Which book is the first volume of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings?
Answer
The Fellowship of the Ring
The Fellowship of the Ring is the first volume of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings.
Allen & Unwin published it in 1954, followed by The Two Towers and The Return of the King in 1954 and 1955. Although the work is often described as a trilogy, Tolkien conceived and wrote it as one continuous novel that was divided into volumes for publication.
The first volume introduces Frodo Baggins’s inheritance of the One Ring and the danger posed by its maker, Sauron. Frodo leaves the Shire with Samwise Gamgee, Merry, and Pippin, later joining Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, Boromir, and Gandalf in the Fellowship.
The book’s title refers to the group formed at Rivendell to help carry the Ring toward Mordor. The volume ends after the Fellowship is broken, but the story continues directly in the second volume, The Two Towers.