The document provides an introduction and plot summary for The Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien. It discusses the main antagonist Sauron and the One Ring. It then summarizes the key events in each of the three books: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King. These include the formation and journey of the Fellowship, Gandalf's battle with the Balrog, the splitting of the Fellowship, and the final confrontation between Frodo and Gollum at Mount Doom where the Ring is destroyed.

2. Table of Contents
Introduction . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . 1
Plot Summary. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 2
The Fellowship of the Ring. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . 3
The Two Towers. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 7
The Return of The King . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 9

3. 1 2
Introduction
The Lord of the Rings is an epic high-fantasy novel written
by English author J. R. R. Tolkien. The story began as a
sequel to Tolkien's 1937 fantasy novel The Hobbit, but
eventually developed into a much larger work. Written in
stages between 1937 and 1949, The Lord of the Rings is
one of the best-selling novels ever written, with over 150
million copies sold.
The title of the novel refers to the story’s main antagonist,
the Dark Lord Sauron,[note 1] who had in an earlier age
created the One Ring to rule the other Rings of Power as
the ultimate weapon in his campaign to conquer and rule
all of Middle-earth. From quiet beginnings in the Shire,
a hobbit land not unlike the English countryside, the story ranges across Middle-earth, following the
course of the War of the Ring through the eyes of its characters, not only the hobbits Frodo Baggins,
Samwise “Sam” Gamgee, Meriadoc “Merry” Brandybuck and Peregrin “Pippin” Took, but also the
hobbits’ chief allies and travelling companions: the Men Aragorn son of Arathorn, a Ranger of the
North, and Boromir, a Captain of Gondor; Gimli son of Glóin, a Dwarf warrior; Legolas Greenleaf, an
Elven prince; and Gandalf, a Wizard.
The work was initially intended by Tolkien to be one volume of a two-volume set, the other to be The
Silmarillion, but this idea was dismissed by his publisher.[3][4] For economic reasons The Lord of the
Rings was published in three volumes over the course of a year from 29 July 1954 to 20 October 1955.
[3][5] The three volumes were titled The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of
the King. Structurally, the novel is divided internally into six books, two per volume, with several
appendices of background material included at the end of the third volume. Some editions combine the
entire work into a single volume. The Lord of the Rings has since been reprinted numerous times and
translated into 38 languages.
Tolkien’s work has been the subject of extensive analysis of its themes
and origins. Although a major work in itself, the story was only the
last movement of a larger epic Tolkien had worked on since 1917,[6]
in a process he described as mythopoeia.[citation needed] Influences
on this earlier work, and on the story of The Lord of the Rings,
include philology, mythology, religion and the author’s distaste for
the effects of industrialization, as well as earlier fantasy works and
Tolkien’s experiences in World War I.[7] These inspirations and
themes have often been denied by Tolkien himself. The Lord of the
Rings in its turn is considered to have had a great effect on modern
fantasy; the impact of Tolkien’s works is such that the use of the
words “Tolkienian” and “Tolkienesque” have been recorded in the
Oxford English Dictionary.[8]
Plot Summary
Thousands of years before the events of the novel, the Dark
Lord Sauron had forged the One Ring to rule the other Rings
of Power and corrupt those who wore them: the leaders of
Men, Elves and Dwarves. He was later vanquished in battle
by an alliance of Elves and Men led by Elendil and Gil-galad.
Isildur, a ruler of Men, cut the One Ring from Sauron’s
finger, claiming it as an heirloom for his line, and Sauron
lost his physical form. When Isildur was later ambushed
and killed by Orcs, the Ring was lost in the River Anduin at
Gladden Fields.
Over two thousand years later, the Ring was found by
one of the river-folk called Déagol. His friend[11] Sméagol
immediately fell under the Ring’s influence and strangled
Déagol to acquire it. Sméagol was banished and hid under the
Misty Mountains, where the Ring extended his lifespan and
transformed him over the course of hundreds of years into a
twisted, corrupted creature called Gollum. He lost the Ring,
his “precious”, and, as recounted in The Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins
found it. Meanwhile, Sauron re-assumed physical form and
took back his old realm of Mordor. Gollum set out in search
of the Ring, but was captured by Sauron, who learnt from him
that “Baggins” in the Shire had taken it. Gollum was set loose,
and Sauron, who needed the Ring to regain his full power, sent
forth his powerful servants, the Nazgûl, to seize it.

4. 3 4
The Fellowship of the Ring
The story begins in the Shire, where the Hobbit Frodo
Baggins inherits the Ring from Bilbo Baggins, his
cousin[note 2] and guardian. Neither hobbit is aware of
its origin and nature, but Gandalf the Grey, a wizard and
old friend of Bilbo, suspects the Ring’s identity. When he
becomes certain, he strongly advises Frodo to take it away
from the Shire. Frodo leaves, accompanied by his gardener
and friend, Samwise (“Sam”) Gamgee, and two cousins,
Meriadoc (“Merry”) Brandybuck and Peregrin (“Pippin”)
Took. They nearly encounter the Nazgûl while still in
the Shire, but shake off pursuit by cutting through the
Old Forest, where
they are aided
by the enigmatic Tom Bombadil, who alone is unaffected by
the Ring’s corrupting influence. After leaving the forest, they
stop in the town of Bree where they meet Strider, who is later
revealed to be Aragorn, Isildur’s heir. He persuades them to
take him on as guide and protector. They flee from Bree after
narrowly escaping another assault, but the Nazgûl follow and
attack them on the hill of Weathertop, wounding Frodo with
a Morgul blade. Aragorn leads the hobbits toward the Elven
refuge of Rivendell, while Frodo gradually succumbs to the
wound. The Ringwraiths nearly overtake Frodo at the Ford
of Bruinen, but flood waters summoned by Elrond, master of
Rivendell, rise up and overwhelm them.
Frodo recovers in
Rivendell under
the care of Elrond.
The Council of Elrond reveals much significant history
about Sauron and the Ring, as well as the news that
Sauron has corrupted Gandalf’s fellow wizard, Saruman.
The Council decides that the Ring must be destroyed,
but that can only be done by returning it to the flames
of Mount Doom in Mordor, where it was forged. Frodo
volunteers to take on this daunting task, and a “Fellowship
of the Ring” is formed to aid him: Sam, Merry, Pippin,
Aragorn, Gandalf, Gimli the Dwarf, Legolas the Elf, and
the Man Boromir, son of the Ruling Steward Denethor of
the realm of Gondor.
After a failed attempt to cross the Misty Mountains
via the Redhorn Pass across the flank of Caradhras,
the company are forced to try a more perilous path
through the Mines of Moria, where they are attacked by
the Watcher in the Water before the gate. Inside, they
discover the fate of Balin and his colony of Dwarves.
After repulsing an attack, they are pursued by orcs
and an ancient and powerful demonic creature called
a Balrog. Gandalf confronts the Balrog, but in their
struggle, both fall into a deep chasm. The others escape
and take refuge in the Elven forest of Lothlórien, where
they are counselled by Galadriel and Celeborn.
With boats and gifts from Galadriel, the company
travel down the River Anduin to the hill of Amon Hen.
Boromir succumbs to the lure of the Ring and attempts to take it from Frodo. Frodo escapes and
determines to continue the quest alone, though Sam guesses his intent and comes along.
The Lord of the Rings developed as a personal exploration by Tolkien of his interests in philology,
religion (particularly Roman Catholicism[20]), fairy tales, Norse and general Germanic mythology,[21]
[22] and also Celtic,[23] Slavic,[24][25][26] Persian,[27] Greek,[28] and Finnish mythology.[29] Tolkien
acknowledged, and external critics have verified, the influences of George MacDonald and William
Morris[30] and the Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf.[31] The question of a direct influence of Wagner’s The
Nibelung’s Ring on Tolkien’s work is debated by critics.
In his published works, Tolkien depicts the Balrog as being barely a shape wreathed in shadow and
flame, possibly man-shape, yet greater. Balrogs seemed to encapsulate and project power and terror.
Additionally, Tolkien refers Balrogs with “streaming fiery manes”.[13]

5. 5 6
Additionally, they may have been able to alter their body structures on occasion, as in the battle
between Durin’s Bane and Gandalf, when the Balrog fell into a body of water he shifted himself into
something gelatinous.[citation needed] However, it is also
possible that this alternate form was simply Gandalf using
colorful language to describe what the Balrog was like after
having its flame extinguished and being covered in water.
Gandalf stopped on the Bridge, standing in the middle of the
span, allowing the others to escape. He leaned on the staff in
his left hand and held the sword Glamdring, gleaming cold
and white, in his right. The Balrog stepped onto the Bridge,
facing Gandalf, and the shadow about it reached out like two
vast wings. It raised its whip, and the thongs whined and
cracked. Fire came from its nostrils. But Gandalf stood firm
and declared that the Balrog could not pass. They clashed,
and the Balrog’s sword was shattered. Then the Balrog
leaped full upon the
Bridge, and Gandalf
lifted his staff and
smote the span. His staff broke, but the Bridge cracked at the
Balrog’s feet. The stone beneath the Balrog broke and fell,
taking the Balrog with it into the abyss, but the thongs of its
whip snared Gandalf about his knees, and Wizard and Balrog
plummeted together into the darkness below. Galdalf cried,
“Fly, you fools!” and was gone.
Gandalf and the Balrog fell for a long time, and Gandalf was
burned by the Balrog’s fire. Then they plunged into a deep
lake in the depths of the mountain, which Gandalf later
said was cold as the tide of death and almost froze his heart.
They fought in the water until finally the Balrog fled into
dark tunnels, where the world is gnawed by nameless things,
older even than Sauron. Gandalf pursued the creature until
it led him to the spiraling Endless Stair, and they climbed it until they reached Durin’s Tower in the
living rock of Zirakzigil, the pinnacle of the Silvertine above the clouds. There they fought, until at last
Gandalf threw down his enemy, and the Balrog broke the mountain-side as it fell. Then darkness took
Gandalf, and he passed away. His body lay on the peak. The entire battle, from the confrontation on
the Bridge of Khazad-dûm to the mutual demise of the Balrog and Gandalf, had taken ten days.
Three days later he was found by the windlord Gwaihir, the Lord of the Eagles, who had been sent by
Galadriel to find him. Gandalf was carried to Caras Galadhon in Lothlórien, where he was healed, and
clothed in white, and thus became Gandalf the White.
In Fangorn forest he encountered Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas while they were tracking Pippin and
Merry, who had been captured by orcs in Gandalf’s absence.
Years later, Frodo Baggins and his
Hobbit companions journeyed to
Rivendell, where they met with Bilbo,
who had retired there after his eleventy-
first birthday. Several other Elves,
Dwarves and Men also arrived at
Rivendell on separate errands;[4] at the
Council of Elrond they learn that all of
their kind are related to the fate of the
One Ring, and they must decide what
to do about it. In the end, it was the
Hobbits who influenced the decision.
There was a large hall with a dais and several tables for feasting. Another hall, the Hall of Fire, had a
fire in it all year round with carven pillars on either side of the hearth; it was used for singing and story
telling on high days but stood empty the rest of the time so people could go there to quietly think. The
eastern side of the house had a porch where Frodo Baggins
found his friends once he awakened and where the Council of
Elrond was held.[5]
Galadriel was the co-ruler and Lady of Lothlórien alongside
her husband, Lord Celeborn, however, neither took royal
titles, as they only saw themselves as Guardians of Lothlorien.
She was the only daughter and youngest child of Finarfin,
prince of the Ñoldor and of Eärwen, whose cousin was
Lúthien. Her elder brothers
were Finrod Felagund,
Angrod, and Aegnor.[2]
Galadriel was a niece of
Fëanor, one of the most
important elves of the First
Age.
She was one of the greatest of the Eldar in Middle-earth, and
surpassed nearly all others in beauty, knowledge, and power. She was
also the bearer of Nenya, one of the three Elven rings. Tolkien thought
of her, along with Gil-galad the Elven-king, as one of the mightiest
and fairest of all the Elves left in Middle-earth. However, due to her
incredibly enigmatic nature, even the immensely skillful Saruman
and an Elf as perceptive as Elrond found it difficult to understand her
powers, and they were such to bring doubt to the minds of the non-
Elven inhabitants of Middle-Earth. Whatever they might have been, it
must still be noted that Galadriel had used them for good: protecting

6. 7 8
Lórien from any attack (it was said that only Sauron himself could have overcome this protection), and
destroying Dol Guldur (a fortress whose power was multiplied by Sauron’s magic). Last but not least,
Galadriel was also skilled in ósanwe (the ability to communicate with others through thoughts): after
the destruction of the One Ring, Galadriel communicated mentally with Elrond and Gandalf on their
return journey from Minas Tirith.[10]
The Two Towers
There are two towers in the story that represent the ideas
of knowledge and power. The tower representing power,
“Barad Dur” has a foundation built with the power of
the ring. While the tower of knowledge, “Orthanc”, has
a foundation built with an unknown power (science or
faith?) that even the Ents cannot break. One of the major
themes of the second volume is the interplay between
the two ideas: power and knowledge. Sauron eventually
bends knowledge, corrupts the White Wizard, to serve
his needs. So Tolkien creates the story of how power
can bend and corrupt knowledge to penetrate evil; make
war. Only by destroying the ring can “power” loose its
foundation and fall. The ring instills power into its owner
and externalizes the owners defects, so the story of Frodo
is the story of his temptation by the power of the ring, slowly
weakening him by destroying his innocence.
Orcs sent by Saruman and Sauron kill Boromir and kidnap
Merry and Pippin. After agonizing over which pair of hobbits
to follow, Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas pursue the orcs bearing
Merry and Pippin to Saruman. In the kingdom of Rohan, the
orcs are slain by a company of the Rohirrim. Merry and Pippin
escape into Fangorn Forest, where they are befriended by
Treebeard, the oldest of the tree-like Ents. Aragorn, Gimli and
Legolas track the hobbits to Fangorn, and encounter Gandalf,
resurrected as the significantly more powerful “Gandalf the
White” after his mutually fatal duel with the Balrog. Gandalf
assures them that Merry and Pippin are safe. They then ride to
Edoras, the capital of Rohan, where they free Théoden, King
of Rohan, from the influence of Saruman’s henchman Gríma
Wormtongue. Théoden musters his fighting strength and rides
to the ancient fortress of Helm’s Deep, but en route Gandalf leaves to seek help from Treebeard.
Meanwhile, the Ents, roused from their customarily peaceful ways by Merry and Pippin, attack
Isengard, Saruman’s stronghold, and trap the wizard in the tower of Orthanc. Gandalf convinces
Treebeard to send an army of Huorns to Théoden’s aid. Gandalf and Rohirrim reinforcements arrive
at Helm’s Deep just in time to defeat and scatter Saruman’s army. The Huorns dispose of the fleeing
orcs. Gandalf then parleys with Saruman at Orthanc. When Saruman rejects his offer of redemption,
Gandalf strips him of his rank and most of his powers. Pippin looks into a palantír, a seeing-stone that
Saruman had used to communicate with Sauron and through which he was ensnared. Gandalf rides
for Minas Tirith, chief city of Gondor, taking Pippin with
him.
Frodo and Sam capture Gollum, who had been following
them from Moria, and force him to guide them to Mordor.
Finding Mordor’s Black Gate too well guarded to attempt,
they travel instead to a secret passage Gollum knows. On
the way, they fall in with Faramir, who, unlike his brother
Boromir, resists the temptation to seize the Ring and
instead helps Frodo on his way. Torn between his loyalty
to Frodo and his desire for the Ring, Gollum eventually
betrays Frodo by leading him to the great spider Shelob
in the tunnels of Cirith Ungol. Frodo is felled by Shelob’s
sting, but Sam fights her off. Sam takes the Ring and leaves
Frodo, believing him to be dead. When orcs find Frodo,
Sam overhears them say that Frodo is only unconscious,
and chases after them.
Legolas’s hair colour is not definitively stated. Both Ralph Bakshi and Peter Jackson make him blond
in their respective film adaptations (see below). This is supported by the fact that Thranduil, Legolas’s
father and a Sindarin elf, is described in The Hobbit as having golden hair. In a musical version of The
Lord of the Rings, Legolas is dark-
haired. In the real-time strategy
game The Lord of the Rings: War of
the Ring, his hair is white or silver.
Though neither Legolas’s age nor
his birthdate are directly given in
Tolkien’s writings, some passages
indicate that he is far older than
Aragorn and Gimli. For instance, he
calls them “children” and says he has
seen “many an oak grow from acorn
to ruinous age”.[10] The Appendices
to The Lord of the Rings do give Gimli’s and Aragorn’s birthdates: at the time of the War of the Ring,
they are 139 and 87 respectively.[18] Though his father and his kingdom appear in The Hobbit, Legolas
does not appear himself, as his character had not yet been created. Being older than Gimli, he must
have been alive during the events of The Hobbit, which take place less than a century before the Quest
of Mount Doom.[18]

7. 9 10
The Return of The King
Sauron unleashes a heavy assault upon Gondor.
Gandalf arrives at Minas Tirith to alert Denethor
of the impending attack. The city is besieged, and
Denethor, deceived by Sauron, gives up hope and
commits suicide, nearly taking his remaining son
Faramir with him. Aragorn feels he has no choice
but to take the Paths of the Dead in order to reach
Gondor in time, accompanied by Legolas, Gimli and
the Dúnedain Rangers from the North. During this
perilous journey, Aragorn raises an undead army of
oath-breakers bound by an ancient curse that denies
them rest until they fulfill their vow to the king of
Gondor. The ghostly army helps defeat the Corsairs
of Umbar invading southern Gondor. Commandeering the ships of the Corsairs, Aragorn leads
reinforcements up the Anduin to relieve the siege of Minas Tirith, and between them, the forces of
Gondor and Rohan defeat Sauron’s army in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields.
Meanwhile, Sam rescues Frodo from the tower of Cirith Ungol, and they set out across Mordor. In
order to distract Sauron from his true danger, Aragorn leads the armies of Gondor and Rohan in a
march on the Black Gate of Mordor. His vastly
outnumbered troops fight desperately against
Sauron’s forces. Reaching the edge of the
Cracks of Doom, Frodo is unable to resist the
Ring any longer and claims it for himself. But
Gollum suddenly reappears. In the ensuing
struggle, he seizes the Ring by biting off the
finger on which Frodo wears it. Celebrating
wildly, Gollum accidentally falls into the fire,
taking the Ring with him; and so Frodo’s mission is completed. With the destruction of the One Ring,
Sauron is permanently shorn of his power, the Nazgûl perish, and his armies are thrown into such
disarray that Aragorn’s forces emerge victorious.
With the end of the War of the Ring, Aragorn is crowned Elessar, King of Arnor and Gondor, and
marries his long-time love, Arwen, daughter of Elrond. Saruman escapes from Isengard and, seeking
vengeance on the hobbits, enslaves the Shire. The four hobbits, upon returning home, raise a rebellion
and overthrow him. Gríma turns on Saruman and kills him in front of Frodo’s house, and is slain in
turn by hobbit archers. The War of the Ring thus comes to its true end on Frodo’s very doorstep.
Merry and Pippin are acclaimed heroes, while Sam marries Rosie Cotton and uses his gifts from
Galadriel to help heal the Shire. Frodo, however, remains wounded in body and spirit after having
borne the oppressive weight of the One Ring so long.
Several years later, accompanied by Bilbo and Gandalf, he sails from the Grey Havens west over
the Sea to the Undying Lands to find peace. After
Rosie’s death, Sam gives his daughter the Red Book
of Westmarch, containing the account of Bilbo’s
adventures and the War of the Ring as witnessed by
the hobbits. Sam is then said to have crossed west over
the Sea himself, the last of the Ring-bearers.
After the victory of the Free Peoples in the Battle of
the Pelennor Fields, the enemy retreated to Mordor.
Sauron was defeated but he still had thousands of
Orcs at his disposal in Mordor. He was aware that the
One Ring was somewhat close to the vicinity of his
territory, but he did not know that the Hobbit Frodo
Baggins and his companion Samwise Gamgee had
entered Mordor via Morgul Vale with the intention of
destroying the Ring.
After the Last Debate, the Men of the West
assembled the Host of the West, 10,000
strong, led by Aragorn, who marched on the
Black Gate as a diversionary feint to distract
Sauron’s attention from Frodo and Sam, who
were carrying the One Ring through Mordor
to be destroyed in the fires of Mount Doom. It
was hoped that Sauron would think Aragorn
had the Ring and was now trying to use it to
overthrow him in Mordor.
Before the battle began, the Black Gate
opened slightly, letting out a small embassy.
At the head was a high servant of Sauron, a Black Númenórean called the Mouth of Sauron, who had
been ordered to speak with the Captains of the West. He reasoned that the Army of the West could
not defeat Sauron’s host on the battlefield, and demanded the Army surrender. The Lieutenant then
brought forth several items that
had belonged to Frodo and Sam
(Sam’s sword, an Elven cloak, and
Frodo’s Mithril shirt). Gandalf
asked for the terms of their
surrender, which were to allow
Sauron dominion over Isengard
and Rohan, as well as Gondor’s
vassalage. Gandalf vehemently
refused.