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—appendix a— The War of the Ring Up to Its Climax This narrative combines the book and movie versions of LOTR, the story of the War of the Ring, which concludes the Third Age of Middle-earth. Its predecessor, The Hobbit (Tolkien 1996), does contain what later turns out to be a crucial part of the story, and that is recounted brie›y here. Bilbo Baggins, a Hobbit who lives in the Shire (a quiet place, as described momentarily), has a taste for adventure. During his travels in The Hobbit, Bilbo obtains the Ring of Power from the demented but cunning Gollum (originally known as Sméagol and a tormented character who reappears, like Bilbo, in LOTR). While The Hobbit stands the test of time as a children’s book, it does not develop in full the complexity of Middleearth that is found in LOTR and facilitates analysis of problems from the real world. Thus the summary that follows focuses on the story of the Ring of Power, which reaches its point of culmination in LOTR. For interest ’s sake, the story’s ending is saved for a second appendix. Bilbo Baggins’s birthday party is the unassuming starting point for The Fellowship of the Ring, the ‹rst volume in the trilogy. Bilbo, uncle of Frodo Baggins, resided at his home in the Shire for sixty years after obtaining the Ring. Think of a small, idyllic English village from medieval times, with eating, gardening, brewing of ‹ne ale, and smoking of pipeweed as common preoccupations, and that gives a good sense of the Shire. The Shire is inhabited by Hobbits, as they call themselves—or Hal›ings as designated by others—with adults being less than four feet tall and somewhat longer in life span but otherwise typical of humans. 205 Bilbo did not understand the Ring’s truly evil nature until many years after obtaining it from Gollum. However, he knows that the Ring is magical . When it is worn, for example, the bearer becomes invisible. Possession of the Ring also grants unusually long life—even centuries of existence . The Ring also causes an increasingly pernicious attachment to it. Made thousands of years earlier by the Dark Lord, Sauron, the story’s principal villain, the Ring contains all of his malice and evil power. He lost the Ring during a battle with the Free Peoples, which marked the end of the Second Age of Middle-earth, long before LOTR takes place. (Sauron existed during the First Age as well and played an important but subordinate role on behalf of the equally evil Morgoth, ultimately defeated by the Free Peoples; this story is told in The Silmarillion (Tolkien 1977).) It should be noted that Sauron, along with several other characters in Middle-earth, is immortal unless destroyed in a particular way. Elves and Wizards also meet this description, that is, they can live for many thousands of years because they do not die of natural causes. Ents, introduced later in the story, also seem to meet this description.) At that time, Isildur, King of Gondor, the most powerful realm among Men, managed to cut the Ring from Sauron’s hand even after the Dark Lord had broken his blade. This gave victory to the alliance of Men and Elves, led by Elendil, Isildur’s father, and the Elven King Gil-galad, who fought Sauron and his minions, the Orcs. Loss of the Ring resulted in Sauron losing corporeal form and fading into obscurity for over two millennia. Isildur had a golden opportunity at that time to cast the Ring into the place where Sauron made it: the ‹res of Mount Doom in the land of Mordor , which had provided the Dark Lord’s base of operations. The evil of the Ring, however, overcame Isildur as he stood at the precipice of Mount Doom—the one place where this most evil creation could be unmade. In spite of Elrond of Rivendell’s urgings, he decided not to destroy the Ring, allowing evil a new opportunity to ›ourish in Middle-earth. Two years later the Ring betrayed him; Isildur perished when ambushed by Orcs. He lost the Ring in a river, and it lay quiet for a very long time until it was discovered by Deagol, friend of Sméagol, members of a people related to Hobbits. Immediately overcome by a yearning for the Ring, Sméagol killed Deagol to obtain it. He learned about the Ring’s magical power, including disappearance...

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