Q. How many main characters does The Lord of the Rings have?
Okay, so my colleagues at Google Ventures and I are writing a book, and I’m in the process of revising. I’m going through the suggestions from our editor at Simon & Schuster, and I just came across this question:
And I’m a bit stumped. The Fellowship of the Ring is:
- Frodo
- Sam
- Merry
- Pippin
- Gandalf
- Aragorn
- Legolas
- Gimli
- Boromir
So there are at least nine main characters.
But what about Gollum? He’s an important dude. So let’s say ten.
Okay, ten sounds good. But… what about Saruman, or Elrond, or Arwen, or Treebeard? They’re not as big of a deal as Frodo, but they might be bigger deals than Boromir. Heck, what about Sauron? Is the Ring itself a character? Good lord, where do you draw the line?
My proposal is “there are at least ten main characters.” The Fellowship, plus Gollum, and hedging my bet with “at least”.
But I turn it over to you, fellow Tolkien nerds. How many main characters are in The Lord of the Rings? Is “at least ten” accurate enough?
Write a comment or a response, or send me a tweet.
Oh, and if you want to find out more about the book (which sadly has almost nothing to do with The Lord of the Rings) go here or just throw caution to the wind and pre-order it.
