Welcome back to my series of posts about how J.R.R. Tolkien’s novel The Lord of the Rings is more complex than its film adaptations. Today, we’ll look at the general structure of the book compared to the movies. In the films, we experience the story in a mostly chronological order, frequently switching between different plotlines.
Although it would probably be impossible for a movie to replicate the book’s plot structure without becoming incomprehensible, it is in large part its unusual structure that makes The Lord of the Rings such a fascinating literary work. I know of no other novel that employs such a complicated structure, and certainly none that does it quite so well.
Not a Trilogy
Despite most people referring to The Lord of the Rings trilogy, it’s not technically a trilogy at all—at least not when it comes to its structure. When Tolkien wrote it, he originally intended to publish it as a single volume (they couldn’t print it that way due to the post-war economy). However, it’s more complicated than that.
In terms of how it’s actually structured, Tolkien wrote The Lord of the Rings as a novel divided into six distinct “books,” not three. If we include The Hobbit or There and Back Again, this could be said to form something resembling a series of seven books, which I will refer to collectively as the “Hobbit Sequence.”
Referring to the Hobbit Sequence is useful, as it marks the series that consists of both The Hobbit and the six books that make up The Lord of the Rings as connected. At the same time, it distinguishes them from other works taking place in the same world, such as The Silmarillion or The Fall of Gondolin.
Book Ⅰ: The Ring Sets Out
The Ring Sets Out, also called The First Journey, follows the deuteragonist Frodo Baggins and his friends as they flee the Shire and make a perilous journey to Rivendell. Book Ⅰ is slower-paced than the others, allowing the reader to get to know the central characters before the quest begins.
Book Ⅱ: The Journey of the Nine Companions
In The Journey of the Nine Companions (or The Ring Goes South), we’re given a truly masterful info dump in Chapter Ⅱ: The Council of Elrond. In the hands of any other author, its complexity would likely have made it impossible to follow. Tolkien, however, made it surprisingly easy to understand.
The Fellowship of the Ring is formed, and Book Ⅱ then follows their journey south. During this journey, Gandalf falls in Moria, and soon afterwards the Fellowship breaks; Frodo and Sam head for Mordor on their own.
Book Ⅲ: The Treason of Isengard
The Treason of Isengard begins with Aragorn finding Boromir wounded and near death. From him, Aragorn learns that Merry and Pippin have been captured. From this point onwards, there are a lot of different plot threads weaving about, and the story is never told in strict chronological order for more than a few chapters.
The most obvious example concerns the various books. The Treason of Isengard follows two main plotlines: Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli being one; and Merry and Pippin being the other. During Book Ⅲ, we learn nothing of what Frodo and Sam are doing, making for a good deal more suspense.
Book Ⅲ ends with Gandalf taking Pippin with him to Minas Tirith after the young hobbit looked into the palantír.
Book Ⅳ: The Journey of the Ringbearers
The Journey of the Ringbearers, which is also called The Ring Goes East, follows Frodo and Sam as they continue their journey to Mordor, now led by the creature Gollum. Although chronologically it begins not long after the beginning of Book Ⅲ, Book Ⅳ extends past the end of that book for some time.
The plotlines from Book Ⅲ then catch up in Book Ⅴ, again extending some ways past the end of Book Ⅳ. And remember—what I just described as happening across multiple books also applies to multiple plotlines in a single book. Confused? Don’t worry; it all makes sense when you read it.
Book Ⅳ ends when Sam learns that Frodo is alive after Frodo’s poisoning by the demon spider Shelob. We have to wait till Book Ⅵ before we see Sam rescue Frodo from the tower of Cirith Ungol.
Book Ⅴ: The War of the Ring
The War of the Ring follows the same characters as Book Ⅲ did, but the groups of characters are arranged differently; Pippin goes to Minas Tirith with Gandalf, while Merry rides to war with Éowyn. Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, and a few minor characters seek reinforcements on the Paths of the Dead.
As with Book Ⅲ, we experience events less chronologically than we would in a conventional novel. Plotlines leapfrog each other within Book Ⅴ, even as Book Ⅴ leapfrogs Book Ⅳ.
Book Ⅴ ends as Pippin passes out under the weight of a troll during the Battle of the Morannon.
Book Ⅵ: The End of the Third Age
In The End of the Third Age, we finally learn what happens to Frodo and Sam at Cirith Ungol, and the book then follows the last stretch of their journey to Orodruin. Following the One Ring’s destruction, the surviving members of the Fellowship travel to Minas Tirith, where Aragorn takes his rightful place as King of Gondor.
With most of the story’s main plotlines resolved, Sam, Pippin, Frodo, and Merry make their way back to the Shire. You might think that the story would be pretty much over, ending with their happy return to the Shire as it does in the film, but you’d be wrong.
Firstly, there’s some ominous foreshadowing on the way home, with the hobbits bumping into Saruman and Gríma. It only gets darker once they get home, as the four hobbits learn that the Shire has been seized in a coup d’etát by someone named Sharkey. What follows is a battle in which many other hobbits also lose their innocence.
Book Ⅵ then follows the four hobbits as they help to rebuild the Shire. Frodo’s health suffers as a result of his poisoning by both the Witch-King and Shelob, and after several years, Frodo leaves Middle-earth with Bilbo, Gandalf, and the Elves.
And of course, Book Ⅵ ends with Samwise Gamgee as he returns home to Rose and Elanor.
Plot Structure in Books and Films
This is one of the things a moviegoer probably won’t expect when they first read the book. After all, the movies’ structure isn’t that unusual: switching between different plotlines but proceeding in a simple chronological order. This also explains why the film adaptation of The Two Towers ends with Frodo and Sam not even at the cross-roads yet.
As I stated at the beginning, I doubt that a movie could have followed the book’s unusual plot structure without becoming confusing. Movies just aren’t built to accomodate all the weird and wonderful plot structures that literature can. The book, however, would likely have been confusing if written any other way.
Subscribe to
