2. Introduction
A friend and I were
discussing „The Lord of the
Rings‟ trilogy and I said
“well, Lord of the Rings
isn‟t just some fairytale.
The main plot is too
complex to break it down to
basics, you have to include
everything for it to make
sense”. But she disagreed
with me. So this is what
gave me an idea for my
final project. I‟m using
semiotics to break the epic
of „Lord of the Rings‟ down
to a basic fairytale.

3. So what is a fairytale?
I grew up knowing that a basic fairytale is about a hero
(or heroes) who do a brave deed to vanquish evil. They
would also fall in love with a heroine and have a little
help along the way.

4. So Who is Our Hero in
Lord of the Rings?
There are four…
Frodo Baggins Gandalf Aragorn Samwise Gamgee

5. Signifier: The Heroes
Frodo and Sam
Signified
• Brave
• Small
• Loyal
• Compassionate
• Pure
While Frodo is the main hero in this
film. Sam is also a hero because he
also carries the burden of the ring
and keeps a hopeful heart that
there will be a return journey home
and he never truly let‟s that go.
Sam: “I made a promise, Mr Frodo. A promise. 'Don't
you leave him Samwise Gamgee.' And I don't mean to. I
don't mean to.”

6. Signifier: The Heroes
Gandalf and Aragorn
Signified
•Brave
•Strong
•Fearless
•Fights for the good of
others
•Wise
Aragorn and Gandalf are
the ideal heroes one would
think of for a fairytale.
Unlike the hobbits, Frodo
and Sam.

7. Who are the Helpers?
Merry and Pippin Legolas and Gimli

8. Aragorn: "Gentlemen! We do not stop till
nightfall."
Signifier: The Helpers Pippin: "What about breakfast?"
Aragorn: "You've already had it."
Signified Pippin: "We've had one, yes. What about
•Witty second breakfast?"
•Funny
•Supportive
•Dependent (you‟ll see this
more with Merry and Pippin
rather than Legolas and Gimli)
Merry and Pippin are the ideal
helpers aka the break from all
the serious action. Legolas
and Gimli become more like
the ideal helpers in the second Merry: "Don't think he knows about second
breakfast, Pip."
and third film. Pippin: "What about elevensies?
Luncheon? Afternoon tea? Dinner? Supper?
He knows about them, don't he?"
Merry: "I wouldn't count on it."

9. Who are the Villains?
There are two...
Others are just minions…
Sauron Saruman

10. Saruman: “We must join with Him, Gandalf. We
Signifier: The must join with Sauron. It would be wise, my friend.”
Villains
Signified
•Evil
•Heartless
•Obsessed with having power
•Cruel
•Intimidating
•Powerful
While it‟s obvious that Sauron is
the main villain, Saruman is also a
villain because he decides to join
the side of evil because he knew
that he would not win against the
powers of Mordor. He did not
want to lose anything, just wanted Gandalf: “Tell me, „friend‟, when did Saruman the Wise
to keep his power in Isengard. abandon reason for madness?”

11. Signifier/Signified Heroes/Helpers/Villains Refer to Past 7 Slides
Metaphor No matter how bad things get, Good will always triumph over Evil.
Paradigmatic
Analysis Good vs Evil, Innocence vs Adulthood, Loyalty vs Betrayal
Syntagmatic
Analysis Refer to next slide
Indexes Whenever Frodo puts on the Ring, the forces of evil are able to see him
Symbols There are two important symbols: (1) the One Ring – symbolizes evil
and temptation. (2) Smeagol/Gollum – he symbolizes what Frodo could
become if he allows the Ring to control him.
Intertexuality There are many Biblical allusions in Lord of the Rings. For
example: Gandalf represents a Jesus figure (he dies while fighting
a Balrog and is later reborn to finish his mission to help Frodo
destroy the Ring).
Codes In the first film, the Fellowship is trying to enter Moria but the door is
locked until they can speak the password which is the riddle: “Speak Friend
and Enter” Gandalf misinterprets this, but Frodo sees that you must say
“Friend” in Elvish to enter.

12. Syntagmatic Analysis of the Main Plot
•At the beginning of the trilogy, Frodo is presented with the ring (0) and is warned
by Gandalf of the powers (1).
•He sets out to bring the ring to Rivendell with Sam, Merry, and Pippin. (11) When
they arrive the council argues about who will go to Mordor and destroy the ring.
Frodo decides that he‟s going to do it (10) and the full fellowship is on its way (11).
•A few times throughout the trilogy Frodo slips the ring on his finger (3) and the
enemy is able to see that Frodo has the ring (5).
• Frodo isconstantly tested by evil by just being the ringbearer (12). He finally
makes it to Mordor (15) and destroys the ring (18).
•The hobbits return to the Shire (20) but soon after Frodo must depart for the Grey
Havens because the damage he got from the ring never fully healed.
http://changingminds.org/disciplines/storytelling/plots/propp/propp.htm

13. My Semiotic Analysis Results Are…!

14. Results
In my opinion I was right, The
Lord of the Rings cannot be
broken down to a simple fairy
tale. While parts of the main
plot (following Frodo and the
Ring) went along with Propp‟s
morphology, a lot of the story
was left out because there are
at times where we‟re following
three different stories (in the
Two Towers where Merry and
Pippin were separated from
Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli).
There is just so much story
that it‟s hard to break it all
down to basics using
semiotics.

15. Sources
The Lord of the Rings the Fellowship of the Ring. Dir. Peter Jackson. Perf. Elijah Wood, Ian
McKellan, Viggo Mortenson. New Line Home Entertainment, 2001. DVD.
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Dir. Peter Jackson. Perf. Elijah Wood, Ian
McKellan, Viggo Mortenson. Entertainment in Video, 2004. DVD.
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. Dir. Peter Jackson. Perf. Elijah Wood, Ian McKellan,
Viggo Mortenson. New Line Home Entertainment, 2003. DVD.
"Propp's Morphology of the Folk Tale." Changing Minds and Persuasion. Changing Minds.
Web. 29 Apr. 2012.
<http://changingminds.org/disciplines/storytelling/plots/propp/propp.htm>.