Original subtitles

THE LORD OF THE RINGS

As summer passed into fall, four hobbits journeyed away with a ring.

They were going to a Council.

On the way, they were pursued by black-clad riders.

One of the hobbits was wounded in the shoulder by the Black Riders.

This hobbit was named Frodo.

One of their adventures occurred in the Old Forest.

Two of the hobbits dozed off by a large tree, next to a river.

Suddenly, the tree snapped, and clamped down on them with large cracks.

Then Tom Bombadil came,

he who was as old as the Old Forest itself.

He sang into the cracks.

The tree released both hobbits.

After they thanked Tom Bombadil, the hobbits continued their journey.

Soon, they arrived at the river ford to the House of the Elvenking Elrond.

There they met the elf Glorfindel.

It is here we rejoin the action.

The hobbits Frodo and Sam, Merry and Pippin,

the elf Glorfindel, and their friend Strider,

shall cross over the Ford.

Frodo rides on Glorfindel's horse Asfaloth.

On the long slope to the Ford,

Glorfindel turned,

and saw three Black Riders.

"Fly! The enemy is upon us!"

"Ride, Frodo, ride!"

"noro lim, noro lim, Asfaloth!"

he called to the horse in the elf-tongue.

And Asfaloth flew forth like a storm.

The Black Riders crashed down the slope and rode at Frodo from two angles.

And Frodo drew away from the Riders behind him.

Those on the other side came nearer, and grew greater and darker.

Their swords glittered.

Frodo clung to Asfaloth's mane, as the wind and chill pierced him.

Asfaloth took one last fantastical leap across the Ford,

and flew like a shining white fire,

right before the face of the foremost Black Rider.

Frodo felt the river foaming about his feet.

Then the horse climbed up the steep slope,

and they were over the Ford.

When Frodo turned,

he saw the Black Riders' horses rise into the water,

and he heard a strange roar.

And as in a fog, he saw the river rise,

high, high, with frothy white peaks.

At the top of the foam were white riders, upon white horses

with frothing manes.

And on the other shore he saw a shining figure,

pouring forth white light.

Then the waves carried the Black Riders away,

and Frodo fell to the ground,

and saw no more.

When Frodo woke up, he was lying in a bed, in a room

with a flat ceiling, and dark beams richly carved.

"Good morning Frodo," said a voice.

It was Gandalf, who sat next to Frodo.

"You are in the House of Elrond, and you have slept for four days."

"Your friends are all safe, and everyone has been worried for you."

That evening and night, all of Rivendell celebrated Frodo's awakening,

with a long and splendid feast that lacked neither song, nor talk, nor food.

The morning after the party, the Council began.

Much was said of events in the world,

especially in the South, and in the wide lands east of the Mountains.

The dwarf Glóin told of the life and struggle of the dwarves under the mountain Moria,

where had once been many large, beautiful halls.

Elrond then continued, telling of the Kingdoms of the Elves,

and the fight against Sauron.

Here Elrond paused and sighed.

"How can you remember all this?"

asked Frodo, noticing that he was thinking aloud.

"I thought Gil-Galad died at least three thousand years ago."

"So it was indeed," answered Elrond gravely.

"But you understand, I am just as old."

"I have lived for three ages in Middle-earth,

and I saw how Sauron was defeated,

and how Isildur cut the Ring from his hand,

and took it for his own."

"And you should know that Gandalf is almost as old as he."

Frodo did not know what to say,

for he had never before heard that anyone could be so old.

Then Frodo brought forth the Ring,

and Gandalf and Strider told its story.

And both Frodo and Bilbo told of the adventures they had had,

when they had the Ring.

Frodo talked of the trip from the Shire to Rivendell,

and Bilbo of the trip on which he had found the Ring.

When Bilbo was finished, Gandalf said that some time ago,

he had started noticing spies of all sorts gathered round the Shire.

There were people, all kinds of creatures, and beasts, and birds.

He began to find out all there was to find about the ring,

and soon he understood that Bilbo found the One,

the Great,

the dangerous Ring.

Sauron's Ring.

Then Gandalf said this:

"A few months ago, I was tricked into riding to the foremost wizard,

Saruman the White,

to seek help."

"But I hesitated to co-operate with him, as he desired the Ring for himself."

"So he set me in prison, at the top of his highest tower."

"The only way one could come down

was through a narrow stair of many thousand steps."

"And it was altogether too high up for even me to jump down to the ground."

"But as I sat there,

I saw that Saruman was mustering a large army,

who were forging weapons."

"All the grass and all the trees were gone,

and instead the ground was full of black mines and sooty forges."

"My only hope was to send a message with the birds."

"So it was that when summer waned,

and the moonlit night was long,

came Gwaihir, the swiftest of the Great Eagles,

who took me carefully in his talons."

"And then we flew away before Saruman noticed anything."

"How far can you bear me?"

I asked Gwaihir.

"Many more miles,"

he answered.

"But wizards are heavier than the voles and mice I typically carry."

"Then we must land somewhere where I can get a horse."

"We shall fly to the Men of Rohan,

who raise horses."

"Ere dawn, Gwaihir set me down in Rohan."

"By the king's permission, I chose a horse for myself."

"I took the best there was,

and I have never seen such a horse before."

"Shadowfax, the Men of Rohan called him."

"In daylight, his coat glistens like silver;

by night, he is an unseen shade."

"He hardly touches the ground at a full gallop."

"None had ever ridden him,

when he came to me."

"With his help, I reached the Shire

when Frodo was with Tom Bombadil in the Old Forest."

"In The Prancing Pony,

I heard word that Frodo had gone off that morning,

together with Strider."

"This calmed me,

so I spent the night at the inn."

"But that night, the Black Riders stormed through Bree,

and the next day, I pursued them to Weathertop,

where Frodo, the day after, was wounded in the shoulder."

"I came to Rivendell three days before Frodo."

This was Gandalf's tale.

Then Elrond continued:

"We must go directly into peril."

"The Ring must be destroyed in the same Fire it was once made."

"It is right to destroy the Ring, for then there will be peace."

"And this peace is not just for the Shire and Rivendell,

but for all of Middle-earth, and for Mordor."

"And this peace shall always exist."

"And for there to be peace in this way,

we must fight for our lives,

and sacrifice all we have, and never despair."

"And the best is,

that we are glad,

for we know that we work towards a new world."

It was decided that nine people would go to

the fire-spewing mountain in Mordor,

and cast the Ring into the Cracks of Doom.

Those accompanying Frodo

were Sam,

Merry,

and Pippin,

and Gandalf.

Of the Elves was chosen Legolas,

and Gimli went for the Dwarves,

and Strider for Men.

In the morning, Frodo was with Bilbo,

and the old hobbit pulled out a chest.

He then plucked forth a sword.

"This is Sting, and you will probably have use of it,"

he said to Frodo.

"But I have one more thing," he said,

and unfolded a parcel of several folds of cloth,

and took out a small shirt of mail.

It shone like moonlit silver.

"It is dwarf-mail, and not at all heavy,

but feels like a light shirt."

"I have a fancy it would turn away even the knives of the Black Riders."

"Now then, you look like a proper hobbit!"

It was a grey cold day, the type that only occurs on December evenings.

The East Wind streamed through the bare trees.

The clouds hung low over the meadows of the House of Elrond.

Bilbo huddled in a cloak on the stairs,

together with Frodo.

Strider sat on the ground with his head bowed to his knees.

And Sam stood by the pony and sucked his teeth.

Everyone was waiting for Gandalf,

and finally Sam started going through his pack for the fiftieth time.

Salt (in a box),

flint,

tinder,

socks,

linen,

and many belongings that Frodo had forgotten.

But he had found no rope.

No rope!

"And only last night you said to yourself,"

thought Sam to himself,

"that it would be good to bring a bit of rope."

"For surely there will be a use for it."

"Well, in any case, we can't get it now, so we'll go without,"

thought Sam.

Gandalf came out of the house, together with Elrond.

"Good luck," said Elrond.

And Bilbo also wished them good luck.

In all of Rivendell, everyone wished the Nine good fortune,

and spoke in soft voices.

First, the Nine went over the bridge,

and slowly climbed up the steep, winding paths

that led out of the deep valley of Rivendell.

But when they came to the high moor,

everyone turned, and looked down at the House of Elrond one last time.

And then they went into the night,

to the fire-spewing mountain,

and the day Frodo would finally cast the Ring into the fire.

Gandalf went first,

and after him came Strider,

Frodo,

and Sam,

and the others.

Legolas, who saw best,

went last.

THE LORD OF THE RINGS By J.R.R. Tolkien

Adaptation: Soren Erlandsson Narrator: Evan Storm

Music: Bo Hansson Art: Peter Lindblom

Scenography: Mette Möller Producer: Urban Lasson

Subtitles and Translation: Austin Teholiz