Review: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. This Book Makes Me Happy.

I know this might offend some diehard, purist Tolkien fans, but I was raised on the Lord of the Rings movies and for most of my life, my only Tolkien knowledge came from the movies.

Yes, I can hear your mixed cheers, boos, and silence.

However, if you’ve read my review on The Silmarillion, you’ll know that last Christmas, I got the Lord of the Rings box set and (after I finished The Silmarillion because I wanted to go in chronological order) can now officially say that I know what I’m talking about regarding LOTR and my expectations were blown out of the water. Let’s get into it.

#1: Frodo

While this is not a review of the LOTR movies, I’m just going to say this: Peter Jackson did Frodo dirty. I went into reading The Fellowship of the Rings thinking that Frodo was going to be as incompetent as he was shown to be in the movies. You know…this meme (sorry for the glitchiness):

Or this stupid:

In the books, however, Frodo actually shows himself to be much more competent, following all of Gandalf’s instructions and going above and beyond to try to keep the Ring as safe as possible. While he does need Merry, Sam, and Pippin’s help in some aspects, he isn’t completely relient on them (he especially isn’t as relient on Sam as he seems to be in the movies). He shows himself to be clever and resilient throughout the story. During the attack at Weathertop, Frodo actually tries to stand his ground before he’s stabbed. Even after he’s stabbed, he’s still able to move by himself (though it’s painful) and at the Ford of Bruinen, he still tries to help fight the Nazgul, even though he knows he’s dying.

#2: Glorfindel

I was initially very confused by Glorfindel’s presence in Fellowship of the Ring since I had read The Silmarillion before hand and knew he had died during the fall of Gondolin, but upon further research (i.e. I consulted the memes and more books) I learned that he had been reincarnated in the Second Age, pretty much for the purpose of the Fellowship’s mission. Him being in the book makes me very happy since it means someone sort-of survived the First Age.

Yay, not everyone I had an emotional attatchment to died!

#3: Aragorn and Arwen

Arwen’s character is played down a lot more in the books and isn’t the Nazgul defeating boss that we get in the movies, something that I actually enjoyed. While the love story presented in the movies is cutesy and probably was intended to get more women to watch, it seemed somewhat shoe-horned in. Meanwhile, the love story between Aragorn and Arwen in the books seems much more organic. Instead of just leaving to help get rid of the Ring and (bonus) become the king of Gondor, Aragorn has an extra motive to do those things in the story and that is: he can’t marry Arwen until he becomes the ruler of Gondor. The reason why is because Aragorn and Arwen are both of the royal line of kings (through their common ancestors, Earendil and Elwing) and are both related to Beren and Luthien and Tuor and Idril, the only two marriages between the Eldar and the Edain. You couldn’t be some Joe-Shmoe and marry an elf. You had to be someone important of a specific line. Arwen being somewhat of a background character in the books in a way makes the story better since her presence is there, but isn’t overwhelming.

#4: Silmarillion References

The Fellowship of the Rings is full of references to the deeper lore and I love it. My favorite reference is the scene where Aragorn recites part of the Lay of Leithan, which (as mentioned before), hints at his lineage and is also the most well known love story in the entire Tolkien fandom. The Balrog of Morgoth, Light of Earendil, Palantiri, and the Sacred Fire/ Flame of Udun, the Eagles, are all Silmarillion references that are used in a wa that is still cohesive to the plot.

#5: The Eagles

I know the Eagles are somewhat of a controversial topic for LOTR fans, but personally I think that this isn’t a plothole at all. The Eagles being used sparingly throughout the book actually keeps it consistent with everyone being obsessed with secrecy. Think about it. The Eagles are the size of passenger jets. If they came flying into Mordor, guns (arrows, beaks (?) blazing, Sauron would’ve won in no time. Not only that, but the Eagles were extremely powerful beings. If they got the Ring, there’s no telling what chaos they could cause. We saw what happened to Frodo after two volumes of him carrying the Ring. The last thing Middle Earth would need would be angsty Eagles.

Until next time,

M.J.