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The Lord of the Rings-Review

The Lord of the Rings was written by J.R.R. Tolkien in 1948 and is in the same universe as two other works of his, the Hobbit and the Silmarillion, which I may reference slightly in this review. The story follows a Hobbit named Frodo Baggins. Hobbits are short human-like creatures with hairy legs that resemble children to some. Frodo Baggins becomes the bearer of the One Ring, a corrupting object of great power which the Dark Lord Sauron needs to conquer Middle Earth. The wizard, Gandalf the Grey, tells them to head to Riverdale as he himself informs the head of the wizard council, Saruman the White, of the discovery of the one ring. However, Saruman plans to give the Ring to Sauron and rule beside him and he captures Gandalf, who manages to escape. In the meantime, Frodo and his gardener Samwise Gamgee, known as Sam, alongside Perigrin Took and Meriadoc Brandybuck, who I will hereby refer to as Mery and Pipin, because that’s what the books also do. On their travels, they meet Tom Bombadil and the Barro Wights, the former being a jolly forest dweller and the later sacrificial human husks. They reach the town of Bree, where a strange man who goes by Strider aids them in escaping the Nazgul, also known as Ringwraiths, Old kings if men who were corrupted by the power of the One Ring. They reach Weathertop, where Frodo is nearly killed by a Nazgul and they eventually reach Riverdale, where elves heal Frodo and save his life. Then a council is held and it is agreed upon that a team will head to destroy the Ring in the Fires of mount Doom, know as the Fellowship of the Ring, consisting of Legolas, elf-prince of the Wood Elves, Gimli, a famous dwarf warrior, Strider, revealed to be Aragorn, Heir to the Kingdom of Gondor, Sam, Frodo, Pipin, Mery, Gandalf and Boromir, Son of the Steward of Gondor. They all head up the mountain, but are forced to go through the mines of Moria, where a monster known as the Balrog attacks them. They manage to flee, but Gandalf sacrifices himself to defeat the Balrog. They continue till the Lothlorien, where they stay for a bit before continuing on. They are ambushed by Orcs, minions of the Dark Lord, and by the end, Frodo leaves the Fellowship with Sam, Boromir dies and Mery and Pipin are taken by the Orcs of Sauron and Sauroman, presumed to be the Ringbearers. To cut the tale of this epic tale short, Mery and Pipin become war heroes, Aragorn becomes king, Sam and Frodo destroy the Ring, Legolas and Gimli get over their prejudice against one another and become very close friends. The Hobbits return to the Shire, but it has been enslaved by Saruman, fallen from grace and power. They defeat him and force him to leave and the Hobbits after over 4 years can finally rest, but the adventure has left Frodo deeply scared physically and mentally, so much so that the only way he can recover is to sail away from Middle Earth with the elves across the sea. 

 That is a “summary” of the plot, which is quite a feat, considering the size of this book, considering it is about 1200 pages long. But, if you wanted the SparkNotes version, you’d go to, well, SparkNotes. Time to review!   
 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 


    But beyond its impact on fantasy as a genre, defining the terms elf and dwarf for generations, the story is also a marvel. To start with a Thematic analysis, the One Ring represents evil, greed and corruption, Sauron depicting pure evil as well. Characters such as the Nazgul, king Théoden’s servant Grima, Sauroman, the Orcs and the Easterling army of men represent both threats to our characters and falling to that temptation. And the fact that simple Hobbits are the ones tasked with bearing the Ring, creatures defined by their desire for simple lifes, provides a great lesson about humility. Through the Fellowship and th council in rivendale the importance of putting our differences aside is also a very clear message. And in addition, the achievements of Sam, Frodo, Mery and Pipin as well as Eowyn teach a lesson about the various forms of bravery and courage. Especially when Eowyn kills the Witch King, the strongest of the Nazgul, it also shows the power of women, who in Tolkien’s time still fought for equality. There is also the departure of the Elves, showing the withering and changing of the world, commentary on the duality of mankind and its ability to do both great and terrible things, the powerful friendship of Sam and Frodo, mercy explored through the creature of Gollum/Smeagol, a Hobbit which owned the Ring long before Frodo. Some more minor themes such as determination and freedom through Gandalf, especially of you consider the Silmarillion and the fact he bears a ring which allows the wearer and his allies to fight against tyranny, as well as the impact of war with Frodo’s inability to find Peace in the Shire after his adventure, represented by his wound from Weathertop, which never fully heals. 
 

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Now, to conclude this not-so-short review, The Lord of the Rings is a masterpiece, through and through. Most people already know the story, either because they have read the books or because they have seen the films. Those who have may have noticed that I have omitted quite a lot. Most of it, in fact. And that isn’t just because im trying to keep this review under two thousand words, Lord knows I could go on about this book and its world until the proverbial cows come home. No, the reason is that I would like to leave a few things to discover for those who are reading this review that have not seen the films or read the books. Believe me, this review has barely scratched the surface, the Synopsis covers only the first book and the end of the third and I only analyzed on singular character. Believe me, there is plenty more for you to enjoy that I haven’t touched upon at all. And if you have already read the book, I hope this review/love letter of mine for the books may interest you in reading it again. That’s all from me. 

      Something you may have noticed in my synopsis is that there are many, many names of both characters and locations, and that is true, as Tolkien made a world so real and vibrant that it is honestly rather hard to explain. Tolkien created a world, species and cultures on a scale unprecedented for the time and something that is even a marvel for today’s standards. To give you an idea, there are several different dwarf, men and elf languages with different words and letters and spellings. But its not simply a narrative element, Tolkien created both the languages and the words, so much so you can in theory speak it to some small extent. That is the level of detail with which every facet of the LOTR (Lord Of The Rings) world was created, from the setting, plot, family lineages, species reproduction and characteristics, to the cultures and characters. In fact, the common perception of elves of either aristocratic and unearthly, agile creature or hippy tree-huggers both come from Tolkien’s work, as do Dwarves as warriors and blacksmiths/architects. Id also argue the Orcs to some extent, but Orcs as vile and repulsive, evil creatures was rather common to my understanding. Even creatures such as giant spiders, the biggest example being Angus from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, were most likely inspired by the monstrous Shelob and Spiders of Mirkwood, the latter mentioned in LOTR and seen in the Hobbit. There are also creatures such as the Ents, known as Tree-Herders, the Balrog and even Gandalf, the Ringwraiths and Tom Bombadil, who seems to be the only person to have no desire or ill-effect to being in the presence of the One Ring.  

There are also the characters of the Lord Of The Rings. All of the characters of the Lord of the Rings are simply fantastic, hands down. There are many to choose from to analyze, such as Gollum, Aragorn, Frodo, Sam, Gandalf…But I will analyze one as an example of the depth of the characters in the Lord of the Rings. I will analyze Boromir, Son of Denethor. Boromir at first dismisses the Hobbits at the Council and comes off as a fool to the reader as he proposes that the Ring is brough to the kingdom of his Father, Gondor, which is across of Mordor, Sauron’s domain. There, he proposes it is used to defeat Sauron and his armies. Boromir is defined by his commitment and love of Gondor, and it informs almost all his actions. He takes a liking to Mery and Pipin, who he begins to train in sword-fighting. He shows a liking to Aragorn, the only other human of the Fellowship, who he believes will fight for Gondor and the Kingdoms of Men with him, but Aragorn distains Gondor, his rightful kingdom, as he sees it as corrupt and dying, past saving, lead by an old and grumpy steward, something he wants no part in. This dichotomy becomes even greater when he discovers Aragorn is the rightful King of Gondor, which would usurp Denethor, Boromir’s Father. However, as they travel together through Moria, after losing Gandalf and going through Lothlorien, they begin to respect one another. However, the Ring has begun to affect Boromir, who becomes angered by the lack of use of such a powerful object, and how desperately his kingdom needs help, constantly fighting off hordes of Orcs spilling out of Mordor every day, receiving no aid from the nearby Kingdom of Rohan. He approaches Frodo when he is alone and in an angry, desperate way, he tries to take the Ring, causing Frodo to escape. Boromir soon realizes the mistake he has made, being the catalyst for Frodo’s escape with Sam, and attempts to find him and apologize when the Orcs attack the Fellowship. He fights valiantly to defend Mery and Pipin, who he has grown close to. He is cut down, however, and the two Hobbits are taken. Boromir begins to bleed out, but Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli find him, several arrows in his chest and dozens of dead Orcs strewn around him. Boromir lets Aragorn know of what he did and apologizes for causing Frodo to flee, letting the Orcs take the other two Hobbits and finally, for treating Aragorn the way he did. He recognizes Aragorn as his true king, and then, he dies. Although it is from the film and not the books, these are his last words to Aragorn: “I would have followed you, my brother... My captain... My king.”. Boromir’s legacy does not end there, however, and in a way, his story continues through his brother, Faramir, and his father Denethor. This is only one of the characters of the Lord of the Rings, and simply take my word for it, the rest are just as good. 

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