Company of the Ring

• 1. Introduction

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  The Company of the Ring, also known as the Fellowship of the Ring and the Nine Walkers, is a band of nine travellers sent out to face nine enemies. J. R. R. Tolkien says he fixed the number on purpose. It was meant to match and oppose the nine Black Riders, the Ringwraiths. At a council in Rivendell, Elrond announces the decision in a single line: "The Company of the Ring shall be Nine; and the Nine Walkers shall be set against the Nine Riders that are evil..."

  The group belongs to The Lord of the Rings, a book that has sold over 150 million copies. Its first volume even takes the group's other name as its title, The Fellowship of the Ring.

  This documentary asks who these walkers are and what becomes of them on the road. It asks why Tolkien, a man who cared about the roots of words, so rarely used the name on his own title page. It also asks why scholars see in this band a challenge to the lone hero of western storytelling, and a cousin of the knights of King Arthur.

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• 2. The Nine Walkers

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  Gandalf, a Maia described as a Wizard, is the guide of the Company. Around him stand representatives of the free peoples of Middle-earth. Legolas is a Prince of Mirkwood, and Gimli is a Dwarf of the Lonely Mountain. Two Men complete the cast of adults. Aragorn is a Ranger of the North and heir to the throne of Gondor, while Boromir is heir to the Steward of Gondor.

  Four Hobbits make up the largest single group. Frodo Baggins is the bearer of the One Ring, and Samwise Gamgee is his gardener. Merry Brandybuck is heir to the Master of Buckland. Pippin Took is heir to the Thain of the Shire.

  The list mixes rulers' heirs, a prince, a gardener and a Wizard, and it makes no attempt to rank them by importance. They set out at the beginning of winter, with Gandalf at the front.

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• 3. The Road to Parth Galen

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  Eriador, a region of wild lands, is the first ground the Company crosses, travelling south behind Gandalf. The Misty Mountains drive them back when they try to cross. They go through the mines of Moria instead. There Gandalf falls while fighting a Balrog, and his fall gives the others the chance to escape. Aragorn takes over the lead, bringing them to Lothlórien and then down the River Anduin in boats.

  After some days on the river, the Company camps at Parth Galen to choose a route. By the next day it is broken. While the others argue, Frodo slips away and Boromir follows him. Boromir demands the Ring. Frodo escapes by putting it on, which makes him invisible.

  Merry and Pippin are captured by a group of Orcs, and Boromir is killed defending them. Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli give his body a boat burial, then set off in pursuit of the captives. Sam catches up with Frodo, still invisible, as he crosses the river by boat. The two go on to Mordor together. After many hardships they reach Mount Doom, the Ring is destroyed, and Sauron is utterly vanquished.

  Scholars who study the book read that scattering very differently from a defeat.

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• 4. Community Against the Lone Hero

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  Ariel Little, a scholar of the Inklings, writes that Tolkien saw community as the "ideal model for life". The Company shows what kind of community he meant. It is diverse in culture and in personal qualities, held together by friendship, and it depends completely on the strengths of each member.

  The opposing assemblage, as Tolkien presents it, is the reverse. Little describes it as "homogeneous, discordant, and intensely individualistic." She calls the Company's approach a "community-based model of heroism", radically unlike the western image of the lone hero.

  The Christian theologian Ralph C. Wood locates the Company's greatness in modesty. In his words, "the greatness of the Nine Walkers lies in the modesty of both their abilities and accomplishments. Their strength lies in their weakness, in their solidarity as a company unwilling to wield controlling power over others." Rebecca Munro makes a similar point about dependence: in the Company, "no one acts alone without dependence on the deeds of others".

  Little also notes that the group survives its own breaking. Frodo and Sam heading for Mordor form one community. Merry and Pippin supporting each other form another. Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli, acting as a team, form a third, and each of the three keeps functioning as a community.

  Even the name for such a group carries an argument, and Tolkien chose his words with care.

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• 5. Company or Fellowship

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  Martina Juričková, writing in the journal Mallorn, reports that Tolkien uses "company" more than 130 times for this group. "Fellowship" appears just 9 times. She points out that the author knew exactly what he was doing.

  J. R. R. Tolkien lived from 1892 to 1973. He was an English Roman Catholic writer, poet, philologist and academic, best known for The Hobbit, published in 1937, and for The Lord of the Rings, published in 1954-55. As a philologist, he was fully aware of the histories behind the words.

  "Company" and "companion" come from the Latin companio, built from con, meaning "with", and panis, meaning "bread". The word describes a person who shares bread with you, such as a co-traveller or a member of a group with a shared purpose.

  "Fellow" has a humbler path. It descends from the Old English feolaga, "a fee-layer", someone who joins a financial venture. Juričková says this could mean an equal, "a peer with whom I have something in common". In modern English, though, a fellow can just as easily be someone "of lower rank or considered to be of little importance or worth", as in "that fellow over there".

  That, she suggests, explains how Tolkien could use "fellowship" with its warm associations while steering clear of the loose word "fellow" for the Nine Walkers.

  His attention to old roots led him toward another medieval tradition, one he had mixed feelings about.

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• 6. Echoes of the Round Table

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  Tolkien scholars point out that he criticised the mythology of King Arthur and disliked its explicit mentions of Christian themes. Yet they find many parallels in his own writing, not least between Aragorn and King Arthur himself. Laura Gálvez-Gómez goes furthest, likening the Company to the Knights of the Round Table. The Round Table, in her reading, stands for equality, loyalty and friendship.

  Both groups contain "a chosen hero who carries the main burden" on a quest. Both have a returning King with the gift of healing, an accompanying Wizard, and a treacherous knight. Both also include "a hero without courtly manners who finally becomes a knight".

  Her comparison pairs the characters one by one. Aragorn, raised by Elves, inherits the sword Andúril, just as Arthur, raised among fairies, inherits Excalibur. Gandalf, who is also called Mithrandir, plays the part of Merlin, known as Myrddin. Frodo, as Ring-bearer, matches the Grail Knight, Galahad or Perceval.

  Sam takes the place of Bedivere, the most loyal knight. Boromir fills the role of the treacherous knight, matched with Agravain and Mordred. Meriadoc Brandybuck shares his name with a minor knight called Meriadoc. Peregrin Took corresponds to Perceval, the one without courtly manners who becomes a knight.

  In 2001 the Company stepped off the page and onto the cinema screen.

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• 7. The Company on Screen

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  Peter Jackson's 2001 film The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring portrays all nine members of the Company. According to Rotten Tomatoes, a consensus of film critics called the casting "pitch-perfect". Elijah Wood played Frodo Baggins, Ian McKellen played Gandalf the Grey, and Viggo Mortensen played Aragorn. Sean Bean played Boromir and Sean Astin played Samwise Gamgee. Dominic Monaghan was Meriadoc Brandybuck, John Rhys-Davies was Gimli, Orlando Bloom was Legolas, and Billy Boyd was Peregrin Took.

  Tolkien scholars were divided about how Jackson represented the novel. Even those generally hostile to the film version have respected its visual presentation. They admire the casting, the costumes, the props and the cinematography.

  The small stature of the four hobbits and of the dwarf Gimli posed a practical problem. The film makers combined several methods: scale doubles of film sets, forced perspective, and green-screening. Reduced images of the hobbits and the dwarf were merged with unscaled images of the other members of the Company.

  One casting decision saved effort. To make the dwarf appear slightly taller than the hobbits without building additional scale doubles, the production chose a tall actor for the part.

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