
Teke's Lord of the Rings Pre-Movie Breifing
You really dont need to know anything going into the movie, but knowing some things before going in to see the movie might help prevent some confusion and make the story easier to follow and therefore more enjoyable.
First thing you should be aware of is that the movie is three hours long. Its also the first of three parts, so dont expect the film to have a complete ending. Most everything i tell here is presented in some way during the film, so dont worry about remembering all of it. Basically this document is to tell you everything twice, because some people need things explained to them more than once to get it. Espicially if they're unfamilar with the world of fantasy. Be warned tho, i do tell of the plot, but not enough to spoil the movie if you dont know the story already.
During the story you'll encounter several diffrent races of people. These are Hobbits, Elves, Dwarves, and Men, who are regular humans. Forget everything you know about Dwarves and Elves from fairy tales. These are very diffrent, and i'll explain how below.
Places
They talk about (and go to) a lot places. The unfamiliar names can confuse people, so here's the basics.
The Shire - The peaceful land of the Hobbits.
Mordor - The home of Sauron, and location of Mt. Doom.
Rivendell - City of Elves
Gondor - The land of Men.
Moria - A Dwarven kingdom and mine located in the Misty Mountians.
Lothlorien - Another city of Elves.
Isengard - The location of the tower that the wizard Saruman the Wite.
Bad Guys
Lord Sauron - Sauron was an evil wizard of unspeakable power. Like all evil people of great power, his goal is to take over the world and make everyone in it his slave. He created a nation called Mordor, centered around the volcano, Mt. Doom. Thousands of years ago, Sauron had a great plan. Before he let everyone know he was evil, he enlisted the help of the Elves to forge a bunch of magical rings, called the Rings of Power, which he presented to the diffrent races as gifts. He gave three to the Elves, I think it was five to the Dwarves, and Nine to the Men. They all thought these rings were pretty cool until Sauron created the last ring. His, called only The One Ring. This ring controlled all the others, and also granted Sauron a bunch of other cool mysterious powers. Since this ring controlled the others, and the others were being worn by the leaders, it made it a lot easier for his army of Orcs and trolls to take over the world. That was, until the last alliance of Elves and Men formed. Desperately fighting for their very survival, the alliance managed to strike against Mordor itself, and assault Sauron at Mt. Doom, where Sauron was defeated. However the One Ring was not destroyed, and so Saurons spirit lived on in the form of a big flameing eyeball, biding his time until he could return and try to take over the world once again.
Nazgul - (aka RingWraiths) These guys are explained pretty well in the film, but i'll tell about them anyway. These are the nine human kings who recieved Rings of Power from Sauron. The humans, being weak and greedy as they are, fell so deep under the power of the One Ring, that they never really died. Instead they became Nazgul. Evil spirts neither living nor dead that are commanded by the Eye of Sauron and the will of the One Ring. The most poweful of the Nazgul, called the Witch King, was the leader of the army that destroyed the human kingdom of Arnor, and thus destroyed the unification with Gondor.
Saruman the White - Saruman is the leader of the wizards, who resides in a tower in an area called Isengard. Saruman is allied with Sauron. Seduced by the lure of power, the once good Saurman has turned bad. Not only is he serving Sauron and the forces of darkness, but he aspires to get the One Ring for himself. Which kind of pisses off Sauron, but he's also still helpful, so Sauron hasnt done anything to him yet.

Saruman the White
Hobbits
Hobbits, also known as Halflings, are short people (usually between two to four feet tall) who nornally have curly hair, big hairy feet, and a big appetite. Hobbits love to eat and eat something like nine good meals a day. Hobbits live in a place called The Shire, with the biggest town in the Shire being Hobbiton. Hobbits like to eat, drink, party, sleep, and gossip. Hobbits generally never leave the Shire, and frown upon anything that might be seen as an adventure. An adventurous Hobbit is usually seen as being crazy. There are five Hobbits you will get to know in Lord of the Rings.

Merry, Frodo, Pippin, and Sam. Our little furry footed heroes.
Bilbo Baggins - Bilbo is the title character in Tolkiens first book, prequel to LOTR, The Hobbit. About 60 years prior to the beginning of LOTR Bilbo left the Shire and had an adventure. I wont go into detail on what happened, but he returned with all the gold his pony could carry, and another artifact: a magic ring with the power to make him invisible. Bilbo is the first Hobbit to become fameous outside of the Shire, and he's also likely the weathiest Hobbit in all of Hobbit history. Bilbo's estate, called Bag End, is located in Hobbiton. Bilbo is seen by older Hobbits as an eccentric, but is seen by the younger generations as something of a hero.
Frodo Baggins - Frodo is Bilbo's nephew (or cousin, depending on the source of information). Frodo's parents passed away when he was a child, and he was adopted by Bilbo, who made Frodo the heir to his estate and all his wealth. Frodo is quiet and shy as far as Hobbits go, altho he has grown up looking up to Bilbo, and dreampt of someday leaving the Shire and going on his own adventure.

Frodo with Bilbo's sword, Sting.
Samwise Gamgee (aka Sam) - Sam and his father work for Bilbo tending to the gardens of Bag End. Sam is also Frodo's best friend, and he looks up to Frodo a great deal. Sam is an honorable and extremely brave Hobbit, and is one of my favorite characters.
Merriadoc Brandybuck (aka Merry) - Merry is Frodo's cousin on Frodo's mothers side. He's from a part of the Shire called Buckland, which borders with the Brandywine River, on the very edge of the Shire. When Merry grows up he will be the Hobbit in charge of Buckland.
Peregrin Took (aka Pippin) - Pippin is the comic relief of the movie. Pippin isnt the brightest Hobbit, and strangely enough he's the heir to become the Hobbit leader of the Shire when he grows up. The Tooks are also related to the Baggins family, and before Bilbo's adventure, the Tooks were regarded by most Hobbits to be a family of eccentrics. Pippin and Merry are best friends.
Elves
Forget about Keebler evles, or Santas elves. The Elves of high fantasy are a powerful and ancient race of tall, thin, light, agile, and highly sensitive creatures. Elves are also immortal. Unless killed by a wound, an Elf will live forever. Hence Elves are very cultured, very intelligent, and they choose their fights very carefully. Elves are not violent and power hungry the way Men are.
Elrond - Elrond is the leader of the Elves in the great Elf city of Rivendell. He's an ancient Elf, over five thousand years old, and very powerful. He was the leader of the Elven troops when the Elves and the Men allied to defeat Mordor.
Arwen - Arwen is the daughter of Elrond, and essentially a Princess. She's engaged to Aragorn, a Man. Arwen is willing to give up her Elven immortality in order to marry him, but Elrond will not allow her to marry anyone less than a King. Arwen is said to be the worlds most beautiful living being. I think most males will agree. :)

Arwen
Legolas - Legolas is the worlds most awesome Elf. In my opinion. LOL. Legolas is one of the nine of the Fellowship. He's an Elf of action. He knows what needs to be done and never hesitates in doing it. Also, if you'll notice in the film, he usually sees and hears things long before the others do. Elves have very keen senses. He's also an excellent archer, a perfect shot, due to his superior dexterity and keen eyesight. He's not perfect however, as he doesnt have a whole lot of physical strength. (eg, you'll never see him carrying bags or one of the Hobbits)

Legolas the Badass
Galadriel - Galadriel is the Elven queen of the forest of Lothlorien. Even more ancient than Eldrond, Galadriel is very powerful magically. She was one of the three Elves to be given rings of power by Sauron. Honestly, she's a bit creepy.

Galadriel the Creepy
Dwarves
Dwarves are generally grouchy people, who live in great mines underground. They mine all kinds of metals and jewels, and are excellent craftsmen. Their greatest underground find, however, is a type of silver called Mithril, which is extremely light, but extremely hard.
Gimili - Gimili is the son of one of the Dwarves that went with Bilbo Baggins on his adventure in The Hobbit. Gimili, like most Dwarves, is rejudiced against Evles. Gimili is also one of the nine of the Fellowship.
Men
Men are defenitely having a hard time of it at the beginning of the story. There was once a united kingdom between the two great nations of Men, Gondor and Arnor. After the defeat of Mordor, Arnor was attacked, and eventually defeated by what they called the Witch King. With Arnor fallen, the surviving humans became refugees, and the unitedness fell, leaving Gondor witout a king. Many of the survivors became nomads who lived and hunted the forests, and these people were called Rangers. Gondor was henceforth led by a Stewardship, and has since never taken a king, awaiting the return of the rightful heir.
Men are seen by the other races as being short lived and weak willed. Men tend to be violent and greedy, and are frowned upon by the other races. They are, however, respected for their abilities as warriors, and for their ability to adapt.
Isildur - You dont need to know much about him, they pretty much tell you what you need to know in the movie, but i'll tell you again. At the great battle at the foot of mount doom, Isildur was the prince of the united kingdom. His father, the king, was slain by the dark Lord Sauron. In vengance of his fathers death, Isildur managed to cut the ring from Saurons finger, thereby defeating him. Instead of destroying the ring as he should have, Isildur kept it for himself, thereby dooming the world, and enabling the future return of the dark lord.
Aragorn (aka Strider) - Aragorn is a Ranger, and is Isildurs heir. Aragorn was raised, educated, and trained by Elrond in Rivendell. He is haunted by the failure of Isildur, and somehow feels guilty for the actions of his forefather. He fears is own weakness too much to return to Gondor and claim the throne to re-unite the kingdom of men. His quest is to redeem himself and his family by helping Frodo destroy the ring once and for all. Aragorn is engaged to Arwen.

Strider, aka Aragorn
Boromir - Boromir is the son and heir of the Steward of Gondor. Since the heirs of Isidur have been a bunch of pusses and havent taken the throne, Boromir and his family have been running the show in their absence.

Boromir, Legolas the Elf, and Strider
Gandalf the Grey - While essentially not really human, he's in a human body, so i'll put him here. :) Gandalf is an ageless wizard of great power. He set Bilbo on his first adventure, and has maintained a friendship with him ever since. In the process, he also became a friend and mentor figure to young Frodo. Never underestimate the power of Gandalf.

Gandalf