Short answers, pulled from the story.
The Fellowship of the Ring was first published on the 29th of July 1954 in the United Kingdom. It is the first of three volumes of The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien, followed by The Two Towers and The Return of the King.
Tolkien called "The Shadow of the Past", the second chapter of Book One, the "crucial chapter" of the entire novel. Tolkien scholar Tom Shippey independently labeled it "the vital chapter", because it is where Frodo and the reader first understand there will be a quest to destroy the Ring.
Tolkien scholar Tom Shippey identified five safe havens in the novel: Farmer Maggot's farm, Tom Bombadil's house, Bree, the Elven sanctuary of Rivendell, and the Elven forest of Lothlórien. Each follows an episode of danger, creating the book's distinctive rhythm of threat and rest.
Edmund Wilson published a negative review in 1956 under the title "Oo, Those Awful Orcs!", calling Tolkien's work "juvenile trash" and stating that "Dr. Tolkien has little skill at narrative and no instinct for literary form."
The nine members chosen by Elrond are Frodo Baggins, Sam Gamgee, Merry Brandybuck, and Pippin Took; the wizard Gandalf; the Men Aragorn and Boromir, son of the Steward of Gondor; the Elf Legolas; and the Dwarf Gimli. They represent the Free Peoples of the West, set against the nine Black Riders.
"The Council of Elrond" runs to some 15,000 words, making it the longest chapter in Book Two. It introduces the final members of the Fellowship, explains the history and danger of the Ring, and defines the quest that drives the rest of the novel.