The Lord of the Rings - The Two Towers, The Lord of the Rings - The Return of the King

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J.R.R.Tolkien - Lord of the Rings

Table of contents:

· Prologue
· Biography 1

· Biography 2
· Main Characters

· Of the Hobbits

· Of the Ring

· Of the Finding
· The Lord of the Rings - The Fellowship of the Ring

· The Lord of the Rings - The Two Towers

· The Lord of the Rings - The Return of the King
· Tolkiens World

· Theme

Prologue

J.R.R.Tolkien is one of the most read fantasy authors in the world. His un-conventional style is responsible for his great success and his books are even bought in millions today. What sets him apart from other authors is, that he created a universe of its own in which his fantasy stories play. This is the reason why a kind of kult emerged out of Tolkien´s works. Thousands of fans all over the world celebrate tolkien´s stories and poems and many painters are inspired by his imaginations and creations.
Very interesting is, that he wrote his two most well known books ,,The Hobbit' and ,,The Lord of the Rings' only to read them out to his children at first. Later he published them because they were liked very much by many of his friends.
In this following pages I don´t only want to tell something about Tolkien´s live and write some book-reports, but also turn attention to his ethnic world-creation called Middle-earth.
The fantasy genre is normally not the place to find demanding literature, but Tolkien told me another lesson. His language is high leveled and even the german translation is not easy to read. He often uses a kind of aristokratic, old fashioned english which lets the reader feel the pride of the figures in his stories. The chatacters, especially the elves, have a kind of code of honour what gives them something glorious.
His tremendous imaginativeness not only arised continents, seas, lands, rivers, lakes, mountains and woods, he also invented different races, animals, religions and even languages! One of these languages, which is known as Quenia, has in fact its own letters, which are called ,,The Anghertas'. This almost incredible variety is the legacy of only one man: Tolkien.
A closer look to ,,The Silmarillion', in which the creation of Arda, the world Middle-earth is a part from, is discribed, gives a better imagination of the pride and the glory of the inhabitants of Middle-earth.
Of course I know all this is fiction, but its truly not to compare with the common trash found in this genre. In England for example there are two different groups which put themselves in the position to continue Tolkien´s fantasies and dreams: The ,,Tolkien Society' and the ,,Tolkien´s Ring'. In these groups fans meet to discuss matters, related to Tolkien´s works and artists try to express Tolkien´s thoughts and imaginations in poems and paintings.
So here is some information about the person who created his own universe from the beginning of the act of creation on.

Biography 1:

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born 1892 in the small town Bloemfontein, which was in the Oranje-Free-State in Africa. He was the first of two children of Arthur and Mabel Tolkien. Arthur moved to Africa because he got a job in the Bank of Africa, which was searching for qualified bankers in England. A few months after J.R.R.Tolkien, his mother and his brother moved back to England in the village Sarehole near Birmingham as a result of John´s bad health his Father died of an Peritonitis (Bauchfellentzündung).
Later, Sarehole became Tolkiens beloved ,,Shire', the home of the ,,Hobbits'. His mother, a former governess and missionary, teached him to read and write and later even Ancient Greek and Latin.
The second stroke of fate in his youth was the death of his mother in 1904 when Tolkien was 12 jears old. After her death Father Morgan, a friend of the family Tolkien took care of the two children, what ensured a continuing good education and their catholic believe in future.
After a few jears, Father Morgan sent them to a kind of pension in Birmingham, where he began to learn walesish and old Anglo-Saxon and his interest for the Middle-Ages raised in him the first time. Before he attended the Exeter-Collage in 1911 he met his first and only love Edith Mary Bratt, who was in the same pension with him, but their relationship was not tolerated and he had to leave her. In addition to that he visited swizerland with Father Morgan as a reward for his good school qualifications.
1911 he attended collage as an Exhibitioner, whitch is the name for someone who comes from a normal school to collage after makeing several entrance-exams. 1913 he made his final exams in ,,Moderns' which includes Anglo-Saxon in contrast to Latin and Ancient-Greek. 1915, one year after the the beginning of World War One, he made his final exams in English and Literature- Honours-Grade.
On the 7^th of July, 1915, Tolkien joined the British army as a sub-leutnant, and was trained to a communication-officer because of his English-knowledge. In his last holidays before he was sent to the front, he married Edith Bratt on March 22^nd , 1916. In France, where he and his battailon was sent, he got a kind of shell-shock and was brought back to England in the same year and had to stay in hospital for a long time. There he began to write the story of three stones of power, the ,,Silmarillion'. It dealt with the end of a paradise and innocence. 1917 his first son John was born.
The war definitly was one of the most important experiences in Tolkiens live. The cruelty and the hopelessness returns in passages of ,,The Hobbit' and ,,The Lord of the Rings'.
1918 he returned to Oxford with his wife to continue his interrupted academic career. He became a professor and made himself a name as a good language and literature teacher.

In the following 12 years he gave lectures at the University of Leeds and the Pembroke Collage. In this period, his second son Michael, his third son Christopher, who published several of Tolkiens works after his death, and his fourth child Priscilla were born, and he met his best friend, Clive Staples Lewis, and a life-long friendship raised. In the beginning of the 30´s Tolkien started to work on the story about ,,The Hobbit' which is not a book for children at all (against the main opinion).
1936 ,,The Hobbit' was complete and he got mainly a good press. Despite the good press the book was hardly sold at first, but later they were sold in millions all over the world.
In the time from 1937 till 1945 Tolkien wrote two rather unimportant books
,,Leaf by Niggle' and ,,On Fairy Stories'. At the same time he began to write his
most successful book ,,The Lord Of The Rings' .
1945 he became Merton Professor of English language and literature at Oxford, a position he held untill his retirement in 1959.
1954 ,,The Fellowship Of The Ring' and ,,The Two Towers', the first two portions of the Trilogy ,,The Lord Of The Rings' were published and 1955 ,,The Return Of The King', the last portion was published. Now the full expance and complexity of his imaginative land ,,Middle-earth' came clear.
1957 Tolkien was to travel to the United States to accept honourary degrees from Marquette, Harvard, and several other universities and to deliver a series of addresses. The trip was cancelled due to the illness of his wife Edith. Tolkien never made the trip before his death.
After his retirement he worked as a collaborator in the translation of the Jerusalem Bible from the French and started to work on his book ,,The Adventures Of Tom Bombadil' which was published in 1962.
A year later Tolkiens best friend, C.S.Lewis, died. This was a hard stroke of fate for him and in addition his wife began to feel ill too. Later in 1968 the Tolkiens moved to Poole near Bournemouth, where Tolkien bought a house with the money earned with the selling of the original manuskript of ,,The Lord Of The Rings' to the Marqette University. In the time from 1968 to 1971 he lived happily in Poole with his wife and enjoyed every minute with his children and grandchildren. He was often asked to join clubs and shows or to give interviews, but to most of them he refused to go, because he didn´t like the big fuzz they made about him. He also tried to complete the ,,Silmarillion', but he never finished the book, that was later published by his son Christopher.
On the 29^th of November, 1971 Edith Tolkien dies at the age of 82 after a short, but serve illness attributed to an inflamed gall-bladder. After that Tolkien returned to Oxford where he received some additional awards and hounours.
On the September 2nd, 1973 he died during his holydays in a small private clinic in Bournemouth.
1977 the ,,Silmarillion' was published after his son Cristopher completed it.

Biography 2:

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, Englishmen, scholar, and storyteller was born of English parents
at Bloemfontein, South Africa on January 3, 1892 and died in England on September 2, 1973. He spent his entire childhood in England, to which the family returned in 1896, because of his father's death. He attended King Edward's School, St. Philip's Grammar School and Oxford University. After graduating in 1915 he joined the British army and took part in the Battle of the Somme. He was discharged after suffering from 'trench fever' in 1917 and spending a long time in the hospital. (During this time he began the Book of Lost Tales)

Tolkien was a scholar by profession. His academic positions were: staff member of the New English Dictionary (1918-20); Reader, later Professor of English Language at Leeds, 1920-25; Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford (1925-45); and Merton Professor of English Language and Literature (1945-59). He focused on the study of Anglo-Saxon and its relation to similar languages (Old Norse, Old German and Gothic), with emphasis on the dialects of Mercia, that part of England in which he grew up. But he was also interested in Middle English, especially the dialect in the Ancrene Wisse (a twelfth century manuscript composed in western England).
Tolkien was an expert in the surviving literature written in these languages. His unusual ability to simultaneously read the texts as linguistic sources and as literature gave him perspective into both aspects; this was described as 'his unique insight at once into the language of poetry and the poetry of language'.

From an early age he had been fascinated by language, particularly the languages of Northern Europe, both ancient and modern. From this affinity for language came not only his profession but also his private hobby, the invention of languages. He was more generally drawn to the entire 'Northern Tradition', which inspired him to read of its myths and epics and of authors who were equally drawn to it, such as William Morris and George MacDonald. His broad knowledge led to the development of various opinions about myth, its relation to language, and the importance of stories. All these various perspectives: language, the heroic tradition, and myth and story came together with stunning effect in his stories: first the legends of the Elder Days which served as background to his invented languages, and later his most famous works, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.

Tolkien started the work on The Lord of the Rings in 1937, before The Hobbit was published, and finished his tale in 1949. He needed such a long time, because he wanted to complete the legends of the Elder Days and he had many other duties he couldn't neglect. The delay was also increased by the outbreak of the war in 1939.

The first volume, The Fellowship of the Ring, was published in Great Britain on July 29, 1954. On November 11, 1954 followed the second volume The Two Towers, and on October 20, 1955, the last volume of the trilogy, The Return of the King, appeared.

Main Characters:

Of the Hobbits:

Since the main character of the Book is a hobbit, we will take a closer look at these people and their living habits.

Hobbits are small, friendly people, who dwell in earth holes. They love peace and quiet, and are satisfied with a well-farmed countryside. Hobbits are famous for their beautiful gardens and their skill with tools. But they don't like complicated machines and don't use them. They are rather shy and do not show themselves to the 'Big Folk' outside the Shire (the place where the Hobbits live). That's why a lot of people in Middle-earth never heard of them, or even saw one. Hobbits have good ears and sharp eyes, and the average Hobbit is rather fat. Although they do not hurry, if it can be avoided, they can be very quick in their movement, if it is necessary.

Hobbits are small, smaller than Dwarves, and they dress in bright colours. Because their feet have a leathery sole, they do not wear shoes.
They like to laugh, eat and drink as often as possible; sometimes they have up to six meals a day. Nearly every Hobbit loves smoking pipe, and they have a wide knowledge of herbs.
They like giving (and, of course, attending) parties. On birthdays of Hobbits, they don't receive presents. Instead, they give presents to every one who attends his birthday party.

Most Hobbits live in a land, they call The Shire, a place between the Brandywine River and the Far Downs. They seldom leave their home, and if one does, he only goes as far as Bree, which is across the Brandywine. That's why they never saw the sea, though they live close to the shore.

Of the Ring:

Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,
Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,
Nine for mortal men doomed to die,
One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne
In the Land of Mordor where the shadows lie.
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them,
In the Land of Mordor where the shadows lie.

The One Ring, forged by Sauron, has the power to corrupt its bearer and even people who only know of its power, like Boromir. It is a symbol of evil power. When the ring takes control of a person, he is no longer able to succeed his own free will. The purpose of it is to destroy, with illusions and corruption, everything good. The ring is always present, because Frodo can't get rid of it, and has to bear it until the end. Through this there is no time of real safety, because the opportunity for the ring, that contains the will of Sauron, to destroy and corrupt people is always there. Whenever the ring is used, its influence grows stronger.

The sense of seeing gets worse when using the ring, but the ability to hear gets much better. It seems that the process of aging is slowed, or even stopped, as seen in Bilbo.

Of the Finding:

Smeagol, or Gollum, as he is called now was a Hobbit-like creature before he found the ring. He found it some day in a river and his brother Deagol, whose birthday was on that day, wanted to have it as a present. But Gollum wanted to keep the ring for himself and killed his brother. He discovered that he becomes invisible when using the ring, and used it from now on only for evil and for himself. He became hated among his people and wandered into the mountains where he dwelt in a cave for many years. He became dependent on the ring and started to talk to him.
One day Bilbo came to this cave by chance and found the ring lying on the floor. Then he met Gollum, who didn't know that his ring is gone. They asked each other riddles, and if Bilbo won, Gollum would have showed him the way out of the caves. Bilbo won, and Gollum found out that he had taken his ring. The ring slipped on Bilbo's finger and he discovered that he was invisible. So he could escape. He had the chance to kill Gollum, but his pity for him was stronger.

The Lord of the Rings - The Fellowship of the Ring:

Book I

Bilbo Baggins, a Hobbit from the Shire, celebrates his 111^th Birthday together with his cousin Frodo, who celebrates his 33^rd Birthday. Every inhabitant of Hobbiton and the villages around is invited. There is a lot to eat and drink, and Bilbo gives many presents to his guests (he can afford it, because he earned great treasures from his adventures). Later in the evening, Bilbo delivers a speech, and, to the great surprise of his guests, announces that he will leave the Shire and that Frodo will be he his heir. With these words he puts his ring on, disappears and leaves the guests a riddle about his vanishing.

Some time later he meets the wizard Gandalf in his home, and Gandalf discovers that Bilbo's ring is the One Ring, made by Sauron, the Dark Lord. Gandalf tells Bilbo that the ring must be destroyed in the fire of Mount Doom, and so he leaves the ring, and the quest to destroy it, for Frodo.

Frodo is very sad that Bilbo left him, but Gandalf tells him about the ring, its evil power, and that they must get rid of it. Otherwise Sauron will get it back, and his power will rise above everything, and this will be the end of Middle-Earth. Gandalf also warns him sharply not to use the ring, because if he does, Sauron will get aware of him. The only way to destroy the ring is on Mount Doom, in Mordor, the land of the Dark Lord himself.
Frodo accepts this quest, and decides to leave Hobbiton with three of his friends, Sam, Merry and Pippin. He tells everybody that he is going to live in Buckland and keeps the true nature of his departure a secret. Only Sam knows about the ring, because he heard Frodo and Gandalf talking about it. Two months after Gandalf´s visit, they leave Hobbiton.

After travelling a while they discover a black rider following them. They hide themselves beside the road and the mysterious rider passes by. These riders have many names, Ringwraiths or Nazgul are two of them.
Now, frightened, they wander mostly in the wood, where they meet Gildor Inglorin, an Elf, and his people, and the company is excited about their first meeting with Elves. After some days they come to the farm of Mr. Maggot, where they get a meal and some time to rest. Afterwards Mr. Maggot takes them to the Brandywine Bridge.
When they arrive in Buckland, Frodo´s companions reveal that they have known about his quest and wouldn't leave him now. Frodo is very happy about it, so now he doesn't have to go alone.

The Hobbits are afraid of getting caught by the black riders, and decide to go through the Old Forest rather than on the open road. The Old Forest is a very dangerous place, and no one dares going into this haunted place. But they are more afraid of the riders than of the wood and so they dare to enter it. Though they are very careful, the trees nearly kill them. They can escape with the help of Tom Bombadil, who watches over the forest and can control all living things in it. He takes them to his house where he, together with his wife Goldberry, provides them with food and all they need. Tom teaches them a song, which they should sing when they are in danger, and after some days they leave Tom.
They get on very well, and soon they decide to make a little rest. After some hours of sleep, Frodo wakes up and cannot find his friends. He looks for them and gets close to an old grave, the Barrow-Downs, where a ghost catches him. A little while later Frodo regains consciousness, and finds himself lying under the earth. He begins to sing the song Tom taught them, because it seems the only way out of this misery.
Hearing the song, Tom comes immediately to their help and frees them. The Hobbits thank him once again, and continue their way to Bree.

They arrive in Bree short afterwards and go to an inn, called 'The Prancing Pony'. They stay in the taproom for a while, and Frodo begins singing a song. He stands singing on the table, stumbles, and while he falls down the ring slips on his finger and he gets invisible. Everyone stops talking and the guests of the inn are very surprised and shocked, because they are afraid and don't like wizards or everything that seems like magic to them. Everyone leaves the pub, except Strider, a Ranger from the forests. Mr. Butterbur warns Frodo of this strange man, but later they find out that he is a friend of Gandalf, and that he is going to help them on their way to Rivendell. The only one who doesn't trust Strider, or Aragorn, which is his real name, is Sam. The night is not very restful for them, because the black riders are riding through the village.

Next morning, they set out for Rivendell, and in the evening they arrive at a hill, called Weathertop. They are afraid of the ring ghosts but can't go on any more, and so they decide to rest at the hill. Frodo gets so afraid that he uses the ring to feel safe, but what he doesn't know is that he now is an easier target for the riders than before. One of them attacks Frodo with his knife and stabs his shoulder. The ring slips of his finger and Aragorn finds him lying on the ground, wounded. The riders are gone.

The next day they can't go on too fast, because Frodo feels bad all the time and he is riding on the pony. After a while they meet the Elf Glorfindel who was looking for them some time. Frodo continued the journey on Glorfindel´s horse, and now they get on much faster. When they arrive at the ford they black riders appear again and begin to pursue Frodo. The horse reacts immediately and rides forth over the river. When all nine of the riders are in the water, suddenly a tidal wave appears and swallows the Ringwraiths. Frodo, sitting still on the back of the horse, loses consciousness.

Book II

Frodo wakes up in the house of Elrond, in Rivendell, and finds out that he was sleeping for four days. All his friends are there, and even Bilbo, who had left Hobbiton before. Elrond a high Elf among his kindred and member of the white council organizes a meeting where the quest about the destruction of the ring is discussed. They agree that the ring must be destroyed, only Boromir seems not to agree absolutely, because he thinks they can use it do fight against Sauron. The fellowship of the ring is chosen and it consists of Frodo, the ring bearer, Sam, Merry, Pippin, Gandalf, Aragorn, Legolas, the Elf, Gimli, the Dwarf, and Boromir from Minas Tirith.

The day of departures finally arrives and they plan to go over the Caradhras Mountain. They have to choose another way, because a heavy snowstorm rages on the Mountain, and it's impossible for the Hobbits and the Dwarf to go on in the snow.

They decide to go through the abandoned mines of Moria, also called Khazad-dŭm. Once there lived a whole nation of dwarves, but now it is used by Orcs. Gandalf leads the company through the mountain, and they encounter no enemies. But after a while they are trapped by a horde of Orcs and they can only flee from them after Gandalf fights with a Balrog, a gigantic creature of darkness, and falls with him from a bridge into the darkness of Moria. The rest of the fellowship feels deep grief about his death.

Aragorn leads the company out of Khazad-dŭm and into a forest, called Lothlorien. It is said that Lothlorien is a very dangerous place, but soon they find out that this is not the truth. The Elves who live in the forest are very friendly to them and they talk to Celeborn, the ruler of the forest, and his wife Galadriel. She allows the hobbits to look in her magic mirror, where they see visions of the future. The fairness and the beauty of the Lady Galadriel fascinate everyone.

Enchanted by the forest it's very hard for the fellowship to leave and continue their journey. But Galadriel gives to every member of the company a useful present and provides them with boats, so that they can travel down the Nimrodel, which runs later in the Great River, the Anduin, until they come to the Falls of Rauros.

The journey on the river is not very difficult, although they discover that Gollum, the former owner of the ring, is following them. They stop at Amon Hen to decide which way they should go now. Boromir wants to go to Minas Tirith and protect his hometown, but the decision is left to Frodo. When he is alone, Boromir, who can't resist the temptation of the ring, attempts to take the ring from him with force, but Frodo can escape. He decides to go to Mordor alone, but Sam finds him and says he will never leave him, and so the two set out for Mordor to destroy the ring and stop Sauron.

The Lord of the Rings -  The Two Towers:

Book III

Merry and Pippin are attacked by Orcs, and Boromir comes to help them. He fights brave and kills many foes. But the Orcs were too many and he gets killed. Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli find his dead body, but they can't find the Hobbits, because the Orcs captivated them and went away. The three companions have no time to bury Boromir, so they put him on a boat and let him drift down the river. Afterwards they decide to look for Merry and Pippin, because it seems that Frodo wants to go to Mordor alone, and they accept his decision.

In their search they come to the Fields of Rohan where they meet an army of riders. The leader of the army, Eomer, third marshal of Riddenmark, gives them horses. Eomer tells them that he and his army fought against a horde of Orcs and burned them, but they didn't find any Hobbits with them. Aragorn is afraid that they might have burned Merry and Pippin together with the Orcs.

But the Hobbits have great luck. The Orcs have a conflict with each other, because one group serves Sauron, and the other group belongs to the traitor Saruman. And when they are attacked chaos breaks out between the Orcs and the Hobbits can flee to the forest Fangorn. There they meet an old creature, an Ent. These are like trees, but they can talk, move and are intelligent. His name is Treebeard and he takes them into his house, where the Hobbits tell him about Mordor and Saruman, who threatens the countries around his seat in Isengard, and his Orcs, who fell many trees and Ents in Fangorn. The Ents decide to march to Isengard and fight Saruman and his army of Orcs.

Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli meet meanwhile Gandalf again, and they are very happy that he is not dead. He doesn't talk much about how he could get away with his life, but he surely has changed. Before Saruman betrayed the white council, Gandalf was the Grey, now he is the White.
They decide to ask the King of Rohan, Theoden, for help and with his army they ride towards Helms Deep. Wormtongue, the advisor of King Theoden and spy for Saruman, told him about Theoden´s plan, and so they face an army of about 10.000 Orcs, with army only 2.000 men strong. They get unexpected help from the Ents; otherwise they would suffer a bitter defeat.

With the help of the Ents Saruman becomes a prisoner in his own tower, Orthanc, in Isengard. There Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, Gandalf and the two Hobbits Merry and Pippin come together again. Treebeard agrees with Gandalf´s plan, that the Ents should watch over Saruman and don't let him out. When they talk to Saruman, his servant Wormtongue throws down a great ball, but hits no one. Pippin takes a close look at it at night and sees the Eye of Sauron. Gandalf is angry with this, and explains that this ball is one of the Palantirs. With this crystal ball, Saruman was able to contact Sauron, and that was his doom, because he was not strong enough to resist the Dark Lord. After their victory they ride to the city Minas Tirith, where they want to help the people of Gondor to fight against Sauron.

Book IV

During the fight at Helm's Deep and Isengard, Frodo and Sam walk, alone and weary, towards the land of Mordor. When coming down from the Emyn Muil they encounter Gollum and are able to catch him. He is willing to show them the way to Mordor, if they don't tie him up any longer. Frodo trusts him and feels pity for this poor creature, unlike Sam, who doesn't believe Gollum and fears that he may steal the ring, or even kill them. But Gollum seems trustful and leads them through the Dead Marches to the Black Gate, but that seems impassable to them. They learn from Gollum, that he knows another way over the mountains, and they have to trust him once more.

At the border they meet Faramir and his men from Minas Tirith. Faramir is the brother of Boromir, and he has the mission to lead an attack on one of the enemy's army. He leads them to their hideout where they are well provided with all they need, which is mainly sleep and food. They learn that they can trust Faramir, because he is wise enough to resist the ring's temptation, unlike his brother.

They have to go on and Gollum explains that the second way into Mordor is through a tunnel in the mountains. Since this is their only chance to complete their quest, they decide to take this way. On their way up the mountains they see an army, led by the King of the Nazgul. Their hope fades, but they continue and see the city of the Nazgul, Minas Morgul. This is also frightening for the Hobbits, and Frodo feels that the ring grows heavier every step that takes him nearer to Mordor. Arrived at the tunnel, they experience a great surprise, a spider-like monster, Shelob, inhabits the tunnel. Gollum knew this before and runs away, leaving the Hobbits behind. Shelob attacks Frodo and he gets poisoned. Sam gets angry when he sees his master lying on the ground, and runs berserk. He hurts Shelob and forces her to run away. When he sees Frodo he thinks he is dead, and so he takes the ring and his sword, Sting from him and decides to destroy the ring himself.

Sam wants to leave the tunnel, but notices some Orcs walking through. He uses his ring to remain unseen. The ring also improves his hearing and he hears what the Orcs talk. He finds out that Shelob only poisons her victims and never eats dead meat. In other words, Frodo is still alive. But Sam can't help him, because the Orcs take him with them to their tower. He realises that he must free Frodo from the claws of the Orcs, but when he runs to the door of the tower it is shut before him and he can't get in.

The Lord of the Rings - The Return of the King:

Book V

Gandalf reaches Minas Tirith together with Pippin, because he rides one of the swiftest horses, Shadowfax, the horse of King Theoden, before any other of his company comes to the city. Minas Tirith is a great city; build at the edge of the mountains. The city is build on seven levels, and between every level there is a great wall and a gate. On the highest level stands the white tower where the ruler of Gondor lives.

They go straight to Denethor, the Steward of Gondor. He and his ancestors ruled the city since the last king died without leaving an heir behind.

Denethor is very impressed by the brave Hobbit, and Pippin becomes a knight of Gondor and one of the city guards. Denethor is eager to hear about his son Boromir and is very sad about his death.

While Gandalf and Denethor have a discussion, Beregond, a city guard, and his son Bergil show the city to Pippin. They watch the coming of many armies that came from everywhere to defend the city but the people of Minas Tirith hoped for more. All the time a darkness that comes from Mordor comes towards the city. It seems like a big cloud, but much more frightening.

While Gandalf and Pippin are already in Minas Tirith, Aragorn and the riders of Rohan ride straight to Edoras the seat of the king. Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli come there some days before the army of Theoden and they set out for the Paths of the Dead. When the king arrives in Edoras Merry swears everlasting loyalty to Theoden and thus becomes one of the king's people. But he is not allowed to go with the king to Minas Tirith. Fortunately a knight called Dernhelm is willing to take him on his horse to Minas Tirith.

Meanwhile Aragorn and his men, some rangers who joined him, reach the caves of the dead. They are damned, because they broke an oath long time ago, and when they will help them, they are free and have no longer a debt to pay.

At the same time in Minas Tirith, hope of victory fades slowly away. The riders of Rohan are not here, and Faramir has not reached the city yet. Orcs besiege the city and the Nazgul are flying over the city and frighten the people.

Then Faramir returns to Minas Tirith and he is brought to his father. He is seriously wounded and Theoden tries to burn himself together with his son Faramir. Gandalf is able to save Faramir, but Denethor burns himself. He got crazy after using the Palantir of Minas Tirith.

But the Rohirrim, or riders of Rohan, come not too late. They arrive at the battlefield and fight the Orcs with the hearts and the strength of great warriors. Theoden gets killed in the fight and Dernhelm, who is Eowyn, the sister of Eomer, in disguise, suffers a heavy wound after fighting against the Lord of the Nazgul (Picture). The King of the Nazgul couldn't kill her because Merry threw his sword at him and that forced him to escape from the battle. But Merry gets seriously wounded, too.

At this moment Aragorn and his men come with boats down the river, and they immediately begin attacking the Orcs. Facing such a strong army, the Orcs have no chance of winning and are defeated. So the city is freed. Merry, Faramir and Eowyn are brought to the House of Healing. Aragorn, the descendant of the kings of Gondor, comes there and is able to cure them. Aragorn doesn't accept the crown yet, he first wants to go to the Black Gate and face Sauron's real army. When doing this it should be easier for Frodo to destroy the ring, because Sauron's attention will be on the fight.

Finally they reach the Black Gate with an army of 6.000 men and an ambassador brings them the clothes of Frodo. Everybody is horrified and can't believe Frodo should be dead. But they don't want to give up now, and a huge battle starts at the border of Mordor.

Book VI

During the battle at Minas Tirith, Sam leaves the tunnel and enters the tower where Frodo was brought by the Orcs. He notices that a fight between the Orcs in the tower must have broken out. He sees many dead Orcs on the floor. After some time of searching, he finds Frodo, naked and weak. They take clothes from the Orcs and start their way to Mount Doom.

The Hobbits find out that Gollum was alive and in Mordor, and they are now even more careful than before. They have two problems in this land: Orcs and the lack of food and water. Frodo and Sam find at least enough to survive, but they don't have enough for the way back. And the Orcs are hunting them, they nearly get caught by these creatures, but these don't know about the Hobbits and think they are one of them, because of the Orc-clothing, and so Frodo and Sam have to walk with them for some time. They are able to escape and make their way to Mount Doom.

When they hardly can walk any longer, they finally reach Mount Doom. Frodo, standing on the edge of the mountain, looking in the fire, is unable to throw the ring into the lava. The ring is stronger than he, and he takes it on his finger. Frodo is invisible. Immediately, Sauron's attention is fixed on Mount Doom now, and the Nazgul are flying straight towards it.
Meanwhile Gollum appears and attacks Frodo, although he can't see him. He is too afraid that the ring will be destroyed. He bites of Frodo's Finger, but when he has the ring he stumbles and falls down in the abyss. The quest to destroy the ring is completed, but Frodo and Sam have no hope of coming home again. At this moment, Gandalf arrives, riding on the king of the eagles, who helped him after his fall in Moria once before. They take the Hobbits and fly away with them. The Dark Lord is defeated and his realm destroyed.

All meet in Minas Tirith and they celebrate their victory over many days. Faramir and Eowyn fall in love and are going to marry, and so does Aragorn, who is going to marry Arwen, the daughter of Elrond. He is now the king of Gondor, and together with Arwen he rules the land. Eomer becomes the king of Rohan.

Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin start their journey home to the Shire. Thy visit Bilbo in Rivendell and travel further west, to their home. But there everything has changed. A man called 'Chief' took control over the Shire and oppresses the Hobbits with the help of 300 men. He chops down trees and burns down houses, and the Hobbits get very angry about this. They rouse the Hobbits and with their help they kill the 'Chief' who is no other than Saruman, who escaped from his tower.

Sam marries the girl he loved ever before and will become mayor of Hobbiton for many years. Frodo, Bilbo, Gandalf, Elrond, Galadriel and all the Elves sail across the ocean, back where they have come from, a long, long time ago

Tolkiens World:

The really fascinating thing on Tolkien´s books is that they play in their absolutely own world: Middle-earth. Tolkien created a new world of its own, which is detailed up to the last little thing. His stories all play in Middle-earth, which is only a kind of a continent in Arda:

This is the original map of Middle-earth, as it was painted by J.R.R. Tolkien himself.

He created lots of races to live in his world as there are Men, Elves, Dwarfs, Hobbits, Goblins, Trolls, Warge and many more. This ethnic world-creation makes him with right to one of the best fantasy-authors ever.

Theme:

I think the main theme of the novel is the fight Good versus Evil. There are many things that show us how 'good' the good characters actually are. The main event is surely Frodo's sacrifice. He wants to destroy the ring, though he knows that there may be no way back, and that the adventure will probably end in his death.
Gandalf, the good wizard, is a great help for the adventurers. He often shows them the way to go, guides them and gives advice. But he is also a very mysterious character, we never learn anything about his past or his goals, and that make him very interesting.

Sauron is the evilest person in the story, but he plays a rather psychological role, because you never see him, you only hear the terrible tales about him and his land. He is represented by the ring in many ways, because the ring is the work of Sauron, it does his work.
Saruman, once called 'the White', was not always evil. He was not strong enough and was caught by the lure of power. If he hadn't used the Palantir, Sauron would have had no chance of corrupt him.
Gollum is also an evil creature, although there seems to be a little rest of his old personality, Smeagol, still alive, but Gollum, who is lured by the ring, oppresses it.
The Nazgul, the nine Ringwraiths are the strongest and most dangerous servants of Sauron and to confront them there is the Fellowship of the ring, which also consists of nine members.

Another theme of the story is the power of imagination. Tolkien creates a whole world and makes everything believable. He creates a whole history of a fictional world, with hundreds of different characters, everyone with his own story. With these tales you can escape from the real world for some time and sink into a wonderful world, full of mystery and magic, wizards, monster, friends and adventures.