There is a great deal of character diversity in The Lord of the Rings with not only many protagonists, but also many races that live in Tolkien's Middle Earth. In general, each group has a particular region that it calls home and many characteristics that are unique to it. Some groups can be seen as outright good, others as bad, however there are also groups that cannot be generalized in this way and it is their key players that must be looked at.
Hobbits: The first group of Middle Earth inhabitants that we meet at length. The Hobbits are a cheerful bunch of villagers who like beer and festivities to excite their humble little life in the Shire. They are a well meaning humanist crowd. However, we soon learn that one of the Hobbits, Bilbo Baggins, actually has the long, lost Ring of Power and it has somewhat degraded him; he is now quite the recluse when compared to his festive kin and it is not an easy task to give up the Ring, he can clearly be seen to have become addicted to its presence. However, since Hobbits are good at heart, he does give it away on Gandalf the Wizard's wise orders and it is entrusted to his younger cousin, Frodo. Bilbo's actions, after having possessed the Ring for so long, seem to suggest that Hobbits are not mere Gentiles. Bilbo says of his kin: “Where our hearts truly lie is in peace and quiet and good-tilled earth." This strongly reflects the Aryan Farmer archetype.
Frodo is the Hobbit who rises to Arhat through his quest; his friends who accompany him certainly become Aryans through their enlightenment and intense experience. Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin learn about the vast expanse of the World in which they live, about the forces that have been driving it, and they take part in the Aryan Kampf to bring about a New Order in a New Age.
Gollum/Smeagol: He is a specific character and I mention him here, since Gollum is actually a degenerated Hobbit. He still goes by his old name Smeagol, including when talking about himself in the third person, but Gandalf refers to him as Gollum and so does Tolkien's text. This two-name theme reflects the character's dual nature of good and bad, which has now mixed into a degraded and corrupt unit. This character also parallels the Golem from Jewish lore, which was supposed to be a being created from inanimate materials, most often stone or clay, and then "activated" and meant to protect a Rabbi or a group of Jews from harm.
Gollum, when shown in the story, is very much associated with stone. There is the color of his skin, that fact that he is first scene in the Moria mine jumping from one stone to another, and in a brief scene of Gandalf explaining that Gollum was tortured by Orcs before being released it could certainly pass for him being "made" in a lab of some sort. Lastly, in The Two Towers, he is first seen crawling down a stone cliff and he is supposed to recover the Ring and thus protect the life-force of the Dark Lord Sauron. Also, Gollum doesn't seem to feel pain, which suggests his body is being artificially kept alive. He can be seen eating a fish at one point, but it also looks like he is just killing and munching it for his own amusement.
This many parallels in theme and imagery could not have been a coincidence. Thus the character's dual nature has two meanings. First, there is Smeagol, who is the ultimate example of Gentile corruption, driven to and dominated by love for gold, even to the point of neglecting his own body's well-being, let alone anyone else's. In a way, he is the polar opposite of the Hobbit Frodo. Second, there is Gollum, a soulless artificial goy built by Jews to serve Jews, but mainly to protect their artificially generated wealth and swindle.
Wizards: The race of wizards in the storyline is also presented with an opposing duality theme. First is the fact that there are two wizards, Gandalf the Grey and Saruman the White. Gandalf, is not led astray from Nobility, while Saruman succumbs to corruption. Thus each wizard takes on a second new form as the story progresses. The change is more metaphorical with Saruman who begins to serve Sauron (note that Saruman's staff resembles the Dark Tower), he goes through a change of character. With Gandalf, the change is more literal as he gets a change of body after risking himself to save others from the Balrog in Moria. The new Gandalf that emerges is now much more able bodied as evidenced in his fighting skills and capable of wielding more potent magic as he breaks Saruman's staff.
Gandalf, in a way, ascends to a position analogous to that of Arhat, while Saruman falls from his former post. In the film version this fall is quite literal as he plunges to his death from the top of Isengard. In the book, however, he reappears at the end in the Shire, which he transformed into a crude industrial complex - since he can no longer wield power by magic and divine knowledge, he makes machines to do it for him. In the end, however, he perishes the same with his slimy assistant who is very appropriately named Grima Wormtongue.
Elves: Elves are the purest race present in Middle Earth. They possess knowledge and wisdom like no other and it was Elven smiths who initially forged the Rings in with good intention of gaining knowledge about Middle Earth. The only Rings that were not tainted by Sauron were the ones belonging to the Elves, thus for all intents and purposes it is the Elves who know most about the Rings: how they work, how they should work, and are thus able to detect a corruption in the system. It is, the Elf Elrond who instructs the characters on how to destroy the Ring; the Elf Galadriel gives each member of the Fellowship a useful gift; the Elf Legolas is himself part of the Fellowship and his keen senses and archery skills help out greatly on many occasions. The Elves' graceful nature is reflected in how Legolas fights; it is rarely hand to hand, but rather with knowledge and foresight as seen in those impeccably launched arrows that never seem to miss their mark.
Men: The race of Men is most morally ambiguous. They may possess great knowledge and great ability, but are easily corrupted by prospects of power. This can be seen as early as the intro sequence to The Fellowship of the Ring where Isildur has the ability to destroy Sauron's power forever, but chooses to keep it for himself.
Elrond: Destroy it!
Isildur: ...No...
Needless to say, any attempt to rein in such a wild and savage force will end with... well, wildness and savagery; Isildur is soon ambushed by some men who also want the Ring and in the violence it is lost until Smeagol finds it at least a millennium later. Isildur's lust for power led to his own destruction and effectively kept Sauron’s life-force intact, thus the fate of Middle Earth is still potentially up for grabs by evil. There are men who are not so easily wooed by power, though.
Aragorn is noble at heart and has had Elven training thus is a very capable warrior as well as a wise leader. He is the heir of Isildur and ends up wielding his forefather’s broken sword (which Elrond had reforged) and playing a key role in the Kampf all the way to the very end at final battle at the Black Gate of Mordor. This great task which he approaches as a duty, effectively makes him an Arhat by the end of The Return of the King.
Theoden and the Men of Rohan are what we could call typical Gentiles. They are motivated to duty by imperative, not fully out of their own will, but they do mean good and dutifully fight the forces of evil, though at great cost - even King Theoden ends up falling in battle.
Denethor is the steward of Gondor, sitting in for the absent king, and this close position to power has corrupted his heart. He is unable to make clear and rational decisions and takes his anger out on his son, Faramir. The conflict between the men of Rohan and the men of Gondor is very illustrative of real world conflicts between groups of people - their disagreement is effectively a grudge, they refer to some past date and event that justifies not having to help the other, or justifies demanding help, but the point is that division is clearly leading them closer to doom.
Faramir and Boromir are brothers and sons to Denethor. Boromir ends up joining the Fellowship right after the Council of Elrond, while Faramir is introduced in The Two Towers as he happens to meet Frodo, Sam and Smeagol as they move around the mountain walls of Mordor. These two men show both major paths that Men (as a whole) take: both are within reach of great power, but as Boromir slowly begins to fall for it eventually winding up at his doom, Faramir begins to gradually understand why he must put his duty first and do his part in ensuring the destruction of the Ring. Every real world Gentile has these two options. The only question is will they take “Boromir’s Choice” or “Faramir’s Choice?” Note that Faramir’s Choice is harder and ends up requiring a great deal more persistence.
The other groups of men are the Men of the South and the Corsairs. Both are identified to be in Sauron’s service, thus have made Boromir’s Choice and just like for Boromir, it ends up spelling out their end.
There is also a group of ghosts, the Army of the Dead, men from a group of soldiers shamed for breaking their oaths of service. They are trapped in the confines of a mountain and the only thing that will ever see them redeemed is if a King of Gondor holds their oath fulfilled, which of course will require the completion of a great task to even consider as an option. These men are a good representation of the dangers of apathy and selfishness. When they abandoned their master, Isildur, in order to save themselves, they were, in effect, ready to accept slavery under Sauron. Now, after being cursed for millennia, they finally stand up to their duty. They prove that their honor is loyalty. Thus, Aragorn, rightful heir to the throne of Gondor, holds their oaths fulfilled and they are released from their curse and shame. The Army of the Dead’s passing is similar to Boromir’s, who in his last minutes repents and realizes that it was the Ring that seduced him, so he then fights to save Merry and Pippin from an ambush. He is struck down, but dies and passes on with honor. The Army of the Dead remained trapped in stone and only passing into Arya after their duty was done. Same end result as Boromir, just drawn out over thousands of years!
Dwarves: Great miners and craftsmen. They are somewhat similar to Hobbits, short and stocky, though much stronger and with great endurance. They are also adept at fighting as Gimli, a member of the Fellowship, demonstrates. Dwarves are less susceptible to corruption than men, as the fate of the seven who received the Ring in the prologue verse was somewhat different. Instead of becoming goys to the Dark Lord, the Rings worked up their greed for Gold, which they mined with increasing feverishness. It was Durin III who received the Ring, but it was his Son who inherited it and awoke the Balrog, a hibernating beast, in Moria, which promptly went on to be called “Durin’s Bane.”
Orcs: They are the primary soldiers in Sauron’s service. They have virtually no characterization or identifiable characters as they have very little to identify with in the first place. They are just brawlers and fighters who thirst for violence and plunder. They also seem to be cannibalistic and unable to feel pain or concern for anything; they are purely impulse and aggression driven beasts. The Uruk-Hai are an elite breed of Orcs that are taller and stronger. All Orcs, however, are made from Earthly materials, literally created out of the ground, which of course mirrors the golem concept and that is what Orcs are: a brigade of armed golems serving the Dark Lord.
The Dark Lord
Nazgul, the Ring-Wraiths: These demons are the top servants of the Dark Lord and the formerly great kings of men that received the nine Rings of Power (as mentioned in the prologue verse). Now they are totally corrupted and blindly subservient to Sauron. Their goal is the Ring, which they seek to bring it back to their master in order to give him his full power back. In story dynamics, these nine are a sort of Dark Fellowship or anti-Fellowship. A group committed to evil at all expense, while the Fellowship led by Gandalf is fully committed to good.
Other Things Fair and Foul
There are a great many elements to this grand tale, but I believe that the key ones have been addressed. However, here is a list of some minor characters that often have brief or parallel storylines to the main one.
Arwen: Elven Maiden and Daughter of Elrond. She and Aragorn are in love and she knows that despite her Elven immortality, Aragon will die as all men do. This creates a dilemma for her, whether to leave Middle Earth with the Elves or stay with a doomed love. Her storyline is interesting, in that it presents a variant on the slavery/preservation theme. By going with the Elves and leaving Aragorn, she would have eternal life, but no love... however, she chooses love, and inevitable death, over this choice of self-preservation.
Ents: Tree-beings from Fanghorn Forest that help bring down Isengard and Saruman who destroyed much of the forest to make way for his war machine.
Balrog: Huge beasts, one of which makes an appearance in the mines of Moria in The Fellowship of the Ring, the one known as “Durin’s Bane.” It would be just a passing danger, however, it bears relevance to the overall theme of the tale. First off, the Balrog can be seen as a projection of Sauron who we never see as he cannot walk the surface without his Ring of Power - the fire imagery is the best visual connection of these two. Note, the fire wasn’t present in the book as it is seen in the movie. In the book the Balrog has internal fire and is shrouded in dark and hence able to hide underground and unnoticed. The name “Durin’s Bane” was given since it can inidicate an event, a place, and not necessarily a creature as it was not known what killed the Dwarf-lord Durin until much later when the beast was actually seen.
Tolkien was also a master philologist and his love of words can be seen in the fact that good characters have elegant and well versed speech, while evil characters have very primitive language laced with curses and growls. It is also why he chose the name “Gollum” for the appropriately themed character. However, “Balrog” is another example of this naming theme. “Ba’al” was the first name the Jews used for their deified idol. Not surprisingly, in Christian lore (Tolkien was a Traditionalist Catholic and read from a Latin Bible even), “Baal” is a demon, an evil, often written with the full name “Baal Zebub” or “the Lord of the Flies.” “Beelzebub” is the Anglicized version of the word. Finally, “rog” is Hindi for “malady.” Thus, the “Balrog” is literally a “Lord of Sickness” - but a sickness that afflicts cultures, as can be seen in the destruction of the Moria Mine and Dwarf-Folk there. With this brief, but striking, image, JRR Tolkien united several languages and cultures to show the true demon visage of the Jew. This is exactly what the “Fellowship of the Ring” is, a multi-ethnic alliance rallying against their common affliction.
Here is some Applicability on the Matter
PART III
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