Difference between revisions of "The Lord of the Rings"

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Cover for the three volumes of The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

The Lord of the Rings is the best-selling fantasy novel of the twentieth century. It written by British professor J.R.R. Tolkien. Conceived by the author as a 6-book work (with compendious appendices and an index), it was released by the publisher in three volumes:

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

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,^{[Citation Needed]} 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, who 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 to 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.

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]}

Christianity

J. R. R. Tolkien was a Roman Catholic, and many readers see Christian undertones in The Lord of the Rings.^{[Citation Needed]} The subtext is subtle, and altogether unintentional. Tolkien himself discounts the belief that he wrote the book as a direct Christian allegory, in contrast with the overt and acknowledged allegory in the works of Tolkien's friend, C.S. Lewis.^[1]

Film Version

New Line Cinema has produced three films all of which have names which are derived from the three books in The Lord of the Rings. They were released from 2001 to 2003. Several Special Extended Editions have also been released each including four discs. All were directed by Peter Jackson. ^[2]

References

1. ↑ Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, # 129
2. ↑ The Fellowship of the Ring, Directed by Peter Jackson, Produced by Barrie M. Osborne, Peter Jackson 2001.