What is the title of chapter one in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring?
Answer
A Long-expected Party
The first chapter of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring is titled “A Long-expected Party.” It opens the first volume of The Lord of the Rings with preparations for Bilbo Baggins’s eleventy-first birthday party in Hobbiton.
The chapter introduces the Shire, its hobbit society, Bilbo’s reputation, and his unusual decision to disappear during the celebration. He leaves the One Ring and Bag End to Frodo Baggins, setting the main narrative in motion.
The wording is easy to confuse with nearby chapter titles. “The Shadow of the Past” is chapter two and contains Gandalf’s explanation of the Ring’s history. “The Council of Elrond” appears much later, after Frodo reaches Rivendell.
The chapter title also establishes Tolkien’s fondness for understated, domestic beginnings. A village birthday party appears ordinary on the surface, but it introduces the object and inheritance that will drive the central conflict of the entire epic.