A Tour of Middle Earth

By Jacob Oblak

A Little About Fairy Stories Fairy story characters are either good or

bad, rarely in between. Fairy stories usually present the good as

beautiful and the bad as ugly. Fairy stories go through a cycle of journey,

danger, rest.

The Fairy Story Cycle

Danger

Rest

Journey

Entering Middle Earth The Lord of the Rings

follows this cycle of journey, danger, rest.

Every cycle builds, having greater danger and shorter rest periods.

It all leads to the major climax or the greatest danger, followed by the final rest.

The First Cycle Frodo, Sam, Pippin, and

Merry leave The Shire and journey towards Bree.

On their way, they encounter danger in the forest.

After being rescued from Old Man Willow, they rest at Tom Bombadil’s house.

The Second Cycle The hobbits leave Tom

Bombadil and continue their journey

They are soon taken captive by Barrow-Weights.

Once again, Bombadil rescues them.

They rest in Bree at the Inn of the Prancing Pony.

The Third Cycle The hobbits journey with

Strider toward Rivendel. They encounter danger

with the Black Riders on Weathertop where Frodo is stabbed.

They make their escape to Rivendel.

They rest, and Frodo recovers.

The Fourth Cycle The nine companions

leave Rivendel and travel to Moria.

Orcs attack them. The balrog is

awakened. Gandalf falls into the

abyss with the balrog. The rest escape.

The Fourth Cycle They rest in

Lothlorien. The fellowship has

been broken with the loss of Gandalf.

This is the last place of rest with the whole company together.

It is also the most beautiful.

The Fourth Cycle

They leave Lothlorien and journey towards Minis Tirith

They are attacked by Uruk Hai.

Frodo and Sam cross over to Mordor and leave the company.

The Cycles Change At this point, each group has its own set of

cycles. Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli rest at Rohan. Merry and Pippin escape from the Uruk Hai

and have rest with Treebeard. Frodo and Sam find rest in Ithilien.

The Fifth Cycle: Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas Aragorn, Gimli, and

Legolas journey to Helm’s Deep.

They help defend the people of Rohan against the Uruk Hai.

They rest at Helm’s Deep.

The Fifth Cycle: Merry and Pippin Merry and Pippin

journey to Isengard with Treebeard and the ents.

They overthrow Saruman and rest at Isengard.

The Sixth Cycle After the Battle at Helm’s Deep, Aragorn,

Legolas, Gimli, Gandalf, Merry, and Pippin are reunited for a short time.

Shortly thereafter, Gandalf journeys with Pippin to Gondor.

Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, Eowyn, and Merry also journey to Gondor along a different route.

The Sixth Cycle Gondor is attacked by

Sauron’s troops. The companions fight

valiantly in the battle of Pelannor Fields and drive the enemy back.

They have a short time of tense rest.

The Final Cycle Aragorn leads a small army out to the gates

of Mordor. Little hope is held for victory. Everything rests upon Frodo and the

destruction of the ring.

Frodo’s Part After Frodo and Sam leave

Ithilien, they continue their journey to Mount Doom.

They encounter many dangers along the way, leading to the greatest danger as Frodo stands at the mouth of Mount Doom.

Smeagol and Frodo struggle over the ring.

Smeagol falls with the ring into the fire, and Sauron is defeated.

Rest Aragorn defeats Sauron’s

troops. Frodo and Sam are

rescued by the eagles. They return to Gondor

where Aragorn marries Arwen and is crowned King of Gondor.

The Hobbits remain for a short time before returning home.

One Last Cycle After the Hobbits return, they discover

Saruman has taken control of The Shire. They rally their people and overthrow

Saruman. Peace returns to the world.

The Final Rest Frodo, Bilbo, Gandalf,

and the elves make their final journey to the Grey Havens.

They board a ship that takes them to the undying lands.

There they find complete rest and healing.