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Curated category

Literary characters introduced in 1954

  • Frodo BagginsFrodo Baggins is a hobbit of the Shire who, on the 22nd of September, shares a birthday with his cousin Bilbo. That shared birthday is one small thread in a…
  • BoromirBoromir stood ten years old when his mother Finduilas died. He inherited the Horn of Gondor that same year, becoming heir apparent to Denethor II, the 26th…
  • Pippin TookPeregrin Took is the youngest of the four hobbits who walk out of the Shire and into the greatest war Middle-earth has ever seen.
  • FaramirFaramir is the younger son of Denethor, Steward of Gondor, and in Tolkien's telling, the one character most like the author himself.
  • Merry BrandybuckMeriadoc Brandybuck, the hobbit the world knows simply as Merry, begins The Lord of the Rings as a conspirator. Long before Frodo Baggins set foot on the…
  • ShelobHigh in the Ephel Dúath mountains, a creature named Shelob waited. She lived on the borders of Mordor before Sauron built his dark tower.
  • SarumanSaruman the White arrives in Middle-earth as one of five angelic emissaries, dispatched by the godlike Valar to challenge the dark lord Sauron without…
  • Gríma WormtonguePsychologists Deborah and Mark Parker identified Gríma Wormtongue as the archetypal sycophant in J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings.
  • ThéodenThéoden, King of Rohan and Lord of the Mark, first appears in J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings as a ruler who has already lost himself.
  • ÉomerÉomer is the son of Théodwyn and Éomund. After their parents' death, he and his sister Éowyn were adopted by their uncle Théoden, king of the Rohirrim.
  • AragornAragorn first appears in The Lord of the Rings as a scruffy, travel-worn stranger going by the name Strider, nursing a drink at an inn in Bree.
  • EntTreebeard, the oldest living creature that walks in Middle-earth, stands roughly 14 feet tall. He has seven toes, a beard described as "almost twiggy", and…
  • BalrogA tall shadow emerged from the darkness of Moria, its wings stretching from wall to wall. This creature was a Balrog, one of the Maiar corrupted by Morgoth…
  • IsildurIsildur carried a stolen fruit through a royal court in disguise, bleeding from wounds he suffered escaping with it. That fruit was all that remained of…
  • ÉowynIn the great hall of Edoras, a young woman named Éowyn stands behind her uncle King Théoden. Her father has died fighting orcs and her mother has passed from…
  • Samwise GamgeeIn the dark mountain pass of Cirith Ungol, a hobbit named Samwise Gamgee hoisted his master onto his broad shoulders. Frodo Baggins could no longer walk…
  • TreebeardAt the southern end of the Misty Mountains, a vast and humid forest stretches for many miles. The River Limlight flows from these woods to form the northern…
  • GaladrielGaladriel is one of the most elaborately imagined figures in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth writings, appearing across The Lord of the Rings, The…
  • Gimli (Middle-earth)Gimli, son of Glóin, is a fictional Dwarf warrior in J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, and one of the primary characters in that story.
  • ArwenThe name Arwen Undómiel means noble maiden in the ancient tongue of Sindarin. She was born into the House of Finwë, a lineage stretching back to the first…
  • LegolasLegolas, a Sindar Elf of the Woodland Realm, appears in J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings as one of nine companions chosen to carry out the most…
  • NazgûlIn the Second Age, nine mortal men received Rings of Power from the Dark Lord Sauron. These rings granted them immortality but slowly stripped away their…