Middle-earth and the Origins of the One Ring
The story begins with a prologue narrated by Galadriel, an ancient elf, who explains the origins of the conflict that will shape the entire narrative. At the dawn of the Third Age, the Dark Lord Sauron forged the One Ring in the fires of Mount Doom, in the lands of Mordor: an object of supreme power capable of controlling the nineteen rings distributed among elves, dwarves, and men. With it, Sauron seeks to subjugate all the free peoples of Middle-earth under his absolute dominion.
A great alliance of elves and men faced Sauron in the battle that followed. During that combat, Isildur, prince of Gondor, manages to cut off Sauron's finger and wrest the Ring from him, temporarily destroying his physical form. However, rather than casting the Ring into the fire where it was forged—the only place where it can be destroyed—Isildur succumbs to the object's corruption and decides to keep it. He soon dies in an ambush and the Ring falls to the bottom of a river, where it lies lost for centuries.
In time, the Ring is found by a creature called Sméagol, who murders his cousin Déagol to keep it. Possession of the object corrupts him entirely over hundreds of years, transforming him into the wretched creature known as Gollum. Eventually the Ring abandons him and is found by the hobbit Bilbo Baggins, of the Shire, who keeps it in ignorance of its true nature, using it merely as an object that turns him invisible.
The Shire and the Incident That Triggers the Adventure
Decades later, Bilbo lives at Bag End, in the peaceful region known as the Shire, home to hobbits: a small-statured race, far removed from the wars and great deeds of the wider world. The story picks up on Bilbo's one hundred and eleventh birthday, during a large celebration organised with the help of his old friend the wizard Gandalf the Grey.
That same evening, Bilbo announces to all the guests that he is leaving the Shire for good. Before he departs, Gandalf urges him to leave the Ring to his nephew Frodo Baggins, who has lived with him at Bag End. Bilbo shows an unexpected and violent resistance to the idea of parting with the object, which reveals to the viewer the corrupting power the Ring exerts over whoever carries it. Eventually Bilbo leaves it behind and sets off for Rivendell, the city of the elves.
Gandalf, who has long been investigating the object's origins, confirms his worst suspicions by reviewing ancient texts in Minas Tirith: the Ring that Frodo possesses is Sauron's One Ring. The Dark Lord, who has regained his form and power in Mordor, is actively searching for the Ring, and his fearsome servants—the Nazgûl, or Ringwraiths, ancient human kings enslaved by the Rings—are already making their way toward the Shire. Gandalf returns urgently to warn Frodo and order him to leave his home at once, taking the Ring with him, for if Sauron recovers the object his dominion over Middle-earth will be total and irreversible.
The Main Characters and the Framing of the Conflict
Frodo leaves the Shire accompanied by his friends Samwise Gamgee, his faithful gardener and inseparable companion; Meriadoc Brandybuck (Merry) and Peregrin Took (Pippin), cousins who join the group almost by accident. Their initial goal is to reach the inn of The Prancing Pony in the village of Bree, where they are to meet Gandalf.
In Bree, Gandalf does not appear—he has been detained by the wizard Saruman the White, the supposed head of his order, who has secretly decided to ally himself with Sauron—but the hobbits make contact with a mysterious Ranger known as Strider, whose true name is Aragorn, heir to the throne of Gondor and a direct descendant of Isildur. Aragorn takes on the protection of the group and guides them toward Rivendell.
During the journey, the Nazgûl attack the group at the summit of Weathertop, where Frodo, unable to resist the Ring's influence, puts it on his finger and becomes exposed. One of the Wraiths wounds him with a cursed blade that threatens to turn him into one of them. Thanks to the intervention of the elf Arwen, daughter of the Elven lord Elrond of Rivendell, Frodo arrives in time to receive healing.
At Rivendell, Elrond convenes a great council at which representatives of all the races gather: elves, dwarves, men, and hobbits. There it is determined that the Ring can neither be hidden nor used against Sauron—anyone who wields it will be corrupted and will ultimately become a new Dark Lord—and that the only solution is to destroy it by casting it into Mount Doom, in the heart of Mordor. Frodo volunteers to carry the Ring, taking on the burden of a quest that no one else is willing to claim. Thus the Fellowship of the Ring is formed, composed of nine members destined to accompany Frodo: Gandalf, Aragorn, the elf Legolas, the dwarf Gimli, the man Boromir—son of the Steward of Gondor, who covets the Ring to use it as a weapon against Sauron—and the four hobbits.
