Characters
Hobbits
Facts
Plot Overview
Context
100

A deputy to Sauron who confronts Gandalf and Aragorn at the gates of Mordor.

The Lieutenant of the Dark Tower

100

Frodo’s cousin and mentor, the previous keeper of the Ring.

Bilbo Baggins

100

Date of first publication

1955

100

What destination are Gandalf and Pippin traveling to when The Return of the King opens?

Minas Tirith

100

What country was J.R.R. Tolkien born in, in 1892?

South Africa

200

Two Orcs whom Sam and Frodo encounter in the tower of Cirith Ungol.

Shagrat and Snaga

200

Hobbit policemen who attempt to arrest Frodo, Sam, Pippin, and Merry as they reenter the Shire.

The Shirrifs

200

Setting (Time)

The end of the Third Age of Middle-earth and the beginning of the Fourth Age

200

Who fulfils a prophecy concerning the coming of the next king of Gondor?

Aragorn

200

Who did Tolkien meet while living in a boarding house at age sixteen?

His future wife

300

The Steward of Gondor and the father of Boromir and Faramir.

Denethor

300

Frodo’s greedy and corrupt relative, whom Frodo suspects is the “Chief” to whom the Shirrifs refer.

Lotho

300

Setting (7 Places)

Minas Tirith, the Paths of the Dead, Osgiliath, Cirith Ungol, Mount Doom, the Shire, and the shore of the Great Sea

300

What do the leaders of the armies of the West aim to do by launching an assault against Mordor?

Distract Sauron

300

What creative pursuit did Tolkien take up while studying ancient languages at Exeter College, Oxford?

Inventing Languages

400

The Lady of Rohan and future wife of Faramir.

Éowyn

400

One of the oldest and most respected hobbits in the Shire.

Farmer Tom Cotton

400

Climax

Gollum’s plunge with the Ring into the Cracks of Doom; the destruction of Sauron’s power

400

How does Gollum get the Ring from Frodo?

He bites Frodo’s finger off

400

What other writer-professor did Tolkien befriend while teaching at Oxford?

C.S. Lewis (Chronicles of Narnia)

500

The Prince of Dol Amroth, the proudest of the captains of the Outlands who arrive to aid Minas Tirith.

Imrahil

500

Marries Sam Gamgee at the end of the novel, and together they have a daughter, whom they name Elanor.

Rosie Cotton

500

Themes

The ambiguity of evil; the importance of redemption; the priority of friendship

500

Who is the secret leader of the police state that a group of Men has set up in the Shire?

Saruman

500

To Tolkien’s dismay, what cultural movement contributed to the popularity of The Lord of the Rings?

The Hippie Movement