The Fellowship of the Ring (Breckon Halliday)

The Fellowship of the Ring/ J.R.R. Tolkien / published by Allen and Unwin / 398 pages

Where I found the book: I found it on a bookshelf in my house.

Brief Summary: The Fellowship of the Ring is the first volume in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy. The story opens depicting an illustrious ring, the Ring of Power, crafted by the Elven-smiths, and Sauron, the Dark Lord. In creating this Sauron contrived an evil plot. Through infixing his own power into the ring he intend to rule all others. Caught up in his evil plan to conquer all of Middle-earth, the ring was eventually taken from him and lost for innumerable decades. Many years later, in the secluded village of the Shire, young Frodo Baggins is entrusted with the ring from his elderly cousin Bilbo Baggins, and faced with an immense task that he can’t yet even begin to comprehend. Frodo now must leave the only place he’s ever known into a new world with danger around every corner. He now is the only hope for humanity, in order to save the world, he must trek the perilous lands of Middle-earth to the Cracks of Doom in order to destroy the Ring, and prevent the Dark Lord Sauron in his evil disposition.

Audience: The main audience of this novel would be anyone who enjoys fictional fantasy. Also it is a very coeducational tale directed towards the age group of about 13 years of age and older. I believe this because the book contains many aspects of magical creatures and sorcery.

Style: Tolkien is very descriptive. He uses great vocabulary that coalesces into his novels perfectly, and really entraps the reader in the worlds he creates. One example is this line, “‘For so it seemed to them: Lórien was slipping backward, like a bright ship masted with enchanted trees, sailing on to forgotten shores, while they sat helpless upon the margin of the grey and leafless world, ’” (Tolkien 142).

Three passages: This quote stuck out to me. It speaks of making the best out of life and the time you have. There is a lot of truth to it and it made me think on some real life experiences, “‘I wish it need not have happened in my time, said Frodo. So do I, said Gandalf, and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us,’”(Tolkien 60).
The next quote is in the same conversation but stood out to me as well. It shows the presence of fate and how it is so unpredictable. Even the wisest of all can’t even begin to ponder what the time may bring, “‘Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement. For even the very wise cannot see all ends, ’” (Tolkien 61).
The last is actually a poem that was spoken in chapter 10. I liked the way it sounded and I thought it showed the diversity of how he writes compared to other authors. How he is able to through such intellectual poems into such a fictional world.
“‘All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
Alight from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king, ’”(Tolkien 167).

Final thoughts of the book: I really enjoyed it. It had a very good story that I got into and yet, also a deep underlying message when I began to think more in depth about it. I liked the fantasy aspect of it and all the creatures and spells used. This was a very good book that made me want to begin the next novel, and finish the Trilogy.