Hobbit fans’ wait of nearly 10 years to see the movie prequel to the three epic adventures comprising Lord of the Rings is over.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Venture places viewers in the decades before the Rings movies and shows viewers how the world of Rings had come to such a dangerous state through the story of a younger Bilbo Baggins, a secondary character in the first movies.

Along with some of the cast already seen, such as Gandalf the wizard and Elrond the elf leader of Rivendell, we meet Thorin Oakenshield and his band of 11 dwarves in The Hobbit. The dwarves put in motion the events leading to Bilbo’s discovery of the powerful and dangerous One Ring, which is the subject of Lord of the Rings.

As in the first trilogy — The Hobbit will also be three movies — there is a grand quest, but this time it is Bilbo who is unwittenly dragged into it by the crafty Gandalf. There are giant spiders, trolls, otherworldy orcs and wargs to outsmart and outfight, and the fantasy world of J.R.R. Tolkien will teeter on the edge of war before the new trilogy ends.

Here is a rundown of key members of the cast, new and old, that viewers will meet, or meet again, in The Hobbit.