The Lord of the Rings

The Lord Of The Rings

My favorite character in this book would have to be Legolas. He was the best elf with a bow and arrow, and his skill with a blade was unmatched. A prince of the Elven Kingdom of Mirkwood, he has keen eyesight and sharp ears, a characteristic of his race. Though the fellowship that set forth from Rivendell has dwindled to but three, still the friendship that binds these three holds strong. Legolas, Aragorn, and Gimli hold to each other through hardships and peril, in spite of their differences.

As we consider the Lord of the Rings, we need to think of the characters who make up what was called the "fellowship." Nine were the number that made up this group, but they were not all what we would call men. Four were called Hobbits, little people that might also to some be called leprechauns. These were folks that lived in open meadows under the roots of trees or perhaps dug their homes out of the sides of banks alongside the roads. Their homes were not caves, but were elaborate dwellings that could rival the homes of many of the people who we meet today. The one thing we could truly say about the Hobbits is the fact that they loved life and celebrated it to the fullest. One example of this is the birthday celebration of Bilbo Baggins. Even though it was just a birthday party, there was fireworks, dancing, and enough grog to make a Hobbit's head spin. There was even a cake that rivaled the size of the largest Hobbit. One other peculiar item I would like to insert at this time was the fact that they wore no shoes. To me it is no big deal to be barefoot, but later on in the story it could have been a problem, but as they were always this way it posed no problems

The second group in this fellowship was the group called "men." Aragorn and Borimir were the two that made up this group. Aragorn at first was presented as a "ranger." Rangers were those, and they did not have to be men, who protected the world. They were those who preferred to spend their lives alone, wandering the earth. It was only later on that we find out that he was the son of a king, a king who had disgraced himself years before, and showed himself to be a loyal friend and protector of the one who bore "the ring." The second of this group was called Borimir. He, too, swore fealty to the one who bore the weight of the ring, yet in the end the power that was in the ring drew him away from what the fellowship had set out to do and this caused his death.

At this point we cannot forget the seventh member of the fellowship- his name was Gandalf. At first we are led to believe that he is only a very old man who wanders the world dazzling those he meets with his fireworks and wild stories. Little by little we find that there are layers to this one that are peeled away as the story unfolds. It is only later on that we find out that Gandalf is a powerful wizard sent to protect the world and to eventually aid those who are out to destroy the ring of power.

The last two are a dwarf and an elf. Dwarves were also a people who were small in stature, but unlike the Hobbits, dwarves lived underground in mines seeking the gold and precious stones that could be found there. Yet when it was found that the owner of the ring knew that it had been found, this one dwarf answered the call to help take the ring back to the mountain where it had been forged and destroy it. The last of the fellowship was an elf. As the epic unfold it is seen that the elves prefer to live in the forests; deep, deep in the forests where it appears that they can live in peace, separate from the rest of the world and their problems. Only the problems of the world fell right into their "protected" little world and onto their laps.

As we read the story, it is really a trilogy, we could talk of the wars and the hatred and the scheming that was seen on both sides. Yet this story is not really about