The Lord of the Rings (review)

@agatha

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· 2 weeks ago

by J. R. R. TOLKIEN

At the end of the book, there is a table (b/w) illustrating the lands that are the subject of the narrative.

The book is divided into 3 major parts: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King.

Brief biography of the author

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien

Tolkien, John Ronald Reuel (Bloemfontein, South Africa, 1892 - Bournemouth, Hampshire, 1973), British philologist and writer. Professor of English at the University of Oxford from 1945 to 1959, he wrote philological works and significant treatises on ancient and medieval English literature. His scholarship in this field is evident in the narratives inspired by medieval legends. In 1937, he wrote The Hobbit for his children, a fantasy tale which, along with the trilogy that followed, would prove to be a precursor to the "fantasy" genre. The Lord of the Rings (1954-55), a highly successful trilogy consisting of The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King, centers on the conflict between the forces of Good and Evil over the possession of a magical ring that grants absolute power; the same fantasy world known as Middle-earth is also the setting for the events of The Silmarillion, published posthumously in 1977.

Main races

Hobbits or “halflings”: The hobbit people are discreet and modest, of ancient origin, lovers of peace and quiet; they do not understand or like complex machinery. They are very shy, especially around the “tall folk”; they have sharp eyesight and hearing, are rather lazy, but quick and agile when needed. They possess the art of disappearing quickly and silently.
Men or “tall folk”: In this book, men do not have much power over the lands and are viewed unfavorably especially by the hobbits. It is often emphasized how short their lives are compared to those of other races.
Wizards: Wizards are generally old and very powerful, masters of the use of magic and are distinguished by colors (e.g., Gandalf the Grey; Saruman the White).
Elves: The elves are portrayed as a noble and very ancient race, difficult to spot because they remain secluded in their fortresses in the woods and are reluctant to show themselves. They have highly developed eyesight. They have not been on good terms with the dwarves for a very long time.
Dwarves: Dwarves are only slightly taller than hobbits but much sturdier, they dwell in caves and mine mithril from the rocks. They are on bad terms with the elves.
Orcs: Orcs are a foul race in the service of Saruman and Sauron, with no interest in conquering lands but only in killing in battle.
Ents: Ents are a very ancient race made up of trees that have awoken from their slumber; they are very slow and their language takes many minutes even to say very few words, they never eat, only drink. They live long and die when they turn into normal trees. They are very strong in battle, fearing only fire.

Main characters

Bilbo Baggins: Hobbit; protagonist of the previous book, The Hobbit, where he defeated the dragon that oppressed all peoples and found a magical ring that allowed one to become invisible. In The Lord of the Rings, he is now elderly and adopts Frodo from the Took family.
Frodo Baggins: Hobbit; protagonist of the book, adopted by Bilbo, becomes the ring-bearer. He is often insecure, though he can be decisive and steadfast when necessary.
Sam Gamgee: Hobbit; gardener serving Bilbo and Frodo, follows Frodo wherever he goes, often insecure but very loyal.
Merry Brandybuck: Hobbit; friend of Frodo, follows him on the adventure.
Peregrin Took (Pippin): Hobbit; friend of Frodo, follows him on the adventure.
Gandalf: Wizard; Gandalf the Grey is a powerful, wise old wizard who accompanies Frodo, as he did with Bilbo. He is very powerful and makes decisions within the group.
Legolas: Elf; from the woodland realm, follows Frodo from Rivendell, represents the elf race in the fellowship, sees very far and uses a bow as his weapon. He is very old and wise.
Gimli: Dwarf; follows Frodo from Rivendell, represents the dwarf race in the fellowship, uses a huge axe as his weapon; he is very strong but often acts on instinct without considering the consequences.
Boromir: Man; follows Frodo from Rivendell, represents the race of men in the fellowship, uses a great sword as his weapon; he is very robust and tall.
Strider (Aragorn): Man; follows Frodo from Bree, a very wise and strong ranger, uses the legendary sword Andúril as his weapon.
Saruman: Wizard; Saruman the White is the most powerful among the wizards, lured by the power thirst that pervades the ring. He has betrayed the wizards and is conspiring with Sauron.
Sauron: Man (???); also, because of the rings, he has lost his mind and seeks to conquer all lands, the only ring he lacks is the most powerful, that is Frodo’s.
Uruk-hai: orc-tribe, a tribe of orcs in the service of Mordor, they kidnap Pippin and Merry in an attempt to seize the ring. Almost all are killed by the riders of Rohan.
Treebeard: ent, Treebeard is the oldest living being in the world, like all ents he resembles a tree, and he feeds exclusively on a special liquid substance that causes growth in those who drink it. He meets Merry and Pippin in the forest and leads them to Sauron along with the other ents;
The White Rider (or Gandalf the White): wizard, Gandalf becomes the White Rider (formerly the Grey Rider) after miraculously escaping the battle in the mines. The members of the fellowship believed him dead, but they meet him in the forest.
King Théoden: man, king of the Mark and Rohan, after escaping the influence of Wormtongue, who manipulated him according to his power, decides to go to war despite his advanced age.
Éomer: man, son of King Théoden, a skilled warrior, goes to war with his father.
Wormtongue: man, Saruman’s spy, who over time managed to be employed as the king’s advisor. From that position, he manipulated the king, bending him to his will with words. He was unmasked by Gandalf and exiled by Théoden.
Sméagol or Gollum: a slimy being that dwells in water, already featured in a brief episode in “The Hobbit” (also written by Tolkien), relentlessly pursues his treasure, the ring. His personality is split: the good side obeys Frodo (whom he calls master, because he possesses the ring), the evil side tries to trap the master.
Faramir: man, Boromir’s brother, meets Frodo, Sam, and Gollum near Saruman's dwelling and arrests them believing them to be spies. Convinced otherwise, he leads them to the secret base of his company and, before parting, offers them ample provisions.
Shelob: repulsive monster, lives in the vast and intricate tunnels that pass under Sauron's dwelling. She is a kind of spider-woman who sucks the blood from her victims. She attacks Frodo and Sam.
Lord Denethor: man; father of Faramir and Boromir, king of Gondor. Unconcerned that his city is under heavy attack, he refuses Gandalf's help. He believes there is nothing left to do for Gondor and thus refuses to fight and tries to commit suicide along with Faramir;
Beregond: man; royal guard of Gondor, helps Merry navigate the city. Unlike his king, he fights for the salvation of Minas Tirith (the Elvish name for Gondor);
Lady Eowyn: man; this girl, unlike other women, refuses to stay locked up at home and seeks by all means to participate in the battle of Minas Tirith; she falls in love with Faramir and marries him, thus becoming the queen of Gondor;
Lady Galadriel: elf; Lady Galadriel is the queen of the elves of Lothlórien, in the second part of the adventure she had given many useful items to the fellowship; she joins the other ring-bearers being the bearer of the white ring, one of the most powerful;
Lotho Sackville-Baggins (the Boss): hobbit; after the fellowship leaves Hobbiton, Lotho takes over the town, bending it to his will with the help of several bands of thieves, Saruman, and Wormtongue;
Tom Cotton: hobbit; Tom is one of the few hobbits who dares to openly challenge Lotho even before Frodo's return. His daughter (Rosie Cotton) will happily marry Sam.

Background

In the book preceding The Lord of the Rings, Bilbo accidentally found a ring while trying to escape from the goblin caves; soon, he discovers that the ring is not just a simple ornament but gives the power to become invisible to others when worn. Unfortunately, he also realizes that the ring grows heavier the more it is used and somehow draws him to it. This causes a dispute with Gollum, a slimy river-dwelling creature in the goblin caves; Gollum calls the ring "his precious" and while talking always refers to the ring even asking it for advice, while when he talks about himself he uses the third person. Gollum challenges Bilbo to a game of riddles: if Bilbo won, he could keep the ring and Gollum would show him the way out, otherwise, Bilbo would be Gollum’s next meal.

Fortunately, Bilbo wins, but Gollum still tries to block his way; the hobbit manages to escape using the ring's properties.

Plot

Gandalf, after a long time, returns to Bilbo with dire news. He has discovered that Bilbo's ring is one of the 23 rings of power; each of these rings possesses unique powers but imparts to its wearer an insatiable thirst for power, for which they are willing to do anything. The ring Bilbo owns is the strongest of all the rings. Gandalf also warns him of another, perhaps greater, danger: Sauron and his servant Saruman intend to collect the rings, and they have managed to seize all except for Bilbo's, which has now become their next target.

Bilbo entrusts the ring to Frodo with the task of keeping it safe and embarking on a journey to the furnaces of Mordor—the only place where the ring can be destroyed. Along with Bilbo, Sam and Merry set off on the journey.

After some adventures, Frodo reaches Bree, a large city of merchants. A grand party takes place in the evening during which a black-clad wanderer speaks to Frodo and hands him a letter written by Gandalf. This is Strider, who quickly earns the trust of all the company members and informs them that black knights, sent by Sauron, are pursuing them; they leave the city that same evening as the knights invade it.

During an ambush by the knights, Frodo is severely wounded by a shadow knife and when he wakes up, he finds himself in Rivendell, where his companions had taken him following Gandalf's instructions in his letter. There, a great meeting is held at the end of which it is decided that Frodo will be accompanied on his journey by other adventurers, but they may renounce the quest at any time. The company now includes Gandalf, Boromir, Legolas, and Gimli. The company is forced to pass through the mines of Moria to continue. They quickly notice the presence of entire legions of orcs, and their journey turns into a flight during which Gandalf loses his life falling from a chasm. From there, they go to an elven country: Lothlorien. Here, the company is given numerous gifts before departing again, this time by boat along the Great River.

After traveling along the Great River, the company must decide whether to continue the mission to destroy the ring or to go to the aid of Minas Tirith, a city under attack. At this point, the company dissolves: Sam follows Frodo, who sets off to complete the mission; Merry, Pippin, and Boromir encounter a band of orcs that kidnaps the two hobbits and kills Boromir. After a brief funeral, the remaining members of the company pursue the orcs.

After a few days of travel, they meet the riders of Rohan who tell them they have killed a large tribe of orcs and burned their bodies, but they did not find any hobbits with them. At this point, Strider thinks the hobbits have been killed by mistake but decides to continue his journey anyway. They do not know that a few days earlier the two hobbits had managed to escape through deception and had reached the forest in an attempt to hide. In the forest, the hobbits meet Treebeard, who with the other Ents awakens and decides to wage war against Saruman. Strider goes into the forest to look for the hobbits and there he meets Gandalf reborn. The wizard tells him not to worry about the fate of the hobbits but to follow him to the Mark to ask King Theoden for help in the war against Saruman. Arriving at the king's court, they unmask Wormtongue, who is exiled. After a fierce battle, they finally arrive at Saruman's tower. There they find the hobbits, who explain that Saruman can no longer leave his tower, besieged by the Ents, and that Wormtongue has entered the tower with the wizard. Gandalf manages to speak with the wizard and breaks his staff that conferred magical powers; Wormtongue, frightened, throws a sphere against Gandalf. The sphere turns out to be a powerful magical object, capable of putting anyone in contact with Sauron.

Meanwhile, Sam and Frodo meet Gollum, and manage to convince him to guide them. Arriving in front of Sauron's abode, they discover they cannot enter through the black gate, both because it is closed and because it is constantly watched by the Eye. Gollum then leads them on an alternate route, along which they meet Faramir. Now, to reach Sauron's lair, they only need to cross two staircases and a great tunnel. Arriving at the tunnel, Gollum betrays them and feeds them to Shelob. Frodo is "stung" by Shelob, who is then fortuitously defeated by Sam. He believes his master is dead, takes the ring, puts it on his finger, and runs away.

The third part opens with the arrival of Merry and Gandalf at Minas Tirith (or Gondor), the city is about to be attacked by the Enemy's army, as it is the last large city not yet under the dark domain. Convincing the King of Gondor is quite difficult because Boromir, his son, had died following the hobbits. Merry, to convince the king of their good intentions, tells him the entire affair of the company (wisely omitting some parts) and offers to become his personal guard. The king accepts Merry's proposal, and he is taken by Berengond, a royal guard. Meanwhile, the king of the Mark is deciding to move with his army to help the town of Gondor, knowing that if it falls, the Mark will be the next region to succumb. Pippin, a guard of the king of the Mark, is immediately denied permission to go to war. Fortunately, a very skinny knight whom Pippin had never seen agrees to take him secretly to the battlefield.

Reinforcements arrive at Gondor from everywhere, but they are still too few to face the imposing troops of the Enemy.

Finally, the battle begins. The first to go against the Enemy is Faramir, who after a long resistance at the border is forced to return. He is injured and feverish, while his men have been decimated by the arrival of the Nazgul (strange black riders with wings). The sky turns black, and night is no longer distinguishable from day. The battle rages, but the situation does not improve. In this climate of desperation, reinforcements from the Mark arrive. Immediately, a new wave of hope invades the city. The riders of the Mark and the king make their way through the dark army, reaping many victims; suddenly a gigantic Nazgul descends from the sky: on its back is seated the lord of darkness, the chief of the army. This unexpected arrival drives King Theoden's horse mad, who rolls over himself, killing the king. The knight carrying Pippin with him unmasks himself: it is Eowyn, the lady of the Mark. Eowyn strikes the dark lord very violently but not mortally; the chief of the enemy army is intent on avenging this wound, but Pippin surprises him from behind and kills him. Aragorn marks the end of the war, arriving on ships along with Lady Galadriel, Gimli, and Legolas, who kill and disperse the remaining enemies. Meanwhile, Denethor commits suicide, unaware of the victorious fate of his army. Gandalf, after the funerals and celebrations, leads the army of Gondor to the Black Gate, Sauron's residence.

Meanwhile, Sam is wondering how to rescue his poor master. He concludes that he must save Frodo at the cost of his life because it is the only thing he could do if he did not let himself die. He manages to overcome the few orc guards who flee terrified at his sight, mistaking him for a powerful elf. When he arrives near Frodo's cell, he discovers that among the orcs, a fratricidal war has broken out, and there are not many alive in that place. Without difficulty, he frees Frodo, they disguise themselves as orcs, and embark on the final stage of their long journey: they must go to Mount Doom to definitively rid themselves of the ring by throwing it into the fiery chasm. The journey is very tiring because the ring seems to counter Frodo's movements. Arriving at the fiery chasm, Frodo goes mad and puts the ring on his finger; then Gollum arrives determined to take back his treasure. He bites off Frodo's finger on which the ring was, but loses his balance and falls into the fiery chasm along with the ring.

Frodo and Sam are saved by the king of the northern eagles, who, on the advice of Gandalf, had flown there.

After the celebrations, the hobbits return to their beloved Shire where they discover that Lotho has bent the town to his will, but for the hobbits, it is not difficult to incite the population against Lotho and rid themselves of Saruman and Wormtongue, now devoid of their powers. Two years later, Frodo departs for his last journey with the other ring bearers (Bilbo who had carried it in "The Hobbit," Gandalf bearer of the red ring, and Lady Galadriel bearer of the white ring) embarks to cross the Sea and reach a destination that remains unknown to the reader, as to the rest of the hobbits.

Genre-Language

The book is a novel, but it contains many poems or rhymes in verse, mostly used to describe the landscape or evoke ancient events. The author alternates between landscape description phases and dialogue phases (mimesis). The author never intervenes in the text to express personal opinions (unlike in the previous book where he often intervened). Tolkien also makes extensive use of epithets (which, however, are not repeated each time a character appears), prolepsis, and analepsis. In the second part, the characters are divided, allowing each the opportunity to express opinions about others, or to realize that they ultimately do not care what happens.

Argumentative Judgment

The Lord of the Rings is a very beautiful book provided that one likes the fantasy genre; in this case, one will feel practically at home because Tolkien's novel has been an inspiration for many other writers and even in the vast world of role-playing games, characteristics typical of The Lord of the Rings can be found. The book is also very engaging thanks to the numerous final appendices that explain anything one might want to know about the world created by Tolkien; for example, the map, the genealogical trees, the calculation of time for the hobbits, and the pronunciation and alphabet of the Elves.