Aided by wizard Gandalf the Grey (Ian McKellen) and a mysterious man named Strider, also known as Aragorn, (Viggo Mortensen), young Hobbit Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood) and his three friends -- Samwise 'Sam' Gamgee (Sean Astin), Peregrin 'Pippin' Took (Billy Boyd), and Meriadoc 'Merry' Brandybuck (Dominic Monaghan) -- set out to carry an ancient evil ring to the Elven kingdom of Rivendell, where they are joined by Elf Legolas Greenleaf (Orlando Bloom), Dwarf Gimli (John Rhys-Davies), and human Boromir (Sean Bean), forming a fellowship pledged to destroy the ring by tossing it into the fires of Mount Doom to prevent it falling into the hands of its maker, Sauron, who would cover the world of Middle Earth in darkness and war.