Lord Of The Rings Analysis

“The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring” was the first part of the amazing three part trilogy that was written by J. R. R. Tolkien. In 2001, Peter Jackson released this tale as a film for all to see. This film shows the journey of Frodo Baggins and his eight companions, traveling to Mordor to destroy the great ring of power. Being a huge fan of these movies myself, I was grateful for the chance to give this film a critical analysis. There are several main concepts in the film that are highly relatable to Norse Mythology. In “The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring”, there are many themes and elements that mirror that of several Norse myths including: Sigurd the Volsung and The Creation, Death, and Rebirth of the Universe.

In this myth, the ring that is cursed by Andvari, along with its accompanied treasure, are the “bane” of man’s existence. Anyone who has possession of the ring will likely encounter destruction and death. Frodo being the keeper of the ring, deals with constant inner turmoil, feeling the terrible power burning inside. He is in constant fear for his life, as all manner of dark creatures are hunting it. He also has to worry about the other members of the “fellowship” being tempted to take the ring as well. This particular part of the myth is enforced by the character Gollum. He embodies the tortured soul and really gives the audience a sense of what it would be like to fall completely under the rings power. The music score for the “ring” theme is utterly dark and really allows the viewer to feel the immense pressure of wanting that power for oneself. Frodo is the ultimate hero in that he embraces his task with bravery and strength. Elijah Wood, the actor who plays Frodo, really brought this role to life and gave it qualities that I do not think anyone else

These nine companions have to face adversity head on to reach the end goal of helping Frodo destroy the ring. The four “hobbits” of the story are Frodo Baggins, Samwise “Sam” Gamgee, Meriadoc “Merry” Brandybuck, and Perigrin “Pippin” Took. The two men of the story are Aragorn and Boromir. Gandalf was the wise and powerful wizard. Legolas the elf and Gimli the dwarf make the nine. Some of these characters show comparison to the Ragnarok myth. Gimli in particular, being that he was a dwarf. In the creation story is says that there were dwarves who were created from worms (Hojbjerg, 2011). Gimli makes a joke in the film that “dwarves were said to have come from holes in the ground” (Jackson, 2001). The hobbits I feel can almost fall under the category of “dwarf-like” as well but in a different respect. Gandalf the Grey can be compared to Odin from The Creation, Death, and Rebirth of the Universe myth. He is seen to possess many powers and strengths similar to that of the god. “Even Tolkien “once referred to Gandalf as an 'Odinic wanderer '” because Odin often appeared in the Saga of the Volsungs “as a wandering, old man, dressed in grey” (Doughin, 2018). Because of their similar appearances, it reveals how Odin 's features provide Tolkien with an idea of how he should create a sense of mystery to Gandalf. There is also an interesting scene in the film when the black birds “Crebain from Dunland” can be seen as