Lord of the Rings on Film

Lesson 1: Introducing The Lord of the Rings

Background to the film

"It began with the forging of the great rings," says the voice of Galadriel at the very beginning of the trilogy. "Three were given to the elves…seven to the Dwarf lords…And nine, nine rings were gifted to the race of Men…But they were all of them deceived, for another ring was made…to control all others."

The beginning of The Fellowship of the Ring is a brief history of Middle-earth from the forging of the great rings and the making by Sauron of "One Ring" to control the rest.

At the battle at the end of the Second Age in the Last Alliance between elves and men, Isildur, the heir of the great kingdom Gondor, manages to cut the One Ring from Sauron’s hand. But he refuses to see its corrupting influence and resists Elrond’s command to throw it into the fire and destroy it (the "fire" here is the Crack of Doom where Frodo ultimately succeeds in destroying the Ring three thousand years later). He is on his way home with the Ring when he is attacked by orcs; the Ring betrays him by slipping off his hand and thus making him visible again, and he is killed. The Ring, lost in the river, passes out of knowledge for 2,500 years.

It is found by chance by a creature named Gollum, who quickly becomes ensnared by its power. But he loses the Ring five hundred years later when it is "found" by a hobbit named Bilbo Baggins. (In The Hobbit, where the Ring first appears, Bilbo is lost under the mountains after his company is captured and comes upon the Ring by chance. He later has a riddle contest with Gollum who says that if Bilbo loses Gollum can eat him; if Gollum loses, he will show Bilbo the way out. Bilbo wins the contest, but Gollum does not think the last question, "What have I got in my pockets?" is a true riddle and he goes to get the Ring so that he can attack Bilbo while invisible. Bilbo has already found the Ring and uses it to escape Gollum and the mountains.) He brings the Ring home to Hobbiton, where it is largely useful for avoiding unwelcome relatives, and does not know of its real power. This is where the film begins.

Diolla le! I hope you enjoyed the lesson. Onto the next...

Bibliography

Tolkien, J.R.R., The Hobbit. Harper Collins, 1991.

Tolkien, J.R.R., The Simarillion -- Ainulindale. Harper Collins, 1994.