50 Fun Facts About The Fellowship of the Ring

Which birthday does Bilbo celebrate before leaving the Shire at the start of the book?

Hobbits call it 'eleventy-first'. Bilbo hands the Ring to Frodo, his cousin and heir, and vanishes mid-speech.

Frodo's cover story for leaving is a move to a little house in which village?

It lies in Buckland, across the Brandywine. Merry has the house ready, and it is there the conspiracy of friends is unmasked.

Which Elf leads the travelling company whose singing wards off the Black Riders?

His people are singing to Elbereth. The hobbits spend the night with them, the first of the book's many rescues by hospitality.

Which farmer takes the hobbits to Bucklebury Ferry?

Frodo had stolen his mushrooms as a boy and still fears his dogs, but the farmer turns out to be a staunch ally.

Which ancient tree-spirit traps Merry and Pippin in the Old Forest?

Tolkien had invented him years earlier for the 1934 poem 'The Adventures of Tom Bombadil' and reused the character here.

After the barrow-wight episode, what are the hobbits equipped with from its hoard?

Merry's blade from the barrow later matters a great deal: it was forged to work against the Witch-king.

In which village do the hobbits first encounter the Ranger called Strider?

Frodo draws every eye in the inn when the Ring slips onto his finger and he vanishes from the crowded common room.

On which hill do the Black Riders attack the party and wound Frodo with a cursed blade?

Its Elvish name is Amon Sûl, once the site of a great watchtower. The Witch-king himself leads the attack.

What herb does Strider use to treat Frodo's wound?

Also called kingsfoil, it returns in The Return of the King when the hands of the king prove to be healing hands.

In the book, which Elf rides with the gravely ill Frodo toward Rivendell?

The film hands this rescue to Arwen instead, one of its better-known departures from the text.

Strider is revealed as heir of which man, who cut the One Ring from Sauron's hand?

He refused to destroy the Ring and claimed it; it betrayed him and was lost in the river when he was killed.

Which member of the Fellowship is the son of the Steward of Gondor?

He is the only member of the nine who never reaches the end of the book's second volume alive.

Which route over the Misty Mountains does the Fellowship fail to cross before Moria?

The mountain is Caradhras. In the book the snow seems to have a will of its own; the film blames Saruman's sorcery.

Which of Bilbo's old companions led the Dwarf colony found dead in Moria?

He was the dwarf who had been kindest to Bilbo on the Erebor quest. His tomb is where the Fellowship reads the colony's last record.

By what name is the Balrog of Moria known in the film?

The name records what it did: the dwarves of Durin's line woke it by digging too deep, and it ended their kingdom.

In which Elven forest does the Fellowship take refuge after Moria?

Time runs strangely there; the company later realises a month has passed while they rested.

Which Elf-lord, husband of the Lady of the Golden Wood, gives the Fellowship boats?

Along with the boats come elven cloaks and waybread. The film gives most of these gift-giving lines to his wife.

What is the Elvish waybread given to the Fellowship called?

One cake is said to keep a traveller on his feet for a day of long labour. Gollum cannot stomach it.

At which hill, reached by boat down the Anduin, does the Fellowship break apart?

Its name means Hill of Sight. Frodo sits on its ancient seat wearing the Ring and sees Sauron's eye searching for him.

Which chapter did the author call 'the crucial chapter' of the entire novel?

A sketch of it was among the first things written, early in 1938; the descriptions of Gollum and the Ring were added in 1944.

Roughly how many words long is 'The Council of Elrond', the longest chapter in Book Two?

It is almost all people talking, flouting 'show, don't tell', yet Tom Shippey calls it a largely unappreciated tour de force.

Which critic attacked the book in a 1956 review titled 'Oo, Those Awful Orcs!'?

He called it 'juvenile trash' and said the author had 'no instinct for literary form'. Sales disagreed.

Which poet praised the book in The New York Times, likening it to The Thirty-Nine Steps?

He admired the relentless invention but thought the light humour of the opening chapters was 'not Tolkien's forte'.

In the Millennium edition, Book One carries which of the author's own proposed titles?

He had wanted the whole novel in a single volume with six named books; the publisher split it into three parts instead.

Tom Shippey counted how many safe 'Homely Houses' the hobbits are dug out of in the first half?

Jenny Turner summed up the rhythm as 'Scary, safe again. Scary, safe again.' and called the book ideal for vulnerable readers.

The book's prologue is titled 'Concerning Hobbits, and other ___'?

It covers hobbit origins, pipe-weed and the ordering of the Shire, for readers who skipped The Hobbit.

The author hoped to publish the novel in one volume, possibly combined with which work?

The publisher balked; that older legendarium only appeared in 1977, edited by his son Christopher after his death.

Which character from the book is omitted entirely from the 2001 film?

The director wanted a film focused on Frodo and the Ring, the 'backbone' of the story, so the Old Forest detour went.

Who directed the 2001 film adaptation?

He shot all three films back to back in his native New Zealand, starting in October 1999.

Which studio financed and distributed the film?

Miramax had the rights first but wanted a single film; the project moved and became a trilogy.

How many Academy Award nominations did the film receive at the 74th ceremony?

It won four. Two years later The Return of the King went 11 for 11.

Which of these Oscars did the film actually win?

Andrew Lesnie took that one; the other three wins were Makeup, Original Score and Visual Effects.

Roughly how much did the film gross worldwide in its original theatrical run?

That made it the second-highest-grossing film of 2001 and fifth of all time on release; reissues have since pushed it to $897 million.

Who was the first actor cast in the film, on 7 July 1999?

He sent in an audition tape dressed as Frodo, reading lines from the book, and beat about 150 other hopefuls.

Which future star auditioned for Frodo but fell foul of a mix-up over accents?

His agency had told him to read in an American accent. The role had already been written for an English one.

Which actor declined Gandalf because of a scheduling clash with Jurassic Park III?

Sean Connery also passed, reportedly because he did not understand the plot, and Patrick Stewart disliked the script.

McKellen had to juggle his schedule with which other 1999-2000 shoot to play Gandalf?

There was a two-month overlap with 20th Century Fox. He ended up playing Magneto and Gandalf almost simultaneously.

McKellen based Gandalf's accent on a recording of whom reading The Hobbit?

He also said he preferred playing the Grey wizard to the White one of the later films.

Ngila Dickson and 40 seamstresses made roughly how many costumes for the trilogy?

Around 40 versions per costume for each actor and their doubles, all deliberately worn out to look aged.

Which actor replaced Stuart Townsend, judged too young, after filming had begun?

He read the book on the plane, took a crash course in fencing, and went straight into the Weathertop scenes.

Which actor, Frodo in a 1981 radio adaptation, was cast as Bilbo?

Sylvester McCoy was kept on standby for six months as a possible Bilbo; he later got Radagast in The Hobbit instead.

Orlando Bloom originally auditioned for which role before being cast as Legolas?

That part, which only appears from the second film, went to David Wenham.

Who composed the film's score?

It won the Oscar for Original Score. Enya contributed two songs and let her label release the soundtrack.

Which New Zealand river stood in for the Ford of Bruinen?

It runs through the Otago gold-rush country near Arrowtown on the South Island.

The film's DVD sold 14.5 million copies, a record later taken by which release?

The theatrical cut arrived on disc in August 2002; the 228-minute extended edition followed that November.

In the film, which two words does Gollum give up under interrogation by Sauron?

Those two words send the Nazgûl north. In the book Gandalf learns of the interrogation from Aragorn's capture of Gollum.

In the film, whose summoned storm forces the Fellowship to take the Moria route?

In the book the mountain Caradhras itself seems hostile; the film gives the blizzard a named villain chanting from Orthanc.

On what date did principal photography begin?

The principal actors had first spent six weeks training in sword fighting, riding and boating so they would bond.

How long is the extended edition of the film?

That includes 30 minutes of new material and 20 minutes of fan-club credits; the DVD set carried four commentaries.

In which year was the film selected for the US National Film Registry?

The AFI had already named it one of the 100 greatest American films in 2007, the only 21st-century title on that list.