The Lord of the Rings

The covers for the three volumes of The Lord of the Rings, designed by Tolkien.^{[Citation Needed]}

The Lord of the Rings is a fantasy book written by English J.R.R. Tolkien. It was published in three parts in the years 1954 and 1955. The Lord of the Rings is considered one of the most influential works on the fantasy genre in modern times. It is the best-selling work of fantasy literature of the twentieth century.

Creation

Writing

After the success of his earlier book The Hobbit, Tolkien's publishers persuaded him to write a sequel. He began writing in December of 1937, but the first drafts were still far away from the later version. After writing and re-writing the beginning several times, Tolkien realized the role of the One Ring and the quest it entailed in the spring of 1938, while writing the discussion between Gildor Inglorion and the later Frodo Baggins. This was the point upon which the backstory and central quest that would be The Lord of the Rings came together in his mind. It was also the point that he firmly set the book's plot into his already existing Middle-earth legendarium. Whereas the The Hobbit had before been separate from his Middle-earth mythology, while still borrowing ideas, names, and persons from it, Tolkien now consiously moved it and its sequel into the Middle-earth setting. This resulted in the changes in tone, and in the meaning of formerly unimportant things as the 'magic ring' and the Necromancer, who both literally gained importance in the sequel. While the The Hobbit was written as a story intended for his children, The Lord of the Rings due to the realization of the later plot, soon became an epic tale of much greater proportions, both in plot and in lenght.

Publication

Although often wrongly thought to be a trilogy, The Lord of the Rings was conceived by the author as a single work. Its internal structure divides it into six 'books', named Book I-VI, according to the plot, and has added several appendices and an index. Because of the amount of paper needed and to reduce financial risk, it was released by the publisher Allen & Unwin in three volumes, each containing two Books:

1. The Fellowship of the Ring
   
2. The Two Towers
   
3. The Return of the King
   

This resulted in the common error of calling The Lord of the Rings a trilogy, a term which Tolkien rejected, just as he disliked the book being published in separate volumes.

The Lord of the Rings was published in hardbound in 1954 and 1955, but was known only to a small audience of aficionados until 1965. At that time, J. R. R. Tolkien himself was known primarily to scholars for his work on Beowulf. This changed when an American paperback publisher released a "pirated" paperback edition, paying Tolkien nothing, in the belief that Tolkien's copyright in the U. S. was defective because of a technicality. Tolkien reached a legal settlement with this publisher, and another publisher released an authorized edition for which Tolkien was paid royalties. The book was an instant success, particularly among college students.

Story

The Lord of the Rings is set in Middle-earth, a vastly expanded version of the fictional world presented in The Hobbit and The Silmarillion. It continues the story that The Hobbit began, but while The Hobbit was intended for children, The Lord of the Rings was written for all ages.

The story takes place at a time when the Elves, immortal, good, and fairest of all beings in the world, are leaving the war-weary world to sail to the blessed realm of Valinor. With the departure of the Elves, the Age of Men has come, but they are opposed by the Dark Lord, Sauron. Although Sauron is a formidable foe, most of his powers are bound to a magic Ring which was cut from his finger in a battle thousands of year ago. This Ring fell by chance into the hands of a hobbit, Bilbo Baggins who in turn left it in the keeping of his nephew and heir, Frodo Baggins. If this Ring is destroyed, it will strip Sauron of his power and free Middle-earth from his threat. The only way the Ring can be destroyed, however is by casting it into the fires of Mount Doom, a volcano in the heart of Sauron's realm. The Lord of the Rings follows Frodo's adventures as he journeys to destroy Sauron's Ring.

Frodo's journey is interwoven with other themes as he joins a Fellowship of the Ring, pledged to take it to Mount Doom where it can be destroyed. The ranger Strider and the wizard Gandalf are foremost among his companions. He is also assisted by ther Ents, a peaceful tree-folk, and the elves.

Languages

Though Tolkien was an excellent writer, his primary interest was languages. Tolkien originally came up with Middle Earth as a world in which his languages could be spoken.^{[Citation Needed]} In an interview with the BBC in 1972, shortly before his death, Tolkien said that he came up with the concept of a hobbit in part because he had been embarrassed about his own below-average height in his early childhood, and liked to imagine a world where he could be "normal" or even possibly "a hero".^{[Citation Needed]} Tolkien based his fictional languages largely on the sounds and style of Finnish (his Quenya or High Elvish language) and Welsh (Sindarin, or the tongue of the Grey Elves). His stories were influenced by Norse mythology which features dragons, elves and dwarves. He also knew and liked the Gothic language, and Old English. His Riders of Rohan are like Goths in the way they fight, but speak Old English (e.g. Theoden, their king's name, is OE for "prince").

Christianity

J. R. R. Tolkien was a Roman Catholic, and many readers see Christian undertones in The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien himself discounts the belief that he wrote the book as a direct Christian allegory--or any other sort of allegory, which he went on record as "cordially disliking", and preferring "applicability"--in contrast with the overt and acknowledged allegories in the works of Tolkien's friend, C.S. Lewis.

Adaptions

The Lord of the Rings has been adapted full or in part in a variety of media. Among these are films, stage plays and a musical.

The Lord of the Rings film trilogy

The Lord of the Rings film trilogy were three films based on the book, directed by Peter Jackson and produced by New Line Cinema. The film titles were derived from the three volumes: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003).

All were directed by Peter Jackson. The films were filmed in New Zealand. The films were released annually in cinemas from December 2001 to 2003. DVD releases of the cinema version and Special Extended Editions have also been released for each film. Each set includes four discs, two of bonus material.

See also

• Mythology