In the first book of the trilogy,
The Fellowship of the Ring (1954), Bilbo—the
hobbit of
The Hobbit (1937)—celebrates
his eleventy-first birthday with a party climaxed by his disappearance. Before Bilbo leaves the Shire, Gandalf the wizard persuades the reluctant
hobbit to leave his "precious" ring, with its power of invisibility, to his adopted heir, Frodo. Gandalf informs Frodo that the ring is actually the Ring of Power created by evil Sauron of Mordor to conquer all Middle-earth and that even now he hunts the ring. He has learned from Gollum, a distant hobbit relative corrupted by its possession, that this "One Ring to rule them all" is in the Shire.
With his hobbit friends Sam and Merry and Pippin, Frodo flees from the Shire to hide the Ring from the searching eye of Sauron. The little group is threatened by Dark Riders, trapped inside Old Man Willow, and entombed by barrow-wights. But hobbit pluck and friends in need—Farmer Maggot, old Tom Bombadil, and Aragorn, who journeys with them—enable the
hobbits to reach the half-elven haven of Rivendell.
There, the Council of Elrond votes to destroy the Ring. Frodo accepts the impossible task of carrying it to Mount Doom in Mordor, the place of its making and the only place where it can be destroyed. Representatives from all the races of Middle-earth accompany Frodo in that Fellowship of the Ring—the wizard Gandalf, the elf Legolas, the dwarf Gimli, the men Aragorn and Boromir, and the hobbits Merry, Pippin, and Sam.
The next book of the trilogy,
The Two Towers (1954), begins in the tunnels of Moria, where the company is set upon by orcs and a fearsome Balrog. Locked in mortal combat with the monster, Gandalf disappears from their sight. With preparatory help from the Elf-Queen Galadriel in Lothlorien, the company makes its way down the Anduin River. Boromir, overcome by lust for the Ring, attempts to take it from Frodo, who puts on the Ring and vanishes. Frodo continues toward Mordor alone except for his faithful companion, Sam.
Orcs kill Boromir and carry off Merry and Pippin. During an attack by warrior horsemen of Rohan, the young hobbits escape into the forest Fangorn, where they meet Treebeard. The giant treelike creature leads his fellow ents against Saruman, a turncoat wizard in league with Sauron. The men of Rohan join that battle, and Saruman is defeated.
Meanwhile Frodo and Sam trek toward Mordor, guided by Gollum, who has been trying to steal the Ring. Gollum leads the hobbits to the giant spider Shelob, who paralyzes Frodo and leaves him for dead. Sam determines to finish the quest alone. Orcs carry off Frodo.
The last book of the
Lord of the Rings is
The Return of the King (1955). With Gandalf, who has miraculously returned, Aragorn leads the pitifully weak forces of the free peoples against the gates of Mordor. They have no chance of winning the battle, and hope only to distract Sauron from the Ring. If Frodo fails in his quest to destroy the Ring, all Middle-earth will be in the power of Sauron.
Sam frees Frodo from the Orcs, and the two hobbits struggle together toward Mount Doom. Frodo is so worn by the Ring that at times Sam must carry him. Finally overcome by the Ring’s seductive force, he cannot bring himself to fling it into the Crack of Doom. Gollum bites the Ring from his hand, and in the struggle topples into the crack, to be destroyed with the Ring.
The peoples of Middle-earth defeat Sauron’s evil forces. Aragorn claims his rightful kingship. The hobbits return triumphant to the Shire, where they kick out the bully "Sharkey"—Saruman come down in the world. Yet Frodo never recovers from the wounds of the quest. With Bilbo and Gandalf, he eventually sails for the Blessed Realm.