Shire Learning

Image credit: The Lord of the Rings: Pierre Vinet

NAZGUL The nine Black Riders, slaves of Sauron, who pursue the Fellowship. (Also called the ring-wraiths.) The Rider who sniffs out the four hobbits under the tree was a stuntman who played many parts. ''He'd do that, then run off and play an orc, then go back and play a Rider -- and his movements would be different for each,'' Boyd says.

ONE RING The ring of pure evil that rules the other rings of power -- it can grow or shrink to fit the hand of Sauron or a hobbit.

PIPE-WEED In his attack on Gandalf, rival Saruman (Christopher Lee) accuses the wizard: ''The love of the halflings' leaf has dulled your mind.'' The kind bud, dude! As Tolkien explains in a prologue, hobbits considered smoking certain ''herbs'' an art form. A contented people indeed.

QUIDDITCH Wrong film, dummy.

RIDDLES IN THE DARK In ''The Hobbit,'' the creature Gollum challenges Bilbo to a life-or-death guessing game. In the film, Gandalf dismisses this as ''riddles in the dark'' -- one of several Tolkien chapter titles Jackson slipped into the script.

STING Another goodie Frodo inherits from Bilbo is his sword (discovered in ''The Hobbit''), which glows blue when orcs are near. ''Sting was the coolest thing -- holding Bilbo's sword that had taken him through his own journey,'' says longtime ''Hobbit'' fan Wood. ''I'd grown up with that as an ideal thing.''

TONI HOME PERMS Did a team of stylists swoop down upon the Shire and give all the hobbits curly mullets? ''They were actually wigs -- and they were slightly annoying to get on at five in the morning,'' Boyd says. ''But once they were on, they were great -- you'll notice us running our hands through our hair a lot.''

URUK-HAI A crossbreed of orcs and goblin men created in the film by Saruman. Tolkien, however, never envisioned these supersoldiers squeezing out of slimy pods -- that was artist (and Tolkien illustrator) Alan Lee's idea. ''It's like Saruman has bewitched the ground,'' Jackson says. ''That's the PG way, at least, of showing the breeding process.'' Or the PG-13 way, in this case.

VICIOUS CREATURES Middle-earth is crawling with them. There are orcs in Khazad-dûm, a computer-generated cave troll, and the Balrog that Gandalf battles. ''I knew there'd be a lot of attention over the Balrog from fans,'' Jackson says. ''Tolkien only describes it as a creature of shadow and flame. So when I saw it, it was the thing that gave me the most relief.''

WOOD, ELIJAH Confession time: Frodo has yet to read the trilogy. ''When I got the film, I tried, but I was so immersed in the world of Middle-earth in New Zealand that it felt slightly redundant,'' admits the 20-year-old actor. ''I feel guilty -- it's, well, sacrilegious.''

X FACTOR The reception by audiences that will help determine how soon we'll see the next episode, ''The Two Towers.''

Y FACTOR The time required to complete special effects, which could squelch the rumors that New Line might push up the battle-packed ''Two Towers'' from next December to summer 2002. ''I think that's impossible,'' Jackson says. Sounds like it: The Howard Shore score still has to be readied, and WETA Digital has completed only about 250 of the nearly 600 F/X shots.

ZILLIONS The number of characters, lands, and histories that must be mastered to be a true ''Rings'' geek. But it might be worth it. As Wood says: ''Geeks are generally the most interesting people.''