The Nine Walkers who set out from Rivendell on the quest to take the One Ring to its destruction in Mount Doom. Frodo Baggins was the Ring-bearer, and his eight companions consisted of three Hobbits, two Men, a Dwarf, an Elf and a Wizard. Respectively, these were Samwise Gamgee, Meriadoc Brandybuck and Peregrin Took (the Hobbits), Aragorn and Boromir (Men), Gimli the Dwarf, Legolas the Elf and Gandalf the Wizard.

The term 'Companions of the Ring' was used especially in Minas Tirith in the days after the War of the Ring, when all the surviving Companions dwelt together in a house set aside for them. At this time there were just eight Companions remaining, as Boromir had been slain by Orc-arrows at Parth Galen.

For a detailed list of all the Companions, see the entry for Company of the Ring.