The Lord of the Rings is a long story about a hobbit from Bag's End named Frodo Baggins and his journey through Middle-earth. The duration of his journey lasted twenty years. It all started with Bilbo, Frodo's older cousin. Bilbo has decided to throw a birthday party for Frodo and himself. Bilbo was one hundred and eleven years old, while Frodo was thirty-three. Hobbits came from all over, mainly to watch Gandalf's famous fireworks displays. After Bilbo's farewell speech, he disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Everyone was impressed, especially Frodo. After Bilbo left, Frodo received his main parting gift. A ring. Gandalf told Frodo his story and his dark powers. He told Frodo how the young hobbit was to embark on a journey to Mount Doom, in the heart of the Dark Lord's domain, to destroy this evil device. So Frodo left with his friends Samwise "Sam" Gamgee, Peregrin "Pippin" Took and Meriadoc "Merry" Brandybuck. Before they even got far, they were chased by a Black Rider. Hobbits hid, but if they encountered enemies, they also encountered friends. They encountered elves in the forest, as well as Tom Bombadil, an extremely powerful creature from the Old Forest. They eventually arrived at a small town named Bree and an inn. There they found Mr. Butterbur, whom Gandalf had asked to deliver them a letter. In the letter, they discovered that they had to trust a Ranger named Strider, one of the mysterious wanderers who roamed the lands beyond Bree. Together, they leave. When they reached Weathertop, there was a battle between the Company members and the Black Riders, as the numbers of the black, fear-inducing masked creatures increased. Frodo was stabbed in the shoulder by one of the Rider's deadly blades. Frodo's wound was in the middle of a paper...power was slipping from him, he was enraged. The following quote supports this: “For Boromir was faithful to me and was not a sorcerer's pupil. He would have remembered his father's need and not wasted what fortune had given him. He would have brought me a wonderful gift. (Tolkien 795). Lord Denethor called his son a wizard's student because Faramir turned to Gandalf because he feared he had revealed too much about the Ring. Lord Denethor wanted this ring and believed his favorite son would have brought it to him if he had been alive. In his anger, he said many hurtful things to Faramir, such as accepting that he wanted it to be Faramir who died and not Boromir. Thanks to his greed, he sent Faramir on a mission from which Faramir almost didn't return alive. These two quotes are great examples of the many themes and life lessons taught in The Lord of the Rings..