Treason of Isengard Book IV: The Journey to Mordor Book V: The War of the Ring Book VI: The Return of the King Appendices Bored of the Rings The Ring Game
A note about book names: The Lord of the Rings is often mistakenly called a trilogy because it is published in three volumes. In fact, it is one long novel, divided into six books (plus appendices), two of which appear in each volume. For the sake of navigation, I've divided my summary by the six-book breaks rather than the three-volume titles: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King. The book titles I've used are taken from material found in Christopher Tolkien's excellent series, The History of Middle-Earth. These are slightly different than the book titles used in the recently-published seven-volume "Millennium Edition," mainly because it's a pet peeve of mine when people call January 1, 2000 the start of the new millenniumit's not until January 1, 2001, people! Back to top
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The Poem
Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky, Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone, Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die, One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie. One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie. Back to top
Background
The Lord of the Rings and its precursor, The Hobbit, take place during the Third Age of Middle-Earth. Middle-Earth is a continent on a perpetually medieval fantasy world called Arda, which is filled with magical places, people, and events, and where the forces of Good and Evil vie for dominion. It has always been vague whether Arda is meant to be our "real" world in its prehistory, but I for one prefer to think of it in wholly imaginary terms. The confusion probably stems from the amount of detail and realism that Tolkien puts into the story, in terms of things like weather, climate, geography, and even phases of the moon. The history of Middle-Earth is broken up into four eras, aptly called the Four Ages. During the First Age, the immortal Elves, the first Children of Ilvatar (aka. Eru, "the One"... God, basically), awoke by the shores of Cuivinen in Middle-Earth. Shortly thereafter, they were summoned to Valinor, the Blessed Realm, by the Valar. The Valar are akin to gods in the mythological sense, although they are rarely explicitly called such. In fact, in the creation story of Arda, their role is closer to archangelswitnesses and participants in creation rather than originators. In any case, the Valar pretty much run the show on Arda for old Ilvatar. Those Elves who made the journey to Valinor (which is located across the western sea from Middle-Earth) became known as the Eldar, or High Elves, while those who remained in Middle-Earth became known as the Sindar, or Elves of the Twilight. In Valinor, the Eldar learned many arts and crafts from the Valar (but don't think they became a bunch of Martha Stewarts). The greatest of the Eldar was Fanor, who created three gems of surpassing beauty known as the Silmarils. However, the Silmarils were stolen by an evil Vala called Morgoth, the Dark Enemy of the World, who fled with them to Middle-Earth. Fanor and a great number of his kinsmen vowed to pursue Morgoth and recover the Silmarils. Upon returning to Middle-Earth, the Eldar discovered that Mortal Men (aka. "Men"), the Second Children of Ilvatar, had come into the world. Over the following centuries, the Elves and Men battled the forces of Morgoth (consisting of such vile creatures as orcs, trolls, and dragons), but failed to recover the Silmarils. Finally, Beren (a Man) and Lthien Tinviel (an Elf maiden) ventured into Morgoth's stronghold of Angband and stole one of the Silmarils from the evil Lord's crown. The greatgrandson of Beren and Lthien was Erendil the Mariner, who sailed to Valinor to beg the Valar to take up arms against Morgoth. The First Age of Middle-Earth came to an end when Angband was cast down, much of the continent was submerged, and Morgoth himself was bound by the Valar for all eternity. All of this and more is related in detail in The Silmarillion, another fine book. The Second Age was the time of Nmenor, a great island kingdom of Men that lay within sight of Valinor itself. Erendil had two sons, Elrond and Elros, the Peredhil (Half-Elven). Elrond chose to follow the path of immortal Elvenkind, while Elros chose to live out his life as a Mortal Man (albeit a long-lived one). Elros became the first king of Nmenor. Back in Middle-Earth, in the land of Eregion, Elven smiths (led by Celebrimbor, grandson of Fanor) began forging the Rings of Power, talismans that gave their wearers great supernatural abilities (not the least of which was invisibility). The Elves were unwittingly assisted in their efforts by Sauron, formerly the chief lieutenant of Morgoth. When the Elves had finished their labors, Sauron forged the Ruling Ring in the fires of Mt. Doom. The One Ring gave Sauron dominion over the others, causing them to be corrupted to his service. Only the Three Rings of the Elves remained free, having been forged by Celebrimbor alone, but even they could not be used
Page 3 of 16 without Sauron knowing about it. So for a time, the Elf lords set aside their Rings. The forging of the One Ring revealed Sauron's true nature to the Elves, who declared war upon him. The Dark Lord took the fortified land of Mordor to be his stronghold. Meanwhile, the descendents of Elros, the Edain, became mighty kings among Mankind. The Nmenreans were powerful and just, but eventually came to envy the immortality of the Elves. This left them vulnerable to the lies and deceptions of Sauron. Through Sauron's treachery, Nmenor was destroyed and sank beneath the sea. Only a handful of the Edain, led by the noble Elendil and his sons, Isuldur and Anrion, survived the destruction by sailing to Middle-Earth. There, Elendil established a kingdom in the North called Arnor, while Isuldur and Anrion established the kingdom of Gondor in the south. Sauron was believed to have been destroyed in the downfall of Nmenor, but in fact, his spirit had survived and returned to Mordor. While the One Ring existed, he could not be utterly destroyed. However, he was no longer able to take on a benevolent appearance. To combat Sauron's evil, Elendil joined forces with Gil-galad, last of the kings of the Eldar. Together, the forces of the Last Alliance of Elves and Men were able to storm Mordor, driving Sauron's forces before them. Elendil and Gil-galad were slain, but Isuldur cut the Ring from Sauron's hand, breaking his father's sword in the process. Sauron was not killed, however, because Isuldur kept the Ring for himself, rather than destroying it. The first defeat of Sauron signaled the end of the Second Age of Middle-Earth. While on his way home from the war, Isuldur was ambushed by a company of orcs. He attempted to use the Ring's power of invisibility to escape, but it slipped from his finger while he was swimming across the Anduin river. Now visible, he was slain by an orc's arrow. The Ring lay at the bottom of the river for centuries, until it was accidentally found by two friends, Dagol and Smagol. Smagol promptly murdered Dagol and took the Ring for himself. He used his newfound invisibility for thieving and learning secrets. He was reviled by his people, who called him "Gollum," due to his peculiar habit of making gurgling noises in his throat. Eventually getting fed up with this abuse, Smagol decided to leave home and made his way into the caverns beneath the Misty Mountains, where he thought he could learn the secrets of the world's making. This was in the year 2470 of the Third Age of MiddleEarth. Back to top
Characters
(roughly in order of appearance) Bilbo Baggins Gandalf the Grey A hobbit of the Shire. He is recruited by Gandalf the Grey to participate in an adventure. One of the Istari, or wizards. Aka. Mithrandir, the Grey Pilgrim, Olrin, Tharkn, Stormcrow. Originally one of the Maiar (roughly the equivalent of a demigod or angel), Gandalf was sent to Middle-Earth in mortal guise by the Valar to oppose Sauron. When he arrived in Middle-Earth, Crdan the Shipwright gave him Narya the Great, one of the three Elf Rings. Gandalf is the chief strategist and counselor to the forces of good. A Dwarf, son of Thrin, son of Thrr, and rightful king of Erebor, the Lonely Mountain. The kinsmen and companions of Thorin, who share his quest to destroy the dragon Smaug and restore Thorin's kingdom (and treasure!). In no particular order, they are: Dori, Ori, Nori, Balin, Dwalin, Fili, Kili, in, Glin, Bifor, Bofur, and Bombur. After the events of The Hobbit, only Balin and Glin really have any part in the story, and they're both pretty small. Three trolls, who attempt to make a meal out of Bilbo and the Dwarves. Gandalf tricks them into being caught in the sunlight, which turns them to stone. Bilbo finds an Elvish short sword among their booty, which he later names Sting. Lord of Rivendell, aka. Imladris, a hidden refuge of the Elves. Chief of the Eldar
Elrond Halfelven
Page 4 of 16 and bearer of Vilya, mightiest of the Three Rings. Hideous creatures made in mockery of the Elves by Morgoth. Nasty enough on their own, their evil natures make them perfect fodder for Sauron's armies. Called "goblins" in The Hobbit, and "orcs" in The Lord of the Rings. It's a linguistic thing. King of the goblins of the Misty Mountains. He gets killed. A wretched creature roughly the size of a hobbit, with webbed hands and feet, and enlarged eyes that shine with a green glow when he becomes agitated. He loses the Ring to Bilbo, and later emerges from beneath the Misty Mountains to search for his "Precious." Big, nasty, black, cunning wolves. The goblins sometimes ride them like horses. Lord of the Eagles, and a friend of Gandalf's. A powerful Man with the ability to transform into a bear. The Elvenking, ruler of Mirkwood Forest, and father of Legolas Greenleaf. He and his people are of the Sindar, Elves who did not journey to Valinor. A descendent of the King of Dale, a kingdom of Men that was destroyed by the dragon, Smaug. A dragon with a bad attitude, and the object of Bilbo's long journey. Thorin's cousin, ruler of the Dwarves of the Iron Hills. He comes to the Dwarves' assistance when they are besieged. He becomes King Under The Mountain after Thorin is killed in battle. Bilbo's cousins from the wrong side of the Shire. The youngest of these, Lotho, later declares himself the "Chief" of the Shire, but is really just a toady for Saruman, who orders Wormtongue to kill him. Bilbo's nephew and heir. After throwing himself an 111th birthday party, Bilbo gives Frodo the Ring. At the Council of Elrond, Frodo volunteers to be the RingBearer and convey the Ring to its destruction in Mt. Doom. Frodo's gardener, trusted servant, and inseparable heterosexual companion. He accompanies Frodo on his quest, and for my money, is the real hero of the book. One of Frodo's cousins, and more commonly called Pippin. He joins Frodo in his flight from the Shire, and later becomes involved in the War of the Ring. After looking into the Palantr, a crystal ball of immense power, he is taken to Minas Tirith by Gandalf. Another of Frodo's cousins, who goes by the nickname Merry. He also goes along when Frodo flees the Shire, and later becomes Swordthain to King Thoden of Rohan. Merry assists owyn in slaying the Lord of the Nazgl. The Dark Lord of Mordor, former servant of Morgoth, forger of the One Ring, and all-around embodiment of evil. Sauron wants to retrieve the Ring in order to gain complete domination over Middle-Earth. He never actually appears "in person" during the course of the book. Also called the Black Riders or the Ringwraiths, the Nazgls are the bearer of the Nine Rings of Mortal Men, and therefore, are Sauron's most powerful and terrifying servants. In the early part of the story, they pursue the hobbits from the Shire. Later, they lead Sauron's armies in the assault upon the forces of Gondor. The chieftain of the Nazgls bears a prophecy that no Mortal Man may harm him. An ill-tempered tree that traps the hobbits in the Old Forest. Yes, I said a tree. A jolly figure with amazing powers who rescues the hobbits from disaster in the Old Forest, and later saves them from the Barrow-Wights. Exactly who Tom is, where he comes from, and how he fits in to the pantheon of Arda, are never explained. Tom Bombadil's live-in girlfriend, the "daughter of the River" (whatever the heck that means). Evil spirits who dwell in tombs upon the Barrow-Downs.
Goblins/Orcs
The Sackville-Bagginses
Frodo Baggins
Meriadoc Brandybuck
Sauron
The Nazgls
Goldberry Barrow-Wights
Page 5 of 16 Barliman Butterbur Bob and Nob Aragorn Owner and proprietor of The Prancing Pony, an inn located in the town of Bree. Butterbur's flunkies. Known in Bree as Strider, Aragorn is chieftain of the Dnedain (aka. the Rangers of the North), and heir to the ancient thrones of Arnor and Gondor. He bears as his token the Sword That Was Broken, which his ancestor Isuldur used to cut the Ring from Sauron's hand. A Man of Destiny, with even more names than Gandalf. He leads the Fellowship after Gandalf's fall. A rather nasty resident of Bree, who sells out the hobbits to the Nazgls. A skinny, half-starved old pony sold to the hobbits by Bill Ferny. He proves to be rather steadfast and loyal, to Sam in particular. An Elf of Elrond's household, sent to search for the hobbits when they don't arrive in Rivendell on time. Son of Thranduil, the Elvenking of Mirkwood Forest. He joins the Fellowship of the Ring as the representative of Elvenkind. A Dwarf, the son of Glin (one of Bilbo's old pals). He joins the Fellowship as the representative of the Dwarves. A Man, the son of Denethor, the Steward of Gondor. He joins the Fellowship, but succumbs to his desire for the Ring. He later redeems himself by falling in battle defending the hobbits. A wizard, formerly the Chief of the White Council, and wise in ring-lore. Gandalf discovers that Saruman has betrayed the Council and seeks to claim the Ring for himself. Saruman's stronghold is Isengard, an ancient tower built by the Nmenreans. His symbol is the White Hand. The daughter of Elrond, and Aragorn's one true love. A mountain with a bad attitude. Hey, these things happen in epic fantasy novels. See Old Man Willow, above. A demon of fire and darkness from the First Age. In the Mines of Moria, Gandalf falls into an abyss while battling it. Inside joke: in the original edition of AD&D, the Balrog would be classified as a "Type V Demon." The lady of Lothlrien, the Golden Wood. She is one of the Eldar who returned from Valinor with Fanor to seek the Silmarils. The bearer of Vilya, one of the Three Rings. The lord of Lothlrien. Galadriel's consort. A type of orc bred by Saruman, believed to be at least partially human. They are generally bigger, stronger, smarter, and more ill-tempered than normal orcs. The nephew of King Thoden of Rohan, and a Marshall of the Riders of Rohan. He and Aragorn become great friends and allies. He succeeds Thoden as king. Aka. the Rohirrim, skilled horsemen native to the land of Rohan. Staunch allies of Gondor. Leader of the Ents, immensely strong tree-like creatures who tend Middle-Earth's ancient forests. He finds Merry and Pippin, who convince him to act against Saruman. King of the Mark, lord of Rohan. He is old, and believes himself feeble due to the lies of his counselor, Grma Wormtongue. Gandalf breaks Wormtongue's hold over Thoden, and the king rides to glory in battle. King Thoden's most intimate counselor, until Gandalf exposes him as a toadie for Saruman. He comes to a particularly nasty end. omer's sister. She longs to ride into battle, especially after she gets the hots for Aragorn. owyn disguises herself as a man and travels with the Riders of Rohan to Gondor, where she kills the Lord of the Nazgl. She later gets over her thing for Aragorn when she meets Faramir. Boromir's brother. He finds Frodo, Sam, and Gollum in Ithilien, a land on the
Bill Ferny Bill the Pony Glorfindel Legolas Greenleaf Gimli Boromir
Saruman
Galadriel
Thoden Ednew
Faramir
Page 6 of 16 outskirts of Mordor. Faramir does not succumb to the Ring's lure, and helps Frodo on his way. He later returns to Gondor and is wounded by a Nazgl. He has some "issues" with his father. A great monstrous spider that lives in the mountain passes of Mordor. Gollum betrays Frodo and Sam to her, but Sam manages to drive her away. The Steward of Gondor, and father of Boromir and Faramir. He takes the death of Boromir (his favorite of the two), pretty hard. When Faramir is wounded by the Nazg, Denethor tries to immolate both himself and his ailing son, but Faramir is rescued thanks to the timely intervention of Gandalf and Pippin. A Citadel Guard who befriends Pippin. He deserts his post to help save Faramir from Denethor's madness. Beregond's son, who shows Pippin around the city of Minas Tirith. A Prince of Gondor who leads his people in the Battle of the Pellennor Fields. The sons of Elrond. They ride with the Dnedain to Aragorn's aid. Race of evil mariners who are hereditary enemies of Gondor. One of the Wild Men of the Hills (don't ask), who shows the Rohirrim a shortcut to Minas Tirith. A twisted being sent to parley with Gandalf when the armies of Gondor and Rohan march upon the Gates of Mordor.
Shelob Denethor
Beregond Bergil Prince Imrahil Elladan & Elrohir Corsairs of Umbar Ghan-buri-Ghan The Mouth of Sauron
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The Hobbit
In the year 2941 of the Third Age of Middle-Earth (1341 of the "Shire Reckoning"), Bilbo Baggins is visited by Gandalf the Grey. The following day, Bilbo's hobbit-hole is virtually invaded by thirteen Dwarves, led by the formidable Thorin Oakenshield. Through some chicanery on Gandalf's part, the Dwarves believe that Bilbo is a professional burglar, whom they have decided to hire to assist them in recovering their stolen horde of treasure. The two catches are: 1) Bilbo doesn't know the first thing about burgling, and 2) the treasure happens to be in the possession of a vicious dragon named Smaug. Nonetheless, Bilbo sets off with the Dwarves for Erebor, the Lonely Mountain, which stands on the far edge of the Wilderlands. After a brief encounter with some trolls (during which Bilbo nearly manages to get the entire group eaten), the adventurers arrive at the home of Elrond Halfelven. The Elf lord discovers "moon letters" on a map of Erebor in Thorin's possession, which tell of a secret side entrance into the mountain kingdom. After leaving Elrond's house, the Dwarves, wizard, and hobbit attempt to cross the Misty Mountains. When they take shelter in a cave, however, they are captured by goblins. Thanks to some timely magic on Gandalf's part (including killing the "Great Goblin"), the Dwarves escape. In the confusion of the getaway, Bilbo becomes separated from the party. Alone in the tunnels, Bilbo makes his way by the pale light of his sword (it glows in proximity to goblins) towards an underground lake. As he feels his way along, he comes across a ring, which he absentmindedly puts in his pocket. Shortly thereafter, he meets Gollum, not knowing that the ring belongs to the toadlike creature. Gollum challenges Bilbo to a riddle game: if Bilbo wins, Gollum will show him the way out of the caves, but if Gollum wins, Bilbo will be Gollum's dinner. Bilbo and Gollum each answer several riddles, but then Bilbo becomes stuck for a riddle to ask. At that moment, he feels the ring in his pocket and wonders out loud, "What have I got in my pocket?" Gollum believes that this question is meant to be a riddle, and is rather perturbed when he can't guess the answer. He decides to kill and eat Bilbo anyway, but paddles back to his island to get the ring first, so he can throttle Bilbo in invisible safety. When Gollum begins shrieking over the loss of the ring, Bilbo realizes the jig is up and beats a hasty retreat. Gollum surmises that Bilbo knows the way out after all and sets out in pursuit. Just as Gollum is about to catch up with him, Bilbo accidentally puts on the ring and is surprised when the loathsome creature runs right past him. Bilbo follows the slimy thing, and from listening to Gollum talking to himself, learns: 1) that Gollum is leading him to the "back door," and 2) that the ring is magical. The back door is guarded by goblins, and Gollum dares go no further. As Bilbo makes his escape, he hears Gollum crying out, "Thief Baggins! We hates it forever!" Once outside, Bilbo quickly finds the wizard and Dwarves, who have also managed to escape from the goblins'
Page 7 of 16 demenses. The goblins and wargs pursue them, but the party is rescued by eagles, who bring them to the domain of Beorn, whom Gandalf describes as a "skin-changer." Beorn is not fond of visitors, but the wizard's tale of their journey makes him decide to help. The next leg of the journey is through the fearful Mirkwood Forest, and to the Dwarves' dismay, Gandalf announces that he will no longer be journeying with them. As the group crosses the forest, they meet up with several misadventures, including a battle with giant spiders and imprisonment by the Wood Elves. Through the use of his quick wits, the ring, and his short sword (named Sting after the battle with the spiders), Bilbo manages to save the day in each situation, finally bringing the Dwarves to Esgaroth, a town built on platforms over Long Lake. The Lake-town is the last remnant of the ancient kingdom of Dale. Assisted by the lake-men, the adventurers travel to the Lonely Mountain. After some fruitless searching, Bilbo locates the secret door indicated on Thorin's map. Bilbo is reluctantly drafted to be the first one to explore the tunnel, and is ordered by Thorin to "burgle something." Summoning up his courage, Bilbo puts on his ring and makes his way into the dragon's lair. After a bit of verbal sparring, Bilbo snatches a golden cup and makes a run for it. This makes Smaug pretty darn angry. On a subsequent trip down the tunnel, Bilbo gives evasive answers to the dragon's questions, and accidentally leads the dragon to believe that he is a native of Lake-town. Smaug smashes the side of the mountain (the Dwarves, warned by the hobbit, manage to duck inside the tunnel just in time), and flies off to destroy Esgaroth. Smaug does just that, causing immense death and destructions to the citizens of Esgaroth. In the midst of the crisis, however, a thrush flies to a guardsman named Bard, and gives him a vital bit of information that was uncovered by Bilbo. Specifically, the dragon has an unarmored spot on his underside. Using the Black Arrow, an heirloom of the long-lost kings of Dale, Bard is able to hit Smaug's vulnerable patch and slay the wicked wyrm. The dragon's corpse crashes onto Lake-town, destroying it utterly. Meanwhile, the hobbit and Dwarves explore the Lonely Mountain, fearing the dragon's return. Bilbo finds the Arkenstone, a gem of great value, but keeps it hidden from the Dwarves. The thrush brings them news of the dragon's demise and the destitution of Lake-town. Thorin, however, turns out to be a greedy so-and-so, and orders that the mountain be barricaded against the Men, who will certainly want some of the treasure. Bilbo is baffled by this attitude. Sure enough, an army of Men led by Bard arrives, along with an army of Elves led by Thranduil, the Elvenking of Mirkwood Forest. Faced with Thorin's stubbornness, the two armies lay siege to Erebor. Bilbo tries to salvage the situation by giving the Arkenstone to Bard and the Elvenking, but his efforts are stymied by the arrival of an army of Dwarves under the leadership of Thorin's cousin Din. The battle is about to be joined when Gandalf suddenly appears in the middle of the field, and warns all three groups of the approach of an army of goblins, who have been stirred up by the adventurers' activities in the Misty Mountains. The Men, Elves, and Dwarves join forces against the goblins, but even their combined strength does not seem to be enough to withstand the fierce onslaught. At the last moment, however, an army of eagles swoops down and turns the tide of battle. Bilbo misses the end of the fight, as he is accidentally knocked out by a falling rock. When he awakens, he is taken to Thorin, who is dying. Thorin repents and parts in friendship with Bilbo. Din is now King Under The Mountain, and he agreeably gives the Men and Elves a fair portion of the treasure. Bard sets about the task of rebuilding the kingdom of Dale. The Arkenstone is laid to rest with Thorin in the deepest part of the mountain. Bilbo returns home, accompanied by Gandalf. He arrives to find that his cousins, the SackvilleBagginses, have had him declared legally dead and are auctioning off his personal belongings. Bilbo manages to set things right, but is no longer respected by his no-nonsense neighbors. Nevertheless, he remains happy and contented. Back to top
Page 8 of 16 Seventeen years pass, and Frodo begins to wonder what the hell ever happened to Bilbo. Gandalf shows up after a long absence and informs him that Bilbo's ring is, in fact, the One Ring, and that if he likes his skin the way it is (that is, intact), he'd better head for the hills. Sauron and his boys are sure to come looking for it. Given this dire warning, Frodo procrastinates for several months about leaving the Shire. When he, his gardener Sam, and his cousins Merry and Pippin, finally do make a break for it, they are pursued by mysterious Black Riders. The hobbits try to take a shortcut through an eerie woodland called the Old Forest, but they are captured by an evil willow tree and subsequently rescued by Tom Bombadil. Tom is a spritely fellow with a blue hat and yellow boots. He and Goldberry give the hobbits shelter and warn them about the evil spirits of the Barrow-downs. They blunder into trouble with the Barrow-Wights anyway. Luckily, they are still within Tom's domain when this happens, and he comes to their rescue again. The hobbits loot the Barrows before continuing on their way, each taking a short sword left over from the kingdom of Arnor's ancient war against the Nazgls. The hobbits' next stop is the village of Bree. There, at an inn called The Prancing Pony, they meet a Man named Strider, whom the innkeeper describes as a "Ranger." Frodo accidentally puts on the Ring in public, causing quite a stir. The hobbits have to leave town, and Strider offers to be their guide to Rivendell (where they were supposed to have met up with Gandalf). Frodo is suspicious of the Ranger until Butterbur produces a letter from Gandalf, which the portly innkeeper forgot to have delivered to Frodo in the Shire. In the letter, Gandalf warns Frodo about the Black Riders and informs him that Strider is actually Aragorn, chieftain of the Dnedain. Narrowly escaping from the Black Riders in Bree, the hobbits are forced to purchase a pony from Bill Ferny, a suspicious character. The party heads into the wilderness, taking a roundabout route to Rivendell. At a hill known as Weathertop, the party is ambushed by the Black Riders, and Frodo is wounded. As the group continues toward Rivendell, Frodo becomes increasingly ill, due to the evil nature of the dagger with which he was stabbed. Elrond, meanwhile, has sent people out looking for them, and one of these, an Elf lord named Glorfindel, finds them. Thanks to Glorfindel's horse (and some magical help from Elrond and Gandalf), Frodo is able to get by the Black Riders at the Ford of Bruinen and finally arrive at Elrond's stronghold. However, his Barrow sword is broken in the confrontation. Back to top
Page 9 of 16 The remainder of the Fellowship, now led by Aragorn, escapes from Moria and makes its way to Lothlrien, an Elvish kingdom ruled by the Lady Galadriel and her consort, Celeborn. The Elves give them shelter and supplies. Galadriel shows Frodo and Sam her magic mirror, in which they see strange visions. Just before the Fellowship departs, Galadriel gives gifts to the party. Among these are Elvish cloaks that provide almost supernatural camouflage. To Frodo, she gives a glass phial in which a glimmer of the light of the Silmarils has been captures. To Sam, she gives a box of dirt. The Fellowship travels downriver by boat. Frodo and Aragorn each learn that they are being tailed by Gollum. Finally, they arrive at the Falls of Rauros, where they must decide either to go directly east to Mordor, or west to Gondor first. Frodo knows that it is his duty to go to Mordor, but he is afraid for his companions. As Frodo ponders his course of action, he is approached by Boromir, who urges the hobbit to go to Minas Tirith, the capital city of Gondor. When Frodo explains that he cannot, Boromir goes nuts and tries to grab the Ring. Frodo escapes from his clutches by putting on the Ring, and decides to leave for Mordor on his own, right away. Boromir regains his senses and informs the rest of the Fellowship that Frodo has disappeared. Everybody scatters in confusion, except Aragorn, who alone keeps his head. He orders Boromir to follow Merry and Pippin to keep them safe, then heads off to find Frodo. Sam realizes what Frodo is up to, and intercepts his master just as Frodo is casting off to cross the river. Frodo wants Sam to stay behind, but Sam insists on going with Frodo to Mordor. Back to top
Page 10 of 16 throws an object down from the tower. It is a palantr, an ancient crystal ball originally brought to Middle-Earth by Elendil. Pippin retrieves the palantr and brings it to Gandalf. As the group rides back to Helm's Deep, Pippin is overwhelmed by curiosity and swipes the palantr from Gandalf. Looking into it, he is confronted by Sauron himself. Gandalf realizes what has happened and comes to the rescue. Moments later, a Nazgl, now mounted on a winged monster, flies overhead. Gandalf entrusts the palantr to Aragorn and, taking Pippin along for safekeeping, rides on ahead to Gondor. Back to top
Page 11 of 16 gathering in the south to attack Gondor. The only way he can bring help in time is to take the Paths of the Dead, a tunnel through the mountains that is fraught with peril. Despite owyn's attempts to convince him otherwise (and refusing her request to ride with him), Aragorn leads the Rangers (and Legolas and Gimli) through the mountains to the Stone of Erech. There, he commands a host of dead warriors who are bound to obey the Heir of Elendil to follow him to Gondor. Merry has remained with Thoden and the Rohirrim, and becomes the king's esquire. They arrive in Dunharrow the afternoon after Aragorn left. owyn is quite bummed, both because she has the hots for Aragorn, and because she longs for glory in battle. Merry is given armor and stuff, but is not allowed to ride with the Rohirrim to Gondor, because he's too little. A rider named Dernhelm lets Merry secretly hitch a ride. Minas Tirith is besieged. The Lord of the Nazgl's host surrounds the city. Faramir manages to make it back, and reports on his meeting with Frodo. Denethor is pissed that Faramir had the Ring in his hands and didn't bring it to Minas Tirith. Gandalf reassures Faramir that he did the right thing. Faramir leads a sortie against the evil host, and is wounded by one of the Black Riders, who you will recall are now riding on flying beasts. The gate to the city is broken, and Gandalf confronts the Lord of the Nazgl. Before either of them can do much more than posture a bit, the darkness over the city breaks, the horns of the Rohirrim are heard in the distance, and the Nazgl chieftain withdraws from the gates. Merry rides with the Rohirrim to Gondor. They are helped past the evil sentries by the Wild Men of the Hills. They arrive at Minas Tirith just as dawn is breaking. Thoden boldly leads the Riders into battle, but is cut down by the Lord of the Nazgl. Everyone flees before the Black Rider except Dernhelm, now revealed to be owyn in disguise (surprise!). Unnoticed in the confusion, Merry stabs the Lord in the foot with the sword he got in the Barrow (way back in Book I), which somehow makes the Ringwraith's spectral flesh substantial. owyn seizes the opporutnity and kills the Lord of the Nazgl, fulfilling the prophecy that no "man" could defeat him. Thoden lives long enough to name omer his heir, then dies. omer then spots owyn (who appears to be dead from the strain of killing the Witch-King), goes nuts, and leads his troops back into the battle. It appears that no amount of berserk rage is going to do any good, however, because a black fleet comes up the river, apparently bearing reinforcements for the evil army. But just as things are looking their bleakest, the wind unfurls the lead ship's flag, revealing the standard of Elendil (which only the king of Gondor may use). Yes, it's Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, the Dnedain, and a bunch of other guys, come to the rescue. Aragorn and omer meet again, as kings in the midst of the hosts of Mordor, as had been previously prophesized. Much death and destruction ensue. Back at the city gates, Pippin catches up with Gandalf just as the wizard is about to pursue the Lord of the Nazgl onto the field. Denethor, it seems, has lost his marbles and is going to incinerate both himself and the wounded Faramir. Gandalf follows Pippin to the Houses of the Dead and saves Faramir, although Denethor dies by hurling himself onto a blazing pyre. It turns out that he also had a palantr, saw Aragorn's fleet coming, and figured they were all doomed. Faramir is taken to the Houses of Healing, where Gandalf spends the rest of the battle tending to the wounded. Later, Pippin finds Merry wandering in a delerium. One of the old women at the Houses of Healing remarks that the kings of Gondor were renowned for their healing prowess. Gandalf sends for Aragorn, who arrives incognito because he doesn't want to officially enter the city until he's actually been crowned king (you have to do these things by the book, you know). Aragorn brings Faramir, owyn, and Merry back from the brink of death. The generals hold a debate to figure out what to do next. They've beaten one of Sauron's armies, but they know the next one will be bigger, and the one after that, ad nauseum. Their only real hope is to draw as many troops out of Mordor as possible, so the Ring-Bearer will have a chance to destroy the Ring. They decide to march on Mordor. At the gates of Mordor, they are greeted by a weirdo calling himself the Mouth of Sauron, who shows them Frodo's mithril shirt, Sam's sword, and some other things belonging to the hobbits. Naturally, this leads them to the conclusion that Sauron has the Ring. Rather than submit, however, Gandalf defies the Mouth, takes back the hobbits' stuff, and calls Sauron nasty names. At this, a truly huge army pours out of the Gates and attacks the good guys. Pippin (the only hobbit there at the time) finds himself fighting with a troll. Things look grim, but Pippin hears someone shouting, "The Eagles are coming!" which reminds him of Bilbo's adventure. Then he gets knocked
Page 12 of 16 out. Y'know, I just realized that three out of the six books end with a hobbit losing consciousness: I (Frodo), IV (Sam), and V (Pippin). How odd. Back to top
Page 13 of 16 like those in Lrien. He marries his childhood sweetheart, has a couple of kids, and they all move in with Frodo. Frodo, however, is not a happy camper. Being stabbed, poisoned, bit, burned, and having his mind warped by the ultimate token of evil, have all left him with a sort of post-traumatic-epic-fantasy-shocksyndrome. After a couple of years, he and Sam ride off to the Gray Havens, where the Elves routinely ship off to Valinor, never to return. Along the way, they meet up with Gandalf, Elrond, Galadriel, and Bilbo. It seems that the remaining RingBearers are all going to leave Middle-Earth and sail to Valinor, where they can find peace. Merry and Pippin show up to wish them bon voyage, and to keep Sam company on his trip home. As the grey Elf ship vanishes into the mists, Frodo holds the phial of Galadriel aloft. Sam goes home. Back to top
Appendices.
There are six appendices at the end of The Lord of the Rings:
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Appendix A is a brief summary of the names and deeds of kings. This includes the Nmenrean kings, the Gondor kings, the Arnor kings, and Dnedain chieftains, as well as some drivel about Dwarves. Of particular interest in this section is "an excerpt from the Tale of Aragorn and Arwen," which fills in some of the gaps in this romantic subplot. The end is particularly sad, in my opinion. Appendix B is the "Tale of Years," which gives a chronology of events leading up to the War of the Ring. It also has a breakdown of the events in the novel, and a bit of information about what happened afterwards: Legolas and Gimli became great lords of their peoples, then sailed off to Valinor together; Aragorn ruled for a long time then died (see Appendix A); omer also ruled as king for a while, then died; Sam became the Mayor of the Shire for life and had something like a dozen kids; Merry became lord of Buckland; and Pippin became the Thain (the king's representative in the Shire). Appendix C contains hobbit family trees, for those who get a kick out of that sort of thing. Appendix D explains the hobbit calendar, and how it relates to other calendars. Appendix E has a bunch of cool "rune" alphabets. Appendix F contains a lot of linguistic information, as well as pronunciation guides for the names and places used throughout the book. Now, I personally believe this would have been better put in the Foreward, rather than the Appendix, where nobody's going to see it until after they've been mispronouncing everything for 1,500 pages.
There are also some indices regarding where you can find people, places, and things mentioned in the book. Back to top
Page 14 of 16
The character they are playing. Men-at-arms and orcs have a base of 1012 points, "name" characters like Aragorn have 2030, while the wizards start in the 60 80 range. Sauron starts out with 500 base points, but he is worth infinite points after 3:30 pm. Once upon a time, there were lots of restrictions on who could play which characters (e.g., you had to be under 5'8" or so to play a hobbit; only women could play female characters, etc.). For the most part, those rules have all fallen by the wayside (in fact, it's become something of a running joke that Arwen and Galadriel are often played by cross-dressers). The only restrictions left are: you must be over 18 and have played in the previous game to be a wizard; you must have played the game at some time in the past to play a hobbit; and you must be pre-approved by the judges to take the Menace as your character. How good their costume is. Costumes can earn a player 015 additional points. Average costumes run about 69 pointsI've only seen a few fifteens in the years I've been playing, and those were truly outstanding costumes. What armor and weapons they're carrying. Note that I said carryingno actual combat takes place. The type and amount of weapons and armor a player wears determines how many extra points they receive. There is a limit of three weapons, and "real" armor and weapons earn double points.
Once everybody has signed in and gotten their points totaled up on a sheet by the judges, all the players are grouped together by teams and introductions are made. This is done for a number of reasons:
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To give everyone a chance to see all the costumes before they are torn to shreds by branches, brambles, and other natural hazards in the park. To make sure that everyone (everyone who's paying attention, that is) knows what all the characters look like. There's nothing more embarrassing than mistaking an Elf for a hobbit. To allow everyone to get into the spirit of the game by taunting the other team. To distribute tokens (see below). To make fun of Bill, one of the guys who runs the game. He's usually a good sport about it. Just watch out for his whistle.
Tokens are little plastic cards on strings that people wear around their neck. They represent special events and/or powers from the book. For example, Bilbo starts with the Sting token (which can automatically kill Shelob) and the Mithril Shirt token (which adds points to any hobbit who carries it). If you are defeated in battle, the opposing team can plunder your tokens, except when they can't. There are exceptions to pretty much every rule in this game! After introductions are made, everybody goes to their starting places, which are listed in the rule book. The game starts at 12:00 noon. Players cannot leave their starting place until then, except for Gandalf, who starts five minutes
Page 15 of 16 early. I told you there were exceptions to all the rules. The object of the game is fairly simple:
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The Good team (led by Gandalf) is trying to get the Ring to the top of Mount Doom (a particularly nasty rocky knoll in the center of the park), to "destroy" it in the "Cracks of Doom." The Evil team (led by Sauron) is trying to capture the hobbits and take them to Sauron for interrogation and Ring recovery. The "white hand" team (led by Saruman) is trying to win for themselves by capturing the Ring and touching it to the Cracks of Doom. They also win if the Evil team wins because, well, they're evil, too.
It is possible to have a tie. If the Good team doesn't destroy the Ring, and the Evil team does not capture all the Good citadels (see below), the game is declared a draw. This has happened only twice in Ring Game history: 1) At the Fall 1999 game, Good lost the final battle on Mount Doom, but Saruman chose to interrogate the wrong hobbit. The Evil team had neglected to capture Lothlrien, so the game was declared a draw. 2) At the Spring 2001 game, Sauron declared that he was going for a "Ring or nothing" victory, and so did not bother to take the Lothlrien flag. Once again, Good lost the battle on Mt. Doom, but Evil picked the wrong hobbit, leading to the second tie in four games. Scattered about the park are flags that represent "citadels." For example, at the top of a hill about a half-mile from Mount Doom is the "Barad-dur" flag, representing Sauron's stronghold. Citadel flags usually have some point value of their own, and give bonuses to players trying to defend them (e.g., white hand players double their point values at Isengard). Citadels really only matter if Good doesn't destroy the Ring and Evil doesn't capture it. If all the Good citadels have been captured, and the Ring isn't captured, Evil still wins by default. Each citadel has a designated time before which it cannot be attacked. Gondor, for instance, cannot be attacked until 1:30 pm. This has the effect of causing players to congregate in these spots for big battles at relatively predictable times, depending on team strategies. Here's how "combat" in the game works in practice:
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A group from one team encounters a group from the other team. Somebody tags a player on the other side. The two sides total up who has the most points. The side that loses is "dead," and has to sit out for fifteen minutes. The winners capture tokens from the losers. If Evil is the winner, they can take up to half of the Good players as "prisoners," to be delivered to Sauron for questioning.
This is a very simplified version of combat. I'm not even going to get into the wizard rules and all the exceptions of the various tokens. In Ring Game slang, defeating someone in combat is called "bouncing" them. For example, "we were trying to decide which way to go when the Menace came out of the woods and bounced all of us!" Or, "Radagast said she's going to bounce the Lord of the Nazgl for being such a jerk." Around 3:30 pm or so, virtually everyone shows up at Mount Doom. A circle of red streamers at the bottom of the hill presents a "perimeter" that Evil is not allowed to cross until Good does. Therefore, Evil usually surrounds the mountain to see what ploy Good is going to use to get to the top. Good is not allowed to cross the perimeter until 3:30 pmthis is stilled called the "gentlemen's agreement," but it's really an ironclad rule. When Good is spotted crossing the perimeter, the Evil team begins yelling "Good is on the Mountain!" and everyone charges uphill. A tag is made, battles and confusion ensue. Combat is resolved in the usual manner, although it takes longer than usual because of the sheer number of players involved. The winner of the "Mount Doom Battle" usually determines the game winner, but odd results have been known to occur. Such as the time Saruman sauntered up Mount Doom unhindered by either team and casually touched the Ring to the Crack.
Page 16 of 16 After the game is over, everyone goes to the A&W in Dodgeville (occasionally, A&W is closed for the season and we go to Culver's instead). The owners of the A&W usually plan their "closing for the winter" date around when the game is scheduled, as long as it isn't too late in the year. After A&W, everybody drives back to Madison, takes a shower, grabs a bite to eat, and then goes to the official Ring Game party. There, the game is dissected in detail (e.g., "where were you at Gondor?" "Oh man, I got bounced by a Nazgl just as I was coming over the hill!"), lies are told, stories are swapped, and everyone has a rollicking good time. For those who just can't stand to let their Ring Game experience end, there is also a breakfast the following morning. The location varies, usually decided at the party the night before. The breakfast is where the "cheese grater" award is decided upon. Describing how the award got its name would be a violation of most ISP's rules of service, so I'll skip that. Suffice to say, it is given to the player who is determined to have done the most boneheaded thing at the game. Past "winners" included a Lord of the Nazgl who blundered into an ambush, completely unaware of the rule that describes how owyn and Merry can team up to kill the Lord and reduce him to the status of a mere orc for the remainder of the game. In the words of Bugs Bunny, "what a maroon!" To view photo galleries from the past few Ring Games, visit the unofficial Ring Game Web Site! Back to top
Second edition?
What happened to the first edition, you ask? Ah, therein lies the tale... Back in 1994, I convinced a buddy of mine to attend Ring Game with me. He's a newspaper reporter, and thought there might be a human interest story in it. The trouble was, he had never read The Lord of the Rings. I know what you're thinking (philistine!), but he's a great guy otherwise. To help him overcome this character deficiency, I decided to write up a quick summary of the book for him. That was the first version of this little opus. By the way, the article never got written. Just didn't work out. When I took on the self-appointed job of Ring Game webmaster in 1998, I began to receive occasional e-mails from people who were going to be playing in Ring Game, had never read the books, and wondering if I could "tell them a little bit about [fill in character name here]." The piece from 1994 seemed the perfect thing to send, but alas, the disk was long gone and all I had left was a photocopy. I tried scanning it into a .pdf file, but it just didn't fly. So, I decided to redo the whole thing from scratch, and this is the result! I hope you enjoyed it, and that if you haven't read the books, it might inspire you to do so. They really are very very good, even if my summary is a bit on the flippant side. I welcome any constructive criticism at jackbarker@charter.net. Back to top The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion are copyrights of The J.R.R. Tolkien Estate, Ltd. "Warrior & Dragon" illustration by J.R.R. Tolkien, The J.R.R. Tolkien Estate, Ltd. This summary and the illustrations herein are 2000 Jack A. Barker. "In the Bleachers" 1995 Steve Moore.