The Fellowship of the Ring Characters

(Click the character infographic to download.) When Peter Jackson directed his film version of The Fellowship of the Rings, he made a lot of changes to the story line of the book. Probably the bigg...

(Click the character infographic to download.) Sam Gamgee sure is lovable – but he's also kind of a dufus. We say that in the nicest possible way, because obviously Sam has a heart of gold. But c...

(Click the character infographic to download.) Wizard Gandalf the Grey is the wise mentor figure of the Lord of the Rings, like Dumbledore in Harry Potter or Obi-wan Kenobi in Star Wars. He even lo...

(Click the character infographic to download.) It's funny – Gollum is such a huge part of the later two books of the Lord of the Rings series that we expect to see him creeping around every dark...

(Click the character infographic to download.) When Aragorn (son of Arathorn) first appears in The Fellowship of the Ring, he looks like your classic scruffy bad boy, the kind of guy you wouldn't n...

(Click the character infographic to download.) Boromir is, well, complicated. He is definitely a loyal member of the Fellowship and he loves his home in Gondor. And he's always willing to lend a ha...

(Click the character infographic to download.) Gimli, like Legolas, is mainly around to fill out the Fellowship's roster with one Dwarf. Because Gimli is a Dwarf, he is short, bearded, and carries...

(Click the character infographic to download.) In our "Character Analysis" of Frodo, we said that Frodo gets the biggest makeover of the series in Peter Jackson's movie version of The Fellowship of...

(Click the character infographic to download.) Pippin Took is the youngest of the four Fellowship Hobbits (which makes it ironic that the actor who plays him in the film of The Fellowship of the Ri...

(Click the character infographic to download.) When last we saw Bilbo in Tolkien's The Hobbit, he was a poetry-reciting burglar, a friend to Dwarves and Wizards, and just a bit out of place in the...

(Click the character infographic to download.) Legolas is a great example of Tolkien's love of characterization through type of being. Most (or even all) of his most important characteristics come...

We first learn what the Black Riders are long before we see one. Gandalf tells Frodo, "Nine [Rings of Power, Sauron] gave to Mortal Men, proud and great, and so ensnared them. Long ago they fell un...

As you may have guessed from the fact that the characters sometimes call him "the Enemy," Sauron is the enemy of all of Middle-earth. We don't get to meet Sauron in person in The Fellowship of the...

Tom Bombadil is a bizarre resident of the Old Forest who frequently (and sometimes annoyingly) speaks in rhymes. We can't quite pin down what he is, since no one in Middle-earth is quite like him....

Elrond is the Lord of the Elf stronghold of Rivendell (also known as the Last Homely House). He is also the father of Elladan, Elrohir, and of course, the lady Arwen, beloved of Aragorn. Elrond is...

Galadriel is the Lady of Lothlórien. Her hair is deep gold and she is as tall as her partner, Lord Celeborn. She, like Lord Celeborn, is unimaginably old, but no mark of this age is visible on her...

Butterbur is the innkeeper of The Prancing Pony in the town of Bree, on the other side of the Old Forest. We know from the Prologue that The Prancing Pony has been in the Butterbur family for gener...

(Click the character infographic to download.) Saruman is (or was) the leader of Gandalf's order, the Council of the Wise. He is also well-known as an expert in Rings of Power – unfortunately, th...

The Gaffer has been Bilbo's gardener at Bag End for many years; his son, Sam Gamgee, is destined to take over the position when Frodo is Master of Bag End. The Gaffer is a good friend of Bilbo's, a...

One of the younger Hobbits who admired Bilbo and his stories; Fatty Bolger is another of Frodo's friends. He comes to help Frodo pack up Bag End, along with Folco Boffin, Merry Brandybuck, and Pipp...

All the book’s descriptions of the Balrog (and the CGI that we get in Peter Jackson’s version of The Fellowship of the Ring) make him sound basically like your stereotypical demon or devil. The...

Goldberry is Tom Bombadil's companion; she keeps his house and hosts the Hobbits when Tom isn't around. She also appears to be a spirit of the water, as Tom Bombadil somehow arises from Middle-eart...

Radagast is a member of Gandalf's order, a Wizard who lives at Rhosgobel, near the borders of Mirkwood. He is not a great traveler, but he is excellent at taming birds and animals to carry messages...

(Click the infographic to download.) Adelard TookAfter Bilbo's departure from the Shire, he leaves Adelard an umbrella as a gift: "Adelard had carried off many unlabelled ones" (1.1.130).AndyAn unc...

Angelica BagginsA young relation of Bilbo's who is quite vain; when Bilbo leaves the Shire, he gives Angelica a present of a "round convex mirror" (1.1.139) – in other words, a mirror that distor...

Banks, Brockhouse, Longholes, Sandheaver, and TunnellyThese are common last names for Hobbit families in Bree; many of them are also common in the Shire (for the obvious reason that most of them re...

(Click the infographic to download.) AmrothAmroth was an Elven-king, "a lord of tree and glen" (2.6.61), in the days of spring in Lothlórien. When a ship carried him away from his beloved Nimrodel...

Balin, Ori, and ÓinThese three Dwarves are surviving members of Bilbo's original expedition to the Lonely Mountain in The Hobbit. It is because of them that Glóin has come to Rivendell to be part...

(Click the infographic to download.) AnárionAnárion was Isildur's brother, Elendil's son, and also a Númenorean King: he ruled over Arnor in the North. He was killed in battle against Sauron as...

Ancalagon the BlackAn ancient dragon. Even his fires could not have harmed the One Ring, Gandalf tells Frodo in The Fellowship of the Ring Book 1, Chapter 2. AsfalothAsfaloth is Glorfindel's shinin...