TheCompany of the Ring, also called theFellowship of the Ring and theNine Walkers, is a fictional group of nine representatives from thefree peoples of Middle-earth:Elves,Dwarves,Men, andHobbits; and aWizard. The group is described in the first volume ofThe Lord of the Rings, itself titledThe Fellowship of the Ring. The number nine is chosen, as the book's authorJ. R. R. Tolkien states, to match and oppose the nine Black Riders orRingwraiths.
Scholars have commented that Tolkien saw community as the right way to live. They note, too, that the Company is diverse both in culture and in personal qualities, and bound together by friendship, a model very different from thewestern image of the lone hero. Tolkien uses the term "company" far more often than "fellowship", the word coming from Latincompanio, a person who shares bread, suggesting a co-traveller on the road or a group with a shared purpose. The Company of the Ring has been likened to theArthurian order of theKnights of the Round Table, a group that has many points of similarity including a person carrying the burden ofa quest, a returning King, an accompanying Wizard, and a treacherous knight.
J. R. R. Tolkien (1892–1973) was an EnglishRoman Catholic writer, poet,philologist, and academic, best known as the author of thehigh fantasy worksThe Hobbit, published in 1937, and its sequelThe Lord of the Rings, published in 1954–55.[1] Set in thefictional world ofMiddle-earth,The Lord of the Rings is one of thebest-selling books ever written, with over 150 million copies sold.[2]
The main plot ofThe Lord of the Rings isa quest to destroy theOne Ring, to prevent it from falling into the hands of its creator, the dark lordSauron.[T 1]A council is held inRivendell to decide how to achieve this. A hobbit,Frodo Baggins, is to bear the Ring to the land ofMordor to destroy it in the fires ofMount Doom.[T 1] He is to be assisted by a Company representing the Free Peoples ofMiddle-earth.[T 2]Elrond announces that
The Company of the Ring shall be Nine; and the Nine Walkers shall be set against theNine Riders that are evil...[T 2]
The Company sets out onthe quest at the beginning of winter.[T 2] It is led by the WizardGandalf;[T 2] he takes the company south through the wild lands ofEriador. They attempt to cross theMisty Mountains, but are driven back. Instead, they travel through the mines ofMoria.[T 3] Gandalf falls while fighting aBalrog there, allowing the others to escape.[T 4]Aragorn leads the Fellowship toLothlórien,[T 5] and then in boats down theRiver Anduin.[T 6]
After some days on the river, the Company camp at Parth Galen to decide what to do. The next day, the Company is broken. While the others argue about the route to take,Frodo slips away andBoromir follows him. Boromir demands the Ring from Frodo. To escape, Frodo puts on the Ring, making himself invisible.[T 7]Merry andPippin are captured by a group ofOrcs. Boromir is killed defending them.[T 8] Aragorn,Legolas andGimli give Boromir's body a boat burial;[T 9] they then set off in pursuit of Merry and Pippin.[T 10]Sam catches up with Frodo as he, still invisible, sets out to cross the river in one of the boats; the two of them set out together to Mordor.[T 7] Frodo and Sam manage, after many hardships, to reach Mount Doom. The Ring is destroyed, and Sauron is utterly vanquished. The Company of the Ring is victorious.[T 11]
| Race | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Maia | Gandalf | AWizard, guide of the Company |
| Elf | Legolas | Prince ofMirkwood |
| Dwarf | Gimli | Dwarf of theLonely Mountain |
| Man | Aragorn | Ranger of the North, heir to the throne ofGondor |
| Man | Boromir | Heir to theSteward of Gondor |
| Hobbit | Frodo Baggins | Bearer of theOne Ring |
| Hobbit | Samwise Gamgee | Frodo's gardener |
| Hobbit | Merry Brandybuck | Heir to theMaster of Buckland |
| Hobbit | Pippin Took | Heir to theThain of the Shire |
TheInklings scholar Ariel Little writes that Tolkien saw community as the "ideal model for life". This desired type of community, as seen in the Company of the Ring, is specifically diverse, in culture and in personal qualities, a team bound together by friendship and relying completely on the strengths of each individual member to forward the common cause. This is the reverse of the character of what Tolkien states is the evil assemblage that opposes the Company, who are in Little's words "homogeneous, discordant, and intensely individualistic."[3] Little comments that this "community-based model of heroism" is radically unlike thewestern image of the lone hero.[3] The Christian theologianRalph C. Wood writes that "the greatness of the Nine Walkers lies in the modesty of both their abilities and accomplishments. Their strength lies in their weakness, in their solidarity as a company unwilling to wield controlling power over others."[4] Rebecca Munro notes that in the Company, "no one acts alone without dependence on the deeds of others".[5] Little adds that even when the Company is split into smaller groups, it is not destroyed; the three smaller groups—Frodo and Sam on the way to Mordor; Merry and Pippin supporting each other; Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli acting as a team—continue to function as communities.[3]
Martina Juričková writes inMallorn that Tolkien uses the term "company" far more often than "fellowship" to describe the group: "company" appears more than 130 times, against just 9 for "fellowship".[6] She notes that Tolkien was aphilologist, fully aware of the etymologies of these terms, and the resulting slight differences in their meanings. "Company" and "companion" are from the Latincompanio, in turn fromcon ("with") andpanis ("bread"), hence "person who shares bread [with you]", such as a co-traveller or a member of a group with a shared purpose.[6][7] "Fellow", on the other hand, derives fromOld Englishfeolaga, "a fee-layer", a person who joins in a financial venture. Juričková comments that this could mean an equal, "a peer with whom I have something in common"; but that in modern English it can equally well mean someone "of lower rank or considered to be of little importance or worth" (as in "that fellow over there"). That would explain, she suggests, why Tolkien could use "fellowship" with its positive connotations, while avoiding the loosely-used word "fellow" for the Nine Walkers.[6]
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Tolkien scholars note that while Tolkien criticised themythology of King Arthur, and disliked its explicit mentions of Christian themes, there are multiple parallels in his writings, not least of Aragorn to King Arthur, suggesting that Tolkien certainly made use of the mythology.[9][10][11] Laura Gálvez-Gómez specifically likens the Company of the Ring to the Arthurian order of theKnights of the Round Table. In both, there is "a chosen hero who carries the main burden" on a quest, a returning King with the gift of healing, an accompanying Wizard, a treacherous knight, and "a hero without courtly manners who finally becomes a knight".[12]
| Element | Company of the Ring | Order of the Round Table |
|---|---|---|
| Unifying symbol | One Ring All of Middle-earth | Round Table Equality, loyalty, and friendship |
| Returning King | Aragorn raised by Elves Inherits swordAndúril | Arthur Raised among fairies Inherits swordExcalibur |
| Wizard, King's adviser | Gandalf Mithrandir | Merlin Myrddin |
| Burden-carrier | Frodo Ring-bearer | Galahad orPerceval Grail Knight |
| Most loyal knight | Sam | Bedivere |
| Treacherous knight | Boromir | Agravain,Mordred |
| Minor knight | Meriadoc Brandybuck | Meriadoc |
| No courtly manners, becomes a knight | Peregrin Took | Perceval |
All the members of the Company of the Ring are portrayed inPeter Jackson's 2001 filmThe Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.[13] According toRotten Tomatoes, a consensus of film critics described the casting as "pitch-perfect".[14] The Company was played by the following actors:[13]
Tolkien scholars were divided aboutJackson's film representation of Tolkien's novel, but even scholars generally hostile to the film version have respected its visual presentation, admiring the casting, costumes, props, and cinematography.[17] The diminutive scale of the four hobbits, and of the dwarf Gimli,was achieved by the use of several methods, including scale doubles of film sets,forced perspective, andgreen-screening to combine reduced images of hobbits and dwarf with unscaled images of the other members of the Company. To make the dwarf appear slightly taller than the hobbits without requiring additional scale doubles, a tall actor was chosen to play the dwarf.[16]
