Lord Of The Rings
The Book and the movies
Imagine a world so different from the world we live in that it took the author a whole life to build a world for his books. A saga that took 18 years to write, yet when finished it was hailed as one of the greatest literary masterpieces of our time. Now realize that it's first public reading was in the local pub on Thursday nights with a friend who was also a literary giant of the age!
But there is a real "Hobbiton" and a real "Bag End". When Sir Peter Jackson was scouting for locations to make the Lord of the Rings movies he found this place just outside of Matamata in the Waikato, New Zealand that was picture perfect for Hobbiton and the Shire, so they created Hobbiton for all to go and see. This is a view from one of the Hobbit holes (probably Sam gamgee's as Frodo and Bilbo's is up on a hill!)
The Hobbiton of Tolkien's imagination was shropshire of the early twentieth century. The Hobbiton of the Movies is a world away, on the far side of the planet, yet closer to the Hobbiton that Tolkien imagined than Shropshire today could ever be.
One ring to rule them all, one ring to find them.
And in the darkness bind them
— JRR TolkeinThe writing of Lord of the Rings
The inspiration behind the book
There is a discussion in the literary world as to whether the Lord of the Rings is one book or three! The writing is laid out as in three volumes of a book, but each one is distinct enough to be a separate book. Each one tells a different part of the story and in each book you find out a snippet about the characters.
Tolkein's first book was "The Hobbit" which actually begins the story of the ring of power and how it came to be with such an unlikely creature as a Hobbit like Bilbo.
Hobbits themselves are small folk who don't like to move too far from home. They love the simple things in life like a good pint of Beer at the end of a hard day's work in the fields. Standing only three feet tall, Tolkien tells us that when the 'big folk' show up the Hobbit will often hide away.
Into this idyllic world comes a tall man with a grey beard. Most of the Hobbits don't like him because he brings change and he's from the 'outside' but two little hobbits actually get on with him and one of them happens to be the hero of "The Hobbit" and the richest man in the Shire, the other, who will become one of the heroes of this tale is a young Hobbit by the name of Frodo.
Frodo yearns for the kind of adventure that Bilbo had, but when Gandalf shows up at Bilbo's 112th Birthday party he's given a gift that will set him on a course that will take him well beyond the adventure Bilbo went on, one that should he succeed he will rescue all of the Earth and usher in the age of men. Should he fail then all of creation is doomed to slavery and the Shire will be destroyed as the Dark Lord Sauron searches for the "Ring of Power"
The Movie is slightly different in the timeframe here, as in the book it takes Gandalf twenty years to find out about the Ring of Power from the day when Bilbo sets out on his last adventure, he really wants to see Rivendell where Elrond the Lord of the Elves lives one last time before he dies, but in the Movie its only a matter of weeks when Gandalf shows up deeply worried about the Ring and literally chases Frodo out of the door.
Frodo isn't alone in the quest as three of his friends decide that the journey is too dangerous for him to go 'on his own' and decide to go with him at least as far as Rivendell.
At over 1,000 pages it's one of the few books in the English language that is longer than the Bible! At times it's a meandering read with lots of detail as you explore a world that took Tolkien a lifetime to create. The book itself took 18 years to write and the story is that he began writing just before the outbreak of the second world war.
Some have seen Tolkien's story as a reflection of where Britain was in the war at the time. For example by 1941 at the darkest time in the War Toliken was writing about the mines of Moriah where Gandalf has to confront his worst enemy, a fire breathing demon from the depths of the Earth itself, THE BELROC!
Fellowship of the ring - Friendship is precious
The Characters
A very different bunch
The main characters are the 'Fellowship' of the Ring.
Frodo and three friends make it to Rivendell the home of the elven Lord Elrond where the true picture of the dire straits comes clear. Gandalf had gone to Isengard to enlist the help of his superior Saruman the White only to find that he has been betrayed and Saruman is in league with Sauron himself. In fact Saruman hopes to doublecross the dark lord and gain the Ring for himself.
Gandalf manages to escape, but is too late to meet with Frodo at their pre-arranged meeting place and instead leaves it to a trusted friend "Stryder" who leads the four friends through a perilous part of the journey outwitting the most deadly assassins of Sauron, the nine "Ring wraiths" slaves of the dark lord who can't be killed by men.
In Rivendell a 'high council' is called where the fate of the ring is discussed and it is soon realized that there is only one course open, to take the rign back to the place it was forged and cast it back into the pits of the Earth. But who will take the Ring?
Frodo actually wants no part of it, but when he sees how the ring can corrupt even the strongest of hearts he realizes that he's got no choice but to take it into the very depths of hell itself!
Frodo's friends Sam Gamgee, Merry and Pippin all decide to go with Frodo and no amount of persuasion can change their minds, Gandalf is appointed to lead the expedition with Stryder (whom we find is descended from an ancient line of Kings and is named Aragon from this point on) along with a repiresentative of the Elves (Legolass) dwarves (Gimli son of Gloin) and Boromir of Gondor.
They face many periils on the journey and it takes many a twist in the tale, but it's a read well worth the time it takes to read.
The book is more like an ancient Saga than a novel. Many have claimed that it was Tolkien's frustration at a lack of ancient legends among the English people that caused him to dream up this wonderful world and story of a time before history was recorded with Kings and queens, Elves and Dwarves, Wizards and magic in which good triumphs over evil but at great cost to all
A couple of trailers for the movies
And finally. The Prequel "The Hobbit"
What do you think about this story - Do you prefer the book or movies?
The great thing about this book is that there were three movies based on the book that I've been able to borrow from. They do stick fairly close to the book and between them they took 18 oscars (four for "The fellowship of the Ring' Two for the two Towers and twelve for "return of the King")
Personally I love both and its one of the few books I've read more than once. I have the boxed set for the movies and love to sit and watch one of them, but even they take four hours each!
For me, it's a great tale to be enjoyed and I'm looking forward to the release of the Hobbit later in the year
But that;s enough from me as I want to know what you think about the book or movies.
What did you think? Book or Movies
Rate it, if you dare...
On a scale of 1-7, what did you REALLY think?
One Ring to rule them all
One Ring to rule them all.
One Ring to find them.
One Ring to bring them all
And in the darkness bind them