The Fellowship of the Ring: Hobbits, Hills, and Movie Magic
- The Film at a Glance
- The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring: The Trailer
- Filming Locations: From the Shire to Rivendell
- Step Into the Shire at Hobbiton
- Finding the Fellowship
- Making Hobbits Small
- Feet, Swords, and Giant Little Sets
- The Sound of Home
- Concerning Hobbits: The Sound of the Shire
A sheep farm in New Zealand became the Shire, the green home of the hobbits in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. These small folk have big, hairy feet, and one of them is about to inherit a very large problem. Come along for a look at the real places, people, and clever tricks behind his adventure.
Frodo, played by Elijah Wood, inherits a magic Ring from his older relative Bilbo. The Ring is dangerous, and Frodo must leave home to help destroy it. His companions form the Fellowship, a group traveling through the imaginary world of Middle-earth.
A few story details from the first film follow.
The Film at a Glance
Director Peter Jackson brought J.R.R. Tolkien's story to the screen as three connected movies. Their main filming began in Wellington, New Zealand, on October 11, 1999, with the three films sharing one production.
That main shoot wrapped on December 22, 2000. There was still plenty to do: effects, recorded dialogue, sound, and music all needed further work before the adventure was ready for audiences.
The Fellowship of the Ring reached US theaters on December 19, 2001. It was the first part of the story, followed by The Two Towers and The Return of the King.
The trailer offers a quick introduction to Frodo's companions and the places waiting beyond his front door.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring: The Trailer
Filming Locations: From the Shire to Rivendell
Middle-earth may be imaginary, but its forests, hills, and rivers often started with real New Zealand scenery. The film draws on both the North and South Islands, turning places far apart into stops along one journey.
The Hobbiton address below is the tour departure point; the park, bridge, and lake entries give their road or regional locations.
| Place in the Film | Real Filming Location |
|---|---|
| Hobbiton, the hobbits' village in the Shire | The Shire's Rest tour departure point, 501 Buckland Road, Hinuera, Matamata, Waikato, North Island, New Zealand |
| Hobbiton Woods, where the hobbits hide from the dark-cloaked Black Riders | Mount Victoria, Wellington, Wellington Region, North Island, New Zealand |
| Rivendell, an elven refuge where Frodo recovers after a knife attack | Kaitoke Regional Park, Waterworks Road, Upper Hutt, Wellington Region, North Island, New Zealand |
| The river beneath the Argonath, the huge statues passed by the Fellowship | Kawarau Suspension Bridge area, Chard Road off Gibbston Highway, near Queenstown, Otago, South Island, New Zealand |
| Nen Hithoel, the lake where the Fellowship stops after its river journey | North Mavora Lake, Mavora Lakes Road, Southland, South Island, New Zealand |
The Wellington filming locations show how much a setting can change with the story. Mount Victoria becomes a place to hide, while the forest at Kaitoke provides Frodo with shelter.
Farther south, the Kawarau and Mavora locations supplied parts of the Fellowship's river journey. The Argonath statues were added with movie effects. The river is real; those towering stone figures won't be waiting beside it.
How a Sheep Farm Became Hobbiton
In 1998, location scouts spotted the Alexander family's Waikato sheep farm from the air. A pine beside a lake and a rising hill offered places for Hobbiton's Party Tree and Bag End, Bilbo's hillside home.
The chosen view had no roads, buildings, or power lines in sight. Construction began in March 1999, with help from the New Zealand Army.
The gardens had time to settle in, too. Ian McKellen, who plays the wizard Gandalf, described flowers in bloom and rows of fruit and vegetables in his Hobbiton filming diary. He also watched a billy goat help itself to a real cabbage from a market stall between takes.
The original set was temporary. A permanent Hobbiton was rebuilt for the later Hobbit films, starting in 2009. This official two-minute video shows that rebuilt attraction, rather than the set exactly as it stood for Fellowship.
Step Into the Shire at Hobbiton
Frodo's journey takes him away from this comfortable home with the Ring in his care. The One Ring replica below comes with a chain and a presentation box: a small keepsake for a Tolkien fan.
- Wear the ring as a pendant using the included chain.
- Keep the collectible tucked away in its velvet pouch between outings.
- Give a Tolkien fan a gift that arrives with its own presentation box.
Finding the Fellowship
Elijah Wood gave his audition a setting of its own. He recalled dressing as a hobbit, working on the accent with a voice coach, and filming his audition in Griffith Park in Los Angeles, California, United States.
He shot the scenes from several angles and sent the tape to the casting director. Months later, Jackson called to offer him Frodo.
Wood and the other three hobbit actors began their shared filming by rolling down a hill together. Wood and Dominic Monaghan, who plays Merry, later remembered that early work as part of the bond between them.
Here are eleven of the performers who filled out Frodo's world. The first age column uses October 11, 1999, the shared production start. It isn't everyone's first day on set: McKellen joined in January 2000.
The final column gives their ages on October 31, 2026.
| Performer | Character | Birth Date | Age on Oct. 11, 1999 | Age on Oct. 31, 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elijah Wood | Frodo, the hobbit carrying the Ring | January 28, 1981 | 18 | 45 |
| Sean Astin | Sam, Frodo's hobbit friend | February 25, 1971 | 28 | 55 |
| Dominic Monaghan | Merry, a hobbit companion | December 8, 1976 | 22 | 49 |
| Billy Boyd | Pippin, a hobbit companion | August 28, 1968 | 31 | 58 |
| Ian McKellen | Gandalf, the wizard guiding Frodo | May 25, 1939 | 60 | 87 |
| Viggo Mortensen | Aragorn, a human in the Fellowship | October 20, 1958 | 40 | 68 |
| Orlando Bloom | Legolas, an elf archer | January 13, 1977 | 22 | 49 |
| Sean Bean | Boromir, a warrior in the Fellowship | April 17, 1959 | 40 | 67 |
| John Rhys-Davies | Gimli, a dwarf companion | May 5, 1944 | 55 | 82 |
| Liv Tyler | Arwen, an elf who loves Aragorn | July 1, 1977 | 22 | 49 |
| Cate Blanchett | Galadriel, an elven leader | May 14, 1969 | 30 | 57 |
Orlando Bloom's Trilogy Pay
Bloom discussed his paycheck with Howard Stern in 2019. He recalled US$175,000 for all three films. He also mentioned a small, unspecified increase after release.
That original figure is roughly US$342,000 in September 2026 dollars. The estimate uses production-year 2000 as a rough base and US consumer-price changes; his exact payment dates aren't known.
Making Hobbits Small
Watch Bilbo serve tea to Gandalf at Bag End. They appear to sit across from each other, but Ian Holm, who played Bilbo, was actually 30 feet behind McKellen.
The trick is called forced perspective. Things farther from the camera look smaller, so carefully placing the actors made Bilbo seem hobbit-sized beside the wizard. From the camera's viewpoint, the distance between them disappeared into a friendly visit over tea.
Other shots needed a different solution. The crew built two versions of Bag End, with matching rooms and objects in different sizes.
The smaller set made McKellen's Gandalf look huge. Shorter performers stood in for the hobbit actors when a shot needed everyone together at that scale.
The larger set let the main actors play the hobbits among furniture that fit them. A very tall double could then stand in for Gandalf. Switching the performers and the room size kept the difference believable without asking one trick to handle every scene.
And the house itself needed a little help from geography. At the original Hobbiton location, Bag End's front door opened into a space just large enough for a camera. Its interiors were filmed at studios in Miramar, Wellington, New Zealand.
A door on a farm and rooms in a studio became one home on screen.
Feet, Swords, and Giant Little Sets
Getting the size right was part of the job. The characters also needed the feet, ears, clothes, and weapons that made them belong in this world.
Wētā Workshop's work for the trilogy included hobbit feet, elven ears, armor, costumes, and weapons. Artificial pieces attached to an actor's face or body are called prosthetics. They can change a person's appearance far beyond what a coat of makeup can do.
John Rhys-Davies, who played the dwarf Gimli, recalled an uncomfortable problem with the glued facial pieces. Repeatedly removing them irritated his skin and left his face swollen.
The workshop also built large physical models of places such as Rivendell, the mines of Moria, the fortress of Isengard, and the mountain pass at Caradhras. The crew called these oversized miniatures “bigatures.” A model could fill a room while still representing a much larger place in the story.
That makes Rivendell especially fun to look at again. A real forest helped establish the location, while model work helped create the larger imagined setting.
Frodo's sword, Sting, has a more everyday job in the collectible below. This Sting letter opener brings its shape to your desk and comes with a wooden box for storage or gifting.
- Put a favorite fantasy sword to work on everyday envelopes.
- Keep a movie collectible handy without needing space for a full-size blade.
- Store or present it neatly in the included wooden box.
The Sound of Home
Composer Howard Shore gave the Shire a musical voice, too. His original score for “Concerning Hobbits” includes tin whistle and Irish fiddle.
The gentle, homey feel suits a place of gardens and little hillside houses. With Frodo facing a dangerous journey, that warmth gives the home he leaves behind a sound of its own.
Give the soundtrack recording a listen below.
Concerning Hobbits: The Sound of the Shire
Then see how much of the adventure you remember in our Fellowship of the Ring quiz.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Quiz: Your Memory Takes the Road
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Quiz: Can You Keep the Story Straight?
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Quiz: Bring Your Memory Home
