This page is
concerned with the summary of Tolkien's bestseller, The Lord
of the Rings: Return of the King (1955)
**-spoiler
alert-**
Do
not read below if you plan
to read Lord of the Rings
RETURN OF THE KING
BOOK
5:
Gandalf and
Pippin arrive in Minas Tirith, the capital of the country
of Gondor. During their trip, they learn that Gondor will soon
be under siege by the forces of Mordor and they encounter a herald
travelling to King Théoden of the Rohirrim for help.
Arriving in Minas Tirith, they meet Denethor, the Steward
of Gondor. They bring him the news of his son Boromir's death.
Pippin offers his services to Denethor and is appointed as a soldier
of Gondor. Pippin is introduced to the Gondor forces by Beregond.
People in Minas Tirith are surprised to see a Hobbit, and soon
Pippin is called "the Prince of the Halflings". Together
with Bergil, Beregond's son, he watches the arrival of
forces from different parts of Gondor which have come to defend
Minas Tirith against the threat of Mordor. Alas, the number of
soldier seems very little.
Meanwhile,
the company of Theoden, Eomer, Aragorn, Gimli, Legolas and Merry
encounter Elladan and Elrohir, the sons of Elrond the Half-elf
and a company of Rangers, who belong to Aragorn's people. They
bring Aragorn the message to remember the "paths of the
dead". Merry rides together with King Theoden and Eomer
to Edoras.
Meanwhile, altough being discouraged by Eomer and Eowyn, Aragorn
decides to take the Paths of the Dead. This is a way under the
ground from Dunharrow which leads to the black Stone of Erech.
There, the ghosts of the people who broke their oath to Elendil
dwell. Aragorn, as the rightfull heir of Elendil, can call these
spirits to fight for him and by fulfilling their oath, they can
finally rest in peace. Aragorn made his decision to ride the Paths
of the Dead after he looked into the palantír and saw Saurons
forces outnumber the forces of Gondor.
In Rohan,
a Munster is held to gather all soldiers to ride for Minas Tirith,
answering Gondor's call. Theoden does not allow Merry to join
his forces, but, with aid of the mysterious Dernhelm, he
rides along.
In Minas Tirith, Faramír returns with few men bringing news of the
fall of the outposts in Osgiliath and the coming of the
forces of Mordor. Being chased by Nazgul on winged beasts, Faramir
is rescued by Gandalf the White and, although Faramir is terminally
wouded, he is brought safely into town. Soon, the enemy is at
the gates. Minas Tirith is under siege and the hammer Grond is cast at its doors. A the break of dawn, the Gates of Minas
Tirith fall.
Meanwhile,
the Rohirrim ride as fast as they can, fearing they will be too
late. The learn that Minas Tirith is surrounded by enemies. With
the aid of Ghân-buri-Ghân, chief of the Púkel
people, they reach Minas Tirith riding along a path hidden for
the enemy. At the break of dawn, companied by multiple horns blast
and crying "Ride now, Rohirrim, Ride to Gondor" Theoden
rides in the front line to the fallen Gates of Gondor. The Battle
in the Pelennor Fields takes place. The Rohirrim and the people
from Gondor fiercefully against the Orcs and other Mordor allies.
Theoden kills Mordor chieftains but he is slain by the King of
the Nazgul. According to the prophecy no man can resist him, but
Dernhelm appears to be a woman (no other than Eowyn, Eomer's sister).
She, with the aid of Merry, slays the King of the Nazgul. All
seems lost while a large fleet of black vessels arrives. Corsairs
from Umbar, everyone fears. But it is Aragorn with the liberated
people from Umbar, who join the battle. With united forces, the
armies of the West are victorious.
During the battle, all seemed lost for Denethor. His city under
siege, his second son Faramir apparently dead, and a hopeless
future seen in his Palantír. In his madness, he creates
a pyre for him and his son. By the deeds of Beregond, Faramir
is recued from the pyre, but Denethor burns and passes.
In the houses
of Healing, Aragorn proves to be a true King by healing the terminally
wouded Eowyn, Faramir and Merry. He heals more wounded people
in Minas Tirith with the aid of Athelas, a powerfull herb.
At this moment he is given the name Elessar, the Elvenstone,
as predicted by his birth.
After a council,
the Armies of the West decide to ride against Mordor with the
few forces of Gondor left, in a desperate attempt to draw attention
from the mission of Frodo and Sam. They march to the Black Gates
of Mordor. There, the Lieutenant of the Barad-Dur shows
them Frodo's mithril coat and an elven broche. All seems lost.
BOOK
6:
Meanwhile,
at the border of Mordor, Sam is facing the problem of liberating
Frodo, who was poisoned by Shelob and captured by Orcs. Using Galadriels phial, Sam manages to enter the Tower of Cirith
Ungol. All is quiet there, because the Orcs seem to have slaughtered
one another, supposedly for the treasuries Frodo was carrying.
Sam chases two of the Orcs left and finds Frodo, starved and beaten
up. Frodo immediately asks for the Ring Sam is carrying. Together,
they enter Mordor. They notice being chased by some Orcs, but
manage to escape again and again.
The march through Mordor is very tough, since Frodo is burdened
by the Ring more and more... Being dressed as Orcs, the are forced
to join a company of Orcs heading for the Black Gate, where the
Lords of the West challenge the forces of Mordor. Using his last
forces, Frodo manages to fly from the Orc company, and, together
with Sam, he faces the last miles to Mount Doom.
During
the last miles, Frodo is exhausted in such a way that Sam has
to carry him up the slopes of Mount Doom. Suddenly, while having
almost reached the top, Gollum appears. While Sam fights
Gollum, Frodo crawls to the Crack of Doom. Sam defeats Gollum,
but his pity causes him to let Gollum go.
While
having reached the Cracks of Doom in the Orodruin (Mount
Doom), Frodo realises the next task is to cast the Ring into the
Deep. Suddenly he realises he doesn't want to do that, and he
proclaims himself "the Lord of the Ring". Sauron
immediately realises he is being distracted by the Army of the
West at the Morannon and sends the Nazgul to Mount Doom. At Mount
Doom, Gollum faces Frodo again, and in the fight that follows,
Gollum bites the Ring-bearing finger from Frodo's hand. In his
joy, Gollum slips and is cast, together with the One Ring into
the Cracks of Mount Doom. The Ring is destroyed and Mount Doom
erupts.
Frodo
and Sam crawl out of the Depths, and while the realm of Mordor
is being destroyed under their feet, they are rescued by Gandalf
who flies on Gwahir, the King of the Eagles. The Nazgul
are destroyed with the Ring and the Barad-Dur collapses while
the spirit of Sauron is overcome. At the Field of Cormallen,
the heroes Frodo and Sam are honoured.
Next,
the army returns to Gondor, where, at the Gates of Minas Tirith,
Aragorn, son of Arathorn is acknowledged as the true King of
Gondor. Frodo carries the Crown of Gondor to Gandalf, who
places it on Aragorns head. After the party that follows, Aragorn
finds a sapling of the White Tree, the sign of the Numenoreans,
and he plants the sapling in the central court of Minas Tirith.
A
large company of Elves arrives in Minas Tirith, among which are
Elrond and Arwen, his daughter. Aragorn is granted permission
to marry Arwen Undómiel and upon the day of Midsummer,
he does so.
After
the festivities it is time for the Hobbits to return to the Shire.
On their way back they visit Orthanc, where Saruman leaves the
pinnacle, together with Wormtongue. Together with Gandalf, the
travel back to Bree, where Gandalf leaves the hobbits.
Arriving in the Shire, Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin discover
that things have changed. There seems to be a dictator who rules
the Shire with strict rules and who destroyed nature with industry.
The four Hobbits cause an uproar against the occupants (who seem
to be Men from the East) and in the Battle of Bywater,
captains Meriadoc and Peregrin are victorious. They head for Bag's
End, where the leader of the occupants, Sharkey or "the
Chief", resides. To their surprise it is Saruman. After he
corrupted Lotho Sackville-Baggins, his Men took over the Shire,
killing Lotho.
Saruman realises
his defeat and leaves the Shire. Wormtongue, realising the loss,
grabs a secret dagger and kills Saruman. Wormtongue is hit by
many arrows and dies.
The rebuilding of the Shire can commence.
In the years
after, Sam, Merry and Pippin joyfully live in the Shire. Frodo,
however, still feels the burden of the Ring and the wound of the
Morgul dagger. After a few years, Frodo suddenly leaves with a
company of Elves. Sam accompanies him to the Grey Havens, where
all Ringbearers, together with many Elves leave the shore of Middle
Earth to Valinor in the West. Frodo, Bilbo, Galadriel and
Gandalf embark on the ship that takes them there.
Sam returns
to Bag's End. He sits down in a chair, next to his wife Rose and
he draws a deep breath. "Well, I'm back", he said.
~THE
END~
>Back
to summary of LOTR:The Two Towers (1954)
>Back
to LORD OF THE RINGS: summary and backgrounds
|
