Who carries the One Ring through most of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings?

Frodo Baggins carries the One Ring through most of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings.

Frodo is Bilbo Baggins’s cousin and adopted heir. After Bilbo leaves the Shire, the Ring remains with Frodo until the wizard Gandalf discovers its true identity and danger. Frodo then accepts the task of taking it away from the Shire.

The central quest sends Frodo from Hobbiton toward Rivendell and eventually to Mount Doom in Mordor, where the Ring can be destroyed. Samwise Gamgee accompanies him for much of the journey and provides essential practical and emotional support, but Frodo is the designated Ring-bearer for the mission.

Several characters possess the Ring at different points in Tolkien’s wider story. Bilbo found it before Frodo inherited it, and Gollum possessed it for centuries. These earlier bearers are why readers sometimes confuse who carries it during the main events of The Lord of the Rings.