The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

by J.R.R. Tolkien, Ian Holm (Narrator), Michael Hordern (Narrator)

With its first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on March 8th, 1981, this dramatised tale of Middle Earth became an instant global classic. It boasts a truly outstanding cast including Ian Holm (as Frodo), Sir Michael Hordern (as Gandalf), Robert Stephens (as Aragorn), Bill Nighy (as Sam Gamgee) and John Le Mesurier (as Bilbo). Brian Sibley's famous adaptation has been divided into three corresponding parts, with newly recorded beginning and end narration by Ian Holm, who now stars as Bilbo in the feature films based on The Lord of the Rings. Part One, The Fellowship of the Ring, introduces us to Frodo Baggins. With his uncle Bilbo having mysteriously disappeared, Frodo finds himself in possession of a simple gold ring that has great and evil power. It is the Ruling Ring, taken long ago from the Dark Lord, Sauron, who now seeks to possess it again. Frodo must do everything he can to prevent this, and with the help of Gandalf the wizard and a band of loyal companions he begins a perilous journey across Middle-earth. Sauron's Black Riders are on their trail as they travel to Rivendell, attempt to cross the snow-swept Misty Mountains and, in desperation, enter the terrifying Mines of Moria.

Genres: Fantasy, Audiobook

Audible Audio

First published September 1, 2017

About the author

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien: writer, artist, scholar, linguist. Known to millions around the world as the author of The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien spent most of his life teaching at the University of Oxford where he was a distinguished academic in the fields of Old and Middle English and Old Norse. His creativity, confined to his spare time, found its outlet in fantasy works, stories for children, poetry, illustration and invented languages and alphabets.

Tolkien’s most popular works, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings are set in Middle-earth, an imagined world with strangely familiar settings inhabited by ancient and extraordinary peoples. Through this secondary world Tolkien writes perceptively of universal human concerns – love and loss, courage and betrayal, humility and pride – giving his books a wide and enduring appeal.

Tolkien was an accomplished amateur artist who painted for pleasure and relaxation. He excelled at landscapes and often drew inspiration from his own stories. He illustrated many scenes from The Silmarillion, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, sometimes drawing or painting as he was writing in order to visualize the imagined scene more clearly.

Tolkien was a professor at the Universities of Leeds and Oxford for almost forty years, teaching Old and Middle English, as well as Old Norse and Gothic. His illuminating lectures on works such as the Old English epic poem, Beowulf, illustrate his deep knowledge of ancient languages and at the same time provide new insights into peoples and legends from a remote past.

Tolkien was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa, in 1892 to English parents. He came to England aged three and was brought up in and around Birmingham. He graduated from the University of Oxford in 1915 and saw active service in France during the First World War before being invalided home. After the war he pursued an academic career teaching Old and Middle English. Alongside his professional work, he invented his own languages and began to create what he called a mythology for England; it was this ‘legendarium’ that he would work on throughout his life. But his literary work did not start and end with Middle-earth, he also wrote poetry, children’s stories and fairy tales for adults. He died in 1973 and is buried in Oxford where he spent most of his adult life.

Reviews

[Thomas Cullinane · Rating 5 out of 5]

So good. Ian Holm who plays Bilbo in the Peter Jackson films, plays Frodo in this with Bill Nighy as Sam

[Maren Blanchard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pre-Gaming for reading the actual full text of Fellowship. Voice actors were lovely!

[Stephen Duquaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know LOTR purists probably hate that this isn’t the complete story, it’s just an abbreviated dramatic audio version. However I like the truncated version because it keeps moving and the essentials of the story are all there. With that having been said, I almost gave this 3 stars because the dramatic telling was not my favorite. There are really loud and weird sound effects. It’s hard to tell which person is speaking because there is too little narrator speaking. Some of the voices are just annoying. At times there’s sound effects but no indication what is happening, like when Gandalf gets take. Down by the balrog. Since I know the story well it wasn’t the end of the world for me, but it was still undesirable. I’ll probably get the other two in the series and just push through the bad sound effects.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

As with the previous dramatization that I enjoyed, this is not the complete story. Rather, it's like a radio program performance of it. Obviously, if you are looking to read the entire story, this audiobook isn't a good source for that.

However, I really enjoyed this dramatization. I felt it was well done. The performers did a lovely job of bringing the story to life and I look forward to listening to the next part, The Two Towers. Perhaps, in this way, I will actually make it through the whole story.

[Daniel Farrelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good. All the acting was fantastic. They even made me enjoy the songs. They were a little reluctant to use omniscient narration, sometimes to the detriment of the production, but on the whole it was great. Really good as an abridgement. Still probably prefer the book, but I think I'll prefer the production versions of the other two. Only thing I didn't like was the very start. I like listening to it to go to sleep, but this version opens to an extended golum torture scene, with the actor giving their all. Obviously this isn't a quality issue though :)

[Sidney McKidney · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's alright. Not sure what the point of the new framing narration is though

[Melita · Rating 5 out of 5]

To hear Ian Holm as Frodo took some getting used to!