April 8, 2004
The Lord of the Rings Plot Synopsis
I know that somewhere out on the internet somebody wrote a very famous book synopsis on “The Lord of the Rings”. I think that it was famous because it added things unto the story that were not in the book. So since I have read the book through multiple times and know that the name of Eomir’s horse is Firefoot and many other obscure pieces of ancient lore, I consider myself fully capable of writing a better synopsis. So now to begin.(Also if you get an F on your report card for copying this because your teacher didn’t read the book and only saw the movie don’t blame me.)
The book starts with a battle taking place. Arwen, on her way back to her father Elrond in Rivendell, was attacked by ring wraiths and captured. But before she was captured she sent Frodo, accompanied by Sam, with the precious Ring, the only thing that could ultimately defeat Mordor and Saroun, to find Gandalf and with his aid to make their way back to Rivendell and Elrond.
However before they had gotten very far they were attacked and captured by slave dealers. Forced to be slaves they made the best of it until they were bought by a young man named Aragorn who knew the whereabouts of Gandalf. Without mentioning the ring they claimed to belong to Gandalf and when Aragorn was away Frodo attempted to escape and find Gandalf on his own. Sam remained behind and fortunately was taken with Aragorn when he set off to track the escaped Frodo. After a long time of wandering they finally found him. However just as they were about to return they were attacked by several fierce Orcs who wounded Aragorn and Sam badly. But before the Orcs could do much more damage they were chased away by Gandalf who fortunately lived nearby. He took the three of them to his home where they met Merry and Pippin, Gandalf’s two apprentices and as their wounds were being bandaged and fixed Frodo told of Arwen and the mission he had been sent on. Gandalf invited Aragorn to go with him, and help him safely get the ring to Rivendell after he told him a bit more about Aragorn’s father and gave him Anduril, the sword of his father which Gandalf had been safekeeping for him. Aragorn at first objected to going but finally he agreed to go with Gandalf, Frodo, Sam, Merry, Pippin to take the Ring to Elrond at Rivendell.
Gandalf pointed out that they needed transportation to Rivendell and they set off to Bree where he expected to be able to get it. At the Inn of the Prancing Pony, Gandalf met Legolas and Gimli, Legolas said that his wagon team could get them to Rivendell faster than anybody else around, and for a higher price too (though that was not mentioned like that). After Gandalf agreed to pay him they left and as Gimli got the ship ready Legolas was reminded of a debt that he owed Denethor, the nearby ruler. Legolas said that as soon as he took Gandalf and party to where they were going he would be paid and have the money to pay Denethor back. Denethor agreed to wait a bit on his money but insisted that his son Boromir go with Legolas and Gimli to see that the money matters where correctly taken care of.
Finally the party of nine set out to reach Rivendell. They did not travel far before they were attacked by black riders, or ring wraiths. However with Legolas’s and Gimli’s expert handling they were able to escape them without too much trouble. During the journey Gandalf taught Aragorn how to use his father’s sword. However before they got to Rivendell a single Orc was spotted by Legolas. Since he hated Orcs and didn’t want that Orc telling anybody else that they were in the area he chased him. Big mistake for before the could do much the Orc had led them straight into Isengard.
Here strategy had to be used and with a great deal of cleverness they managed to obtain Orc disguises for everybody, this done Gandalf set off to see if he could open the gates of Isengard so that they could all escape. But after he was gone Aragorn discovered that Arwen was being held a prisoner there. leaving Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin behind with Boromir in charge, him, Legolas, and Gimli set out to find Arwen, but only after a bit of argument. With their Orc disguises doing a good job of disguising them they made their way to the dungeons where Arwen was held captive. After a fight where they slew the guards Aragorn released Arwen and told her that he was with Gandalf, Frodo, and Sam and that she was being rescued. She was very pleased to hear that, but not very pleased when she found that though Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli had been able to sneak in, they didn’t have a plan to get out and since the whole of Isengard seemed to be stirred up to find them they had a very difficult time getting out. finally they threw away their Orc disguises which only slowed them down and after a difficult fight(Gimli slew forty two orcs and Legolas forty one) made their way back to the others. Once together they made their way to where Legolas and Gimli’s wagon team was.
However just as they reached it, they saw Gandalf in a deadly fight with a Balrog. The nearby guards had also noticed this and where watching the battle instead of what they should have been watching. Just as Gandalf was struck down by the Balrog he yelled “Fly you fools” to them and they had the good sense to do it for he had managed to open the gates before the battle and nothing much stood in there way.
They finally made there way with Arwen along to Rivendell where Elrond was very glad to see them. Quickly he told them that Saroun had just discovered a way to aim the volcano fire of Mount Doom at Rivendell and that in less than an hour the lava would be flowing through where Rivendell had been unless the ring of Doom was thrown into Mount Doom. The only way to get there in time was by flying, and fortunately there were many tame eagles. Aragorn and Frodo rode on one and many others went with them as they flew to Mordor and Mount Doom. It was a dangerous flight and when they got there they found that Saroun also had an army mounted on flying steeds.
It was a deadly battle and very dangerous and always in the back of their minds was the fact that at any moment Saroun could unleash the deadly fire upon Rivendell. But finally Aragorn flew close enough to Mount Doom for Frodo to throw in the Ring of Power. Then there was an explosion and instead of the lava hitting Rivendell it destroyed Mordor instead.
Then was a time for great rejoicing and Arwen presented medals of honor to Aragorn and company.
I highly recommend reading the book for you can not get the full flavor and accuracy of the story from merely a small synopsis. It only took me three days to read the book so it shouldn’t take you too long to read it.
Also I would like to add that this post has been written a lot earlier than most of my post. It is only THREE IN THE AFTERNOON and not even ten yet. And it is only about twenty-four days until the cruise!!! I am quite ready to go. It will be so much fun dressing up and eating deserts and seeing places etc.