I attempted to read this book back in High School, not long after the first movie came out. I made it all the way to Rivendell, but then quickly got lost among the many names, histories, and stories told during Elrond’s Council. Elendil, Gil-Galad, Isildur, Men of Westernesse, Numenor, and don’t get me started on all the dwarves. It all just turned into gibberish. My 14-year-old mind lost the plot, so I gave up. 20 years later, I was determined to try it again. I’m 37 now, married, with children, and with a little more life experience. Additionally, I did prime myself for all those names and histories by watching some youtube videos, mostly In Deep Geek, about some of the lore of Tolkien’s world. This at least gave me a rough outline with some landmarks to orient myself when they started going off on tangents talking about Amon Hen, or Elendil, or Durin’s Bane. I still would get lost occasionally, but I was able to hold on to enough threads to keep moving forward in the plot.
It starts in Hobbiton. We meet Frodo, Bilbo, Gandalf, and the rest of these pleasant little Hobbits. The main impression I got was this feeling of uncertainty. Frodo lives this pleasant life in the Shire, nestled within sunny knolls, productive gardens, and surrounded by happy, carefree hobbits. All the while, Frodo knows there is a very dangerous world out there. Perhaps he feels safe now, but is he really? When Gandalf finally returns from his 19-year absence, he confirms this difficult reality: Frodo is not safe, not even in the Shire. We see how truly close that danger really was as Frodo finally embarks on his journey with Sam, Pippin, and Merriweather. They leave just moments before one of the Ringwraiths show up at his doorstep. Safety is an illusion.
The rest of this portion of the book is structured as a hiking narrative. Rich landscapes are described, and we join the hobbits through their daily toil. Danger follows them wherever they go. It seems that they are just inches ahead of impending doom at all times, ominous and shadowy figures on horseback seem to be closing in on them, sniffing them out. As they barely outpace the dread that follows them, the hobbits find a saving grace within the good nature of others. Frodo would be dead, the Ring back with Sauron, and the world ended if not for the simple goodness of Farmer Maggot, who risks his life to hide the hobbits and gets them to the river crossing. In the Old Forest, they are protected by the almost holy and ancient power of Tom Bombadil. He saves them from the existential dread of the Barrow Wights, and gets them safely back on the road to Bree. Once in Bree, Aragorn, a paragon of integrity, takes the hobbits under his protection. Again, they find themselves only moments away from death at all times. Their room is ransacked, and if not for the quick thinking of Aragorn, our heroes would be doomed.
Aragorn guides them the rest of the way to Rivendell. Frodo nearly succumbs to the icy cold attack of one of the Ring Wraiths, but we see his strength here as well. He resists the evil of his grievous wound, and standing upon the banks of the river which protects Rivendell, as the Ring Wraiths taunt him and demand him to hand over the Ring, Frodo refuses.
By this point, we’ve met a few Elves along the way, Gildor and Glorfindel, but we really get our first introduction to this ancient species here in Rivendell. To me, the Elves represent the heroes of a past age. They are the victors of old wars, having defeated the evil of their own time. They help our heroes in what ways they can, but their time is nearing its end. Their power is fading while Evil rises up once more. The Elves can’t fight the war this time. We must fight it for ourselves.
Maybe it’s tacky trying to find analogies to the Elves in real life, but when I think of our current world, with its rise of dictators and wannabe dictators, of hate, greed, lies, and other real-life evils, I can’t help but remember our ancestors who fought in WWII against the Nazis. I’m an American, so I also think about FDR and that generation which fought its way out of the Great Depression, leaving us with legacies such as Social Security, the 40-hour work week, vacation time… things that had to be fought for, and which created the middle-class. I think of Martin Luther King Jr, and the Civil Rights crusaders who fought for the rights of oppressed people in the South. I think of the tireless work of various civil servants, as the EPA was created to protect our clean drinking water and air from the pollution caused by greedy corporations. I think of Teddy Roosevelt, who broke up monopolies and created the National Park System. Obviously my biases are showing, but as I sit here and watch this progress get slowly whittled away by the greed and cynicism of modern people, I can’t help but compare it to the slow spreading evil of Mordor. I think I begin to understand the Elves as Tolkien may have thought of them: The quickly fading bastions of strength from an old world. Sources of strength and influence, but also a reminder that we have our own battles to fight and our own war to be won.
Elrond’s Council reveals the stark reality facing Middle-Earth. Sauron’s power is growing. Evil is rising once more. The Ring must be destroyed, and the only way to destroy it is to carry it into the heart of darkness itself. To face fear, death, and devastation. There can be no more kicking the can down the road. The Ring must be destroyed and it must be this generation to do it. Frodo stands up and accepts that responsibility. His friends will go with him.
Now we come to the Fellowship proper. Gandalf leads the company of nine through the first steps of a perilous journey, where even the birds and animals cannot fully be trusted. It seems the forces of nature are being influenced by some all-powerful evil force. In every direction, they meet obstacles. At last, the only way forward is through the Mines of Moria: A place from which none have returned. Within these foreboding depths, an ancient evil has been awakened, upturned by the greed of Dwarves as they dig ever deeper into the mines: A Balrog, Durin’s Bane. This is a creature from a former age, brought back to life. In America, I sit back and watch the emergence of fascism in our country. I see new genocides happening in the world. I see hate, racism, and fear, primordial forces being stirred up by cynical politicians in a never-ending pursuit of power. I never thought I would see calls for mass deportations, civil war, and political violence again in this country. But here it is, back again.
In Moria, we watch Gandalf fall to this ancient evil. Our hero, our wise wizard, all powerful and seemingly infallible, is dragged into darkness by a creature of unfathomable cruelty. The Fellowship escapes the mines by the skin of their teeth. They are crushed by the loss of Gandalf. They feel defeated. They feel hopeless.
Can you relate with that feeling?
Aragorn has a line here that I reread several times. It really struck me as something meaningful:
“‘We must do without hope,’ he said. ‘At least we may yet be avenged. Let us gird ourselves and weep no more! Come! We have a long road, and much to do.'”
Now if that doesn’t resonate with you, I don’t know what world you’re living in.
We next go to Lothlorien. Like Rivendell, Lothlorien is a place of pure goodness. It’s described in the book that these places, Rivendell, Lothlorien, the Old Forest under Tom Bombadil’s protection, these places might stand to hold out against the Dark Lord should he recover his Ring, but they would become like fortresses under siege, and would eventually succumb. I’ve already described how I feel about the Elves.
The final, perhaps most important, event in the book is Boromir’s fall. Here we truly understand what the ring is: Power. We see Boromir raving, talking about all the good he could do with the Ring. It would give him the power of command! He could rally Gondor, ally with Rohan, storm the gates of Mordor and end the evil once and for all! Usher in a golden age! And, of course, Boromir would be a great king, wouldn’t he? Come on Frodo, give the ring to Boromir! He can save everything! But Frodo knows, power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Only he can bear the ring, and only for so long. Frodo decides that his task is too great for any of the fellowship to bear. Boromir has already been corrupted, and the others are soon to follow. Frodo sets out on his own, but Sam insists on following, a true friend until the end.
This last is the most important theme, and probably THE theme of the entire book. In a world where we watch people become rich and famous online. Joe Rogan started out as a guy just talking about interesting stuff with his friends, now he’s got hundreds of millions of dollars, extreme fame, and uses that fame to spread nonsensical conspiracy theories. Elon Musk was cool once, he built rockets and wanted to save the world from climate change. Now he’s the richest man on earth and is just chasing more power. These are, of course, just my examples. Again, I acknowledge my bias here, but I’m sure we all have our own examples of people we once respected fall victim to their own fame and fortune.
These were my impressions of the first book of Lord of the Rings as I felt them as I read it. This novel has done for me what great novels are supposed to do: It has used myth, metaphor, and narrative to give context to the swirling ocean of feeling, conflict, and drama that surrounds each one of us. I love this book. I’ve already started the Two Towers. If you enjoyed this, then I’m happy to write something up for Book Two. Thanks for reading.
by Raddadworkingit