Introduction
20 years ago this December, many of us were gearing up to see the first of Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy in theaters for the first time. It was an exciting time in my household especially, with us Purvis kids having been raised on Tolkien’s literature up to that point, and for me, if I remember correctly, it was the first PG-13 movie I had been allowed to see in theaters, since I was 8 at that time. As a kid I enjoyed the movie as much as I enjoyed any fantastical, action-packed movie that I would’ve consumed back then, like Star Wars, Spider-Man, or The Mummy, but gradually the story grew to completion as the trilogy was finished and the extended editions were later released, and I was always drawn back to these films over the many others which were part of my adolescence. There always seemed to be more to draw out of them, more beats and character moments that I’d seen before but never paid enough attention to. Each experience became less about reaching the moments of action and emotional catharsis and more about examining the elements that got us there, all the material in between that built the characters and the world up.
I promised a review on all three Lord of the Rings films in a previous post, but the truth is I intend to do more than that. My intention is to break these films down and examine the various pieces that make them work, focus on the many writing choices that elevate the script and make this classic story come alive. In doing so I will be referring strictly to the extended versions of the films, since I and most everyone else considers them to be the complete and definitive versions that exist. I will also be comparing the films to the source material where necessary, since there have been many changes in the adaptation which have been unpopular with Tolkien fans even though I believe they serve this version of the story well. Lastly, because these movies are 20 years old and most of those in my reading audience are familiar with them, I’m not going to be avoiding any spoilers in this breakdown. The only way I can be thorough in discussing these movies is to talk about every part of them, and I’ll be doing it chronologically as well. So, if you haven’t seen The Lord of the Rings movies, please, do yourself a favor and set aside some time to sit down and watch them. Then, after that, come on back and give this a read 😊
Prologue/Concerning Hobbits
Now, where to begin? Ah, yes! The prologue. As is common with fantasy or science fiction films of this caliber, the Lord of the Rings opens with a slab of exposition, narrated by a voice which we later realize to be that of Lady Galadriel. This makes enough sense, given that the exposition she gives covers thousands of years of history in broad strokes, history that she would have lived through as an immortal elf and a ruler among them. She tells of the forging of the Great Rings; three for the elves, seven for the dwarves, nine for men, and finally one more for the story’s main antagonist: Sauron. The rings are described as being endowed with the strength and will to govern each race. Upon his introduction Sauron is described as a pretty straightforward fantasy villain: he intends to rule all Middle-Earth, to spread his malice across all that he conquers, and that he has forged the One Ring to rule all other rings, and by extension the races they have been given to. Interestingly, however, it is only in this prologue (and flashbacks to it) that Sauron is seen as a physical presence throughout the entire trilogy. For the rest, he’s manifested as a fiery eye when he is seen, and thus even as the main villain he’s largely absent for much of the story. We never really see him without his armor on, leaving it up to the viewer’s imagination as to what Sauron even looks like. This plays into something I’ll get into later involving the ring, but for now, as it’s established that Sauron was once a terrible threat to Middle-Earth, we learn that there was an alliance between men and elves that fought back against Sauron’s forces, and brought the fight all the way back to his doorstep in Mordor. In the first action sequence of the trilogy, the armies of the Last Alliance battle the orcs of Mordor on the slopes of Mount Doom, but the tide of the battle quickly turns as Sauron marches onto the battlefield and utilizes the ring’s power to overwhelm his foes.
He is thwarted, however, when the young prince of Gondor, Isildur, cuts the ring from his hand, severing him from his source of power. As a result, Sauron is shown to burst apart in a wave of energy, wiping out all his own forces and ending the battle. From here Isildur takes the ring for himself, becoming the first victim of its deadly influence. Galadriel declares that the hearts of men are easily corrupted and the ring has a will of its own, and soon Isildur’s obsession with the ring leads to his death. In the ambush on his party that’s shown, Isildur is not fighting alongside his men against the orcs, but instead thinks only of himself and the ring, and he uses it to turn invisible and try to escape, the first such use shown in the films. Galadriel declares that the ring ‘betrayed’ Isildur, implying that the ring acted of its own accord to have him killed rather than Isildur dying strictly by his own mistakes. The ring falls from his fingers to the bottom of an unknown river, not to be rediscovered for 2,500 years. When at last it is found, we learn that it came to a creature called Gollum, and the ring gives him unnatural long life for 500 years, poisoning his mind and dominating his thoughts. Then, acting again of its own accord, the ring ‘abandoned’ Gollum too; it was not simply lost or cast aside, and was then found by one Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit of the shire. Bilbo takes the ring with him back to the Shire, an unknowing victim of its oppression the same as Gollum and Isildur before him, but Galadriel implies that the ring did not intend for Bilbo to find it, thus forcing a diversion in its plans. This brings us to the ‘present day’ of the story.
What I’ve just laid out is a hefty bit of exposition, but what’s important to recognize here is that this introduction is laying the groundwork for a lot of character moments which come later in the story. This isn’t just an extended exercise in world-building, although it does quite a lot of that as well; the events that Galadriel describes relate directly to characters we will later meet. Gollum will of course reappear later in the story, and more of his history will be filled in, but there’s also Aragorn, the heir of Isildur, who looks back on the failings of his forefathers and thus feels reluctant to the call of royalty, and Elrond as well, who sees the easily corrupted men as doomed stewards of Middle-Earth as a result of the events we see here. We see glimpses of Middle-Earth and its various cultures, how they differ from one another, how an alliance of men and elves was a significant achievement (and one that will be recalled later as well), and how vile and inhospitable the land of Mordor is, considering that the heroes of this story are later resolved to go there. We see that it took legions of men and elves to oppose Sauron’s forces, which gives us a sense of the story’s scope and how it will handle large-scale battles like these. To readers of Tolkien’s work, this may all seem mundane to go over, but for people whose first exposition to this story is the films, this level of establishment makes or breaks their investment in the events to come. That’s a common thread throughout these three films; they were designed to capture the tone of the books to appease readers, and also to be exciting and powerful films in order to reach audiences that are totally new to the material.
Moving on from the prologue, we transition on Galadriel’s words that hobbits will shape the fortunes of all. ‘But what are hobbits?’ a new initiate might ask, and right away one of their own begins a second set of narration. As Bilbo begins speaking, the audience sees, for the second time, a map of Middle-Earth, and on my recent watch through it got me to thinking that this repeated insertion of the map early on in the film is also an important, if subtler, form of exposition to lay out the world for the viewer. In the prologue the map focused on the land of Mordor, whereas here it begins in the heart of the Shire, essentially the polar opposite of Mordor, and it pans outward to give a better sense of the scale of this world. This can be helpful in getting the viewer to understand the magnitude of the journey which will take place later in the film, even if we aren’t paying enough attention to notice every individual location that’s outlined on these maps.
As Bilbo continues speaking to himself, we become aware that he’s reading aloud his own words as he’s begun to write a book, recording stories of his own adventures. The opening words of this book are intended to acquaint the reader with hobbits and their culture, since many people in this world have probably never met a hobbit or visited the Shire. He describes that hobbits live fairly isolated from the world of the ‘big folk’, that they have passions for drinking ale, smoking pipeweed, eating lots of food, and growing things, and that they enjoy lives full of peace and quiet, never desiring adventure or anything else to upset that peace and quiet. This is both a nod to the opening chapter of the Fellowship of the Ring book, in which Tolkien offers a similar preamble (though much wordier in text), as well as a method to acquaint the viewer with hobbits and their lifestyle. It sums up their characteristics quickly: we see them all wearing their hair long and disheveled, though none of them wear beards; we see that they are all quite small, dwarfed by cows and long grasses; we can see that they all dress similarly and never wear shoes, due to their hairy feet and thick soles. Throughout this narration we also see the cozy, green paradise of the Shire and scores of hobbits going about their daily lives. This is our stasis, our chance as viewers to see the homeland of the main characters before the adventure starts, to become familiar with these places so that we can, along with the main cast, share in their sense of longing to go home and return to normalcy again.
Throughout this introduction, Bilbo is repeatedly interrupted by knocks at his door, hinting that he’s either very popular or very important among the hobbits, and he keeps calling for Frodo to answer the door, but Frodo is not present to hear his call. Eventually we are taken away from Bilbo’s home in Bag End to meet our main protagonist: Bilbo’s nephew Frodo Baggins. Right away Frodo lives up to what we’ve already seen for how the hobbits are established; he starts the story blissfully reading in a quiet woodland, seemingly without a care or worry in the world. He soon hears distant singing, which rouses him to follow the sound through the woods, and soon we are introduced to another primary character, the wizard Gandalf the Grey. The two meet, exchange some playful banter, and then embrace warmly with laughter, letting the audience know they’re old friends, and that Gandalf, as tall and imposing as he might appear, is actually quite kindly and gentle.
A Long-Expected Party
Through their ensuing conversation we learn that Bilbo is about to host some kind of party, a big enough deal that practically the whole Shire will be in attendance. Bilbo’s narration continues as Gandalf and Frodo ride through the countryside, and it starts to turn more thoughtful as Bilbo declares that ‘things are made to endure in the Shire, passing from one generation to the next. There’s always been a Baggins living here, under the hill, in Bag End. There always will be…’ He says this with an inflection of uncertainty, indicating he has some plans for his home in Bag End, and perhaps Frodo doesn’t know about them yet. As we return to Frodo and Gandalf, Frodo remarks that Bilbo’s been acting odd lately, locking himself away and poring over maps. As he describes this, we begin to see a private moment where Bilbo starts frantically looking for something, with greater and greater desperation until he reaches into his pocket and finds it. We don’t clearly see the ring in his hand, but it’s enough to recall that he’s still holding onto it after finding it in the Misty Mountains years ago, and having seen the deadly effect the ring had on Isildur and Gollum in the prologue, and seeing how desperate he still is presently, we understand that all is not well with Bilbo despite how he may appear on the surface. Gandalf says nothing about what Frodo tells him, and Frodo suspects that he has something to do with it, considering that Gandalf was held responsible for Bilbo’s past adventures, including the riches he brought home and any change in his character as a result of them. I think much of this segment is an allusion to the story told in The Hobbit and is mostly meant for book readers, but it’s also a bit of foreshadowing as well, considering the role Gandalf has to play in Frodo’s upcoming adventures as he remarks that all he did was ‘give Bilbo a nudge out the door’.
Following this is a nice little sequence where a group of hobbit children start following Gandalf’s cart and call out his name, demanding a firework show. He delays long enough for them to think he won’t do it, then gives them a quick magic show as colorful sparks explode off the back of his cart, and he’s rewarded with cheering and laughter. It’s a very endearing moment, and it shows that despite Gandalf’s reputation among the older hobbits for being a disturber of the peace, he’s still a welcome presence for many in the Shire. I’m not sure how the hobbit children knew who Gandalf was to follow after him and expect fireworks, since it appears by Frodo and Bilbo’s reactions to seeing him that he’s not been in the Shire for years. But perhaps the children knew him by reputation, from stories that older hobbits would’ve told them. In any case, following this incident, Frodo bids a quick farewell to Gandalf for now, and the wizard continues on to Bag End to meet his old friend. Wide shots of the Shire continue to reinforce how beautiful and pleasant the land is, a cozy place for our heroes to call home.
Gandalf goes to knock at the round green door of the hobbit hole, and is met by Bilbo’s irritated voice, saying he doesn’t want any more “visitors, well-wishers, or distant relations”, to which Gandalf says he’s a very old friend, and Bilbo opens the door, shocked to see his old wizard mentor standing there. The two exchange a hug, and for the first time we get to see the height difference between Gandalf and the hobbits, where before we could only guess at it by his stature next to Frodo on the cart. Here Gandalf declares that he can hardly believe that Bilbo is 111 years old, and looking at him he quietly notices that Bilbo’s not aged a day, again indicating that he’s not seen Bilbo in many years and that there’s something keeping him static in appearance. As the audience we can pick up it’s the ring that’s done this, but while Gandalf knows that Bilbo has a magic ring of some kind, he doesn’t yet know it’s the One Ring. Bilbo welcomes Gandalf into his house for tea, and we see Gandalf fumbling awkwardly with the small structure of the house against his great height. While Bilbo rushes to the kitchen to get food and tea ready, Gandalf notices an old map on his table depicting the Lonely Mountain, where once dwelled the dragon Smaug, another allusion to The Hobbit for the fans. It’s also a hint that Bilbo’s perhaps been feeling at once sentimental and hungering for adventure again, wanting to revisit locations from his travels in the past.
Bilbo loses track of Gandalf for a moment, who reappears behind him in the kitchen in some act of wizardry that’s rather subtle and unexplained. Before Gandalf and Bilbo can sit down to tea, there’s some harsh knocking at the door, and Bilbo makes it clear to Gandalf that he wants to keep quiet, saying it’s the Sackville Bagginses. They’ve come for his house and his riches, angry that he’s getting so old that they might not see their inheritance. He adds that this pressure from his relatives is part of why he’s ready to leave the Shire again, to have another adventure while he still can. Gandalf warns him that Frodo suspects something, and that he might take it hard if Bilbo suddenly leaves because he’s grown fond of him. Bilbo acknowledges this remorsefully, yet still feels that he must, that something has made him feel very old and frail despite how he looks. He needs the holiday to finish the book he’s writing, and perhaps to feel rejuvenated; and that once he leaves, he doesn’t intend to return home at all.
The birthday party is soon to begin, but before it starts Gandalf and Bilbo share some Old Toby, a type of pipeweed native to the Shire. Little is said as Bilbo blows a smoke-ring and Gandalf blows a magical smoky ship through it, but it’s still a nice quiet moment between two old friends, and Bilbo looks out across the Shire for what he believes will be the last time. It also shows Gandalf shares the hobbits’ love for pipeweed, something which is touched on later. Bilbo says that this will be a night to remember, and with an explosion of fireworks we arrive at the birthday party, full of food, ale, music, dancing hobbits, and joviality. Bilbo makes the rounds greeting his many guests and tells children stories of his adventures, Gandalf is at work sending up a variety of fireworks, Frodo is having a good time, and we’re introduced to three new principal characters. First there is Samwise Gamgee, or Sam, who nervously looks over his shoulder at a girl he clearly admires but won’t ask for a dance, showing his irresoluteness and lack of courage. Frodo encourages him to dance with Rosie, but when he tries to make a getaway Frodo stops him and sends him right to her arms, laughing giddily. The other two new characters are Merry and Pippin, whose full names only Gandalf uses (Meriadoc Brandybuck and Peregrin Took), and right away they appear mischievous, sneaking into Gandalf’s cart to steal fireworks and have their own fun. They unleash a giant red dragon firework over the party, and it causes some terror and chaos for a moment as it swoops over the crowd before making the grandest explosion of all. Gandalf catches the two young miscreants in the act, and punishes them by making them wash dishes for all the guests. This shows Gandalf’s imposed position over the hobbits as a sort of scolding parental figure, one which will be explored further in the Fellowship.
There’s a small, personal scene during the party, which oddly enough is Frodo and Bilbo’s only scene together while in the Shire. As Bilbo is greeting some of his guests, he hears the Sackville Bagginses again coming after him for the house, and he gets Frodo’s help in hiding from them. Once they pass by, Bilbo offers his gratitude and the best he can give as a farewell to Frodo in this moment without outright telling him that he’s leaving. He wants Frodo to know that he chose to raise him after his parents died because he saw spirit in him, perhaps the same kind of adventurous spirit that makes Bilbo feel so disconnected from the Shire all these years later, but it connects him to Frodo in a special way. A payoff to this scene comes when they reunite in Rivendell, but for now Frodo doesn’t know how to react or why Bilbo is telling him these things.
The crowd demands a birthday speech from Bilbo himself, so he steps up in front of the party tree to address them all, naming a variety of families who are dear to him as they each raise their voices and a flagon of ale to him. The speech starts full of glee, then takes an awkward turn as Bilbo makes a joke that no one else seems to understand. In this moment Bilbo begins to get tense, knowing the moment is soon at hand where he must commit to his decision for all to see. He draws something from his pocket, which Gandalf notices, and he announces that this is the end, that he’s going and he bids everyone a fond farewell, then he disappears to the shock of the whole crowd. This appears to infuriate Gandalf, and the camera follows an invisible Bilbo back to his house, where he reappears after closing the door behind him and removing the ring from his finger. Bilbo laughs as he regards the ring, showing that he doesn’t understand its sinister nature, and doesn’t have the first clue what it really is. He then begins packing his things for a long journey until he runs into Gandalf in his living room, the second time that Gandalf has suddenly appeared when he’s unexpected (he arrives precisely when he means to). He scolds Bilbo, again like a father to a child, for using a magic ring so lightly in front of so many people. Bilbo asks Gandalf to continue to look after Frodo, and he declares that everything he owns will be left to Frodo. Gandalf asks if the ring is to be part this inheritance, and while flippant at first, Bilbo realizes the ring is still in his pocket, and he begins caressing it in his hands as the tone of the scene shifts rather starkly.
Here once again we see the One Ring as it has an effect on someone we’ve grown to care about from time following him in the story, only now we know Bilbo better and the context of what’s going on around him, and the ring becomes an even more threatening presence in that context. As part of a departure from the books, the One Ring in these movies has been treated by Jackson and the screenwriters as a character in itself, rather than an item the heroes must carry. It is the most prominent and consistent manifestation of Sauron’s evil, and while it may not audibly speak with any of the other characters, it still manages to interact with them, having a grave effect on everyone who lays eyes on it, and especially anyone who touches it. They begin to inexplicably desire it, and to those who have held onto it, like Bilbo, it becomes like an addiction that they must continue to have it, to hold and touch it even though it provides nothing in return. In this scene, Bilbo becomes more possessive the longer he looks at it, asking after all why he shouldn’t keep it. He calls the ring his ‘precious’, the same as we heard Gollum call it during the prologue. As Gandalf begins pressing him, he becomes defensive to the point of getting angry and lashing out, accusing Gandalf of trying to take it from him.
To this Gandalf becomes angry as well and once again takes the role of a father wanting what’s best for his child, snapping at Bilbo and using his magic to amplify his voice and darken the room, and he tells him that he’s only trying to help him. As Gandalf’s magic recedes, Bilbo caves and approaches him, and the two share a hug as Gandalf implores Bilbo to trust him like in the long years before, and give up the ring. Bilbo agrees and says the ring will pass to Frodo, then starts to leave the house with the ring still in his possession. Gandalf reminds him of this, and so Bilbo stops and faces a difficult moment as he must leave the ring behind, freeing himself for the first time in many years. Gandalf watches him closely until the ring falls from his hand, and makes a heavy sound as it hits the floor, symbolizing the great weight it had become on Bilbo’s life and conscience. With this weight no longer on his shoulders, Bilbo steps out of his hobbit hole into the night and has a sudden moment of clarity, immediately thinking up the ending line of his book: “And he lives happily ever after, to the end of his days”. Having just freed himself from the ring’s control, he feels an emotional high as he leaves Bag End forever, bidding Gandalf goodbye and singing the same tune we heard Gandalf singing when he first appeared in the film; ‘the road goes ever on and on’. Here Gandalf smiles and indicates that they will meet again one day.
The Shadow of the Past
As Gandalf returns inside of the house, his eyes are drawn to the ring sitting on the floor, and its magical properties and Bilbo’s obsession and protectiveness of it have clearly gotten his attention. He reaches for the ring, but just before he touches it, the screen flashes with the image of the Eye of Sauron and we hear a fiery voice call out from it. Further troubled by this, Gandalf moves away, and he begins pondering Bilbo’s words as he smokes in front of the lit fireplace. He mutters about riddles in the dark, another allusion to The Hobbit for a scene in which Bilbo encounters Gollum, indicating that Bilbo must have told Gandalf this story at least in part. We’ve had hints that Gandalf must know who Gollum is, and that he had the One Ring for a long time, since he took notice of Bilbo’s use of the words ‘my precious’. While Gandalf is considering the implications of this, Frodo bursts into the house calling out for his uncle, and he notices the ring on the floor and casually picks it up. He then notices Gandalf by the fireplace, and by this he understands that Bilbo has really gone. Frodo then makes it known that Bilbo had talked about leaving the Shire for years, so long that Frodo didn’t think it would ever happen. He seems gutted by this, understanding now the previous conversation they had and not getting a chance to say goodbye. Gandalf sees the ring in Frodo’s hand, and he tells him that Bilbo’s gone to stay with the elves, and that all of his possessions, including Bag End and the ring, are now left to Frodo. For the ring, however, he warns Frodo to keep it somewhere hidden, and it’s placed in an envelope and sealed, a thin layer of protection to prevent the ring from being seen or directly touched while it is handled.
Then suddenly Gandalf starts to leave, explaining to Frodo that there are questions he needs to have answered. When Frodo says that he doesn’t understand, Gandalf replies that he doesn’t either, and again he warns Frodo that he must keep the ring secret and safe. The camera presses close to Gandalf’s face as he says this, imposing just how serious he is about this request, which is a method that Jackson employs in many moments throughout the films. This is not the same warm, jovial Gandalf that we saw when Frodo first met with him earlier. When he is gone, Frodo looks down at the envelope where the ring has been enclosed, likely asking himself what’s so special about this ring, and sinister music begins to swell.
From this moment we transition into Mordor, the polar opposite of the Shire in Middle-Earth. We see rivers of magma, a barren landscape of rock and ash, and a massive dark fortress with sharp, jagged structures towering over the magma and sprawling with orcs and torches to light the darkness; the Tower of Barad-Dur, Sauron’s fortress. As the camera pans up on this horrid structure, we begin to hear the agonized cries of some creature being tortured, and at length it cries out the names “Shire! Baggins!” Mount Doom begins to spew with lava again, as we saw in the prologue, indicating that the evil in Mordor is stirring again as it did in the older days. We then see a second dark fortress, illuminated by a green glowing light, and its gates open to let forth a small battalion of black hooded riders. As we learn from Saruman later, they are the Nine who have been sent out from Minas Morgul in response to the information given from the two names; they are headed for the Shire. This montage of dark imagery, bolstered by a score of music that emphasizes the power and the threat of Mordor, gives the film new urgency, accelerating it from the slow, comfortable pace we had settled into in the Shire.
We next see Gandalf riding past mountain ranges, and from his POV we see the violent storms that have built in the distant mountains where Mordor lies. Clearly, from what we saw on the maps earlier in the film, Gandalf has traveled a great distance, so time has certainly passed since we last saw him in Bag End. The stirring in Mordor keeps Gandalf’s attention briefly, then he turns toward a great city to the south, a huge fortress with several layers that faces out toward Mordor. It is a city of men called Minas Tirith, a place we will revisit in the third film, and it is here that Gandalf comes to investigate the last known whereabouts of the One Ring, when Isildur cut it from Sauron’s hand. He is shown to some sort of library, where he sifts through many scrolls until he finds the account of Isildur. As he reads, we are shown flashbacks to the prologue when Isildur first picked up the ring. Isildur writes that the ring will be an heirloom of his kingdom, that all who follow in his bloodline shall be bound to its fate (I.E. Aragorn), and the ring is precious to him. The One Ring is shown to have markings on its band which gradually fade and Isildur claims that they only reappear when it is brought in contact with fire, and it can change size to fit whoever possesses it. With this knowledge, Gandalf knows he must return to the Shire to test the ring with fire, the only way to know for sure if it is indeed the One Ring he so desperately fears.
But he may be late in getting there. The next that we see is one of the nine black riders sent from Minas Morgul appearing very ominously to a hobbit farmer, frightening both him and his dog. Already they have reached the Shire, and with a spectral voice the rider says the two names that were given in Barad-Dur. To this, the hobbit points the rider down the road toward Hobbiton, saying Baggins lives there. The horseman rides off quickly, and we can see shadows of other riders following behind him. This sort of plays into the idea that a monster is more horrifying when you see it in a familiar place, like your house. The black riders contrast so intensely with all that is pleasant and green in the Shire, with their wispy voices, wicked-looking horses, and piercing screams, and having no face under the hoods to identify them. They are essentially evil incarnate, and the hobbits are helpless to stand against them.
We’re next taken to a pub in the Shire known as the Green Dragon Inn, joining a crowd of lively hobbits as they drink, sing, and have a good old time in their peaceful corner of the world. Merry and Pippin are seen here leading everyone in a song as they dance on a table, again showing their untamed fun-loving nature and that they are generally well-liked despite their rascally behavior. As the song concludes we transition over to a table where Sam sits quietly among some elderly hobbits, gossiping about strange folk in the Shire, including “dwarves and others of a less than savory nature”, possibly alluding to the black riders, which would mean they’ve been in the Shire long enough for word to spread about them. They mention Bilbo and how he was ‘cracked’, likely changed by the adventures he had and more concerned with the outside world than the hobbits around him. As Frodo comes to the table, one of the elders (who, though not explicitly revealed in the film, is actually the Gaffer, or Hamfast Gamgee, Sam’s father) remarks that he’s cracking as well, which might be a bit foreboding considering that Frodo’s had the ring for some time by now, not that any of the other hobbits know about it. One of the hobbits warns Frodo to keep his nose out of trouble and none will come to him, a warning which has sadly come too late for him even if he doesn’t realize it yet.
Throughout the conversation, Sam is gazing wistfully at Rosie the barmaid, who sends him smiles, but even now Sam continues to lack the courage to go up to her. Even afterwards, when he and Frodo leave the inn, they pass her and she bids him goodnight, and he still sort of awkwardly shuffles past her without a word. Then he overhears the hobbit behind him very overtly try to sweet-talk her, and yet, despite taking offense to it, Sam does nothing than grumble to himself. It’s all very subtle material, and yet it does a lot to lay the groundwork for Sam’s character. Many people pick Sam as being their favorite character in these movies, and a lot of it has to do with his stalwart friendship with Frodo and his incredible acts courage later on in the story, and seeing him so timid and quiet early on in the story is such a contrast to what he grows into. His interactions, or lack thereof, with Rosie in Fellowship are both showing the audience who he is as a character to begin with and acting as a setup for many events to come, including some as late as the third act of Return of the King.
Sam walks Frodo home from the inn despite that it appears he’s had more to drink than Frodo, and presently Frodo goes into the house he’s inherited from Bilbo. There’s a stark difference in tone seeing the house now as when we were first brought into it; there are no lights except from the windows, there’s a breeze blowing the papers and shutters, and dark, brooding music hums slowly as Frodo cautiously looks around. This place, in the heart of the Shire, no longer appears safe, and with the black riders on the hunt we fear for Frodo’s life up to the moment a hand reaches out to him from the darkness behind. The jump scare reveals it’s only Gandalf having returned at last, but this Gandalf is very urgent, his voice hissing as he asks if the ring is still kept secret here. As Frodo searches for it, Gandalf is sensitive to every noise he hears. The moment Frodo turns up the envelope, Gandalf snatches it and throws it immediately into the fireplace and lets the ring stay for a moment as the parchment burns. But the ring doesn’t start to melt, and when Gandalf pulls the ring from the fire with some pincers, he passes it to Frodo, assuring him that it won’t be hot to the touch. Frodo seems startled by the sensation, and Gandalf asks if there’s anything to be seen on the ring. For a moment nothing occurs, then Frodo notices strange markings in an unknown language, and Gandalf’s worst fears are confirmed. He explains the markings as the language of Mordor, the very name of which troubles Frodo. The words in the common tongue read “One ring to rule them all, one ring to find them, one ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them”, which Gandalf utters in a very icy tone of voice.
The Shadow of the Past sequence that follows is perhaps the most-exposition heavy segment of all three films, where Gandalf must explain to Frodo, our audience POV character, about the ring, Sauron, and how it came to be in Bilbo’s possession after all these years. Gandalf knows now, from what he’s seen, that Sauron’s power is growing again, and the ring can no longer be kept hidden. We learn here the true stakes of the story: “Sauron needs only this ring to cover all the lands in a second darkness.” Through Frodo tries to propose hiding it, since no one else knows that it’s in the Shire, Gandalf shares that Gollum knew, and that he shared this information with the enemy, that even now his servants could be closing in on Hobbiton. I’m not entirely sure how Gandalf has this information; he mentions that the enemy found Gollum before he could, which doesn’t necessarily imply that he ever found him, and he certainly wasn’t present in the tower when Gollum was tortured. In the book it’s explained that Aragorn and Gandalf tracked down Gollum together and questioned him, but I suppose it’s a bit of connective tissue that couldn’t be organically inserted into the films. It could still benefit from having provided it though, I suppose.
In any case, Frodo understands from this that the ring is a threat to his life, and we see the danger for ourselves as a black rider takes a sword to a hobbit on night patrol, coming ever closer to Bag End. Frodo desperately tries to give the ring to Gandalf, but Gandalf fearfully backs away from it, knowing that if he ever touched the ring and became corrupted by it, the ring could wield his magic powers in ways ‘too great and terrible to imagine’. The effect this ring has on Gandalf, the fear in his eyes and how he stammers to ward off the temptation it presents, only deepens the audience’s understanding that the ring is a terrible force to be reckoned with. Frodo knows that the ring cannot stay in the Shire, and so he gradually understands that it must leave with him. He begins packing quickly, as Gandalf gives him instructions to meet him in the village of Bree, at an inn called the Prancing Pony, and to shed the name of Baggins since it’s been marked by Gollum. He must travel only in daylight and never use the roads. Before their meeting at the Prancing Pony, Gandalf intends to meet with his master, certain that he’ll know what to do next.
Leaving the Shire/The Black Rider
With Frodo fully suited for travel, Gandalf pauses to take a moment and show his warm, sentimental side. He shares how hobbits still have the capacity to surprise and amaze him after so many years, showing his gratefulness to Frodo for doing something so dangerous with so little thought. This surely gives Frodo a boost of confidence, but the moment is cut short when they hear a noise from outside. There’s a long moment of tension where we as the audience wonder if it’s too late, if the riders have arrived, and if Gandalf can stop them on his own. But to everyone’s relief, the noise is revealed to be only Sam, who Gandalf reprimands for eavesdropping. Sam reveals that while he believes he hasn’t heard anything important, he’s in fact heard just about everything important about their dialogue. He begs Gandalf not to punish him, but as it happened Sam was there at just the right time to be what Frodo and Gandalf needed at that moment: a companion for the road ahead.
And thus the journey officially begins, the extent of which none of the characters were remotely aware of at that time. Gandalf leads the two hobbits out of Hobbiton, warning them to be wary of the enemy’s spies, including birds. He gives one final word of warning to Frodo that the ring must never be worn, as it will draw the agents of Sauron right to him. He tells Frodo that the ring has its own will that he must contend with, and it will do whatever it must to be reunited with its master. With that, Gandalf rides away to the south, and Frodo and Sam carry on together through the Shire. They cut across farmland and wide green pastures, until one moment where Sam realizes he’ll be farther away from home than ever before if he takes another step, his homesick hobbit nature at odds with the need for travel. But Frodo encourages him, and as they press on we hear for the first time Howard Shore’s Fellowship Theme in the soundtrack, subtly hinting that at that moment the Fellowship of the Ring was born.
The two make camp in a woodland, with Sam cooking food and both smoking their pipes as they indulge their hobbit ways the best they can on the road. Then they hear singing, and Frodo says it’s coming from wood elves. They follow the sound until they find a group of elves walking slowly on the road, singing as they go, their flowing robes glowing in the night and their voices in perfect harmony. To our knowledge it’s the first time either hobbit has encountered elves, and they seem mesmerized by them. Frodo says that they are heading for the White Harbor in the Grey Havens, and Sam recognizes that this means that the elves are leaving Middle-Earth, never to return, and he’s saddened by this. It’s a soft but important bit of exposition, since the Grey Havens are an important location later in the story, especially to the hobbits, and the motif of the elves’ departure is crucial for other characters as well. The next moment is a bit of bonding between the two, as Sam can’t get comfortable sleeping on the ground and Frodo offers some advice to help. It’s one of many small moments that creeps up on the viewer to add to this budding friendship at the center of the story, one which starts out thin and grows stronger with each scene they have together. But the hobbits remain in danger, as we see a black rider restlessly searching for them in the wild at night.
We then return to Gandalf as he arrives at Isengard, or more strictly the Tower of Orthanc, where his master, the wizard Saruman the White, awaits him. From his words Saruman appears to be aware of the events transpiring in Mordor, and he first greets Gandalf as a friend. As they speak, we are shown birds flying above them near the tower, a hint that Sauron’s spies are here and Saruman may not be the friend he seems to be. Gandalf shares with him that the One Ring has been found in the Shire, and Saruman berates him for being too slow and dim to notice the ring if it was under his nose, citing that his love for the hobbits’ pipeweed is the cause. He says that there is no longer time to counter Sauron, that he while he cannot yet take physical form, he can see all Middle-Earth as the Great Eye, a glimpse of which we, and Gandalf, have seen before. Saruman continues to speak of Sauron’s plans, which he has gathered by use of a seeing-stone called a Palantir. This worries Gandalf, since using a Palantir is very dangerous while they are not all accounted for; anyone, including Sauron, could be on the other end. As Gandalf touches the Palantir by happenstance, he catches another glimpse of Sauron’s eye, and he understands fully how Saruman has gotten his information. Saruman declares that Sauron has sent the nine from Minas Morgul, and that they are currently in the Shire hunting for the ring. Once they find it, they will kill whoever carries it.
This sends Gandalf into a panic, and he attempts to leave at once, but Saruman prevents him, showing Gandalf and the audience whose side Saruman has taken. Saruman tries to convince Gandalf to join with Sauron as well, explaining that Sauron cannot be opposed, but Gandalf responds by implying that Saruman has turned to madness. This sets Saruman off, and he attacks Gandalf with his sorcery, using his staff as the focus of his power, throwing him against the walls and onto the hard floors. Gandalf fights back in the same manner, but is ultimately overpowered when Saruman takes his staff and sends him flying to the top of the tower. From this skirmish, and from earlier dialogue where Saruman controlled the conversation, we understand that he is very much Gandalf’s superior, and thus another formidable threat to our heroes where we had once thought we had a valuable ally. For the moment, the fate of Gandalf is left ambiguous.
Meanwhile Frodo and Sam continue their journey through some farmland in the Shire, and for a moment Sam worries that he’s lost Frodo when he can’t see him and he doesn’t immediately answer his call, but then Frodo reappears and all is well. Sam explains himself, saying that Gandalf told him “‘Don’t you lose him, Samwise Gamgee’, and I don’t mean to”. This line is, for now, a simple setup to support the idea that, while Sam is Frodo’s friend, he’s been forced into this partnership with him by Gandalf, rather than volunteering for it. In the third act, we’ll see how this sentiment becomes recontextualized, but for now Frodo scoffs at this, reasoning that they’re still in the Shire and thus relatively safe. At that moment both hobbits are struck and tackled by two other hobbits; their good friends Merry and Pippin. The two have no clue what Frodo and Sam are up to, but they’re up to their own mischief again, stealing crops from the local Farmer Maggot. They try to get Frodo and Sam to share the load they’ve taken, but once the farmer and his dog start bearing down on them, they all start to make a run for it. This evasion leads them to a ravine where they all fall and roll down a slope until landing safely at the side of a road. It serves as a bit of light-hearted action to bring Merry and Pippin together with Frodo and Sam, working around the book’s subplot of Frodo leaving Hobbiton by buying a new house in Buckland and traveling with Sam and Pippin to meet Merry there. It helps to strengthen Frodo and Sam’s relationship early on, while also allowing Merry and Pippin to be consistent with the comically mischievous side characters they’ve been introduced as, and ultimately serving the same effect on the story going forward.
Merry, Sam, and Pippin soon become distracted by a growth of mushrooms nearby and start collecting them, but Frodo looks around and realizes they’re on the East Road, and Gandalf specifically warned him to stay away from roads. As he mentions this, right on cue Frodo hears an awful noise coming from down the road, and with a rush of wind he senses something dangerous coming their way. He hurries his friends off the road and they all take shelter in a large hole underneath a nearby tree. Even as they hide, Sam, Merry, and Pippin remain concerned with their mushroom pickings, until they all hear the sound of hoofbeats come closer and stop just above them. One of the nine black riders has appeared and can sense his prey, and he is positioned with his large horse to be massive and imposing above the defenseless hobbits who don’t even have weapons yet. As he arrives, we can hear birds taking flight. Frodo looks up through a small hole near his head and sees the hoofs of the black steed pinned with nails and dripping with blood, showing the cruel methods of Mordor, until he sees the steel boot of the rider hit the earth. The hobbits are quiet as death as the black hooded figure starts making a sniffing sound, struggling to remain still while spiders and other crawling creatures start creeping around them; away from the black rider, as it seems this evil presence causes even the animals to flee in terror.
At this moment, Frodo faces his first temptation of the One Ring. Like Isildur in the opening, his thoughts turn inward and to the ring, rather than with the hobbits around him. We see him shift into this sickening façade as the ring pulls on him, and he starts to reach for his pocket. When the ring emerges, the rider’s sniffing gets more intense and even the horse reacts. Frodo is an inch away from putting the ring on, when Sam, who sees this happening and was the only hobbit present when Gandalf warned him never to wear it, reaches over and stops him. Frodo snaps out of his delusion, the rider stops sniffing, and Merry takes action, throwing the bag of mushrooms to create a sound to distract the rider. When it shrieks and scurries off, the hobbits take the opening to run for it, fleeing until they reach a safe distance where they stop for a breather. Merry asks what they just escaped from, and while no one is certain, Frodo opens up his hand and regards the ring still sitting there. He’s gotten a taste now of the danger it presents to him, and how easily its power can influence him, and thus he gains a new fear and respect for this ring.
The hunt continues into the night as we see a black rider moving through the forest, making the same high-pitched scream that we’ve heard from them numerous times now. The journey has now transitioned into unfamiliar and unfriendly lands, with a mist in the windy air and trees slanted into spooky shapes. The hobbits scurry through the woods, the camera panning down to focus on their bare feet as they run, perhaps suggesting that their regular shoeless nature serves them well in this instance to quiet their movements. They are very cautious as they move from one hiding spot to another. Merry and Pippin each wonder what this is all about, and Merry asks who the rider could be searching for. Sam suddenly sees a rider on the horizon, and they all crouch, their eyes fixed on the menacing black figure as they each see it in full at last. Frodo then answers Merry, saying that he and Sam are in fact leaving the Shire and heading to Bree, so Merry starts to lead them to a place called Buckleberry Ferry, where they can get quick passage further east.
The four hobbits do not get far before they run into a black rider, and in a panic they run back and forth and around the rider as Merry frantically tries to get his friends to follow him away. The rider chases them further into the forest, until at last the hobbits climb over a fence into a clearing which leads to the ferry. They hastily prepare the ferry for its voyage, but Frodo has lagged behind, and he’s the last to reach the raft with a black rider hot on his heels. He makes a long jump to reach the boat just in time, and the rider is forced to stop on the pier, letting out a terrible scream to threaten the hobbits once more. Then the rider turns and leaves, and we see it join with two other riders on the road, showing the hobbits that it isn’t just a single rider on their trail, thus raising the stakes. Frodo asks about the nearest crossing, which Merry answers is the Brandywine Bridge twenty miles away, giving them a good enough head start to reach Bree before the riders can catch up to them again.
Arriving at the Prancing Pony
It’s at this point I’d like to address one issue many Tolkien purists have with the Fellowship of the Ring film specifically. There’s been a significant portion of material from the book, multiple chapters’ worth, which was not included in the film, regarding the Old Forest at the borders of the Shire, its master Tom Bombadil and his lady Goldberry, and the Barrow Downs which are haunted by wights. Many fans feel that this part of the story adds much to the world-building, and that Tom Bombadil is a very unique character on whom the ring’s power has no effect. Jackson has explained that including this sequence would not only stretch the film’s already immense running time, it would also potentially confuse audiences and lessen the ring’s threatening presence as a character in these films. In addition, I also feel that including this part of the story would bog down the pacing quite a bit, with the hobbits reaching such a hearty sanctuary before they’ve faced much danger or hardship on their travels. I also don’t know that this sequence could’ve been used to set up anything else later in the story, since Tom doesn’t appear in the book after the Barrow Downs chapter aside from being mentioned. So, as much as I understand the connection book fans have made to this section of the story and the characters it introduces after reading it for many years, I believe it was the right call to cut it from the films. This decision isn’t exactly exclusive to Peter Jackson, anyway; in Ralph Bakshi’s 1978 adaptation of the Lord of the Rings the same cut was made, although there’s significantly less meat on the bones of that film than Jackson’s trilogy.
Returning to the film, we follow the four hobbits as they arrive at the village of Bree on a rainy night. They remain wary with each move they make, crossing the road to knock at the wooden gates. The gatekeeper appears, and Frodo explains that they are heading for the Prancing Pony. The gatekeeper sounds surprised to see hobbits of the Shire (which makes sense, since most hobbits aren’t fond of adventures), and seems much friendlier to them as a result. Frodo keeps their business to himself, saying they only wish to stay at the inn. In response the gatekeeper lets them through, saying he must ask questions of travelers after nightfall, citing that there’s been talk of strange folk abroad (the black riders, most likely). The hobbits enter Bree and find it a dank, unwelcoming place with muddy streets and sneering faces, and lots of men who could trample them underfoot if they aren’t careful. At length they find the Prancing Pony Inn and come inside.
The inn is bustling with people laughing and having drinks, and once again the hobbits feel very small by comparison. But there’s a sense of relief at their arrival, getting to a dry place where they can eat, rest their heads, and meet with Gandalf at last. Frodo goes to speak with the proprietor, who is unnamed in the film but goes by the name Barliman Butterbur in the book. Barliman, like the gatekeeper, sees the hobbits and is quite friendly to them, welcoming them warmly to his inn, and he adds that there are hobbit-sized rooms available for them. He asks for Frodo’s name, and Frodo, remembering Gandalf’s warnings, chooses the name Underhill to protect himself. Frodo asks him to tell Gandalf that they’ve arrived, that they’re friends of his. Barliman takes a moment to recall Gandalf, then replies that he’s not seen the wizard for six months. In this moment, the hobbits’ sense of security disappears, and they’re left to wonder what’s next for them.
Frodo’s conclusion is that the only thing they can do now is wait for Gandalf to arrive. Clearly this turn of events has upset him; in his first interaction with Gandalf in the film, Gandalf declares that a wizard is never late. For Gandalf not to be here, something must have gone terribly wrong, so even as he tries to reassure the other hobbits, he feels rather hopeless himself. As the four hobbits sit and try to enjoy their drinks, the camera focuses on numerous other figures in the inn, several unfriendly faces which seem to glance at the hobbits suspiciously. Gandalf had also warned of the enemy’s spies, a thought which must be close to Frodo’s mind in such an unfamiliar place. Merry and Pippin meanwhile remain somewhat ambivalent, ordering huge pints of ale and enjoying their visit.
Sam presently brings Frodo’s attention to a man sitting in the corner who has been eyeing Frodo ever since they arrived. As Barliman passes by with drinks, Frodo asks him about this man, and Barliman explains that he’s a ranger, a dangerous wanderer whose true name no one seems to know, so everyone calls him Strider. Frodo ponders the name, wary of him as much as all the other potential spies around him, and once again his thoughts turn to the ring for protection. He hears a voice in his head calling the name of Baggins, again and again until he hears the same name in Pippin’s voice. Pippin, after all, had not been privy to Frodo’s need to keep his true identity hidden, so he casually prattles to strangers about his family relation to Frodo, causing Frodo to panic and run over to him. We see as Strider overhears all this and pays attention to Frodo’s sudden movement. In his attempt to warn Pippin, Frodo slips on spilled beer and accidentally throws the ring into the air, and when it comes back down to him it slips onto his finger, acting of its own will to corrupt him bit by bit. Frodo turns invisible before everyone’s eyes, and the crowd gasps while the hobbits, and Strider as well, take particular notice. In addition, we see the black riders halt during their hunt as they sense the ring has been put on, and they change direction and start heading for Bree.
Frodo awakens to see that the ring has transported him into some alternate version of the world, where everyone around him has become ghostly, shadowy figures and everything he sees has become distorted and blurred. He then hears a voice telling him that he can’t hide, and he turns as the voice declares he can see him clearly. Frodo beholds the Eye of Sauron gazing intensely at him in all its fiery malice, the One Ring giving Sauron a clear window to its wearer all the way from his tower in Mordor. Frodo falls and tries to crawl and hide away from this menace, but even as he does all the shadowy figures around him seem to be burned away as the eye follows him. At last he struggles to pull the ring off his finger, and all returns to normal, and the eye disappears, and he breathes a sigh of relief.
But this moment of respite ends quickly as Frodo is seized by the man Strider, who tells him he’s brought too much attention to himself, making a mockery of the name Mr. Underhill, and then hoists him upstairs into one of the rooms. Strider explains that he knows Frodo carries more than a simple trinket, that to disappear entirely is a rare gift. Frodo asks who Strider really is, and Strider suspects the hobbit isn’t fully aware of the true threat to his life as the riders are on the move. Strider doesn’t reveal his name, our first hint that he, too, is keeping his identity hidden. He is interrupted then when Sam, Merry, and Pippin burst into the room ready to fight for their friend. Upon seeing them, Strider commends Sam for his courage as he puts away his sword. He then tells Frodo, calling him by his real name rather than Mr. Underhill, that he cannot wait for a wizard here, revealing that he must know Gandalf and he must also know the nature of their quest. He says that they are coming, and to drive home this threat we are brought back to the gatekeeper of Bree as he responds to strange noises at the gate. The moment he checks, the gate is battered down by black horses, and he is flattened with it, showing the terrible ruthlessness of the black riders in their hunt for the ring. Five of them enter the village and head straight for the Prancing Pony. With blades drawn, they enter the inn under darkness, with all the guests having fled the scene, and Barliman cowers in fear while the riders pass him by.
The riders enter a bedroom in the inn, and the scene is intercut with shots of the hobbits sleeping peacefully in their beds. The riders position themselves each to a single bed and hold their swords to point for a downward thrust, and the tension builds and builds as we keep seeing the hobbits asleep, totally unaware. Then the riders strike, and the hobbits suddenly wake and react, the sounds of the stabbing blades coming again and again as we watch in horror, only to then see as Strider watches the scene from a far window. The riders then check the beds to find that they’ve been deceived; the beds are filled with feather pillows and the hobbits are safely across the road in a separate inn with Strider looking after them, thus showing Strider’s ingenuity in evading the riders and that he’s chosen to help and protect the hobbits. Even so, the hobbits hear the riders shrieking and are filled with dread. Frodo asks what these things are, and Strider reveals that they were once kings of men who were given rings of power, the same nine kings of men we were shown in the prologue. Corrupted by the rings’ power and Sauron’s influence over them, these men were transformed into Ringwraiths, or Nazgul, neither alive nor dead, and they are now slaves to the will of Sauron. For as long as they remain in this spectral form, they will never stop hunting the one who carries the ring.
Strider/A Knife in the Dark
The hobbits leave Bree under Strider’s protection, and with Strider comes a pony named Bill to help carry all their supplies. His addition to their company is so subtle that I missed it during the first several viewings of the film, and I had always assumed it was Sam’s pony brought from the Shire. In the book it’s explained that the pony was bartered from a man in Bree named Bill Ferny, a sneaky, sniveling denizen who had badly mistreated the poor creature. But since Ferny was never an established character in the film, this part was cut from the movie and we’re left to assume the pony is simply the one Strider uses in his travels, and Sam takes a liking to him over the course of the journey.
Strider takes the hobbits into the wild, and they remain skeptical about him until he reveals that he is taking them to Rivendell, a haven full of elves, and more specifically the House of Elrond. This makes plenty of sense since Aragorn (Strider) was, as we learn later, raised in Rivendell and would know Elrond well enough to know he’d be wise in discerning what to do with the ring, whether or not Gandalf is present to give his input. Sam is excited by this news, since he has a love and fascination with the elves and desperately wants to meet them, which we saw in his somewhat romantic reaction to the wood elves earlier in the film.
The fellowship of five reaches a marshy landscape on their road through Eregion, and Strider notices the hobbits suddenly stop for food in one of the most beloved jokes in the trilogy as he argues with Pippin about breakfast and second breakfast. Then, after Strider walks away seemingly indifferent to their habits, he tosses over a pair of apples for Merry and Pippin, thus endearing him to the hobbits and becoming softer and more sympathetic as a character than his original, much sterner state. The company continues their hardship through the marshes as they are plagued by flies, and Strider shows his skill as a huntsman when he brings back a whole deer for everyone at the camp. Then, in a soft and quiet moment which serves multiple purposes, we see Strider singing softly to himself while the hobbits are sleeping. Frodo remains awake and overhears, and asks about the woman he’s singing of. Though Strider is reluctant at first, he shares a summary of the tale of Beren and Luthien, a mortal man and an elf maiden, who fell in love. Luthien gave up her immortality to be with Beren and paid the price. Obviously this story has special meaning to Aragorn, given his relationship with Arwen that is explored later, so this scene serves as an early setup for that, but it also strengthens his bond to Frodo. The hobbit shows an interest in Strider beyond his tough outer layer, seeing him as more than their begrudging protector in Gandalf’s stead. Strider tells Frodo to go back to sleep, and he continues to keep watch for the hobbits overnight.
At this point we are brought back to Isengard, and we can tell right away that Saruman is up to no good. Using the Palantir, Saruman is communicating with Sauron directly, pledging his allegiance to the dark lord. Sauron in turn commands the wizard to build him an army ‘worthy of Mordor’, and he sends orcs to begin to oversee the process. Together a troop of orcs begins tearing down the trees around Isengard, clearing the way for the pits and forges that will be constructed in their place. High at the peak of the tower, we finally learn that Gandalf is still alive, though badly hurt and without his staff. He hears the noise from down below and sees the carnage that Saruman is up to, and he watches helplessly as Isengard is transformed and he is left with no means to escape. The destruction of the forest is one that will have repercussions later on, but for now the situation with Gandalf appears rather hopeless.
Presently Strider brings the hobbits out of the marshes and to a place called Weathertop, which he refers to as the watch tower of Amon-Sul. It’s a sturdy enough fortress for the company to rest for the night, and once they have settled in Strider gives each of the hobbits a short sword to defend themselves, and he announces he’s going to have a look around the tower. This scene appears in place of the scene in the Barrow Downs where the hobbits obtained their swords in the book. Aside from Frodo, they will continue to carry these swords with them for the rest of their journey. That night, Frodo finds that his friends have lit a campfire to make sausages, tomatoes, and bacon for their supper, and he frantically runs to put it out. Unfortunately, he is too late, and the four are alerted to this realization when a Ringwraith scream sounds across the moors. They look down to see five black shapes advancing to the tower, so they all draw their swords and run up to the tower’s peak.
Once there the four hobbits stand in the center facing outward, hoping that Strider will come to their rescue. But from the darkness outside the pillars, only the Ringwraiths emerge, and they draw out their swords as they step into full view. They point with their blades as they close in on the hobbits. Then Sam, our boy Sam, who didn’t have the courage to talk to the girl he likes, is the first and only one of the hobbits to try and fight off these horrifying wraiths. They easily strike him down out of their way, however, and while Merry and Pippin stand for a moment, they too flee once the wraiths reach out to take them. With no one else by his side, Frodo drops his sword and falls away from the Nazgul, and he’s left with only one option in his mind: the ring.
The moment he draws the ring from his pocket, the leader of the Ringwraiths sees it in his hand, and he draws a second blade from his belt as he comes after Frodo. With the five Nazgul all around him, Frodo succumbs to the temptation of the ring and puts it on, only to make a horrid discovery. The black riders have all turned to pallid figures with tall crowns and flowing robes, and with the ring on his finger, Frodo has entered their world. Rather than become invisible to them like everyone else, he can be seen by them even better than before. The Nazgul leader, also known as the Witch-King, reaches for the ring while it remains on Frodo’s finger, and it seems to gravitate towards him, even against Frodo’s own wishes. When Frodo draws his hand away, the Witch-King recoils and then plunges his knife into Frodo’s shoulder. Frodo howls in pain, but before the Witch-King can seal his fate, we hear the voice of Strider as he leaps into the fray. The Witch-King pulls his knife from Frodo’s shoulder and the four other Ringwraiths spread apart as Strider battles them with a sword in one hand and a burning torch in the other.
While Strider fights the Nazgul off, Frodo removes the ring from his finger and continues to cry out in pain, and the other hobbits come directly to his side, beginning with Sam. Strider shows his skill as a swordsman, and the Ringwraiths are no match for him in his fury, each of them either set ablaze with the torch or forced off the tower’s peak until they are all gone. Once the battle is over, Strider rejoins the hobbits and examines Frodo. He sees that Frodo was stabbed with a Morgul blade, and it’s not in his power to heal him; they must get to Rivendell if Frodo is to survive. The company leaves Weathertop in a hurry, but Sam worries that Rivendell is too far, and they’ll never make it before Frodo dies. As Frodo moans in pain and calls out for Gandalf, like a child instinctively calling out for a protective parent, we also hear Strider muttering ‘Hold on, Frodo’, indicating that he’s come to care for the hobbit beyond just his importance to the quest.
We then return to Isengard, where we can see the handiwork of Saruman’s orcs. The area is completely cleared of trees, and caverns have been dug deep into the ground with scaffolding and other structures built up top. We see orcs patrolling the walls on the Ring of Isengard, and as the camera pans close to one of the chasms in the ground we can see many more of Saruman’s minions from a distance and hear the clamor of their work. We then take notice of a large moth that’s making its way to the top of the tower, where Gandalf sits alone in despair. As the moth flies near him, he snatches it out of the air and holds it close as he seems to recognize the creature. He speaks to it in a whispered voice, using some unknown tongue, and the moth appears to understand him. It listens for a moment before he allows it to fly away, and as we’ll learn later it’s the method by which Gandalf calls for help from the Great Eagles. The moth’s return is a motif which is repeated in the darkest hour of Return of the King, so this is a bit of soft exposition that serves both later in this film and much later in the story, one of many examples of subtle insertion that the writers use for their many payoffs in the final act of this story.
The camera then plunges from the top of the tower into the forges of Isengard. We see the work of his minions up close: the orcs are busy making weapons and armor for a large army, using the wood from the trees they pulled to fuel the fires. There are also some orcs raising a new breed from the mud pits, and Saruman himself has come down to see these creatures be born from his wizardry. The first of these creatures that he witnesses lashes out at the orcs pulling it from the mud and chokes one of them to death. While other orcs get tense and raise their weapons, Saruman holds them back and beholds his creation: the Uruk-hai. As fierce and battle-hungry as orcs, but larger and stronger, and as we learn later, unaffected by sunlight, unlike orcs. Saruman seems to regard this Uruk-hai as a potential leader for his army, and as the uruk growls and looks at himself, already it seems a formidable foe to our heroes. Many of us know this Uruk-hai to be named Lurtz, but this name is never used in the film, only in outside material, and his main role in the story is to be a sort of a final boss, a physical threat the Fellowship must face, as Saruman and Sauron remain unapproachable to our heroes for now. Other minions like Sharku, Gothmog, and the Witch-King will serve a similar purpose in later films.
Returning to our heroes, we are shown the stone figures of trolls overlooking Frodo and his friends, a reference to Bilbo’s adventures in The Hobbit when he and the dwarves were captured by trolls and Gandalf came to rescue them. This same story was mentioned during Bilbo’s party as he shared it with a group of hobbit children, and as it’s a story Bilbo likely told Frodo many times, Sam tries to use it to comfort the ailing ring-bearer. But it has little effect: Frodo’s face and eyes have gone pale, and he’s been making sickly, feverish noises due to this unnatural wound he’s sustained, and it seems he’s not even capable of speaking. Sam comments that he’s going cold, and Pippin wonders if he will die soon. Strider explains that he’s passing into the wraith world, and if he is not saved, he will become like the Ringwraiths. A wailing shriek from the Nazgul warns the company that they are still close after the encounter at Weathertop, so Strider instructs Sam to help him look for a special type of weed called Athelas, or Kingsfoil, which could help to slow the effect of the wound.
Strider is the first to find some, but before he can gather any he feels a blade against his neck, and for a moment appears to think that one of the Nazgul has got him, before hearing a woman’s voice chide him for being caught off-guard. It is here that we are introduced to Arwen, an elf ranger from Rivendell, who appears to the hobbits like an angel, full of grace and beauty. When Frodo sees her, it’s as though all his suffering melts away for the moment, and he can’t look away from her. She offers him some words of encouragement to stay in the light and resist the wraith world, then his ailment seems to return to him gradually. Arwen, together with Strider, tries to tend to the knife-wound with the athelas they found, even though the touch of the herb to the wound appears to feel to Frodo like another stab of pain. Meanwhile, Sam, Merry, and Pippin watch her in amazement, failing to understand as Arwen and Strider speak to each other in elvish. Arwen then volunteers to take Frodo the rest of the way to Rivendell, saying she’s the faster rider, and that she doesn’t fear the Ringwraiths. We can see in how they look at each other and speak to each other that the two have some history, and there’s a hint of romantic affection. Though reluctant at first, Strider lets her go, and Arwen goads her horse Asfaloth with an elvish charm as she rides off into the forest. Sam is outraged by this, knowing as well as Strider that the Nazgul will harry her the whole way to Rivendell, and probably upset that neither he nor the other hobbits had any say as to what would happen with Frodo. Strider has nothing to say in response, knowing he can only trust Arwen to do as she promised.
In this scene we see the first evidence that the role of Arwen has been greatly expanded from what it was in the book; she essentially takes over the role of Glorfindel in the book (who was also replaced by Legolas in the 1978 film; I guess Bakshi didn’t care much for Glorfindel either), and as the story progresses her relationship with Aragorn becomes the focal point of her character, as opposed to remaining a footnote in the appendices of Return of the King. I think the main reason for this change is fairly obvious: the Lord of the Rings books only really have two female characters with anything to do or say, those being Galadriel and Eowyn, so her greater role in the films serves both to give us an understanding as to why Aragorn loves her and to simply have more women in such a male-dominated story. I get that she’s not the most popular character for this reason, but I imagine the films would be noticeably lacking in women if she were absent, and it’d also be strange for Aragorn to suddenly marry her at the end of the story if we knew nothing about her. So I have no issue with this change, especially since Glorfindel didn’t factor into the story much beyond this scene in the book.
Arwen makes the ride through the woods and across the plains as she approaches the Ford of Rivendell with Frodo riding in her lap, and it’s not long before she can see the black riders are hot on her trail. One by one the Ringwraiths file in from the woods to chase after her. They get close enough once to try and reach out to Frodo, almost as though they mean to capture him rather than kill him. But Arwen proves to be a very skilled rider, quick as she said she would be, and she manages to evade the nine riders all the way to the river where she makes her defiant stand against them. One of the Nazgul calls out to her to give up the halfling (another term for hobbit), and she taunts them, drawing out her sword, saying that if they want him, they can come and get him. The Ringwraiths draw their swords as well and start to cross the ford, while Arwen mutters an elvish spell. As she does, the river appears to quicken at the horses’ hooves, and when she finishes, a high wall of water forms around the bend and starts to run the Ringwraiths down. The waves rise high enough to cover over them, and the water takes the shape of horses in a stampede. When it washes over them, all nine are swept up in the tide, and it is the last we see of the Ringwraiths in this film. Arwen managed to defeat them using some magic that thus far we’ve not seen used by anyone other than wizards, showing an example of the elves’ magical capabilities other than their immortality.
After the wraiths are gone, Frodo appears to be on his dying breath as he falls from Arwen’s horse. In great emotional distress she voices another spell, saying “What grace has given me, let it pass to him. Let him be spared. Save him.” It’s hard to know for certain what she means by this, but it sounds as if Arwen is willing to give up her life, or at least some of her life force, to preserve Frodo just a little while longer. It’s likely that she learned from her father Elrond certain healing methods which only the elves are capable of, but whatever the case it seems to be enough to hold Frodo over to the House of Elrond, which is where he wakes. He utters his first words since the moment the Witch-King stabbed him, asking where he is, and it is Gandalf’s voice that answers him.
Many Meetings/The Council of Elrond
Frodo finds himself safe and sound in a comfortable bed in Rivendell, and his friend Gandalf is sitting beside him smoking his pipe. Gandalf assures Frodo that he was very lucky to be alive; given a few more hours on the road he would’ve been beyond saving, but Frodo proved to be quite resilient. Gandalf says this proudly, echoing his earlier sentiment at hobbits’ continued ability to surprise him. As Frodo sits up in bed he feels the sting of the wound still in his shoulder, even if the effects of its poison have passed away. Then he remembers the Prancing Pony, and he asks Gandalf why he wasn’t there to meet them. To this Gandalf says he was delayed, pausing as though trying to choose his words carefully. He then remembers his last confrontation with Saruman, as the White Wizard continued throwing Gandalf about the top of the tower. During this Gandalf sees the moth return to him once again, signaling Gandalf’s means of escape is on the way. Saruman coerces Gandalf to embrace the ring’s power, or face destruction. Gandalf replies that there can only be one lord of the rings, and Sauron does not share his power, implying that Saruman will not get what he seeks out of his arrangement with Sauron. As he says this, he watches a great eagle approaching the tower, and so he leaps from the peak and the eagle catches him, bearing him far away. Saruman can do nothing to stop it, only saying that he believes Gandalf has chosen death. He does this with some bitterness, as though disappointed that his old friend will not remain on his side.
Gandalf returns to the present, his long silence bearing Frodo’s curiosity, but he doesn’t elaborate on it. Something which strikes me as a continuity error here is that Gandalf does not have his staff when he is taken from Isengard by the eagle; the last we saw it, Saruman took it from him during their fight in the Palantir chamber. Yet, in the Council of Elrond and the journey going forward, we see that Gandalf somehow has his staff back, and we get no explanation for how. It’s a bit of a nitpick but still legitimate. Anyway, Sam rushes happily into the room just then, glad to see Frodo returned to normal. Gandalf explains that Sam had hardly left Frodo’s side since he came to Rivendell, cluing the audience into how devoted to him Sam had become since leaving the Shire. Gandalf also declares that by Lord Elrond’s skills, Frodo is beginning to mend, and we meet Elrond at last. That is, it seems at first that this is our first time seeing him, but those with an eagle eye will recognize that Elrond was commanding and fighting in the battle during the film’s prologue, meaning that the elven lord is over 3000 years old. Here Elrond welcomes Frodo to Rivendell kindly, one of the few times we ever see Elrond smiling.
From here we are treated to a wide shot of the Rivendell valley, with high waterfalls, colorful trees, ornate architecture, leaf-covered terraces, and walls of mountains all around. It appears to be as safe and pleasant a sanctuary as our heroes deserve after what they came through to be here. Frodo and Sam take a walk through the gardens and take in eyefuls of the gorgeous scenery as golden sunlight shines down on them, and soon they are found by Merry and Pippin, both of whom are also overjoyed to see Frodo back to health. Then Frodo gets an unexpected reunion, as he looks ahead and finds his uncle Bilbo seated on a stone bench waiting for him. He runs up to embrace him, and we can see that Bilbo has suddenly grown much older since we last saw him. The ring no longer in his possession, Bilbo ages rapidly as its power to stretch out his life has passed to another. Though frail in body and voice, Bilbo seems much the same otherwise, and he shows Frodo his completed book: There and Back Again, a Hobbit’s Tale by Bilbo Baggins. As Frodo flips through it, Bilbo explains that he meant to go further than Rivendell, to revisit locations like Lake Town and the Lonely Mountain from past adventures, but once he made it to Rivendell he felt that age had caught up to him and he couldn’t go on.
Frodo sees maps of the Shire in Bilbo’s book, and it forces him to reflect on his journey to Rivendell. From his perspective now, his adventure has ended here, and he’ll soon return home. So he compares his story with that of Bilbo’s, recognizing that it’s quite different, that he and Bilbo are not the same. Perhaps it is here, in this moment, where Frodo first considers telling his own story one day, but the line “I’m not like you, Bilbo,” is very telling in that it reveals Frodo has no love of adventure the way that Bilbo has, that his experiences on the road have made him weary of it and ready to return to his old life. It’s quite foreboding, then, that this realization comes now, just before Frodo’s true journey is about to begin. But Bilbo is understanding of this fact, and he wants Frodo to know that he is dear to him all the same, resolving the character moment which had been left somewhat open-ended at the birthday party.
The sentiment of this scene carries over into the next as Frodo finds Sam packing his things for the journey home, and Frodo is surprised. Sam, after all, always wanted to see the elves, and now he’s already prepared to leave. But Sam reveals that he, like Frodo, is ready for this adventure to be done, and he figures that since the ring has been brought to Rivendell like Gandalf wanted (even though it was Aragorn’s idea to bring them to Rivendell; Gandalf only wanted them to meet him in Bree), their part of this story was over. Frodo agrees with this, saying the ring will be safe in Rivendell.
But Elrond has some words to say about that. He and Gandalf discuss that Frodo has been remarkably resilient in his quest to Rivendell, that it’s no mean feat to resist the ring for so long and come away from a Ringwraith blade with your life. Gandalf feels contrite that the ring should ever have come to Frodo, and that the wound from the knife will be one that Frodo carries forever, and that no more should be asked of him. Elrond turns the subject to their enemies, Sauron and more recently Saruman, and Gandalf explains that he knows Saruman is building an army in Isengard, an army unlike what’s been previously faced. Saruman will come for the ring, and his forces pose a more immediate threat than whatever comes from Mordor. Elrond declares that the elves cannot face this threat on their own, and that the ring indeed cannot stay in Rivendell.
The elven lord further explains that this change in Middle-Earth will affect all its peoples, and as he says this, we see more visitors arrive in Rivendell, representing three different races. Though they are not yet named, we see Legolas of the elves, coming from Mirkwood; we see Gimli of the dwarves, all the way from the Lonely Mountain of Erebor, and the proud Gondorian captain Boromir, a man. Elrond reminds Gandalf that the elves will soon be leaving Middle-Earth forever, and he asks who the new stewards of Middle-Earth will be when they are gone. Gandalf says that it will be men, to which Elrond shows his utter doubt. He says that the race of men has failed, the old bloodlines are gone, and that it is the fault of men that the ring was not destroyed 3000 years ago. Here we see a flashback to the prologue during the battle, showing Elrond as he was in that day, and thus reminding the audience in case they hadn’t recognized him. He saw Isildur claim the ring, and when he led him into Mount Doom, the one place it could be destroyed, Isildur would not do it. From that moment Elrond’s faith in men was broken, and to this day he seems to regard the entire race bitterly.
In response to this story, Gandalf reminds him that there is still one who can restore the honor of men, unite the remaining kingdoms, and reclaim the throne of Gondor, referring to Aragorn. But Elrond doubts this as well, knowing that Aragorn has no desire to become king, and that he has chosen exile instead. This is yet another departure from the books, the idea that Aragorn is irresolute about becoming king despite his birthright. In the book, Aragorn brought with him the sword of Elendil, the Shards of Narsil, to be reforged at Rivendell before the Fellowship began their quest, and once this was done his purpose in the journey was to bring the sword back to Gondor and claim his right to be king, and Boromir also shared in this goal. In the films, the Shards of Narsil are in Rivendell when he arrives, waiting to be reforged, but Aragorn is shown to have no desire to rise to the throne, and he joins the Fellowship out of a personal connection to Frodo and a desire to protect him. This may be perhaps because of his upbringing in the House of Elrond, believing the race of men, his own race, to be susceptible to failure, and that he will not live up to the legacy his forefathers built. It is only over the course of the journey, and his relationship with Boromir in particular, when that faith in men is restored, and he gradually accepts the calling of the crown. But that’s getting ahead of ourselves, and much of that ground is to be covered later.
For now, however, this plot point is explored further in the next scene. We meet Boromir as we find him admiring the painting depicting Isildur’s moment of triumph against the dark lord. He soon notices Strider seated in the same room, and he notices that Strider is a man like him rather than an elf, feeling a sense of kinship with him based on that alone. When Boromir asks who he is, however, Strider remains strangely aloof and only says that he is a friend of Gandalf’s, not wanting Boromir to know his true identity. Likely he believes Boromir would try to pressure him into returning to Gondor. But Boromir accepts this and presses him no further, instead simply calling him ‘friend’. Boromir then finds the shards of Narsil laid out on an altar, and as he examines them he cuts himself on the blade, noting how sharp it is even after all these years. This could imply a number of things: the enduring legacy of the Numenorean Kings, the sword still ready for use and waiting for its moment to face Sauron again, how the glorification of the past can fail to serve at the present, how Boromir is subject to the same failure as kings of old. But Boromir is dismissive and deflects by saying it’s no more than a broken handle, giving the first sign that he doesn’t believe Gondor needs a king anymore. He lets the hilt fall rather than placing it back on the altar, and after he leaves Strider steps forward to put the hilt back into place, showing his own reverence for the past, the way of kings, the calling he feels but remains reluctant to answer.
Once he does this, Strider steps back with an uneasy look on his face. Arwen appears behind him and asks why he still feels the burden of Isildur’s decisions. She believes Strider can form his own destiny, but he feels that the bloodline he carries shares the same weakness as Isildur. If ever he were to face the ring, he might make the same mistakes. From this exchange we as the audience can feel certain that Strider is not simply a ranger wandering in the north. As the heir of Isildur he could become one of the most important rulers in Middle-Earth, but only if he accepts the calling. It is clear that Arwen wants this for him, as she continues to encourage him to face this challenge, thus showing strength in her character that she believes in men despite that her father Elrond does not. She says that one day he will face the same evil that Isildur did, and he will overcome where Isildur failed.
The two move on from there to an isolated bridge elsewhere in Rivendell, and the tone shifts to become quite romantic. The implied affection that we saw before in Strider and Arwen’s first interaction is now shown in full; the two are lifelong lovers, but now they’ve come to a moment of crisis. With the elves leaving Middle-Earth, Arwen is bound to leave with them, but she desires to stay, bind herself with Aragorn, and forsake the immortal life, echoing the story of Beren and Luthien that Aragorn shared with Frodo before. Aragorn tries to discourage her from this decision, but she is adamant in her conviction, and to seal her commitment she bestows on him the Evenstar, a pendant which is sacred to her people and symbolizes her love, saying it is hers alone to give. They share a kiss, and it seems the matter is closed, but let’s just wait till Elrond hears about it.
Speaking of Elrond, we arrive next at one of the most pivotal scenes in the whole trilogy: the Council of Elrond. Here the elven lord has gathered many elves, dwarves, and men from across Middle-Earth, along with Gandalf and Frodo, to come to a decision about what will be done with the One Ring. Elrond claims that Middle-Earth is on the brink of destruction, and whatever happens will affect all people in it. He then tells Frodo to present the ring, and so Frodo steps forward and places the ring on the altar at the center of the council yard. It is the first time Frodo has given up the ring since he placed it in his pocket before leaving Bag End, and we can see as he sits back down that it must be like a heavy weight off his shoulders; the burden is no longer his to bear. Various characters look at the ring on the pedestal, each of them likely feeling the temptation of it reaching out to them. Boromir is the first to speak aloud, and he tells the others about a dream he had which he believes symbolizes the return of Isildur’s Bane (The One Ring) and how it will bring about the restoration of Gondor against Sauron’s darkness. He tries to reach for the ring, but both Elrond and Gandalf act to stop him. Gandalf uses the black speech of Mordor, the language he refused to utter before Frodo in the Shire, and as he speaks the sky darkens and there is a roll of thunder, and we hear a menacing voice seemingly responding to him, possibly from the ring. This distresses Elrond, and he scolds Gandalf for using that language in Rivendell, but Gandalf reasons that he uses it to illustrate that the ring is altogether evil, and cannot be used for good.
Boromir persists against this notion, claiming the ring is a gift from the foes of Mordor. He proclaims that Gondor has borne the brunt of Mordor’s wrath for many years as Sauron’s power has grown, and because of this he feels that Gondor is entitled to use the enemy’s greatest weapon against him: “By the blood of our people are your lands kept safe”. To this Strider responds that the One Ring answers only to Sauron, and cannot be used against him, but Boromir tries to dismiss him as nothing more than a ranger, knowing nothing of the ring or the wars of men. It is then that Strider’s true identity is revealed for all present: Legolas stands to defend him, saying that Strider is in fact Aragorn, the heir of Isildur, and Boromir owes his allegiance to him. Boromir seems shocked by this revelation, and Frodo as well seems to look at him in a new light. Despite his reaction, however, Boromir proudly declares that Gondor has no king, and it needs none. As he sits back down, he continues to stare at Aragorn, perhaps considering how this new information sits with him.
Gandalf agrees with Aragorn that the ring cannot be used, and Elrond puts forward what has been his belief all along: the ring must be destroyed. Only then will Sauron be vanquished forever. This causes some distress among the gathered council, but Gimli the dwarf is quick to act. He takes up an axe and tries to bring it down on the ring, only for his strike to be deflected and his weapon to be shattered to pieces. The ring remains untouched, but the moment Gimli landed the strike Frodo felt a shudder, and some dread or pain appears to return to him, warranting Gandalf’s concern. The ring still has not let go of him, even if he has let go of the ring. Elrond then clarifies that the ring can only be destroyed where it was made: in the fires of Mount Doom, all the way in Mordor. He then states that one of those presently gathered must be the one to do this task.
There is a moment of silence; no one wants to volunteer. Boromir explains, in a highly memed moment, that Mordor is a very inhospitable place, and making a journey there would be essentially a suicide mission. But Legolas stands by Elrond’s resolution, and Gimli argues against him, questioning whether Legolas could do this thing himself. Perhaps as a dwarf who’s lived much of his life in the mountains, Gimli sees himself better suited to the job than an elf, but anyway he lets slip that he hopes never to see the ring pass to an elf. This begins a storm of argument, during which Gimli cries “Never trust an elf!”, revealing a certain enmity between the two races that will be important to his and Legolas’ development as characters. Gandalf also mentions Saruman to Boromir, a threat which the Gondorian likely hasn’t accounted for in his plans to use the ring. The council descends to chaos, emblematic of the ring’s influence on all the different people, and Elrond can do nothing to restore order.
In the midst of all this, Frodo has remained quiet, scarcely taking his eyes off the ring. As the argument builds, he hears the same dreaded voice from the ring, perhaps taunting him, poking and prying at him to continue his role as its bearer, questioning his resolve and his ability to resist it. Just when he thought he was free of it and ready to go home, he realizes that he may be the only one capable of resisting the ring for the duration of such a quest. With a face full of conviction, he stands and proclaims multiple times that he will be the one to take the ring to Mordor, though he knows not the way. All eyes turn to him and all voices are silenced. We see in Gimli’s eyes, Aragorn’s eyes, Elrond’s eyes, and Gandalf’s eyes how much Frodo had grown to all of them in that moment. Gandalf is the first to volunteer as Frodo’s companion, as long the burden is his to bear. He still sees himself as responsible for the burden falling to Frodo in the first place, and believes that Frodo should’ve had to do nothing more than bring the ring this far. Aragorn offers his vow next, saying he will protect Frodo with his life. Legolas and Gimli then add themselves to the count, pledging their bow and axe respectively. The two regard each other like rivals, and Gimli looks up at Legolas as though proving the worth of his people with this action. Then Boromir steps forward, admiring Frodo’s courage despite his stature, and agrees to take part in the mission for the sake of Gondor.
Sam then suddenly appears on the scene, saying Frodo won’t be heading anywhere without him. Elrond makes a jab at Sam’s expense, only to be undercut by a mischievous pair of hobbits. Merry and Pippin tag along, seeming to not fully comprehend what they’ve signed on for. Elrond beholds the whole company with a look of pride, and he declares the nine companions to be the Fellowship of the Ring. We see them in all their different races and sizes, united for a common cause to save Middle-Earth, and we’re excited to see where they go from here. That is the end of Part 1.
We’ve covered roughly an hour and forty-five minutes’ worth of screentime to reach the halfway point of the first film, surpassing the full runtime of many feature length films. Despite the great length of these films, however, one thing that can be noticed while watching them is how efficient they are with their time. There are no wasted scenes, and the ones that are drawn out tend to be used for their immersion into this world or for letting the characters grow and communicate with the audience nonverbally. The writing team of Philippa Boyen, Fran Walsh, and Peter Jackson worked tirelessly on this production to make sure that the audience had everything they needed to understand about this world and characters for the story to work, without rushing to get to the action or glossing over areas of exposition. They also worked to make sure that the vast majority of scenes in these films serve multiple purposes at once. There are many scenes which serve as a combination of either world-building, character development, exposition, and or plot progression, and thus even when the pace slows, we never reach a static point for the story. You can also notice that scenes are tied one to the next thematically, rather than there being hard cuts to keep the story moving. This was accomplished due to the fact that the script for Lord of the Rings was being constantly edited and revised, even during production and filming, to iron out issues and add more depth. If it meant reshooting scenes to get what they wanted, they were willing to do it.
By this point in the story, we’ve witnessed a lot of growth from our main characters, and it’s been handled little by little in small scenes and motifs which really let the emotional stakes creep up on us. The writers are quick to establish characters, their thoughts and the things they care about, as we meet them. We get to see them encounter various obstacles and hardships and look after each other, we see them face difficult decisions and accept responsibility as it’s thrust upon them, and we grow to care about them and fear for them as a result. This becomes increasingly difficult to balance the more characters that are introduced, and the more elements that are brought into the story. If some characters seem to be more simplified versions of what they were in the books, and certain events were streamlined or cut out entirely to facilitate a consistent pace of the films, then I’d still argue the writers did an excellent job maintaining the tone of the novels and the essence of its characters, these sacrifices notwithstanding. It’s able to balance moments of action, terror, levity, urgency, complacency, and large-scale adventure without ever leaning too hard in any direction, and it maintains a rather light magic system to keep the story grounded and believable without needing to be explained ad nauseum.
We will continue to explore these facets of adaptation and many other writing choices as this series goes on. Part 2 will of course go over the second half of Fellowship of the Ring, which is more action-heavy than the first and also introduces lots of new locations, and then we will continue to see how these story threads continue to weave into the remaining films and how the ripples of the events here have unforeseen effects later on. I look forward to finding what can be uncovered in this treasure trove of films.
The King's Speech 