The Fellowship of the Ring

By: J. R. R. Tolkien

Narrated by: Ensemble Cast

Here is the original American full dramatization, as broadcast on National Public Radio.

In the ancient lands of Middle-earth, a place of elves and dwarves, Orcs and wizards, the darkest evil and the brightest good, a hobbit named Frodo Baggins embarks on a perilous quest: to carry the One Ring, ruler of all the Rings of Power, into the shadowy land of Mordor and destroy it in the fires where it was forged.

They're precious! Listen to all of our classic NPR dramatizations of J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings series:

The Hobbit (Dramatized)

The Two Towers (Dramatized)

The Return of the King (Dramatized)

©1979, 1994 Christopher R. Tolkien, Michael H.R. Tolkien, John F.R. Tolkien, and Priscilla M.A.R. Tolkien (P)1979, 1994 HighBridge Company

Critic reviews

"The best available." ( Booklist)
"This collection...is a masterpiece." ( The Courier)
"Spirited productions...stirring music." ( Washington Post)

Kept me entertained all the way through

Very good listen! Readers are amazing and keep you immersed the whole book.! Can’t wait to listen to the next few books.

Good story but the performance I'd lacking

Story was great as I expected, but the voice action in this isn't good at all. In my opinion, the BBC version is far superior.

I finally found it!

This was the first audiobook I ever heard. Given to me by a family friend when I was 10. The compact discs were used and in poor condition and I admit I lost a few of them. This may not be the most complete or definitive version of LOTR but it kindled my love for audiobooks and therefore will always hold a special place in my heart and now in my audio library as well.

For kids only

This is a really good way to introduce the younger set to the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, who may find it difficult to read the books or to young to watch the movies.

I didn't realize this was geared for kids when I dowloaded it. As an adult, I was unable to finish listening to this narration because I found the voices annoying. If you listen to this with your children, be aware that many of the characters have high pitched voices, sounding like the Smurfs or munchkins (which of course, children love!). The narration of the start of Frodo and Co.'s journey seemed to go and on and they hadn't left the realms of Hobbit lands yet. I think they should have cut this down a bit so children don't start to get bored with the narration.

None-the-less, if you have a young one that you want to get into the science fiction realm, this is the perfect thing to listen too. When they get older, show them the movies and let them read the books for the complete Lord of the Rings experience.

Highly abridged version

if you have not read the book or seen the movie previously, this version will be very hard to follow. it is highly abridged.