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The Lord of the Rings
Created by Harvard students for students everywhere, SparkNotes is a new breed of study guide: smarter, better, faster. Geared to what today's students need to know, SparkNotes provides chapter-by-chapter analysis; explanations of key themes, motifs, and symbols; and a review quiz and essay topics. Lively and accessible, these guides are perfect for late-night studying and writing papers.
- GenresNonfiction
272 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1995
About the author
SparkNotes
1,787 books143 followersMany of the editions by this group of authors are actually guides to books rather than the works.
If the author of the SparkNotes is known, they should be the first author. Please leave these SparkNotes Editors as the second author and the author of the original work as the last author. Do not combine with the original work. Do not put the author of the ORIGINAL work first.
Link to discussion.
If the author of the SparkNotes is known, they should be the first author. Please leave these SparkNotes Editors as the second author and the author of the original work as the last author. Do not combine with the original work. Do not put the author of the ORIGINAL work first.
Link to discussion.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
April 10, 2020
At first I thought this was a good book to give to people who weren't enthusiastic about reading the trilogy but then I started getting into the middle of the book and came across some big mistakes.
I confess I've been skim reading, so I may not have picked up all errors, but one that really stood out to me was in The Two Towers Chapter 6 Summary as well as the Character list where the author refers to Eowyn as the Queen and Theoden's wife. Eowyn is Theoden's niece. She's the Lady of Rohan and of the royal house, but she's Theoden's niece, not wife. Being a LotR fan my whole life, this is such a basic and big error to me it makes me cringe.
Another error in the Motifs-Suspicion section is that it says Gandalf rode away to find Eomer and bring him back to Helm's Deep. That happened in the movie, not the books. In the books Eomer is already at Helm's Deep and Gandalf brings back Erkenbrand and his forces to reinforce Helm's Deep. I knocked it down to two stars because those are some pretty big and obvious mistakes to me, and I'm now wondering how many other mistakes there are.
I wonder if the author even read The Lord of the Rings? Or, if not, who gave them the information? Even if you just read the books once I would think you'd know that Eowyn wasn't Theoden's wife.
I'll be keeping this in my book collection, but I wouldn't loan it to anyone since it's inaccurate. I'd say just look up summaries via Google and wikipedia, they're more likely to be accurate.
I confess I've been skim reading, so I may not have picked up all errors, but one that really stood out to me was in The Two Towers Chapter 6 Summary as well as the Character list where the author refers to Eowyn as the Queen and Theoden's wife. Eowyn is Theoden's niece. She's the Lady of Rohan and of the royal house, but she's Theoden's niece, not wife. Being a LotR fan my whole life, this is such a basic and big error to me it makes me cringe.
Another error in the Motifs-Suspicion section is that it says Gandalf rode away to find Eomer and bring him back to Helm's Deep. That happened in the movie, not the books. In the books Eomer is already at Helm's Deep and Gandalf brings back Erkenbrand and his forces to reinforce Helm's Deep. I knocked it down to two stars because those are some pretty big and obvious mistakes to me, and I'm now wondering how many other mistakes there are.
I wonder if the author even read The Lord of the Rings? Or, if not, who gave them the information? Even if you just read the books once I would think you'd know that Eowyn wasn't Theoden's wife.
I'll be keeping this in my book collection, but I wouldn't loan it to anyone since it's inaccurate. I'd say just look up summaries via Google and wikipedia, they're more likely to be accurate.
Read
May 26, 2026Just fine. I did find it helpful bc I didn’t read the books back to back, and sometimes I took a big break even between chapters, so the Sparknotes helped me remember where I was in the story. I’m glad I read them for that reason.
But, it felt like there were a lot of things missing. I was surprised at some things that were glossed over. I wished there was a list of characters and all their various names/titles. I wish there was a list of important places. During the first and second books especially, that’s a reference that I really wanted and hoped I’d find in Sparknotes!
And I’m pretty sure there were some mistakes and some places where Sparknotes really misinterpreted the book 🤔
But, it felt like there were a lot of things missing. I was surprised at some things that were glossed over. I wished there was a list of characters and all their various names/titles. I wish there was a list of important places. During the first and second books especially, that’s a reference that I really wanted and hoped I’d find in Sparknotes!
And I’m pretty sure there were some mistakes and some places where Sparknotes really misinterpreted the book 🤔
Read
June 9, 2026Illustrated examination of the military campaigns, tactics, and equipment of the Third Reich.
October 12, 2012
Definitely not a substitute for reading the Lord of the Rings, but helpful as a supplement. I've read LOTR many times but this book still gave me a lot to think about. I was not wild about the continued references to the Christian religion and Christ, but some of the commentary was thought-provoking.
However, my copy was published in 2002 and I was a little surprised at the number of errors. For example, on page 106, Eowyn is described as 'the wife of Theoden" and the answer to a quiz question on page 174 is that she is Thoden's wife (she's his niece). On page 186 she is described as "The Lady of Rohan and future wife of Faramir." On page 203 she is identified as Theoden's daughter, and on page 205 Eomer is described as Theoden's son (he is his nephew, and Eowyn's brother).
On page 140, the Emyn Muil is called the "Emyn Muir," and Sting is referred to as Sam's Elf-made knife on age 159 (it is Frodo's, given to him to Bilbo).
It would be nice if a real Tolkien scholar would read and revise this, if that has not already been done.
However, my copy was published in 2002 and I was a little surprised at the number of errors. For example, on page 106, Eowyn is described as 'the wife of Theoden" and the answer to a quiz question on page 174 is that she is Thoden's wife (she's his niece). On page 186 she is described as "The Lady of Rohan and future wife of Faramir." On page 203 she is identified as Theoden's daughter, and on page 205 Eomer is described as Theoden's son (he is his nephew, and Eowyn's brother).
On page 140, the Emyn Muil is called the "Emyn Muir," and Sting is referred to as Sam's Elf-made knife on age 159 (it is Frodo's, given to him to Bilbo).
It would be nice if a real Tolkien scholar would read and revise this, if that has not already been done.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews