The Great River is the ninth chapter of the Book Two of The Fellowship of the Ring.
Plot
After leaving Lothlórien the Fellowship embarks on water in boats given to them by the Lord and Lady of the Galadhrim, Celeborn and Galadriel. The chapter's title refers to the river Anduin, by which the company travels southward.
It is during this part of the journey that Boromir begins acting strange; mumbling to himself and obsessing over Frodo.
Sooner than expected, the company arrives at the rapids of Sarn Gebir where they are ambushed by a host of Orcs waiting on the eastern bank of the river (the company speculates that they had been exposed to the Orcs by Gollum). The company struggles to paddle backward to escape the rapids and hasten to the western shore. The Orc attack continues after they reach the shore and exit the boats, but the Fellowship quickly comes under the shadow of a great winged creature. Legolas fells the beast with one arrow, and the attack ceases.
After the attack, the company portages the rapids by the North Stair to the Rauros-foot, where they re-enter the Anduin and continue toward the falls.
Nearing the Falls of Rauros, the company pass the Argonath, a humbling experience particularly to Boromir and the Hobbits. They notice Gollum following them down the river on a log. Reaching the Falls, they must choose between travelling on the east or west bank of the river to pass the falls.
At Nen Hithoel, where the river widens into a lake before the Falls, the Fellowship makes camp in a region between Amon Lhaw to the East and Amon Hen to the West. It is here that they must decide whether to continue to Mount Doom, or take the way to Minas Tirith.
Translations
| Foreign Language | Translated name |
| Afrikaans | Die Groot Rivier |
| Albanian | Lumi i Madh |
| Amharic | ታላቁ ወንዝ |
| Arabic | النهر العظيم |
| Armenian | Մեծ գետը |
| Azerbaijani | Böyük çay |
| Basque | Ibai Handia |
| Belarusian Cyrillic | Вялікая рака |
| Bengali | গ্রেট নদী |
| Bosnian | Velika rijeka |
| Bulgarian Cyrillic | Великата река |
| Cambodian | ទន្លេដ៏ធំ |
| Catalan | El Gran Riu |
| Cebuano | Ang Dakong Suba |
| Chinese | 大河 |
| Croatian | Velika rijeka |
| Czech | Velká řeka |
| Danish | Den store flod |
| Dutch | De Grote Rivier |
| Esperanto | La Granda Rivero |
| Estonian | Suur jõgi |
| Fijian | Na Uciwai Levu |
| Filipino | Ang Dakilang Ilog |
| Finnish | Suuri virta |
| French | Le Grand Fleuve |
| German | Der Große Fluss |
| Greek | Ο μεγάλος ποταμός |
| Gujarati | મહાન નદી |
| Hebrew | הנהר הגדול |
| Hindi | महान नदी |
| Hungarian | A Nagy folyó |
| Icelandic | Hinn Mikli áin |
| Indonesian | Sungai Besar |
| Irish Gaelic | An Abhainn Mór |
| Italian | Il Grande Fiume |
| Japanese | 大きな川 |
| Kannada | ಗ್ರೇಟ್ ನದಿ |
| Kazakh | Ұлы өзен (Cyrillic) Ulı özen (Latin) |
| Korean | 그레이트 리버 |
| Kyrgyz Cyrillic | Улуу дарыя |
| Laotian | ແມ່ນ້ໍາໃຫຍ່ |
| Latvian | Lielā upe |
| Lithuanian | Didžioji upė |
| Luxembourgish | De Grousse Floss |
| Macedonian Cyrillic | Големата река |
| Malagasy | Ny Renirano Lehibe |
| Malaysian | Sungai besar |
| Maltese | Il-Gran Xmara |
| Marathi | ग्रेट नदी |
| Mongolian Cyrillic | Агуу их гол |
| Nepalese | ठूलो नदी |
| Norwegian | Den Store Elven |
| Pashto | لوی سیند |
| Persian | رودخانه بزرگ |
| Polish | Wielka rzeka |
| Portuguese | O Grande Rio |
| Punjabi | ਮਹਾਨ ਦਰਿਆ |
| Romanian | Marele Râu |
| Russian | Великая Река |
| Samoan | Le Vaitafe Tele |
| Scottish Gaelic | An Abhainn Mhòr |
| Serbian | Велика река (Cyrillic) Velika reka (Latin) |
| Sesotho | Nōka e khōlō |
| Sindhi | عظيم درياء |
| Sinhalese | මහා ගංගාව |
| Slovak | Veľká rieka |
| Slovenian | Velika reka |
| Somalian | Webiga weyn |
| Spanish | El Gran Rio |
| Swahili | Mto Mkuu |
| Swedish | Den Stora Floden |
| Tahitian | Te Anavai Rahi |
| Tajik Cyrillic | Дарёи калон |
| Tamil | கிரேட் ரிவர் |
| Telugu | ది గ్రేట్ రివర్ |
| Thai | แม่น้ำใหญ่ |
| Turkish | Büyük Nehir |
| Turkmen | Beýik derýa |
| Ukrainian Cyrillic | Велика річка |
| Urdu | عظیم دریا |
| Uzbek | Буюк дарё (Cyrillic) Buyuk daryo (Latin) |
| Vietnamese | Sông lớn |
| Welsh | Yr Afon Fawr |
| Xhosa | UMlambo Omkhulu |
| Yiddish | די גרויס טייך |
| Yoruba | Odo nla naa |
| Yucatec Maya | Le Nuxi' Ja' |