Book 1 Summary
Overview
In Lord of the Rings, the inhabitants of Middle Earth unite to save
themselves from enslavement by the malevolent Sauron. Centuries earlier, Sauron
forged a Ring, infusing it with much of his power, to control men, dwarves, and
elves through a series of lesser rings. Some men succumbed to his influence,
but an alliance of men and elves defeated him, and the Ring was severed from
his hand. It should have been destroyed, but a human prince, Isildur, took it
instead. Isildur was later killed, and the Ring fell into a river. There, it
was eventually found by the hobbit-like Deagol. His friend Sméagol killed
Deagol for the Ring. The Ring then passed to Bilbo Baggins, who, unaware of its
powers and dangers, takes it back to his home and eventually leaves it to his
cousin and heir Frodo Baggins. Once it is understood what the Ring is and that
Sauron is trying to reclaim it, it becomes clear that it must be destroyed.
However, it can only be destroyed in the same fire in which it was forged, the
volcano Orodruin, deep in Sauron's territory. It seems a reckless and hopeless
mission, requiring the remaining forces of Middle Earth to fight and serve as a
decoy while sending Sauron's ultimate weapon back into the heart of his realm.
The sheer unlikelihood of the mission confuses Sauron. The Ring is ultimately
destroyed in an act of providential irony, but not without significant loss and
a fundamental change to Middle Earth.
The Hobbit
The Lord of the Rings is preceded by a prologue, The Hobbit, which
introduces the Hobbits, Middle Earth, and Sauron's Ring. Bilbo Baggins, on a
superficially unrelated adventure, finds, steals, or wins—actually a bit of all
three—a magic ring. His first act while wearing the ring is to spare the life
of its previous owner, Gollum, despite the creature's murderous intentions.
Bilbo uses the ring throughout the rest of the book to assist his companions,
elevating their perception of him from an awkward burden to a statesman, if not
quite a hero. Upon returning home, he finds that his reputation will never
recover from his adventure, and he does not care.
The Fellowship of the Ring: Book 1
Gandalf the Wizard, a long-time friend of Bilbo and his companion in The
Hobbit, begins to suspect that Bilbo's ring is actually Sauron's lost
Ring. Bilbo's remarkable longevity and vitality are unusual, even for a hobbit,
and the Ring has started to make him uneasy. On Gandalf's advice, Bilbo leaves
the Shire, passing the Ring and his entire estate to his cousin and heir,
Frodo. Eventually, Gandalf returns and conducts a final test that convinces
both him and Frodo that the Ring indeed belongs to Sauron. Sauron, having
regained much of his power, is actively searching for his Ring. He dispatches
his most fearsome servants, the Ringwraiths, to retrieve it. Frodo, along with
his servant Sam and his cousins Merry and Pippin, narrowly escape the
Ringwraiths with the aid of Aragorn, the heir of the ancient kings who once
fought Sauron. Frodo nearly succumbs to Sauron's influence when he dons the
Ring and is wounded by a Ringwraith.
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