Quest of the Ring

Frodo traveled to Mount Doom in Mordor from the Shire to find the One Ring, and destroy it. This pursuit of the One Ring is called the Quest of the Ring. The Lord of the Rings explains in detail about it. The quest, started from September 3018, as Frodo began his journey to Imladris, ended on October 20th. On March 25th 3019, the Ring was finally found and destroyed. Hence the total time taken to destroy the one ring was 11 months, one week, and six days in total.

Frodo's uncle, Bilbo, had a celebration, as he turned 111 years (it was 33rd birthday for Frodo), and departed from the Shire in September 2001. After his uncle Bilbo, Frodo, become the Heir of his uncle's Magic Ring and Bag End. To safeguard the precious Ring, Gandalf recommended Frodo to keep the One-Ring safely. Gandalf after 17 years, went to Gondor and delved into the details of Bilbo's Ring. In his research, he came to know that Bilbo’s ring was the master ring that fell from Sauron’s hand, during Isildur's slaying. He retrieved it from Gollum. It happened during the War of the Last Alliance.

The scroll written by Isildur had the details, and Gandalf came across that during his research. Gandalf, knowing the secrets of the One-Ring, went to Bag End on April 12th, 3018, to ascertain his findings. Together with Frodo, Gandalf tested the One-Ring by throwing it into the fire. On examination of the Ring, they saw the writings. It read, Ash nazgdurbatulûk, ash nazggimbatul, Ash nazgthrakatulûkaghBurzum-Ishikrimpatul.

The translation means One-Ring to rule them all, One-Ring to find them all, and in the darkness, bind them. It was, of course, the One-Ring. Immediately, Gandalf realized Sauron would come in search of One-Ring. Hence, he acted and ordered Frodo to save the One-Ring from the hands of the evil. He also asked him to follow Bilbo on his travel to Rivendell, without his knowledge. On the advice of Gandalf, Frodo left the Shire along with SamwiseGamgee, MeriadocBrandybuck, and Peregrin Took taking the One-Ring with him.

Frodo started his journey, Bree, to see Gandalf, but he came to know that a Nazgul was looking for him. The Hobbits came to Buckland with the aid of Farmer Maggot, when they came across a rider. He was worried, wondering if it was a black rider. Later he found out it was Meriadoc Brandybuck who joined the other Hobbits. The four Hobbits set their sail to Buckland in a ferry. Merry and Pippin, was aware of the secret quest of Frodo, so he was forced to take them with him on the journey. They escaped the Black Riders by passing across the old-forest and the Barrow-downs. The Hobbits faced a series of dangers. Their life nearly came to an end because of Old Man Willow and Barrow-wights When Tom Bombadil saved them twice.

The Hobbits rented rooms in the Prancing Pony in Bree. Frodo registered his name as Mr.Underhill, to conceal his identity and to avoid unnecessary suspicions. He saw a man sitting with a cloak amidst the shadow and inquired about it to the inn-keeper, Barliman Butterbur. He came to know that it was a Strider, a ranger. It was none other than Aragorn. Pippin was overwhelmed with the attraction they got from the audiences. He carelessly started talking in a loud tone about the laurels of the Baggins family. Frodo was startled and tried to divert the crowd and stood on a table, dancing, and singing. In his attempt, he fell from the table, which made him fall. The One-Ring accidentally slipped into his finger. All of a sudden, they vanished. When they reappeared, Strider ushered them away and alerted him that people are noting him a lot. The Black Riders on the same night invaded the inn. Strider helped them escape and hid them safely. They lost their horses, which they came to know the next day. So, they bought Bill, a Pony in the Bree. Later, Strider guided Frodo and his escorts to the wild and the Rivendell. They traveled across the Midgewater Marshes and Weathertop.

During their stay in Weathertop, five Nazgul stroke their camp. They drove a lethalMorgul blade of Mordor into Frodo. Frodo's mistake of wearing the One-Ring brought the Nazgul to them. Strider shooed away the Ringwraiths, by frightening them with fire. Even Aragorn's expertise was not enough to heal Frodo completely. A part of the Ringwraith's blade existed in him, and it progressed to his heart. Glorfindel, an Elf-Lord, came to the rescue of Frodo when he was nearly dead. He took the Hobbit on Asfalot, his horse, and Nazgul chased them behind. Asfalotreached Ford of Bruinen, situated in the entrance of the dale of Rivendell, carrying Frodo. When they went across the River Bruinen, they encounteredRingwraithsat the other end. Nazgul threatened Frodo to leave the One-Ring, for which he denied. Elrond brought a flood, which washed away the Nazgul. Thus, they finally arrived at Rivendell, where Elrond physically restored the health of Frodo. But the spiritual scar stayed inside him forever, and it would continue to exist till he lived in the middle-earth. Frodo finally awoke on October 24th on Rivendell, after which he joined Gandalf, Aragorn, Bilbo, Sam, Pippin, and Merry.

Once Frodo started recovering from his wound, Elrond commissioned a great meeting. Representatives of the free people from the middle-earth participated in it. They talked about the background of the One-Ring and agreed upon the necessity to destroy it. So it was decided that it must be taken to and destroyed in Mount Doom. The presence of One-Ring lead to fights and Frodo came forward to carry the Ring and destroy it in Mordor. With one member from each free people coming to the aid of Frodo, they formed the Fellowship of the Ring. Thus it constituted Gandalf, Sam, Merry, Aragorn, Pippin, Frodo, Boromir of Gondor, Legolas of the Woodland Realm, and Gimli of the Dwarves. Bilbo offered the mithril mail and sting (the sword), to Frodo, before they left Rivendell. The Fellowship of the Ring left Rivendell on December 25th and moved towards the south.

The Fellowship reached the Misty Mountain, on January 12th. They attempted to go through the Pass of Caradhras, but they failed because of a snow-storm. Gimli felt that it was the effect of the mystery force as he knew them. He said the mountain would not let them cross the Pass. Hence, on the advice of Gimli, they instead choose mines of Moria to cross it. The dwarves found a Balrog, also called as Durin's Bane, among the deserted Moria. It was below the city, which the legion of goblins defeated. The orcs, and cave-troll, assaulted the Fellowship in the chamber of Mazarbul. Frodo survived the deathly blow of the arc, as the Mithril Shirt protected him. The Fellowship escaped and encountered the Durin's bane. They found a way to Aarendell after they arrived at the Bridge of Khazad-Dum.

The Fellowship mourned the losses in their fight and later set their journey to the Elven Kingdom of Lothlorien. There they ran into Lady Galadriel and Lord Celeborn. Galadriel offered a special gift to every one of the fellowships. She also gave them Lembas Bread, Elven cloak, and ships to sail. Thus, the Fellowship started from the forests.

The Fellowship kept going south on their journey towards Amon Hen. Later, they decided to rest and established a camp. By the evil influence of the Ring, Boromirattacked Frodo to escort the Ring to Minas Tirith. But Frodo escaped from him by putting on the One-Ring. The league started their search for Frodo. But Frodo decided it was for the best to go on with the quest alone, as the One-ring corrupts the people around. He stealthily continued with his journey, but Sam found him with determination. Sam convinced Frodo that he would accompany him as he swore earlier not to leave him. Hence, both of them started their journey to Mordor. At the same time, Uruk-hai attacked Boromir, Pippin, and Merry, Boromir was safeguarding the Hobbits, who was later wounded mortally by the arrows. They took the Hobbits to Isengard by seizing them. Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli managed to find Boromir, who was on the verge of death. Aragon gave proper, final respects to Boromir. He sent him in a ferry to Anduin, which was the traditional funeral method. After that, they started their search for Merry and Pippin.

Frodo and Sam stuck in the ice-killing winds of Emyn Mull, and they couldn't progress further. They came to know that Gollum was behind them to acquire the One-Ring and seized him. Sam was suspicious about Gollum and wished they could kill him. Frodo had a soft heart for him, hence made him vow the pledge of servitude on him, the master of it. Later, he directed Gollum to show the way to Black Gate. He took them through a rocky maze and traveled the secret path of Dead Marshes. Thus, they escaped from the eyes of the Orcs.

Gollum stopped them from going further when they ordered him to go past the Black Gate, as it was dangerous. He suggested an alternative way, which was a secret. On his advice, they traveled south of Ithilien, where they encountered a set of stewards from Gondor, headed by Faramir Boromir’s brother. They captivated them and brought them to HennethAnnun. On their arrival, they learned about the death of Boromir. Sam unexpectedly told them that Frodo carried the One-Ring. So, Frodo explained his reason for the quest. Faramir desired to acquire it and take it Gondor, as he wanted to show-off his efficiency. Frodo explained in detail why the destruction of One-Ring is mandatory. Faramir, with a noble heart, set them free. Gollum dived into the Forbidden pool of HennethAnnun, and the punishment for that is to kill him. Frodo persuaded Faramir to spare the life of Gollum, and he granted it. Later, the three of them resumed their journey.

Gollum and the two Hobbit traveled past the Minas Morgul. Later they set their foot up the lengthy, high steps, which led to the top of the Tower of CirithUngol. The top of the tower led to a tunnel. When they reached the top, Gollum disappeared suddenly. Hence they went to the tunnel by themselves. When they tried to enter the tunnel, the trap of Giant Spider Shelob trapped them. It blocked the entrance, and she came out.

They escaped by cutting the web of the spider. When they thought they got away, Sam saw Shelob creeping towards Frodo. He tried to alert him. But Gollum assaulted him. Shelob attacked Frodo from behind with a stung on the neck. He fell unconscious. Sam escaped from Gollum with the aid of sting, the sword, and the vial of Galadriel and ran into the tunnel. He decided that Frodo is dead, took the ring, and he swore he will continue the quest alone.

Suddenly the orcs came to the tower, and they saw the body of Frodo. Hence, Sam stayed out of their sight, in a place nearby. He later came to know that Frodo was alive, and he was only paralyzed, by overhearing the orcs. They took Frodo to CirithUngol after the orcs captivated him. Sam went in search of Frodo to CirithUngol, and he entered the tower by escaping two watchers. He saw that Frodo was conscious. The orcs were fighting with Uruk-hai, over him destroying most of their troops hence they had the armor of Frodo.

The life of Gandalf was restored as Gandalf the White. Hence Gandalf, Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, Merry, Pippin, and the remaining forces of Rohan and Gondor (the survivors of the Battle of Pelennor Fields), moved towards the black gate. They decided to lure the troops of Mordor with the aid of an attack. They thought this will distract the Eye of Sauron and will help Frodo to reach the Mount Doom to destroy the One-Ring. Frodo and Sam hid in the Orcish armor. They wandered the barren wastelands of Mordor, to escape the orcs. A group of Orcs who were heading towards the western army took them together. But both of them managed to escape. The plan of Gandalf and Aragorn worked, and it made the Mordor deserted.

Frodo and Sam moved on with their journey to Mount Doom. [1] They were worn off and started moving up the hill after they reached. It was a hard journey, which put them in days of hunger and thirst. As they went near Mount Doom (Orodruin), the One-Ring gained strength, and Frodo became weak. Frodo was drained of power to move on further. Sam was unable to carry the One-Ring, as it was attached to Frodo. Sam carried Frodo by himself. All of a sudden, Gollum appeared again. Sam had a little fight, and he cut his stomach. Frodo, powered by the fear of losing the One-Ring, moved fast up the mountain.

Sam paced up and joined with Frodo, who stood silent near the edge of Crack of Doom. The One-Ring's power gained control of Frodo. He did not want to destroy the Ring, and he said he was its rightful owner. He disappeared, saying that. At the same time, the mountain attracted the Eye of Sauron. Gollum came from behind and knocked Sam down. Gollum then traced the footpaths of Frodo and bit his finger to get the One-Ring. Gollum was overwhelmed and was too prideful of owning the ring. In his joy, he lost the balance and tripped into burning fire beneath along with the ring. Following the destruction of the Ring, Mordor went down. The Great Eagles rescued them by carrying them from Mount Doom. The troops fled from the gate, after the fall of Sauron.

There is a vast difference in the story of Frodo's journey [2] to Bree, between Peter Jackson's movie The Lord of the Rings Film Trilogy [3] and the book The Lord of the Rings. The film portrays that Frodo had the ring in his possession only for a brief time before the return of Gandalf. Frodo will not sell the Bag End, and his journey with Sam starts immediately in the next morning. Merry and Pippin become part of the journey after they encounter them on the farm of the Farmer Maggots. The black Rider followed them till the Bucklebury ferry which laid in the extremity of Bucklands. The Black Riders flee to Brandywine bridge by compulsion when the Hobbits travel to Bree. The movie thus failed to show so many events of the books like High Elves, the encounter with Farmer Maggot, Buckland, the old forest, and the happenings of Barrow-downs.

In the movie, Faramir will be enticed by the ring, like his brother Boromir. Later, he took them to Osgiliath. The Osgiliath was hence attacked by Nazgul and the army of Mordor. Once Faramir came back to senses, Frodo, Sam, and Gollum escaped from there through the sewers. The ring destruction scene is distorted a lot in the movie. Frodo will make a final gasp seeing the One-ring. Then Gollum and Frodo will be struggling in their fight when they were tossed into the abyss. But, by luck, Frodo manages to get hold of an outcrop, and Gollum will fall into the fire with the One ring. Later Sam will save Frodo.

1. ^The Return of the King, LoTR Book 6, Ch 3, Mount Doom.
2. ^Frodo's Journey by Joseph Pearce.
3. ^The Lord of the Rings Trilogy.