Nine companions formed the Fellowship of the Ring in J.R.R. Tolkien’s novel. The group was created at Rivendell to help Frodo Baggins carry the One Ring toward its destruction.
The nine members were Frodo, Samwise Gamgee, Merry Brandybuck, Pippin Took, Aragorn, Boromir, Legolas, Gimli, and Gandalf. Their number deliberately mirrors the nine Nazgûl, the Ringwraiths serving Sauron. This numerical contrast is one reason the Fellowship is described as a symbolic counterforce to the enemy’s riders.
The Fellowship does not remain together for the entire journey. It breaks apart near the end of the first volume, after the attack at Amon Hen. The title can also cause confusion because The Fellowship of the Ring is both the first part of the novel commonly called The Lord of the Rings and the name of the group within the story.