The Lord of the Rings Nazgûl, to seize it. The story begins in the Shire, where the hobbit Frodo Baggins inherits the Ring from Bilbo Baggins, his cousin and guardian. Neither hobbit is aware of the Ring's nature, but Gandalf the Grey, a wizard and an old friend of Bilbo, suspects it to be Sauron's Ring. Seventeen years later, after Gandalf confirms his guess, he tells Frodo the history of the Ring and counsels him to take it away from the Shire. Frodo sets out, accompanied by his gardener, servant and friend, Samwise "Sam" Gamgee, and two cousins, Meriadoc "Merry" Brandybuck and Peregrin "Pippin" Took.
Minor places in Middle-earth Muil as far north as the Argonath. In "The Two Towers", Frodo and Sam struggled through the eastern Emyn Muil en route to the Black Gate of Mordor. Tolkien writes that he padded Frodo and Sam's difficult crossing with enough days to synchronize their movements with those of Aragorn and Gandalf. Frodo and Sam eventually escaped using a rope to descend a cliff to the Dead Marshes. In the meantime the Uruk-hai, carrying Meriadoc Brandybuck and Peregrin Took as captives, traversed the western Emyn Muil. They were pursued by the Three Hunters: Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli. The Emyn Uial (S.