The Fellowship of The Ring by J. R. R. Tolkien - Book Review

It always seems to start with a young, little hobbit risking his life on a great adventure, fighting evil. “The Fellowship of the Ring” is the first book of the epic, fantasy novel, written by J.R.R. Tolkien, called “Lord of The Rings”. 

The story tracks the journey of one hobbit, Frodo, among other characters (other hobbits, humans, elves, a wizard, and a dwarf) from a hole (a neat hole dug in the ground, mind you) where he lives with another hobbit, Bilbo Baggins.

The story initially starts with Gandalf, a grey wizard and a dear old friend of Bilbo, affirming to Frodo that a ring, hidden by Bilbo Baggins, once belonged to Sauron, a dark lord. Sauron keeps calling for his ring, in order to reunite with it and rule Middle Earth.

After confronting Bilbo about this grave matter, Bilbo decides to give up the ring to Frodo, even though parting with it has serious side effects on his mind. Frodo, nevertheless, accepts the ring. Afterward, Frodo finds himself embarking on an adventure, along with his friends Pippin, Merry, Sam, Strider the enigmatic human, Boromir the representative of humans of Gondor, Legolas the Elf, and Gimli the dwarf, to destroy the ring.

The popularity of J.R.R. Tolkien’s previous work, “The Hobbit”, is what stemmed the urge to write more about the inhabitants of middle earth, the lands, locations, languages, poetry, mythology, and tales, making up this expansive and phantasmal world.

The creativity of creating new languages (elvish and dwarven languages) is explained by Tolkien’s expertise in philology and linguistics. The “Fellowship of the Ring” consists of one large volume, divided into two books. For those individuals, who enjoy reading about long journeys, adventurous misadventures, character plots, and wise wizards, this book is for you.