The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (I)

​Topps released The Fellowship of the Ring trading cards as a two part series, the first arriving in 2001 and then an Update series the following year.  Presented below are some of my favorite cards of the first series.  It was a good attempt at piecing together the movie with screenshots of the film where descriptions of the scene is covered on the back.
 
First up is Card #35, The Hobbits Take Cover.  In this scene, it is the Hobbits’ first encounter with a ring wraith.  As the Hobbits pick at mushrooms on the side of the trail, Frodo senses a darkness approaching and urgently tells his friends to hide.  Here they are, hiding beneath some tree roots, when the dark rider approaches.

​Card #36, Escaping Death's Clutches, perfectly illustrates the dark rider hunched over his horse, tormented by his never ending search for the Ring.  The evil magic that he possesses aids in his search and is used against any that gets in his way!

​Frodo eventually makes it to the land of the Elves where the Fellowship of the Ring is formed:  4 Hobbits, a Dwarf, an Elf, and 3 men of which one is a Wizard.  Card #59, The Fellowship of Nine shows they are gathered with the common purpose of destroying the Ring.  Although the burden is on Frodo, all will take part in fulfilling the mission to its end.

​The Fellowship must traverse the mines of Moria, home of the dwarves but long overtaken by evil creatures.  Card #69, The Fellowship Battles, shows their readiness as they defend themselves against goblins and a cave troll.

​Not all is well with the Fellowship after the battle.  Gandolph falls in battle with a Belrog, a demonic  monster that dwells in the depths of Moria.  Madness overtakes one of the nine, Boromir, and he attempts to steal the Ring from Frodo.  Frodo, in turn, uses the power of the Ring and disappears, escaping Boromir's clutches.  To make matters worse, the Uruk-Hai hunt down the Fellowship.  Once elves, these monstrosities were carved into evil beasts by the powerful wizard, Saruman.  Card #76, the Might of a Dwarf, shows Gimli in full battle against the Uruk-Hai.

​The Lord of the Rings:  The Fellowship of the Ring ends in tragedy.  Boromir, son of Gondor, redeems himself when he single-handedly takes on a group of Uruk-Hai that kidnap Merry and Pippin.  He fights valiantly and in Card #78, The Horn of Gondor, Boromir sounds the alarm for his friends, his brothers, his Fellowship, to join him in battle.  Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas reach him but it's too late.  Boromir is taken down by the Uruk-Hai with 3 arrows that pierce his body.   He fought valiantly, but eventually succumbed to his injuries.

​In my next post, I will continue with the Update series of trading cards from The Lord of the Rings:  The Fellowship of the Ring.