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Curated playlist

Literary characters introduced in 1954

  • Frodo BagginsFrodo Baggins reached Mount Doom and then claimed the Ring. Gollum bit off his finger and fell into the fire.
  • BoromirBoromir leaped to seize the Ring from Frodo, then wept at once. He later died defending two hobbits.
  • Pippin TookPippin Took, a hobbit who dropped a stone down a hole, ends up Thain of the Shire.
  • FaramirFaramir is offered the One Ring and turns it down completely. He knows what its power would cost.
  • Merry BrandybuckMerry Brandybuck stabbed the Lord of the Nazgul behind the knee. His blow let Éowyn kill the Black Captain.
  • ShelobShelob, the giant spider, drove herself onto Sam's sword while trying to crush him.
  • SarumanTolkien did not know Saruman existed when he began The Lord of the Rings. He grew out of a plot problem.
  • Gríma WormtongueGríma Wormtongue was captured by the Nazgûl and told them where the Shire was.
  • ThéodenKing Théoden of Rohan was slowly poisoned by his own advisor. Gríma Wormtongue secretly served the wizard Saruman.
  • ÉomerÉomer defies orders to lend Aragorn horses, then is jailed for it. He later becomes King of Rohan.
  • AragornAragorn began as a hobbit in Tolkien's earliest drafts. He wore wooden shoes and was nicknamed Trotter.
  • EntThe Ents of Middle-earth are dying out because no young Ents have been born since the Entwives vanished.
  • BalrogA Balrog's whip dragged Gandalf into the abyss at the Bridge of Khazad-dum. Tolkien made it a corrupted angel.
  • IsildurIsildur cut the One Ring from Sauron's hand, then refused to destroy it. He later died to orcs at the Gladden Fields.
  • ÉowynThe Witch-King trusted a prophecy that no man could kill him, and Éowyn was no man. A scholar links it to Macbeth.
  • Samwise GamgeeTolkien called Samwise Gamgee, not Frodo, "the chief hero" of The Lord of the Rings. Sam mostly cooks and carries packs.
  • TreebeardTreebeard, a tree-like Ent, floods Saruman's fortress of Isengard. He has the Ents divert the river Isen to drown it.
  • GaladrielGaladriel refused the One Ring when Frodo offered it to her. She knew her own power would fade if it was destroyed.
  • Gimli (Middle-earth)Gimli the Dwarf asked Galadriel for one hair and got three. She had refused the Elf Fëanor three times.
  • ArwenTolkien first planned for Aragorn to marry Éowyn, not Arwen. He added Elrond's daughter late in the writing.
  • LegolasLegolas earned a place in the Fellowship by delivering a message. He reported Gollum's escape from his father's realm.
  • NazgûlThe first Black Rider in The Lord of the Rings was originally Gandalf. Tolkien called it "an unpremeditated turn."

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