Curated playlist
Middle-earth rulers
- MorgothMorgoth Bauglir began as Melkor, the mightiest of the godlike Valar, and ended as the Dark Enemy of Tolkien's legendarium. That mythic epic reached readers in parts, as The Silmarillion, The Children of Húrin, Beren and Lúthien, and The…
- ElrondElrond watched Isildur cut the One Ring from Sauron's hand and urged him to destroy it. Isildur refused and walked away.
- Balin (Middle-earth)Balin, the Dwarf in The Hobbit, died in the same valley where his father fell. Both were killed in Dimrill Dale.
- SarumanTolkien did not know Saruman existed when he began The Lord of the Rings. He grew out of a plot problem.
- DenethorDenethor never surrendered Gondor, but a palantír showed him only lies.
- 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.
- SauronSauron, the villain of The Lord of the Rings, never speaks in the novel. He is almost never seen.
- IsildurIsildur cut the One Ring from Sauron's hand, then refused to destroy it. He later died to orcs at the Gladden Fields.
- 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.