The Fellowship of The Good, the Bad, and the Funny

A feature I used to do here at Jokien with Tolkien is a Reader Mailbag, where I answered questions from you, readers!

Today I’m resharing an updated answer to a question from several years ago about how different characters from literature might fare as part of the Fellowship of the Ring, including a few reader suggestions!

Want to help bring the feature back? Send me some questions—serious or silly—that you would like answered about The Lord of the Rings, Middle-earth, or other related topics, in an email with a title that begins “Dear Jokien…” to JRRJokien@JRRJokien.com.

Reader Mailbag: Ask Jokien

Dear Jokien,

What character from other literature would do the best if they had to join the Fellowship? What character would do the worst? Which would be funniest? I would personally love to see pre-undragoned Eustace Clarence Scrubb being dragged along by Gandalf.

—The Good, The Bad, and the Funny

Dear the Good, the Bad, and the Funny,

What an wonderful question! The composition of the Fellowship is such a crucial part of the narrative of The Lord of the Rings: each member plays their part and has pivotal contributions to the arc of the narrative. Just changing a single member would have massive repercussions not just on the group dynamic but potentially on the eventual fate of Middle-earth.

I love your suggestion of Eustace from The Voyage of the Dawn Treader being part of the Fellowship in his dragon form: he almost deserves such a fate! And he’d prove pretty handy as a scout as well as in combat (though he’d make their stealthier endeavors a bit more challenging).

So what other characters from literature would rise to the task and fit well as a member of the Fellowship? And which would find themselves a poor fit?

First, it might be helpful for us to remind ourselves about the purpose of the Fellowship itself. Why nine companions? And why the mix of members that they ended up with?

Describing the reasoning behind the small size and composition of the Fellowship, Elrond says to Frodo, “The number must be few, since your hope is in speed and secrecy. Had I a host of Elves in armour of the Elder Days, it would avail little, save to arouse the power of Mordor.” Aside from Frodo, Sam, and Gandalf, it’s Elrond’s intention that the rest “shall represent the other Free Peoples of the World: Elves, Dwarves, and Men.” And Gandalf adds when the subject of Merry and Pippin joining the fellowship comes up that “in this matter it would be well to trust rather to their friendship than to great wisdom. Even if you chose for us an Elf-lord, such as Glorfindel, he could not storm the Dark Tower, nor open the road to the Fire by the power that is in him.”¹

So the aim of the Fellowship is some speed, stealth, some diversity, and some good vibes rather than just what seems wisest on paper. Brute strength or power is not necessarily the key to success, otherwise a character like Glorfindel (who died fighting a Balrog and was sent back, by the way! Some pretty relevant job experience if you ask me) would have taken Merry and Pippin’s spot.

So let’s take each of the Free Peoples and their Wizard companion in turn. I’ll offer some suggestions of characters I think would make the best, worst, and most hilarious additions to the Fellowship for each category, but I’d love to hear all your ideas and contributions in the comments as well!

Nota bene: I’ll be straying outside of literature into film, tv, even video games in my answers. Basically any realm outside of Middle-earth!

Elves

Drizzt Do'Urden, the heroic drow (dark elf) from Dungeons & Dragons’ Forgotten Realms setting and books would make an excellent member of the Fellowship. He’s a ranger and an excellent fighter, plus his panther companion would come along too. Link from The Legend of Zelda series of videogames would also make an excellent addition to the Fellowship (yes, he’s technically Hylian, not an elf, but that’s close enough in my opinion). Problem-solver, archer, strong silent type, what’s not to love?

Hermey from the the Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Christmas special would also make a quality member of the Fellowship. He’s already got experience going on quests and working with Dwarves, after all!

“Never thought I’d die fighting side by side with an Elf.”

Unless we need shoes or cookies made, I don’t think that shoemaking or Keebler elves will be of much help to us, so I’m going to put them in the “worst” category. But there’s one more “elf” who would be a hilarious addition to the Fellowship: Buddy the Elf. Yes, he’s technically a human raised by elves, but that would just give him and Aragorn lots to chat about! And since the Fellowship leaves Rivendell on December 25th, what could be more perfect? He can keep them all merry with songs of Christmas cheer and tales of Father Christmas along their journey.²

Drizzt (the good), Keebler (the bad), and Buddy (the funny)

Dwarves

The best dwarves to join the Fellowship would be loyal and skilled fighting dwarves like Trumpkin from Prince Caspian or Bruenor Battlehammer, Drizzt Do-Urden’s dwarven friend and companion. Murray Mag'Nesson from Critical Role’s Campaign 4 could technically fill either a slot here or in our Wizard category, but either way she would make a fine addition to the quest as well.

Dwarves who would make poor additions to the Fellowship would include Nikabrik from Prince Caspian, who betrayed Prince Caspian and the other Narnians. Of course, any of Snow White’s seven dwarfs in the original Brothers Grimm tale could also serve as good companions in a pinch, though you could find good (Doc, Happy), bad (Sleepy, Grumpy), and funny (Sneezy, Dopey) members for the Fellowship from among the Disney versions of the Seven Dwarfs.

[left to right] Murray and Trumpkin (the good), Nikabrik (the bad), and Sneezy (the funny)

Men

Some of the best humans from literature to join the fellowship that come to mind are Robin Hood, Beowulf, Arya Stark from A Song of Ice and Fire, Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games, Roland Deschain of Gilead from Stephen King’s The Dark Tower series, and al’Lan Mandragoran, Warder and heir to the throne of Malkier from The Wheel of Time. Their fighting and leadership skills as well as their individual characteristics would make any of them excellent companions on the journey to Mordor.

Some of the worst characters from literature that I can imagine joining on the quest to destroy the Ring include Hamlet, Heathcliff from Wuthering Heights, Captain Ahab from Moby Dick, Edmond Dantes from The Count of Monte Cristo,³ and Doctor Victor Frankenstein. Each of them are too obsessed, deranged, or both to lend much aid to the quest, and many of them would doubtless become obsessed with the Ring itself and the power it held to the point of being detrimental to the quest.

As for some funny companions, I immediately thought of Don Quixote, and well as Westley, Inigo Montoya, Vizzini, and Fezzik from The Princess Bride. Each of them would contribute laughs for their own reasons (such as their wit, scheming, innocence, incompetence etc.) and yet they each could also contribute to the Fellowship in their ways as well.

Arya (the good), Ahab (the bad), and Don Quixote (the funny)

Hobbits (well, Hobbit-esque Folk)

Direct Hobbit analogues are not all that common in literature (to my knowledge), so I used this category to list some fantasy creatures or characters of a more diminutive size or with a Hobbit-ish heart of simplicity, trust, and courage. Daughter of Eve though she is, Lucy Pevensie from The Chronicles of Narnia strikes me as about as close to having a Hobbit heart as you could find in literature and would make an excellent addition to the Fellowship. Matthias or Martin the Warrior from the Redwall books and Reepicheep from Narnia also would make great members of the Fellowship: they’re brave, loyal, and skilled fighters.

Peter Pan may be as likely to mess with you as assist you, and the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland, Mister Mxyzptlk, and Rumpelstiltskin would be poor choices almost any way you look at it.

The Scarecrow from The Wizard of Oz and Puddleglum the marsh-wiggle from Narnia’s The Silver Chair would make for some hilarious scenarios and interactions with their fellow members. And (grant me the liberty of straying from literature one more time and for stretching this category to its breaking point), I can’t stop chuckling at the image of Jar Jar Binks joining the Fellowship, much to the ire of Gandalf. Fool of a Gungan!

Reepicheep (the good), Rumpelstiltskin (the bad), and Scarecrow (the funny)

Wizards

Foremost among the wizards or magicians that I could see joining the Fellowship would be the Archmage Ged from the Earthsea Cycle, Moiraine from The Wheel of Time, Vin from the Mistborn trilogy, Hermione, and Merlin, while some of the worst (albeit funny in their way) wizards to have as part of the Fellowship include Rincewind from the Discworld series and Gilderoy Lockhart from Harry Potter.

And some hilarious wizard to throw into the mix? Wit from Brandon Sanderson’s Cosmere! And also Tim the Enchanter from Monty Python and the Holy Grail!

Ged (the good), Gilderoy (the bad), and Tim (the funny)

I think that all of these provides us plenty of configurations with which to construct some Fellowships that pack some serious punch, some that are disasters waiting to happen, or others that fall somewhere in between.

Consider how impressive and effective a Fellowship comprised of Drizzt Do'Urden, Trumpkin, Robin Hood, Inigo Montoya, Reepicheep, Archmage Ged, Lucy Pevensie, Arya Stark, and Matthias would be!

Or consider the absolute ineffectiveness and hilarity of Buddy the Elf, Sleepy the Dwarf, Don Quixote, Vizzini, Gilderoy Lockhart, Jar Jar Binks, the Scarecrow, the Cheshire Cat, and Puddleglum attempting to get the Ring five feet down the road together, let alone all the way to Mordor. Middle-earth would be doomed.

Or perhaps a middle ground, with a mix of best, worst, and funniest? After all, this is not a matter of great wisdom but of friendship, right? Hmmm…on second thought…

(Top Left to Right) Westley, Puddleglum, Buddy the Elf, and Jar Jar; (Bottom Left to Right) Matthias, Lucy, Hermione, Peter Pan, and Doc.

And this doesn’t even get into the idea of mixing characters from the original Fellowship with some of these characters! Can’t you just imagine Aragorn fighting side-by-side with Westley and Hermione? And Legolas joining forces with Robin Hood, The Gunslinger, and Katniss! Reepicheep and Gimli having an orc-slaying contest! Gandalf and Lucy having long talks and sharing many laughs. The possibilities are so interesting and exciting!

Perhaps the real Fellowship is all the characters we read along the way. (Well…when I go back and read that previous sentence out loud…not really. The real Fellowship is definitely Tolkien’s Fellowship as he designed it.) But what a wonderful thought experiment to imagine how some slight—or major—changes to the group might have affected the course of events in Middle-earth.

—Josh

What about you, readers? What other characters from literature do you think would make a good, bad, or funny addition to the Fellowship?

Special shoutout and thank you to Jacob W for upgrading to a an Extended Edition membership recently! This is a reader-supported newsletter so if you enjoy these updates each week, please consider supporting this Substack via a paid subscription.

📚 You can read more of my writing by reading my books! My latest is a collection of essays on The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion, and more of Tolkien’s works (and their adaptations). You can also find it and more of my books on Amazon or Gumroad

⚔️ If someone forwarded this email to you or you found it through social media or Google, I’d like to invite you to join 18,000+ subscribers in the Jokien with Tolkien community: Subscribe here and get a free gift just for joining!

🏹 Chosen as a Substack Featured Publication in 2023

🪓 Official merch available in the Jokien with Tolkien store

❌ All typos are precisely as intended

🔗 Links may be affiliate, which is a free-to-you way to support this newsletter where I earn a small commission on items you purchase

🗃️ Can’t wait till next week for more content? View the archive

🎯 Interested in writing a guest piece? Check out my submission guidelines.

🤝 Want to sponsor a future issue of Jokien with Tolkien? View my rates and packages

1. J.R.R. Tolkien, “The Ring Goes South,” The Lord of the Rings Illustrated Edition (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2021), 276.

2. The mention of whom Tolkien would have expressly been against, since Middle-earth is a world set before any Christ-event. Hence the punchline of this Tolkien/Lewis chat.

3. The book version! The movie version is much less singularly focused on revenge and does not go nearly as far in his quest for vengeance.