The Fellowship of the Ring Appearances Quotes

How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from the director's cut of The Fellowship of the Ring.

Quote #4

ELROND: And yet to come so far, still bearing the Ring, the hobbit has shown extraordinary resilience to its evil.

Elrond is surprised by Frodo's mental fortitude. He has been able to (mostly) maintain his free will while in possession of the Ring. Just like the Ring is surprisingly powerful for its small size, Frodo's tiny, domestic hobbit body contains a surprising amount of bravery and courage.

Quote #5

GANDALF: My dear Frodo, Hobbits really are amazing creatures. You can learn all that there is to know about their ways in a month, and yet, after a hundred years, they can still surprise you.

Check out our Tools of Characterization section to find out what exactly Gandalf is talking about when he says their ways can be learned in a month (their ways involve a lot of eating, smoking, and gardening). Yet despite their simple, social, quaint lives, they are beings with an amazing reservoir of surprises, even to a wizard like Gandalf.

Quote #6

GALADRIEL [Narrating]: The Ring came to the creature Gollum who took it deep into the tunnels of the Misty Mountains. And there it consumed him. The Ring brought to Gollum unnatural long life. For five hundred years it poisoned his mind.

Corruption in LotR can be a very visual, visceral transformation. Gollum isn't the peaceful dude that Sméagol was, and it doesn't seem to just be old age that has morphed his appearance. His bony, dirty body, scraggily hair, and bulging eyes are products of his obsessive soul.