The Fellowship of the Ring Characters

A distant cousin and great friend of Frodo’s, Merry is an unusually perceptive hobbit whose loyalty to Frodo earns him a place as one of the nine companions in the Company of the Ring.

A distant cousin and great friend of Frodo’s, Pippin is a kind but reckless young hobbit whose loyalty to Frodo earns him a place as one of the nine companions in the Company of the Ring.

An elf-prince from Mirkwood and a member of the Company of the Ring, Legolas is an expert archer and a swift runner who is agile and light on his feet. Despite their initial distrust of one another due to historic racial tensions, Legolas and Gimli form a strong friendship.

A dwarf (the son of Glóin) and a member of the Company of the Ring, Gimli is courageous and stalwart in battle where he adeptly wields his axe. He overcomes his mistrust of elves to become firm friends with Legolas and a great admirer of Galadriel.

Of elvish and mortal heritage, Elrond is the Lord of Rivendell (an elf-haven hidden West of the Misty Mountains). He is Arwen’s father, and a powerful ally of Gandalf’s who founds the Company of the Ring.

A wise and seemingly ageless elf who rules over the elf-forest of Lothlórien with his wife, Galadriel. The Lord and Lady of Lórien offer refuge and respite to the Fellowship after they flee Moria without Gandalf.

Nine fallen mortal kings who seek the One Ring for their master, Sauron. The Nazgûl take the form of cloaked black riders as they pursue Frodo and the Fellowship, hunting them using their enhanced senses attuned to the Ring.

Goldberry is the wife of Tom Bombadil. Her beauty and kindness greatly restore Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin after their terrifying encounter with Old Man Willow. Like her husband, Goldberry’s origins are unclear; she possesses natural magic and may be immortal.

A powerful elf-lord who is present at the Council of Elrond. Earlier, Elrond sends him to find and protect Aragorn and the hobbits (Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin) on the road as they approach Rivendell.

The leader of a company of elves that Frodo, Sam, and Pippin chance upon as they travel from Hobbiton to Buckland. This encounter saves the hobbits from an approaching Black Rider; Gildor offers them safe company for the night, and shares advice with Frodo concerning his journey to Rivendell.

An unusually astute hobbit who catches Frodo, Sam, and Pippin on his farmland after they lose their way taking a shortcut to the Buckleberry Ferry. Farmer Maggot helps the hobbits hide from the Black Riders by taking them to the Ferry in his wagon.

A rather rotund hobbit and friend of Frodo’s who stays in Frodo’s Buckland residence as a decoy to distract the Black Riders.

Leader of the elves who guard Lothlórien’s borders, Haldir guides the Fellowship to where Galadriel and Celeborn reside at Caras Galadhon.

A malevolent willow tree in the Old Forest who lures travelers to him, spelling them to sleep before strangling them with his branches or trapping them in his trunk.

Lord of the Giant Eagles, Gwaihir rescues Gandalf from his imprisonment by Saruman at Orthanc and carries the wizard to Rohan.

A man of Bree, Butterbur is the innkeeper at the popular Prancing Pony. He warns Frodo against the suspicious character Strider, and after a lapse in memory he remembers to deliver Frodo a letter that Gandalf had left in his care some weeks ago.

An unscrupulous man of Bree who has allied with Sauron and the Black Riders. Aragorn and the hobbits purchase a neglected pony from Ferny after the hobbits’ ponies flee their stables due to the presence of Black Riders.

Of elvish and mortal heritage, Elrond’s daughter and Galadriel’s granddaughter Arwen is romantically tied to Aragorn.

Present at the Council of Elrond, Glóin is the father of Gimli, an old friend of Bilbo’s, and one of the thirteen dwarfs who marched to the Lonely Mountain in the events of The Hobbit.

An elf-lord who attends the Council of Elrond, Erestor suggests that the Ring is given to Tom Bombadil, but the Council rejects this idea.

An elderly hobbit, and Sam’s father, who has tended the gardens next door at Bag End for most of his life.

Greedy and obnoxious hobbits who have long desired to inherit their relative Bilbo’s hobbit hole at Bag End. They purchase Bag End when Frodo sells up under the pretense of moving to Buckland.

One of the thirteen dwarfs who marched to the Lonely Mountain in the events of The Hobbit, Balin has not been heard from since he led a company of dwarfs to reclaim their ancestral homeland of Moria.

A glorious and ancient elven High King of Ñoldor who fought alongside Elendil against Sauron in the War of the Last Alliance. Elrond was Gil-Galad’s herald in the that war.

An ancient elvish deity whom the elves revere in name and song. Frodo and Legolas invoke her name as protection against the Black Riders.

A legendary hobbit (and ancestor of Bilbo, Frodo, and Pippin) who could ride a horse and slew the orc leader in the Battle of Greenfields.

A hobbit-like boy, and cousin and best friend of Smeagol. He was briefly a Ring-bearer until Smeagol murdered him to take the Ring, gradually transforming into the creature known as Gollum.

A hobbit, and friend of Frodo's.