The Fellowship Of The Ring review

The Fellowship of the Ring by J. R. R. Tolkien

George and Allen Unwin, 1954, 531 pages

I could have sworn I posted this last week. Oh well, I'll do two this week.

The oldest book I’ve reviewed so far (beating the old record by 25 years); this week I take you behind a classic piece of literature twelve years in the making. Ladies and gentlemen, this is my review of the one ring to rule them all, the one ring to find them, the one ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.

As all of you should know (though sadly only known by many), “The Hobbit” was written by J. R. R. Tolkien back in 1937. Due to its overwhelming success, the publishers requested a sequel. Tolkien declined at first, since he didn’t have any ideas. When he finally thought of a sequel though, he warned that he writes very slowly (I guess twelve years qualifies as slow). Originally, “The Silmarillion” was going to be published alongside “Lord of the Rings”. However, the publishers had no confidence in the former (idiots) and publication was stopped until summer 1952, when Tolkien gave in and published “The Fellowship of the Ring”.

The story begins with Bilbo Baggins’ eleventy first birthday party. At the party, he makes a speech where, at the end, he announces that he is leaving. As he steps down, he vanishes in a blinding light, confusing all but two people: Gandalf the Grey, a wizard and dear friend of Bilbo; and Frodo Baggins, Bilbo’s heir and nephew. What actually happened was that Bilbo had slipped on a ring, a ring with the power to make people disappear. During the confusion, Bilbo and Gandalf snuck away from the party so they could talk in private about the ring. After a heated discussion, Bilbo agrees to leave the ring to Frodo, as well as everything else he left in Bag End (his home).

It was many years before Frodo learnt from Gandalf that the ring was actually The One Ring; a ring with powers of extreme evil, and needs to be destroyed. Gandalf tells Frodo that he must leave The Shire soon, since if he doesn’t, servants of Sauron will come and take it from him and a new reign of darkness shall rule. Frodo, with friends Sam, Pippin and Merry, must now travel across the wide world of Middle-Earth, hunted by Ringwraithes (the dark riders that seek Frodo and The Ring) and finding their way to Rivendell, where (hopefully) Gandalf is waiting for them.

I already know that giving this a negative review will see me thrown into a volcano in New Zealand (let’s see if anyone gets that reference), but seriously, why would I give a bad review to an epic masterpiece that Tolkien reviewed over and over and over again? There’s a reason people love these books.

My rating: 8.5/10

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