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The Lord of the rings Trilogy
06.05.06, 09:14:37
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Post #1 (permalink) |
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I didnt see a thread on this so yeah.
I really like these books they are my favorite series of all time, if yo havent read them you should, and if you want to know what its about then here is a summary of all three. Oh and watching the movies dont count 
The fellowship of the Ring
The Fellowship of the Ring is the first book in The Lord of the Rings trilogy. This story is set in the world of Tolkien's invention, known as Middle Earth. A specter of evil is looming over Middle Earth as the Dark Lord, Sauron, seeks to consolidate his already immense power, by reclaiming the One Ring that he has lost. Most of his power is held in this ring. With this power, he can enslave Middle Earth and unleash an incredible evil with little opposition. In the story of The Hobbit, a hobbit called Bilbo Baggins has stolen the ring from a hideous creature called Gollum. Somehow, this ring ends up with Frodo Baggins, Bilbo's nephew and all of a sudden, Frodo is at the center of this epic drama involving the ring that he knows very little about.
The wizard, Gandalf, warns Frodo that he should leave the shire and keep the ring out of Sauron's hands. They meet a fellow named Tom Bombadil who helps them get out of trouble when they are faced with the Nine Black Riders. Later, they meet Strider/Aragorn and they continue safely to the country of the elves. Frodo recuperates from a wound and he is healed by Elrond. At the Council of Elrond it is decided that the ring must be destroyed at the Cracks of Doom. This is many miles away, deep inside the evil lands of Mordor. The Fellowship of the ring is established, including nine individuals in all.
Gandalf meets his end on the Bridge of Khazad-dum, attempting to defend the company from the evil Balrog. The group must continue without him, heading south, into Lorien, a forest of elves. Here, the Lady Galadriel offers comfort and security for a time. Frodo grows in knowledge and maturity and he becomes more resolved to fulfill his mission. His resolve is further tested when Boromir tries to steal the ring from him. In the end, Frodo knows that he must fulfill his duty but he does not want to endanger his friends any further, nor does he want to solicit their opinions for he knows that they will change his mind. In the end, Frodo continues alone - though Sam soon finds him and refuses to do anything other than accompany him, heading towards the evil land of Mordor.
The Two Towers
The Two Towers is composed of Books 3 and 4, recounting the deeds of the company after the breaking of the Fellowship of the Ring. The story begins with the repentance and death of Boromir, who has tried (unsuccessfully) to wrest the ring away from Frodo. Merry and Pippin are kidnapped by orc-soldiers and they are taken towards Isengard, while Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli are in pursuit. The Riders of Rohan appear, led by Éomer the Marshal, and they destroy the orcs. The hobbits escape and meet Treebeard, the Ent, secret master of Fangorn. Treebeard rouses the Tree-folk against Isengard and the forces of evil.
Meanwhile, Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli cross paths with Éomer and they meet Gandalf again, who is returned from death as the White Rider, veiled in grey. With Gandalf, they advance to the halls of King Théoden and Gandalf heals the king and rescues him from the spells of Wormtongue, an evil counselor who is in secret league with the enemy. The combined forces continue on towards Isengard, a fortress that has been destroyed by the Tree-folk. Saruman and Wormtongue are trapped in the tower of Orthanc. Saruman will not repent before Gandalf and so Gandalf breaks his staff and removes him from the council of wizards. Wormtongue throws a stone out of the window but he fails to it Gandalf; the stone turns out to be a palantír, one of the Seeing Stones of Númenor. Peregrin picks it up and gives it to Gandalf, but later in the night he falls to the lure of the palantír and steals it. When he looks into it, he is revealed to Sauron. Gandalf forgives Pippin and he gives the palantír to Aragorn, riding away (with Pippin) towards Minas Tirith.
Book Four (the second half of The Two Towers) focuses on Frodo and Samwise, who arelost and wandering through the somber war-torn region of hilly Emyn Muil. Gollum (who is also called Sméagol) as been spying on the hobbits and following their trail. Here in Emyn Muil, Frodo tames Gollum and Gollum serves Frodo (at least temporarily) as a servant serves his master. Gollum leads Frodo and Sam through the Dead Marshes until they reach the Morannon, the Black Gate of the Land of Mordor in the North. They are unable to pass through the gate and so Frodo accepts Gollum's advice to seek a "secret entrance" which is at the western walls of Mordor in the Mountains of Shadow. As they continued on the journey, the travelers encountered Faramir, the brother of Boromir, who was leading a scouting-force of the Men of Gondor. Faramir learns about the Ring but he overcomes the temptation that overcame his brother, Boromir. Faramir helps the hobbits by replenishing their dwindling supplies. Frodo, Sam and Gollum make their way to Cirith Ungol, the Spider's Pass. Faramir warned Frodo and Sam that this pass was a place of mortal peril, of which Gollum had told them less than he knew. The travelers reach the Cross-roads and take the road that leads to Minas Morgul; in the darkness, they can see the mobilization of Sauron's first army, led by the black King of the Ringwraiths.
Gollum guides the hobbits to a secret path that strays away from the city and they reach Cirith Ungol. Here, Gollum betrays the hobbits, intending to lead them to a monster called Shelob, who would devour them. Gollum's plan is frustrated by Sam's bravery: he chases Gollum away and wounds Shelob, as well. Frodo is stung by Shelob and he appears dead. Sam concludes that he must continue the quest alone and abandon his master, but as he is about to cross into Mordor, Sam overhears the orcs. He learns that Frodo is not dead but drugged. The orcs carry Frodo's body down a tunnel leading to the rear gate of the tower and Sam is unable to keep up with them. He passes out and Book 4 comes to an end.
The Return of the King
The events of The Return of the King fall between the years 3019 and 3021, with most of the novel's action falling between March 9 and March 25 of the year 3019. Though the story is not presented in chronological order, the events can be arranged in sequence and Tolkien offers a calendar that even assigns scenes to specific dates. This third novel of the trilogy begins with Gandalf and Pippin heading towards Minas Tirith (March 5, 3019). The next day finds Aragorn in battle against the Dunedain, while Theoden leaves the Hornburg fortress and sets out for Harrowdale. Aragorn eventually wins his battle and heads towards Dunharrow, arriving on the night of the 7th. The next day is crucial to the story, as Aragorn takes the "Paths of the Dead." Gandalf arrives at Minas Tirith with Pippin and Lord Denethor does not receive Gandalf so warmly, as he is resigned to the fate of his inevitable defeat.
March 10 is the "Dawnless Day;" during the Muster of Rohan, the Rohirrim ride from Harrowdale and when Faramir is trapped in battle outside the gates of Minas Tirith, it is Gandalf who rescues him in dramatic fashion. Aragorn has still not arrived at his destination, crossing Ringlo and reaching points in Linhir and then Lebennin. Meanwhile, Lorien is being attacked‹yet another battle in a war that is being fought on at least three fronts at any given time. The Ents defeat the invaders of Rohan, while Aragorn drives the enemy towards Pelargir and Theoden camps under Minrimmon while Faramir has no option but to retreat to the Causeway Forts. Midway through March is when we find heated action on the battle front as well as in the story of Frodo and Sam. The Return of the King continues the story of Frodo and Sam after Frodo is captured by the Orcs of Cirith Ungol (March 13). This is the same day in which the Pelennor is overrun, Faramir is wounded and Aragorn reaches Pelargir. The next day, Sam finds Frodo in the tower.
Minas Tirith suffers under siege and on March 15 (which we might identify as the "Ides of March") the side of good suffers several blows: The Witch-King finally breaks down the walls of the city (Minas Tirith); Denethor is unsuccessful in murdering his wounded son, though he is successful in burning himself to death on his funeral pyre; Lorien is assaulted for a second time; and Theoden is slain in battle. If there is any hope remaining, as Gandalf notes, it is with Frodo, Sam and the Ring. On this day of battle, Sam and Frodo escape from the tower, disguised as orcs. This disguise has a negative consequence when the hobbits are apprehended by orcs later on and presumed to be mutinous orc-soldiers‹but at least their true identity is hidden, and the two hobbits eventually escape from the ranks of the orc army (March 18, 19).
By the time of this second escape, the commanders have debated ("The Last Debate") and the Battle of Dale has been fought. King Brand and King Dain Ironfoot are both killed. Meanwhile, Shagrat (an orc) presents Frodo's cloak, mail-shirt, and sword to Barad-dur. If March 10 was "the Dawnless Day," March 22 is "the dreadful nightfall." This is when Lorien is assaulted for a third time and deep in the realm of Mordor, Frodo and Sam are forced to leave the road and head due south‹towards Mount Doom. On the 18th, Aragorn and the Host of the West marched from Minas Tirith and on the 23rd, they pass through Ithilien. Out of sympathy, Aragorn releases some of his soldiers from their duty, as they are without hope and faint-hearted. Only the bravest remain with him. Victory comes with Frodo and Sam's success: they reach Mount Doom on March 24, and the following day, marks the scene in which Frodo is about to complete his mission, only the evil power of the Ring overcomes his good intentions. Frodo suddenly feels compelled to keep the Ring for himself. As Sauron realizes that his Eye has been diverted from the true threat, his evil power rushes towards Mount Doom to make an end of Frodo and Sam. Gollum reappears after a long absence and successful rips the Ring away from (invisible) Frodo, tearing Frodo's finger off in the process. Gollum's wrestling sets him off-balance, however, and he falls into the Cracks of Doom, destroying the Ring in the process.
An eagle rescues Frodo and Sam, returning them to the company of Gandalf, Pippin and the others. The power of Sauron has been destroyed and only comparatively minor and administrative tasks remain. Aragorn officially comes into the royal seat that was prophesied.
When the Hobbits finally make their way back to the Shire, they find that the Shire has been altered for the worse‹it is "all very gloomy and un-shirelike." They find that a sizeable portion of the population has been jailed as they were unwilling to obey Mr. Lotho (a hobbit who serves as a self-appointed mayor) and his henchman, Sharkey. The hobbits successfully chases out the henchmen and Sharkey reveals himself to be Saruman. Saruman laughs with revenge because he has destroyed so many of the homes and gardens of Hobbiton. He stabs Frodo, but the hobbit is wearing a coat of mail beneath his garment and the knife does no damage. Frodo remains patient and forgiving and he refuses to strike at Saruman, but this only angers Saruman. Asking about Mr. Lotho, the hobbits learn from Saruman that Wormtongue (Grima) has killed him‹but Wormtongue is enraged because Saruman forced him to do this. Wormtongue then draws his own knife and cuts Saruman's throat. Wormtongue is shot dead with arrows. Saruman's body emits a grey mist and then it dissolves into nothing.
The cleansing of the Shire does not take as long as Sam fears. One of the initial tasks at hand is the release of the prisoners who have been locked up by Sharkey and Mr. Lotho. Sam remembers the gift of Galadriel: a box that was filled with a grey dust and a small seed. Sam spreads this dust and in a year's time, it does the work of twenty years. The trees and flowers return, the children grow beautiful and strong, and pretty much everybody is happy.
Sam gets married to Rose Cotton and they move in with Frodo, who still suffers his ailment. Frodo finishes nearly all of the writing before he passes the project on to Sam to finish the final pages. Sam becomes the mayor in Frodo's place and Frodo prepares for his departure with Gandalf to the shores of the Sea. Sam, Merry and Pippin ride along with them, and there are also the Elves, Bilbo, Elrond and Galadriel. All of the ring bearers must depart from Middle Earth and so they board the great ship and sail away. The three hobbits return to their lives in Hobbiton and enjoy the rest of their lives.
......phew |
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Too much typing, kthx ^_^.
Anyways, I read them all, Dutch translations, but still. I have the English version on my bookshelf right now, maybe I'll read it again someday. Good books, indeed. Good movies, too, even with loads of stuff cutout. But eh, nothing to be done about that. |
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| Yeah if it was to be made exacly how the books were then the movies would be like 10 hours long....lol |
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| I tried to read the Lord of the Rings trilogy years ago, but I stopped about half way through The Two Towers. I think it moved too slowly to hold my interest. I read The Hobbit three or four times when I was a kid, however. |
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"The universe may not always play fair, but at least it's got a hell of a sense of humor."
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I liked them. They completely revolutionized the way fantasy was handled, and pretty much turned it into a serious genre. That said, it tends to have the same limitation that a lot of fantasy works do, which is that characters are either intrinsically good or intrinsically evil, for the most part, and that corresponds to which side of the conflict a character fights on. That makes for a fun story, but it doesn't have much to do with real life, I find.
The films, as mentioned above, were also well done. |
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I like them a lot, and I'm thinking on re-reading them once I'm done with "Digital Fortress". J.R.R. Tolkien sure did a wonderful job with the LotR Trilogy - and with The Silmarillion and The Hobbit too -... they're Masterpieces. It's true that they can seem a bit boring at some parts, but there's always something that pushes you to keep reading.
Also, he created two languages, Sindarin and Quenya. I took an Online Sindarin Course, and trust me... isn't so easy! *laughs*
... I love those books. |
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~*Namida yori mo... yasashii uta wo... kanashimi yori sono nukumori wo...*~
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Those were like Cliff Notes of the books lol.
I've only read The Hobbit.
I've been meaning to read the others. |
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"...and they walked through another goddamn field..."
I liked the books, I read them all through. But there are only so many times a man can describe a landscape before I just can't take it anymore. That, and Tolkien is pretty much an all around terrible poet.
I liked the Silmarillion though, very grand and Biblical. |
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