What is the title of the first chapter of 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.”
The chapter opens with preparations for Bilbo Baggins’s eleventy-first birthday party and Frodo Baggins’s thirty-third birthday. Bilbo plans a spectacular celebration in Hobbiton, complete with fireworks, gifts, food, and a dramatic farewell. During the party, he uses the One Ring to disappear and leaves the Shire.
The chapter establishes the peaceful domestic world of the hobbits before the larger danger enters the story. It also introduces the unusual relationship between Bilbo and Frodo and begins the chain of events that leads Gandalf to investigate Bilbo’s ring.
Readers sometimes confuse this chapter with “The Shadow of the Past,” which follows it. “The Shadow of the Past” contains Gandalf’s explanation of the Ring’s history and its danger. “A Long-Expected Party” is the opening chapter and focuses on the birthday celebration and Bilbo’s departure.