Skirmish at Amon Hen

The battle on Amon Hen was fought between the Fellowship of the Ring (namely Frodo and his fellow hobbits Merry, Sam and Pippin, Legolas the Elf, Gimli the Dwarf, two Men Aragorn and Boromir, and the Wizard Gandalf the Grey) and a small army of Uruk-hai or Orcs in Amon Hen. Amon Hen was a small hill in a maze of crags at Nen Hithoel's west. At the hilltop was a ruined construction named Seat of Seeing. Two important things happened after the battle: the Fellowship disbanded and Boromir died.

Frodo, the reluctant leader of the Fellowship, was given an hour to decide the direction of the quest. After one hour, Frodo was nowhere to be seen and seemingly hadn't decided yet. Boromir was hesitant about the whole idea of the Fellowship and had left earlier, then came back. He said that he saw Frodo an hour prior and had tried to convince him to bring the One Ring to the city of Minas Tirith. They had argued then Frodo put the One Ring on and disappeared. Aragorn became suspicious about Boromir's retelling and correctly assumed that he wasn't telling the entire truth. After Boromir finished the story, Pippin and Merry left and looked for Frodo. Gimli and Legolas also helped and looked for him in the opposite direction. Aragorn feared that the newly formed Fellowship was already done before the quest even started. He commanded Boromir to follow Pippin and Merry quietly. He then told Sam to follow Boromir to the hilltop of Amon Hen. Boromir was fast. Sam had a hard time keeping up with him. He gave up and returned to camp. Sam then saw a boat rowing by itself. He realized that it was Frodo in an invisible state. Sam quickly went to Frodo and said he would accompany him to Mordor and wouldn't take no for an answer.

Aragorn had arrived at the Seat of Amon Hen. He heard Boromir blowing his horn as a warning of attack. He also heard otherworldly noises that could only mean that Orcs were close by. He ran to help Boromir. Gimli and Legolas also arrived. But it was too late. Boromir had fought valiantly, therefore restoring his honor from his attempted theft of the One Ring from Frodo earlier. Many arrows had pierced his body and wounded him. This allowed the Orcs to capture Pippin and Merry. The Fellowship was over. Frodo and Sam went their way to Mordor and Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli followed the Orcs that had captured Pippin and Merry. They decided to leave Frodo and Sam to their fates.

The scene of the encounter between the Fellowship and the Orcs was portrayed in the first movie in the trilogy in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. [1] There were some slight differences from book to screen. Lurtz, the leader of the Orc army that made battle with the Fellowship, was a character created only for the movie. In the book, Aragorn did not join the fight but just stood by. The series of events involving Pippin and Merry was different in the book. In it, they encountered Frodo and became aware of his intention of leaving the Fellowship. They were willing to help him and intended to create a diversion to let Frodo escape. Then the battle happened and was forced to fight alongside Boromir. He fought to protect them in an effort to redeem himself from the earlier mistake of trying to steal the One Ring from Frodo. However, he was defeated and wounded by a volley of arrows. Before he was finished off by the Orcs, Aragorn appeared. A fight ensued. Aragorn overpowered the Orcs and was left alone with the dying Boromir. In the book and the same with the movie, Boromir admitted to his mistake and asked for forgiveness. He grieved that the strength of Men was doomed to fail and Sauron would prevail. Aragorn said that they would not fail and Minas Tirith would succeed in their efforts in their fight with Sauron and his minions. Boromir accepts his fate and swears allegiance to Aragorn as his king. Boromir succumbed to his injury and died in Aragorn's arms.

• The scene where Pippin and Merry mischievously launching Gandalf's rocket was found only in the movie.
• Four chapters and parts of the fifth were missing from the movie screenplay. These are related to the hobbits' journey through the woods and fields going to the village of Bree.
• In the movie, when Frodo shows the One Ring to Bilbo, Bilbo turned into a creature like an Orc and tried to grab it. In the book, Frodo only imagined it.
• Dialogue changes. In the book, Gandalf shouted, "You will not pass!" In the movie, it was "You shall not pass!"
• In the movie, the quote "don't you leave him" addressed to Sam came from Gandalf. In the book, it was an Elf named Gildor that said it.

1. ^The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001).