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''The Lord of the Rings'' is an
epic high-fantasy
High fantasy, or epic fantasy, is a subgenre of fantasy defined by the epic nature of its setting or by the epic stature of its characters, themes, or plot.Brian Stableford, ''The A to Z of Fantasy Literature'', (p. 198), Scarecrow Press, P ...
novel by English author and scholar
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''.
From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlins ...
. Set in
Middle-earth
Middle-earth is the fictional setting of much of the English writer J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy. The term is equivalent to the '' Miðgarðr'' of Norse mythology and ''Middangeard'' in Old English works, including ''Beowulf''. Middle-earth is ...
, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's book ''
The Hobbit
''The Hobbit, or There and Back Again'' is a children's fantasy novel by English author J. R. R. Tolkien. It was published in 1937 to wide critical acclaim, being nominated for the Carnegie Medal and awarded a prize from the ''N ...
'', but eventually developed into a much larger work. Written in stages between 1937 and 1949, ''The Lord of the Rings'' is one of the
best-selling books ever written, with over 150 million copies sold.
The title refers to the story's main
antagonist, the
Dark Lord
In fiction and mythology, a dark lord (sometimes capitalized as Dark Lord or referred to as an Evil Overlord, Evil Emperor etc. depending on the work) is an antagonistic archetype, acting as the pinnacle of villainy and evil within a typicall ...
Sauron
Sauron (pronounced ) is the title character and the primary antagonist, through the forging of the One Ring, of J. R. R. Tolkien's ''The Lord of the Rings'', where he rules the land of Mordor and has the ambition of ruling the whole of Midd ...
, who, in an earlier age, created the
One Ring
The One Ring, also called the Ruling Ring and Isildur's Bane, is a central plot element in J. R. R. Tolkien's ''The Lord of the Rings'' (1954–55). It first appeared in the earlier story ''The Hobbit'' (1937) as a magic ring that grants the ...
to rule the other
Rings of Power
The Rings of Power are magical artefacts in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, most prominently in his high fantasy novel ''The Lord of the Rings''. The One Ring first appeared as a plot device, a magic ring in Tolkien's children's fantasy n ...
given to
Men
A man is an adult male human. Prior to adulthood, a male human is referred to as a boy (a male child or adolescent). Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chro ...
,
Dwarves, and
Elves
An elf () is a type of humanoid supernatural being in Germanic mythology and folklore. Elves appear especially in North Germanic mythology. They are subsequently mentioned in Snorri Sturluson's Icelandic Prose Edda. He distinguishes " ...
, in his campaign to conquer all of Middle-earth. From homely beginnings in
the Shire
The Shire is a region of J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional Middle-earth, described in ''The Lord of the Rings'' and other works. The Shire is an inland area settled exclusively by hobbits, the Shire-folk, largely sheltered from the goings-on in th ...
, a
hobbit
Hobbits are a fictional race of people in the novels of J. R. R. Tolkien. About half average human height, Tolkien presented hobbits as a variety of humanity, or close relatives thereof. Occasionally known as halflings in Tolkien's writings, ...
land reminiscent of the English countryside, the story ranges across Middle-earth, following the quest to destroy the One Ring mainly through the eyes of the hobbits
Frodo
Frodo Baggins is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's writings, and one of the protagonists in ''The Lord of the Rings''. Frodo is a hobbit of the Shire who inherits the One Ring from his cousin Bilbo Baggins, described familiarly a ...
,
Sam,
Merry and
Pippin
Pippin or Pepin may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Pippin (comics), ''Pippin'' (comics), a children's comic produced from 1966 to 1986
* Pippin (musical), ''Pippin'' (musical), a Broadway musical by Stephen Schwartz loosely based on the life ...
.
Although often called a trilogy, the work was intended by Tolkien to be one volume of a two-volume set along with ''
The Silmarillion
''The Silmarillion'' () is a collection of myths and stories in varying styles by the English writer J. R. R. Tolkien. It was edited and published posthumously by his son Christopher Tolkien in 1977, assisted by the fantasy author Guy Gavri ...
''.
[, letter #126 to Milton Waldman (draft), 10 March 1950] For economic reasons, ''The Lord of the Rings'' was published over the course of a year from 29 July 1954 to 20 October 1955 in three volumes
titled ''
The Fellowship of the Ring
''The Fellowship of the Ring'' is the first of three volumes of the epic novel ''The Lord of the Rings'' by the English author J. R. R. Tolkien. It is followed by '' The Two Towers'' and ''The Return of the King''. It takes place in the ficti ...
'', ''
The Two Towers
''The Two Towers'' is the second volume of J. R. R. Tolkien's high fantasy novel ''The Lord of the Rings''. It is preceded by ''The Fellowship of the Ring'' and followed by ''The Return of the King''.
Title and publication
''The Lord of the ...
'', and ''
The Return of the King
''The Return of the King'' is the third and final volume of J. R. R. Tolkien's ''The Lord of the Rings'', following '' The Fellowship of the Ring'' and '' The Two Towers''. It was published in 1955. The story begins in the kingdom of Gondor, ...
''. The work is divided internally into six books, two per volume, with several appendices of background material. Some later editions print the entire work in a single volume, following the author's original intent.
Tolkien's work, after an initially mixed
reception
Reception is a noun form of ''receiving'', or ''to receive'' something, such as art, experience, information, people, products, or vehicles. It may refer to:
Astrology
* Reception (astrology), when a planet is located in a sign ruled by another ...
by the literary establishment, has been the subject of
extensive analysis of its themes and origins.
Influences
''Influences'' is the debut solo album by English musician Mark King, singer and bass player with Level 42. It was released by Polydor Records in July 1984.
The album features a cover of the song "I Feel Free" by Cream, which was released as a ...
on this earlier work, and on the story of ''The Lord of the Rings'', include
philology
Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as th ...
, mythology,
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
, earlier fantasy works, and
his own experiences in the First World War.
''The Lord of the Rings'' has since been reprinted many times and
translated into at least 38 languages. Its enduring popularity has led to numerous references in popular culture, the founding of many societies by
fans of Tolkien's works, and the publication of many books about Tolkien and his works. It has
inspired many derivative works, including paintings, music,
films, television,
video games
Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This feedbac ...
, and board games. It has helped to create and shape the modern fantasy genre, within which it is considered one of the greatest books of all time.
Award-winning
adaptations of ''The Lord of the Rings'' have been made for
radio
Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmi ...
,
theatre
Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...
, and
film. It has been named Britain's best-loved novel of all time in the BBC's 2003 poll
The Big Read
The Big Read was a survey on books carried out by the BBC in the United Kingdom in 2003, where over three-quarters of a million votes were received from the British public to find the nation's best-loved novel of all time. The year-long survey wa ...
.
Plot
''The Fellowship of the Ring''
''The Two Towers''
''The Return of the King''
Frame story
Tolkien presents ''The Lord of the Rings'' within a fictional
frame story where he is not the original author, but merely the translator of part of an ancient document, the ''
Red Book of Westmarch
The ''Red Book of Westmarch'' (sometimes the ''Thain's Book'' after its principal version) is a fictional manuscript written by hobbits, related to the author J. R. R. Tolkien's frame stories. It is an instance of the found manuscript conceit ...
''.
That book is modelled on the real ''
Red Book of Hergest
The ''Red Book of Hergest'' ( cy, Llyfr Coch Hergest, Oxford, Jesus College, MS 111) is a large vellum manuscript written shortly after 1382, which ranks as one of the most important medieval manuscripts written in the Welsh language. It preser ...
'', which similarly presents an older mythology. Various details of the frame story appear in the Prologue, its "Note on
Shire Records", and in the Appendices, notably Appendix F. In this frame story, the ''Red Book'' is the purported source of Tolkien's other works relating to
Middle-earth
Middle-earth is the fictional setting of much of the English writer J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy. The term is equivalent to the '' Miðgarðr'' of Norse mythology and ''Middangeard'' in Old English works, including ''Beowulf''. Middle-earth is ...
: ''
The Hobbit
''The Hobbit, or There and Back Again'' is a children's fantasy novel by English author J. R. R. Tolkien. It was published in 1937 to wide critical acclaim, being nominated for the Carnegie Medal and awarded a prize from the ''N ...
'', ''
The Silmarillion
''The Silmarillion'' () is a collection of myths and stories in varying styles by the English writer J. R. R. Tolkien. It was edited and published posthumously by his son Christopher Tolkien in 1977, assisted by the fantasy author Guy Gavri ...
'', and ''
The Adventures of Tom Bombadil
''The Adventures of Tom Bombadil'' is a 1962 collection of poetry by J. R. R. Tolkien. The book contains 16 poems, two of which feature Tom Bombadil, a character encountered by Frodo Baggins in ''The Lord of the Rings''. The rest of the poems ar ...
''.
Concept and creation
Background
Although a major work in itself, ''The Lord of the Rings'' was only the last movement of a much older set of narratives Tolkien had worked on since 1917 encompassing ''The Silmarillion'',
in a process he described as ''
mythopoeia
Mythopoeia ( grc, , , myth-making), or mythopoesis, is a narrative genre in modern literature and film where an artificial or fictionalized mythology is created by the writer of prose, poetry, or other literary forms. This meaning of the word f ...
''.
''The Lord of the Rings'' started as a sequel to Tolkien's work ''
The Hobbit
''The Hobbit, or There and Back Again'' is a children's fantasy novel by English author J. R. R. Tolkien. It was published in 1937 to wide critical acclaim, being nominated for the Carnegie Medal and awarded a prize from the ''N ...
,'' published in 1937.
The popularity of ''The Hobbit'' had led George Allen & Unwin, the publishers, to request a sequel. Tolkien warned them that he wrote quite slowly, and responded with several stories he had already developed. Having rejected his contemporary drafts for ''
The Silmarillion
''The Silmarillion'' () is a collection of myths and stories in varying styles by the English writer J. R. R. Tolkien. It was edited and published posthumously by his son Christopher Tolkien in 1977, assisted by the fantasy author Guy Gavri ...
'', putting ''
Roverandom
''Roverandom'' is a novella by J. R. R. Tolkien, originally told in 1925, about the adventures of a young dog, Rover. In the story, an irritable wizard turns Rover into a toy, and Rover goes to the Moon and under the sea in order to find the ...
'' on hold, and accepting ''
Farmer Giles of Ham
''Farmer Giles of Ham'' is a comic medieval fable written by J. R. R. Tolkien in 1937 and published in 1949. The story describes the encounters between Farmer Giles and a wily dragon named Chrysophylax, and how Giles manages to use these to ...
'', Allen & Unwin continued to ask for more stories about
hobbit
Hobbits are a fictional race of people in the novels of J. R. R. Tolkien. About half average human height, Tolkien presented hobbits as a variety of humanity, or close relatives thereof. Occasionally known as halflings in Tolkien's writings, ...
s.
Writing
Persuaded by his publishers, he started "a new Hobbit" in December 1937.
After several false starts, the story of the One Ring emerged. The idea for the first chapter ("A Long-Expected Party") arrived fully formed, although the reasons behind Bilbo's disappearance, the significance of the Ring, and the title ''The Lord of the Rings'' did not come until the spring of 1938.
Originally, he planned to write a story in which Bilbo had used up all his treasure and was looking for another adventure to gain more; however, he remembered the Ring and its powers and thought that would be a better focus for the new work.
As the story progressed, he brought in elements from ''
The Silmarillion
''The Silmarillion'' () is a collection of myths and stories in varying styles by the English writer J. R. R. Tolkien. It was edited and published posthumously by his son Christopher Tolkien in 1977, assisted by the fantasy author Guy Gavri ...
'' mythology.
Writing was slow, because Tolkien had a full-time academic position, marked exams to bring in a little extra income, and wrote many drafts.
[, letter #17 to Stanley Unwin, 15 October 1937] Tolkien abandoned ''The Lord of the Rings'' during most of 1943 and only restarted it in April 1944,
as a serial for his son
Christopher Tolkien
Christopher John Reuel Tolkien (21 November 1924 – 16 January 2020) was an English academic editor, becoming a French citizen in later life. The son of author and academic J. R. R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien edited much of his father ...
, who was sent chapters as they were written while he was serving in South Africa with the
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...
. Tolkien made another major effort in 1946, and showed the manuscript to his publishers in 1947.
The story was effectively finished the next year, but Tolkien did not complete the revision of earlier parts of the work until 1949.
The original manuscripts, which total 9,250 pages, now reside in the J. R. R. Tolkien Collection at
Marquette University
Marquette University () is a private Jesuit research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Established by the Society of Jesus as Marquette College on August 28, 1881, it was founded by John Martin Henni, the first Bishop of the diocese of M ...
.
Poetry
Unusually for 20th century novels, the prose narrative is supplemented throughout by
over 60 pieces of poetry. These include verse and songs of many genres: for wandering,
marching to war,
drinking
Drinking is the act of ingesting water or other liquids into the body through the mouth, proboscis, or elsewhere. Humans drink by swallowing, completed by peristalsis in the esophagus. The physiological processes of drinking vary widely am ...
, and having a bath; narrating ancient myths,
riddle
A riddle is a statement, question or phrase having a double or veiled meaning, put forth as a puzzle to be solved. Riddles are of two types: ''enigmas'', which are problems generally expressed in metaphorical or allegorical language that requ ...
s,
prophecies
In religion, a prophecy is a message that has been communicated to a person (typically called a ''prophet'') by a supernatural entity. Prophecies are a feature of many cultures and belief systems and usually contain divine will or law, or prete ...
, and magical incantations; and of praise and lament (
elegy
An elegy is a poem of serious reflection, and in English literature usually a lament for the dead. However, according to ''The Oxford Handbook of the Elegy'', "for all of its pervasiveness ... the 'elegy' remains remarkably ill defined: sometime ...
).
Some, such as riddles, charms, elegies, and narrating heroic actions are found in
Old English
Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th c ...
poetry
Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...
.
Scholars have stated that the poetry is essential for the fiction to work aesthetically and thematically, as it adds information not given in the prose, and it brings out characters and their backgrounds.
The poetry has been judged to be of high technical skill, reflected in Tolkien's prose; for instance, he wrote much of
Tom Bombadil
Tom Bombadil is a character in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium. He first appeared in print in a 1934 poem called " The Adventures of Tom Bombadil", which also included ''The Lord of the Rings'' characters Goldberry (Tom's wife), Old Man Willow ...
's speech in metre.
Illustrations
![One Ring inscription](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/23/One_Ring_inscription.svg)
Tolkien worked on the text using
his maps of Middle-earth as a guide, to ensure the elements of the story fitted together in time and space.
He prepared a variety of types of illustration – maps, calligraphy, drawings, cover designs, even a facsimile painting of the
Book of Mazarbul
Tolkien's artwork was a key element of his creativity from the time when he began to write fiction. The philologist and author J. R. R. Tolkien prepared illustrations for his Middle-earth fantasy books, facsimile artefacts, more or less "pictu ...
– but only the maps, the inscription on the Ring, and a drawing of the
Doors of Durin
In the fictional world of J. R. R. Tolkien, Moria, also named Khazad-dûm, is an ancient subterranean complex in Middle-earth, comprising a vast labyrinthine network of tunnels, chambers, mines and halls under the Misty Mountains, with doors on ...
were included in the first edition.
The
hardback
A hardcover, hard cover, or hardback (also known as hardbound, and sometimes as case-bound) book is one bound with rigid protective covers (typically of binder's board or heavy paperboard covered with buckram or other cloth, heavy paper, or occa ...
editions sometimes had cover illustrations by Tolkien, sometimes by other artists.
According to ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'',
Barbara Remington
Barbara Remington (23 June 1929 – 23 January 2020) was an American artist and illustrator. Born in Minnesota, she was probably best known for her cover-art for Ballantine Books' first paperback editions of J. R. R. Tolkien's novels '' The Hob ...
's cover designs for
Ballantine's paperback editions "achieved mass-cult status in the 1960s, particularly on college campuses"
across America.
Influences
![Beowulf eotenas ylfe orcneas](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cd/Beowulf_eotenas_ylfe_orcneas.jpg)
Tolkien drew on
a wide array of influences including language,
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
,
[, letter #142 to Robert Murray, S. J., 2 December 1953] mythology
Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narra ...
and
Germanic heroic legend
Germanic heroic legend (german: germanische Heldensage) is the heroic literary tradition of the Germanic-speaking peoples, most of which originates or is set in the Migration Period (4th-6th centuries AD). Stories from this time period, to which ...
including the Norse ''
Völsunga saga
The ''Völsunga saga'' (often referred to in English as the ''Volsunga Saga'' or ''Saga of the Völsungs'') is a legendary saga, a late 13th-century poetic rendition in Old Norse of the origin and decline of the Völsung clan (including the st ...
'',
archaeology
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landsca ...
, especially at the Temple of
Nodens
*''Nodens'' or *''Nodons'' ( reconstructed from the dative ''Nodenti'' or ''Nodonti'') is a Celtic healing god worshipped in Ancient Britain. Although no physical depiction of him has survived, votive plaques found in a shrine at Lydney Park ...
,
ancient and modern literature, like Finnish 19th-century
epic poetry
An epic poem, or simply an epic, is a lengthy narrative poem typically about the extraordinary deeds of extraordinary characters who, in dealings with gods or other superhuman forces, gave shape to the mortal universe for their descendants.
...
''
The Kalevala'' by
Elias Lönnrot
Elias Lönnrot (; 9 April 1802 – 19 March 1884) was a Finnish physician, philologist and collector of traditional Finnish oral poetry. He is best known for creating the Finnish national epic, ''Kalevala'',
(1835, enlarged 1849), from short ...
, and personal experience. He was inspired primarily by his profession,
philology
Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as th ...
;
[, letter #165 to ]Houghton Mifflin
The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star.
Computer scientists and mathematicians often voc ...
, 30 June 1955 his work centred on the study of
Old English
Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th c ...
literature, especially ''
Beowulf'', and he acknowledged
its importance to his writings.
He was a gifted linguist, influenced by Celtic,
Finnish,
Slavic, and Greek language and mythology.
Commentators have attempted to identify literary and topological antecedents for characters, places and events in Tolkien's writings; he acknowledged that he had enjoyed adventure stories by authors such as
John Buchan and
Rider Haggard
Sir Henry Rider Haggard (; 22 June 1856 – 14 May 1925) was an English writer of adventure fiction romances set in exotic locations, predominantly Africa, and a pioneer of the lost world literary genre. He was also involved in land reform t ...
.
The
Arts and Crafts polymath
William Morris
William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was a British textile designer, poet, artist, novelist, architectural conservationist, printer, translator and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement. He ...
was a major influence,
[, letter #19 to Stanley Unwin, 31 December 1960] and Tolkien undoubtedly made use of some real place-names, such as Bag End, the name of his aunt's home.
Tolkien stated, too, that he had been influenced by his childhood experiences of the English countryside of
Worcestershire
Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see H ...
near
Sarehole Mill
Sarehole Mill is a Grade II listed water mill, in an area once called Sarehole, on the River Cole in Hall Green, Birmingham, England. It is now run as a museum by the Birmingham Museums Trust. It is known for its association with J. R. R. Tol ...
, and its urbanisation by the growth of
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...
,
[, letter #178 to Allen & Unwin, 12 December 1955, and #303 to Nicholas Thomas, 6 May 1968] and his personal experience of
fighting in the trenches of the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
.
Moreover, the militarization and industrialization inspired the character of Sauron and his forces. The Orcs represented the worst of it as workers that have been tortured and brutalized by the war and industry.
Themes
Scholars and critics have identified
many themes in the book with its
complex interlaced narrative, including a reversed
quest,
the struggle of
good and evil,
death and immortality,
fate and free will,
the addictive danger of power, and various aspects of
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
such as the presence of three
Christ
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
figures, for prophet, priest, and king, as well as elements like hope and
redemptive suffering
Redemptive suffering is the Christian belief that human suffering, when accepted and offered up in union with the Passion of Jesus, can remit the just punishment for one's sins or for the sins of another, or for the other physical or spiritual nee ...
.
There is a common theme throughout the work of
language
Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of ...
, its sound, and its relationship to peoples and places, along with hints of
providence in descriptions of weather and landscape. Out of these, Tolkien stated that the central theme is death and immortality.
[, letter #211 to Rhona Beare, 14 October 1958] To those who supposed that the book was an
allegory of events in the 20th century, Tolkien replied in the foreword to the Second Edition that it was not, saying he preferred "history, true or feigned, with its varied applicability to the thought and experience of readers."
Some commentators have criticized the book for being a story about men for boys, with no significant women; or about a purely rural world with no bearing on modern life in cities; of containing no sign of religion; or of racism. Other commentators responded by noting that there are three
powerful women in the book, Galadriel, Éowyn, and Arwen; that life, even in rural Hobbiton, is not idealised; that
Christianity is a pervasive theme; and that
Tolkien was sharply anti-racist both in peacetime and during the Second World War, while Middle-earth is evidently polycultural.
Publication history
A dispute with his publisher,
George Allen & Unwin
George Allen & Unwin was a British publishing company formed in 1911 when Sir Stanley Unwin purchased a controlling interest in George Allen & Co. It went on to become one of the leading publishers of the twentieth century and to establish an ...
, led Tolkien to offer the work to
William Collins in 1950. Tolkien intended ''
The Silmarillion
''The Silmarillion'' () is a collection of myths and stories in varying styles by the English writer J. R. R. Tolkien. It was edited and published posthumously by his son Christopher Tolkien in 1977, assisted by the fantasy author Guy Gavri ...
'' (itself largely unrevised at this point) to be published along with ''The Lord of the Rings,'' but Allen & Unwin were unwilling to do this. After Milton Waldman, his contact at Collins, expressed the belief that ''The Lord of the Rings'' itself "urgently wanted cutting", Tolkien eventually demanded that they publish the book in 1952. Collins did not; and so Tolkien wrote to Allen and Unwin, saying, "I would gladly consider the publication of any part of the stuff", fearing his work would never see the light of day.
For publication, the work was
divided into three volumes to minimize any potential financial loss due to the high cost of type-setting and modest anticipated sales: ''
The Fellowship of the Ring
''The Fellowship of the Ring'' is the first of three volumes of the epic novel ''The Lord of the Rings'' by the English author J. R. R. Tolkien. It is followed by '' The Two Towers'' and ''The Return of the King''. It takes place in the ficti ...
'' (Books I and II), ''
The Two Towers
''The Two Towers'' is the second volume of J. R. R. Tolkien's high fantasy novel ''The Lord of the Rings''. It is preceded by ''The Fellowship of the Ring'' and followed by ''The Return of the King''.
Title and publication
''The Lord of the ...
'' (Books III and IV), and ''
The Return of the King
''The Return of the King'' is the third and final volume of J. R. R. Tolkien's ''The Lord of the Rings'', following '' The Fellowship of the Ring'' and '' The Two Towers''. It was published in 1955. The story begins in the kingdom of Gondor, ...
'' (Books V and VI plus six appendices). Delays in producing appendices,
maps
A map is a symbolic depiction emphasizing relationships between elements of some space, such as objects, regions, or themes.
Many maps are static, fixed to paper or some other durable medium, while others are dynamic or interactive. Although ...
and especially an index led to the volumes being published later than originally hoped – on 29 July 1954, on 11 November 1954 and on 20 October 1955 respectively in the United Kingdom. In the United States,
Houghton Mifflin
The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star.
Computer scientists and mathematicians often voc ...
published ''The Fellowship of the Ring'' on 21 October 1954, ''The Two Towers'' on 21 April 1955, and ''The Return of the King'' on 5 January 1956.
''The Return of the King'' was especially delayed as Tolkien revised the ending and prepared appendices (some of which had to be left out because of space constraints). Tolkien did not like the title ''The Return of the King'', believing it gave away too much of the storyline, but deferred to his publisher's preference. Tolkien wrote that the title ''The Two Towers'' "can be left ambiguous",
[, letter #140 to ]Rayner Unwin
Rayner Stephens Unwin CBE (23 December 1925 – 23 November 2000) was an English publisher. He served as the chairman of the publishing firm George Allen & Unwin, which had been founded by his father Sir Stanley Unwin.
Early life
Unwin was bo ...
, 17 August 1953 but considered naming the two as
Orthanc
In J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy writings, Isengard () is a large fortress in Nan Curunír, the Wizard's Vale, in the western part of Middle-earth. In the fantasy world, the name of the fortress is described as a translation of Angrenost, a word ...
and
Barad-dûr
In J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional world of Middle-earth, Mordor (pronounced ; from Sindarin ''Black Land'' and Quenya ''Land of Shadow'') is the realm and base of the evil Sauron. It lay to the east of Gondor and the great river Anduin, and to ...
,
Minas Tirith
Gondor is a fictional kingdom in J. R. R. Tolkien's writings, described as the greatest realm of Man (Middle-earth), Men in the west of Middle-earth at the end of the Third Age. The third volume of ''The Lord of the Rings'', ''The Return of the ...
and Barad-dûr, or Orthanc and the
Tower of Cirith Ungol
In J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional world of Middle-earth, Mordor (pronounced ; from Sindarin ''Black Land'' and Quenya ''Land of Shadow'') is the realm and base of the evil Sauron. It lay to the east of Gondor and the great river Anduin, and to t ...
.
[, letter #143 to ]Rayner Unwin
Rayner Stephens Unwin CBE (23 December 1925 – 23 November 2000) was an English publisher. He served as the chairman of the publishing firm George Allen & Unwin, which had been founded by his father Sir Stanley Unwin.
Early life
Unwin was bo ...
, 22 January 1954 However, a month later he wrote a note published at the end of ''The Fellowship of the Ring'' and later drew a cover illustration, both of which identified the pair as
Minas Morgul
Minas or MINAS may refer to:
People with the given name Minas
* Menas of Ethiopia (died 1563)
* Saint Menas (Minas, 285–309)
* Minias of Florence (Minas, Miniato, died 250)
* Minas Alozidis (born 1984), Greek hurdler
* Minas Avetisyan (1928 ...
and Orthanc.
Tolkien was initially opposed to titles being given to each two-book volume, preferring instead the use of book titles: e.g. ''The Lord of the Rings'': Vol. 1, ''The Ring Sets Out'' and ''The Ring Goes South''; Vol. 2, ''The Treason of Isengard'' and ''The Ring Goes East''; Vol. 3, ''The War of the Ring'' and ''The End of the Third Age''. However, these individual book titles were dropped, and after pressure from his publishers, Tolkien suggested the volume titles: Vol. 1, ''The Shadow Grows''; Vol. 2, ''The Ring in the Shadow''; Vol. 3, ''The War of the Ring'' or ''The Return of the King''.
Because the three-volume binding was so widely distributed, the work is often referred to as the ''Lord of the Rings'' "
trilogy
A trilogy is a set of three works of art that are connected and can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, and video games, and are less common in other art forms. Three-part wor ...
". In a letter to the poet
W. H. Auden
Wystan Hugh Auden (; 21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973) was a British-American poet. Auden's poetry was noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion, and its variety in ...
, who famously reviewed the final volume in 1956,
Tolkien himself made use of the term "trilogy" for the work
[, letter #163 to ]W. H. Auden
Wystan Hugh Auden (; 21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973) was a British-American poet. Auden's poetry was noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion, and its variety in ...
, 7 June 1955 though he did at other times consider this incorrect, as it was written and conceived as a single book.
[, letter #149 to ]Rayner Unwin
Rayner Stephens Unwin CBE (23 December 1925 – 23 November 2000) was an English publisher. He served as the chairman of the publishing firm George Allen & Unwin, which had been founded by his father Sir Stanley Unwin.
Early life
Unwin was bo ...
, 9 September 1954 It is often called a
novel; however, Tolkien objected to this term as he viewed it as a
heroic romance Heroic romances refers to a distinguished class of imaginative literature that flourished in the 17th century, principally in France.
Characteristics
Today, heroic romances are more often grouped into the larger romance genre than discussed indiv ...
.
[, letter #239 to Peter Szabo Szentmihalyi, draft, October 1971]
The books were published under a profit-sharing arrangement, whereby Tolkien would not receive an advance or royalties until the books had broken even, after which he would take a large share of the profits. It has ultimately become one of the best-selling novels ever written, with 50 million copies sold by 2003 and over 150 million copies sold by 2007.
The work was published in the UK by Allen & Unwin until 1990, when the publisher and its assets were acquired by
HarperCollins
HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News ...
.
Editions and revisions
In the early 1960s
Donald A. Wollheim
Donald Allen Wollheim (October 1, 1914 – November 2, 1990) was an American science fiction editor, publisher, writer, and fan. As an author, he published under his own name as well as under pseudonyms, including David Grinnell, Martin Pearso ...
, science fiction editor of the paperback publisher
Ace Books, claimed that ''The Lord of the Rings'' was not protected in the United States under
American copyright law because Houghton Mifflin, the US hardcover publisher, had neglected to copyright the work in the United States.
Then, in 1965, Ace Books proceeded to publish an edition, unauthorized by Tolkien and without paying
royalties to him. Tolkien took issue with this and quickly notified his fans of this objection.
Grass-roots
A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or economic movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from the local level to effect change at t ...
pressure from these fans became so great that Ace Books withdrew their edition and made a nominal payment to Tolkien.
[, letters #270, #273 and #277]
Authorized editions followed from
Ballantine Books and
Houghton Mifflin
The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star.
Computer scientists and mathematicians often voc ...
to tremendous commercial success. Tolkien undertook various textual revisions to produce a version of the book that would be published with his consent and establish an unquestioned US copyright. This text became the Second Edition of ''The Lord of the Rings'', published in 1965.
[ The first Ballantine paperback edition was printed in October that year, selling a quarter of a million copies within ten months. On 4 September 1966, the novel debuted on '']The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
''s Paperback Bestsellers list as number three, and was number one by 4 December, a position it held for eight weeks. Houghton Mifflin editions after 1994 consolidate variant revisions by Tolkien, and corrections supervised by Christopher Tolkien
Christopher John Reuel Tolkien (21 November 1924 – 16 January 2020) was an English academic editor, becoming a French citizen in later life. The son of author and academic J. R. R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien edited much of his father ...
, which resulted, after some initial glitches, in a computer-based unified text.
In 2004, for the 50th Anniversary Edition, Wayne G. Hammond
Wayne Gordon Hammond (born February 11, 1953 in Cleveland, Ohio) is an American scholar known for his research and writings on the works of J. R. R. Tolkien.
Biography
Wayne Hammond was born in Cleveland, Ohio and then raised in Brooklyn, Ohi ...
and Christina Scull
Christina Scull (born 6 March 1942 in Bristol, England) is a British researcher and writer best known for her books about the works of J. R. R. Tolkien.
Biography
Christina Scull was born in Bristol and was educated at the Redmaids' High Sc ...
, under supervision from Christopher Tolkien, studied and revised the text to eliminate as many errors and inconsistencies as possible, some of which had been introduced by well-meaning compositors of the first printing in 1954, and never been corrected. The 2005 edition of the book contained further corrections noticed by the editors and submitted by readers. Yet more corrections were made in the 60th Anniversary Edition in 2014. Several editions, including the 50th Anniversary Edition, print the whole work in one volume, with the result that pagination varies widely over the various editions.
Posthumous publication of drafts
From 1988 to 1992 Christopher Tolkien published the surviving drafts of ''The Lord of The Rings'', chronicling and illuminating with commentary the stages of the text's development, in volumes 6–9 of his ''History of Middle-earth
In J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, the history of Arda, also called the history of Middle-earth, began when the Ainur entered Arda, following the creation events in the Ainulindalë and long ages of labour throughout Eä, the fictional unive ...
'' series. The four volumes carry the titles ''The Return of the Shadow
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...
'', ''The Treason of Isengard
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...
'', ''The War of the Ring
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...
'', and ''Sauron Defeated
Sauron (pronounced ) is the title character and the primary antagonist, through the forging of the One Ring, of J. R. R. Tolkien's ''The Lord of the Rings'', where he rules the land of Mordor and has the ambition of ruling the whole of Midd ...
''.
Translations
The work has been translated, with varying degrees of success, into at least 38, and reportedly at least 70, languages. Tolkien, an expert in philology
Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as th ...
, examined many of these translations, and made comments on each that reflect both the translation process and his work. As he was unhappy with some choices made by early translators, such as the Swedish translation by Åke Ohlmarks
Åke Joel Ohlmarks (3 June 1911 – 6 June 1984) was a Swedish author, translator and scholar of philology, linguistics and religious studies. He worked as a lecturer at the University of Greifswald from 1941 to 1945, where he founded the institu ...
,[, letters #228 and #229 to Allen & Unwin, 24 January 1961 and 23 February 1961] Tolkien wrote a "Guide to the Names in The Lord of the Rings
Translations of J. R. R. Tolkien's ''The Lord of the Rings'' have been made, with varying degrees of success, into dozens of languages from the original English. Tolkien, an expert in Germanic philology, scrutinized those that were under preparat ...
" (1967). Because ''The Lord of the Rings'' purports to be a translation of the fictitious ''Red Book of Westmarch
The ''Red Book of Westmarch'' (sometimes the ''Thain's Book'' after its principal version) is a fictional manuscript written by hobbits, related to the author J. R. R. Tolkien's frame stories. It is an instance of the found manuscript conceit ...
'', using the English language to represent the Westron
The English philologist and author J. R. R. Tolkien created a number of constructed languages, including languages devised for fictional settings. Inventing languages, something that he called ''glossopoeia'' (paralleling his idea of ''mythopoe ...
of the "original", Tolkien suggested that translators attempt to capture the interplay between English and the invented nomenclature of the English work, and gave several examples along with general guidance.
Reception
1950s
Early reviews of the work were mixed. The initial review in the '' Sunday Telegraph'' described it as "among the greatest works of imaginative fiction of the twentieth century". The '' Sunday Times'' echoed this sentiment, stating that "the English-speaking world is divided into those who have read ''The Lord of the Rings'' and ''The Hobbit'' and those who are going to read them."[ The '' New York Herald Tribune'' appeared to predict the books' popularity, writing in its review that they were "destined to outlast our time". ]W. H. Auden
Wystan Hugh Auden (; 21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973) was a British-American poet. Auden's poetry was noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion, and its variety in ...
, a former pupil of Tolkien's and an admirer of his writings, regarded ''The Lord of the Rings'' as a "masterpiece", further stating that in some cases it outdid the achievement of John Milton's '' Paradise Lost''. Kenneth F. Slater wrote in Nebula Science Fiction
''Nebula Science Fiction'' was the first Scottish science fiction magazine. It was published from 1952 to 1959, and was edited by Peter Hamilton, a young Scot who was able to take advantage of spare capacity at his parents' printing company, ...
, April 1955, "... if you don't read it, you have missed one of the finest books of its type ever to appear". On the other hand, in 1955, the Scottish poet Edwin Muir
Edwin Muir CBE (15 May 1887 – 3 January 1959) was a Scottish poet, novelist and translator. Born on a farm in Deerness, a parish of Orkney, Scotland, he is remembered for his deeply felt and vivid poetry written in plain language and w ...
attacked ''The Return of the King
''The Return of the King'' is the third and final volume of J. R. R. Tolkien's ''The Lord of the Rings'', following '' The Fellowship of the Ring'' and '' The Two Towers''. It was published in 1955. The story begins in the kingdom of Gondor, ...
'', writing that "All the characters are boys masquerading as adult heroes ... and will never come to puberty ... Hardly one of them knows anything about women", causing Tolkien to complain angrily to his publisher. In 1956, the literary critic Edmund Wilson
Edmund Wilson Jr. (May 8, 1895 – June 12, 1972) was an American writer and literary critic who explored Freudian and Marxist themes. He influenced many American authors, including F. Scott Fitzgerald, whose unfinished work he edited for publi ...
wrote a review entitled "Oo, Those Awful Orcs!", calling Tolkien's work "juvenile trash", and saying "Dr. Tolkien has little skill at narrative and no instinct for literary form."
Within Tolkien's literary group, The Inklings
The Inklings were an informal literary discussion group associated with J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis at the University of Oxford for nearly two decades between the early 1930s and late 1949. The Inklings were literary enthusiasts who pra ...
, the work had a mixed reception. Hugo Dyson
Henry Victor Dyson Dyson (7 April 1896 – 6 June 1975), generally known as Hugo Dyson and who signed his writings H. V. D. Dyson, was an English academic and a member of the Inklings literary group. He was a committed Christian, and together w ...
complained loudly at its readings, whereas C. S. Lewis
Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Oxford University (Magdalen College, 1925–1954) and Cambridge Univers ...
had very different feelings, writing, "here are beauties which pierce like swords or burn like cold iron. Here is a book which will break your heart." Lewis observed that the writing is rich, in that some of the 'good' characters have darker sides, and likewise some of the villains have "good impulses". Despite the mixed reviews and the lack of a paperback until the 1960s, ''The Lord of the Rings'' initially sold well in hardback.
Later
Judith Shulevitz, writing in ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'', criticized the "pedantry" of Tolkien's literary style, saying that he "formulated a high-minded belief in the importance of his mission as a literary preservationist, which turns out to be death to literature itself". The critic Richard Jenkyns, writing in ''The New Republic
''The New Republic'' is an American magazine of commentary on politics, contemporary culture, and the arts. Founded in 1914 by several leaders of the progressive movement, it attempted to find a balance between "a liberalism centered in hu ...
'', criticized the work for a lack of psychological depth. Both the characters and the work itself were, according to Jenkyns, "anemic, and lacking in fibre". The science fiction author David Brin
Glen David Brin (born October 6, 1950) is an American scientist and author of science fiction. He has won the Hugo,[Epic Pooh
"Epic Pooh" is a 1978 essay by the British science fiction writer Michael Moorcock, which reviews the field of epic fantasy, with a particular focus on epic fantasy written for children. In it Moorcock critiques J. R. R. Tolkien's ''The Lord of th ...]
", fantasy author Michael Moorcock
Michael John Moorcock (born 18 December 1939) is an English writer, best-known for science fiction and fantasy, who has published a number of well-received literary novels as well as comic thrillers, graphic novels and non-fiction. He has worke ...
critiques the world-view displayed by the book as deeply conservative, in both the " paternalism" of the narrative voice and the power structure
In political sociology, but also operative within the rest of the animal, animal kingdom, a power structure is a hierarchy of competence or aggression (might) predicated on power (social and political), influence between an individual and other ...
s in the narrative. Tom Shippey
Thomas Alan Shippey (born 9 September 1943) is a British medievalist, a retired scholar of Middle and Old English literature as well as of modern fantasy and science fiction. He is considered one of the world's leading academic experts on the ...
, like Tolkien an English philologist, notes the wide gulf between Tolkien's supporters, both popular and academic, and his literary detractors, and attempts to explain in detail both why the literary establishment disliked ''The Lord of the Rings'', and the work's subtlety, themes, and merits, including the impression of depth that it conveys. The scholar of humanities Brian Rosebury analysed Tolkien's prose style in detail, showing that it was generally quite plain, varying to suit the voices of the different characters, and rising to a heroic register for special moments.
Awards
In 1957, ''The Lord of the Rings'' was awarded the International Fantasy Award
The International Fantasy Award was an annual literary award for the best science fiction or fantasy book and, in 1951-1953, the best non-fiction book of interest to science fiction and fantasy readers. The IFA was given by an international panel ...
. Despite its numerous detractors, the publication of the Ace Books and Ballantine paperbacks helped ''The Lord of the Rings'' become immensely popular in the United States in the 1960s. The book has remained so ever since, ranking as one of the most popular works of fiction of the twentieth century, judged by both sales and reader surveys. In the 2003 "Big Read
The Big Read was a survey on books carried out by the BBC in the United Kingdom in 2003, where over three-quarters of a million votes were received from the British public to find the nation's best-loved novel of all time. The year-long survey w ...
" survey conducted in Britain by the BBC, ''The Lord of the Rings'' was found to be the "Nation's best-loved book". In similar 2004 polls both Germany and Australia chose ''The Lord of the Rings'' as their favourite book. In a 1999 poll of Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It has been referred to as "one of the most influential econo ...
customers, ''The Lord of the Rings'' was judged to be their favourite "book of the millennium". In 2019, the ''BBC News
BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...
'' listed ''The Lord of the Rings'' on its list of the 100 most influential novels.
Adaptations
''The Lord of the Rings'' has been adapted for radio, stage, film and television.
Radio
The book has been adapted for radio four times. In 1955 and 1956, the BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
broadcast ''
The Lord of the Rings
''The Lord of the Rings'' is an epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's b ...
'', a 13-part radio adaptation of the story. In the 1960s radio station
WBAI
WBAI (99.5 FM) is a non-commercial, listener-supported radio station licensed to New York, New York. Its programming is a mixture of political news, talk and opinion from a left-leaning, liberal or progressive viewpoint, and eclectic music. ...
produced a short
radio adaptation
Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine t ...
. A 1979 dramatization of ''
The Lord of the Rings
''The Lord of the Rings'' is an epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's b ...
'' was broadcast in the United States and subsequently issued on tape and CD. In 1981, the BBC broadcast ''
The Lord of the Rings
''The Lord of the Rings'' is an epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's b ...
'', a new dramatization in 26 half-hour instalments.
Film and television
A variety of filmmakers considered adapting Tolkien's book, among them
Stanley Kubrick, who thought it
unfilmable Unfilmability is a type of medium specificity which prevents a work of literature from undergoing successful film adaptation. A wide variety of considerations can lead to a work being seen as unfilmable. These include aesthetic conventions, audien ...
,
Michelangelo Antonioni,
Jim Henson
James Maury Henson (September 24, 1936 – May 16, 1990) was an American puppeteer, animator, cartoonist, actor, inventor, and filmmaker who achieved worldwide notice as the creator of The Muppets and '' Fraggle Rock'' (1983–1987) and ...
,
Heinz Edelmann
Heinz Edelmann (20 June 1934 – 21 July 2009) was a Czech-German illustrator and designer. His art direction and character designs for the Beatles' 1968 animated film '' Yellow Submarine'' brought him additional recognition around the world.
...
, and
John Boorman.
A Swedish live action television film, ''
Sagan om ringen'', was broadcast in 1971.
In 1978,
Ralph Bakshi
Ralph Bakshi (born October 29, 1938) is an American animator and filmmaker. In the 1970s, he established an alternative to mainstream animation through independent and adult-oriented productions. Between 1972 and 1992, he directed nine theatric ...
made an animated
film version
A film adaptation is the transfer of a work or story, in whole or in part, to a feature film. Although often considered a type of derivative work, film adaptation has been conceptualized recently by academic scholars such as Robert Stam as a dia ...
covering ''The Fellowship of the Ring'' and part of ''The Two Towers'', to mixed reviews. In 1980,
Rankin/Bass
Rankin/Bass Animated Entertainment (founded and formerly known as Videocraft International, Ltd. and Rankin/Bass Productions, Inc.) was an American production company located in New York City, and known for its seasonal television specials, usual ...
released
an animated TV special based on the closing chapters of ''The Return of the King'', gaining mixed reviews.
In Finland, a live action television miniseries, ''
Hobitit
''Hobitit'' (''The Hobbits'') is a nine-part Finnish live action fantasy television miniseries directed by Timo Torikka, originally broadcast in 1993 on Yle TV1.
It is based on a six-hour play, ''The Lord of the Rings'', put on by the Suomenlinn ...
'', was broadcast in 1993 based on ''The Lord of the Rings'', with a flashback to Bilbo's encounter with Gollum in ''The Hobbit''.
A far more successful adaptation was
Peter Jackson's live action
''The Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy, produced by
New Line Cinema
New Line Cinema is an American film production studio owned by Warner Bros. Discovery and is a film label of Warner Bros. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye as an independent film distribution company; later becoming a film studio after ...
and released in three instalments as ''
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 three parts won multiple
Academy Awards
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
, including consecutive
Best Picture
This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards.
Best Actor/Best Actress
*See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...
nominations. The final instalment of this trilogy was the second film to break the one-billion-dollar barrier and won a total of 11
Oscars
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
(something only two other films in history, ''
Ben-Hur'' and ''
Titanic
RMS ''Titanic'' was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, Unit ...
'', have accomplished), including
Best Picture
This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards.
Best Actor/Best Actress
*See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...
,
Best Director Best Director is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards. It may refer to:
Film awards
* AACTA Award for Best Direction
* Academy Award for Best Director
* BA ...
and
Best Adapted Screenplay. Commentators including Tolkien scholars, literary critics and film critics are divided on
how faithfully Jackson adapted Tolkien's work, or whether a film version is inevitably different, and if so the reasons for any changes, and the effectiveness of the result.
''
The Hunt for Gollum
''The Hunt for Gollum'' is a 2009 British fantasy fan film based on the appendices of J. R. R. Tolkien's 1954–55 book ''The Lord of the Rings''. The film is set in Middle-earth, when the wizard Gandalf the Grey fears that Gollum may reveal info ...
'', a 2009 film by
Chris Bouchard
Chris Bouchard is a British film producer and director of ''The Hunt for Gollum'', an independent Lord of the Rings fan film. The budget was kept to £3,000 using crowd-sourced visual effects. The film was released on streaming platforms in May 2 ...
, and the 2009 ''
Born of Hope
''Born of Hope: The Ring of Barahir'' (often referred to as simply ''Born of Hope'') is a 2009 British fantasy adventure fan film directed by Kate Madison and written by Paula DiSante (as Alex K. Aldridge) based on the appendices of J. R. R. To ...
'', written by Paula DiSante and directed by
Kate Madison
Kate Madison is a British independent filmmaker, director, producer and actor. She portrayed the character Elgarain in her film, ''Born of Hope''.
Background
Kate Madison was born in Chesham, Buckinghamshire, England but now lives in Cambridge ...
, are
fan film
A fan film is a film or video inspired by a film, television program, comic book, book, or video game created by fans rather than by the source's copyright holders or creators. Fan filmmakers have traditionally been amateurs, but some of the mo ...
s based on details in the appendices of ''The Lord of the Rings''.
From September 2022,
Amazon
Amazon most often refers to:
* Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology
* Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin
* Amazon River, in South America
* Amazon (company), an American multinational technolog ...
is presenting a multi-season television series of stories, ''
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power''. It is set in the
Second Age
In J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, the history of Arda, also called the history of Middle-earth, began when the Ainur entered Arda, following the creation events in the Ainulindalë and long ages of labour throughout Eä, the fictional unive ...
, long before the time of ''The Lord of the Rings'', based on materials in the novel's appendices.
Audiobooks
In 1990,
Recorded Books
Recorded Books is an audiobook imprint of RBMedia, a publishing company with operations in countries globally. Recorded Books was formerly an independent audiobook company before being purchased and re-organized under RBMedia, where it is now an ...
published an
audio version of ''The Lord of the Rings'', read by the British actor
Rob Inglis
Robert Inglis (born in 1933) is an actor, writer, journalist, critic and producer who has primarily worked in Australia and England. He is the narrator of the unabridged audiobook editions of J. R. R. Tolkien's ''The Lord of the Rings'' and ''Th ...
. A large-scale musical theatre adaptation, ''
The Lord of the Rings
''The Lord of the Rings'' is an epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's b ...
'', was first staged in
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
in 2006 and opened in London in June 2007; it was a commercial failure.
In 2013, artist Phil Dragash recorded a full unabridged version of the book, using score from Peter Jackson's movies.
During the
COVID-19 lockdown
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of non-pharmaceutical interventions colloquially known as lockdowns (encompassing stay-at-home orders, curfews, quarantines, and similar societal restrictions) have been implemented in numerous countrie ...
,
Andy Serkis
Andrew Clement Serkis (born 20 April 1964) is an English actor, director, and producer. He is best known for his performance capture roles comprising motion capture acting, animation, and voice work for computer-generated characters such as Go ...
read the entire book of ''
The Hobbit
''The Hobbit, or There and Back Again'' is a children's fantasy novel by English author J. R. R. Tolkien. It was published in 1937 to wide critical acclaim, being nominated for the Carnegie Medal and awarded a prize from the ''N ...
'' to raise money for charity. He then recorded the work again as an audiobook. The cover art was done by
Alan Lee. In 2021, Serkis recorded ''The Lord of the Rings'' novels.
Legacy
Influence on fantasy
The enormous popularity of Tolkien's work expanded the demand for
fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...
. Largely thanks to ''The Lord of the Rings,'' the genre flowered throughout the 1960s and enjoys popularity to the present day. The opus has spawned many imitations, such as ''
The Sword of Shannara
''The Sword of Shannara'' is a 1977 epic fantasy novel by American writer Terry Brooks. It is the first book in a titular trilogy.
The novel interweaves two major plots into a fictional world called The Four Lands. One follows the protagonist ...
'', which
Lin Carter
Linwood Vrooman Carter (June 9, 1930 – February 7, 1988) was an American author of science fiction and fantasy, as well as an editor, poet and critic. He usually wrote as Lin Carter; known pseudonyms include H. P. Lowcraft (for an H. P. L ...
called "the single most cold-blooded, complete rip-off of another book that I have ever read,"
as well as alternate interpretations of the story, such as ''
The Last Ringbearer
''The Last Ringbearer'' (russian: Последний кольценосец, italic=yes, ''Posledniy kol'tsenosets'') is a 1999 fantasy fan-fiction book by Russian author Kirill Eskov. It is an alternative account of, and an informal sequel t ...
''.
''
The Legend of Zelda
''The Legend of Zelda'' is an action-adventure game franchise created by the Japanese game designers Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka. It is primarily developed and published by Nintendo, although some portable installments and re-rele ...
'', which popularized the
action-adventure game genre in the 1980s, was inspired by ''The Lord of the Rings'' among other fantasy books. ''
Dungeons & Dragons
''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. (TS ...
'', which popularized the
role-playing game genre in the 1970s, features several races from ''The Lord of the Rings,'' including
halfling
Halflings are a fictional race found in some fantasy novels and games. They are often depicted as similar to humans except about half as tall, and are not quite as stocky as the similarly-sized dwarves. Similar to the depiction of hobbits in the ...
s (hobbits), elves, dwarves,
half-elves, orcs, and dragons. However,
Gary Gygax
Ernest Gary Gygax ( ; July 27, 1938 – March 4, 2008) was an American game designer and author best known for co-creating the pioneering role-playing game ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') with Dave Arneson.
In the 1960s, Gygax created an ...
, lead designer of the game, maintained that he was influenced very little by ''The Lord of the Rings'', stating that he included these elements as a marketing move to draw on the popularity the work enjoyed at the time he was developing the game.
Because Dungeons & Dragons has gone on to influence many popular games, especially
role-playing video games, the influence of ''The Lord of the Rings'' extends to many of them, with titles such as ''
Dragon Quest'',
''
EverQuest
''EverQuest'' is a 3D fantasy-themed massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) originally developed by Verant Interactive and 989 Studios for Windows PCs. It was released by Sony Online Entertainment in March 1999 in North Amer ...
'', the ''
Warcraft
''Warcraft'' is a franchise of video games, novels, and other media created by Blizzard Entertainment. The series is made up of five core games: '' Warcraft: Orcs & Humans'', '' Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness'', '' Warcraft III: Reign of Chao ...
'' series, and ''
The Elder Scrolls
''The Elder Scrolls'' is a series of Action role-playing game, action role-playing video games primarily developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks. The series focuses on Nonlinear gameplay, free-form gameplay in an ...
'' series of games as well as
video games set in Middle-earth itself.
Music
In 1965, the songwriter
Donald Swann
Donald Ibrahim Swann (30 September 1923 – 23 March 1994) was a British composer, musician, singer and entertainer. He was one half of Flanders and Swann, writing and performing comic songs with Michael Flanders.
Life
Donald Swann was born ...
, best known for his collaboration with
Michael Flanders
Michael Henry Flanders (1 March 1922 – 14 April 1975) was an English actor, broadcaster, and writer and performer of comic songs. He is best known for his stage partnership with Donald Swann.
As a young man Flanders seemed to be heading f ...
as
Flanders & Swann, set six poems from ''The Lord of the Rings'' and one from ''
The Adventures of Tom Bombadil
''The Adventures of Tom Bombadil'' is a 1962 collection of poetry by J. R. R. Tolkien. The book contains 16 poems, two of which feature Tom Bombadil, a character encountered by Frodo Baggins in ''The Lord of the Rings''. The rest of the poems ar ...
'' ("Errantry") to music. When Swann met with Tolkien to play the songs for his approval, Tolkien suggested for "
Namárië
"Namárië" () is a poem by J. R. R. Tolkien written in Quenya, a constructed language, and published in ''The Lord of the Rings''. It is subtitled "Galadriel's Lament in Lórien", which in Quenya is ''Altariello nainië Lóriendessë''. The ...
" (Galadriel's lament) a setting reminiscent of
plain chant
Plainsong or plainchant (calque from the French ''plain-chant''; la, cantus planus) is a body of chants used in the liturgies of the Western Church. When referring to the term plainsong, it is those sacred pieces that are composed in Latin text ...
, which Swann accepted. The songs were published in 1967 as ''
The Road Goes Ever On: A Song Cycle'', and a recording of the songs performed by singer William Elvin with Swann on piano was issued that same year by
Caedmon Records
Caedmon Audio and HarperCollins Audio are record label imprints of HarperCollins Publishers that specialize in audiobooks and other literary content. Formerly Caedmon Records, its marketing tag-line was Caedmon: a Third Dimension for the Printe ...
as ''Poems and Songs of Middle Earth''.
Rock bands of the 1970s were musically and lyrically inspired by the fantasy-embracing counter-culture of the time. The British rock band
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...
recorded several songs that contain explicit references to ''The Lord of the Rings'', such as mentioning Gollum and Mordor in "
Ramble On
"Ramble On" is a song by English rock band Led Zeppelin from their 1969 album '' Led Zeppelin II''. It was co-written by Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, and was recorded in 1969 at Juggy Sound Studio, New York City, during the band's second concert ...
", the
Misty Mountains
The geography of Middle-earth encompasses the physical, political, and moral geography of J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional world of Middle-earth, strictly a continent on the planet of Arda (Tolkien), Arda but widely taken to mean Arda (Middle-earth), t ...
in "
Misty Mountain Hop
"Misty Mountain Hop" is a song by English rock band Led Zeppelin, released in 1971 by Atlantic Records. The song appears on the band's untitled fourth album, and was released as the B-side to the single " Black Dog" and performed in most of the ...
", and Ringwraiths in "
The Battle of Evermore
"The Battle of Evermore" is a folk duet sung by Robert Plant and Sandy Denny, featured on Led Zeppelin's untitled 1971 album, commonly known as '' Led Zeppelin IV''. The song's instrumentation features acoustic guitar and mandolin playing, ...
". In 1970, the Swedish musician
Bo Hansson released an
instrumental
An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to inst ...
concept album entitled ''Sagan om ringen'' ("The Saga of the Ring", the title of the Swedish translation at the time).
The album was subsequently released internationally as ''
Music Inspired by Lord of the Rings'' in 1972.
From the 1980s onwards, many heavy metal acts have been influenced by Tolkien.
In 1988, the Dutch composer and trombonist
Johan de Meij
Johannes Abraham "Johan" de Meij (; born November 23, 1953 in Voorburg) is a Dutch conductor, trombonist, and composer, best known for his '' Symphony No. 1'' for wind ensemble, nicknamed ''The Lord of the Rings'' symphony.
Biography
Johan de ...
completed his ''
Symphony No. 1 "The Lord of the Rings"''. It had 5 movements, titled "Gandalf", "Lothlórien", "Gollum", "Journey in the Dark", and "Hobbits".
The 1991 album ''
Shepherd Moons
''Shepherd Moons'' is the third studio album by Irish singer, songwriter and musician Enya, released on 4 November 1991 by WEA. After the unexpected critical and commercial success of her previous album ''Watermark'' (1988), Enya embarked on a ...
'' by the Irish musician
Enya
Enya Patricia Brennan (; ga, Eithne Pádraigín Ní Bhraonáin; born 17 May 1961), known professionally by the mononym Enya, is an Irish singer, songwriter, and musician known for modern Celtic music. She is the best-selling Irish solo arti ...
contains an instrumental titled "Lothlórien", in reference to the home of the wood-elves.
Impact on popular culture
![Matamata sign](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/09/Matamata_sign.jpg)
''The Lord of the Rings'' has had a profound and wide-ranging impact on popular culture, beginning with its publication in the 1950s, but especially during the 1960s and 1970s, when young people embraced it as a
countercultural
A counterculture is a culture whose values and norms of behavior differ substantially from those of mainstream society, sometimes diametrically opposed to mainstream cultural mores.Eric Donald Hirsch. ''The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy''. Hou ...
saga. "
Frodo Lives!
"Frodo Lives!" was a popular counterculture slogan in the 1960s and 1970s, referring to the character Frodo Baggins from J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy novel '' The Lord of the Rings'', commonly associated with the hippie movement.
The phrase was ...
" and "Gandalf for President" were two phrases popular amongst United States
Tolkien fans during this time. Its impact is such that the words "Tolkienian" and "Tolkienesque" have entered the ''
Oxford English Dictionary
The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a co ...
'', and many of his fantasy terms, formerly little-known in English, such as "
Orc
An Orc (or Ork) is a fictional humanoid monster like a goblin. Orcs were brought into modern usage by the fantasy writings of J. R. R. Tolkien, especially '' The Lord of the Rings''. In Tolkien's works, Orcs are a brutish, aggressive, ugl ...
" and "
Warg", have become widespread in that domain.
Among its effects are numerous
parodies
A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its sub ...
, especially ''
Harvard Lampoon
''The Harvard Lampoon'' is an undergraduate humor publication founded in 1876 by seven undergraduates at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Overview
The ''Harvard Lampoon'' publication was founded in 1876 by seven undergraduates ...
'' ''
Bored of the Rings
''Bored of the Rings'' is a 1969 parody of J. R. R. Tolkien's ''The Lord of the Rings''. This short novel was written by Henry Beard and Douglas Kenney, who later founded '' National Lampoon''. It was published in 1969 by Signet for the ''Har ...
'', which has had the distinction of remaining continuously in print from its publication in 1969, and of being translated into at least 11 languages.
In 1969, Tolkien sold the merchandising rights to ''The Lord of The Rings'' (and ''The Hobbit'') to
United Artists
United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the stud ...
under an agreement stipulating a lump sum payment of £10,000 plus a 7.5% royalty after costs, payable to Allen & Unwin and the author. In 1976, three years after the author's death, United Artists sold the rights to
Saul Zaentz
Saul Zaentz (; February 28, 1921January 3, 2014) was an American film producer and record company executive. He won the Academy Award for Best Picture three times and, in 1996, was awarded the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award.
Zaentz's film p ...
Company, who now trade as
Tolkien Enterprises
Middle-earth Enterprises, formerly known as Tolkien Enterprises, is a subdivision of the Embracer Freemode division of Embracer Group and formerly a trade name for a division of The Saul Zaentz Company. The subdivision owns the worldwide exclusiv ...
. Since then all "authorised" merchandise has been signed off by Tolkien Enterprises, although the
intellectual property rights
Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, cop ...
of the specific likenesses of characters and other imagery from various adaptations is generally held by the adaptors.
Outside commercial exploitation from adaptations, from the late 1960s onwards there has been an increasing variety of original licensed merchandise, with posters and calendars created by illustrators such as
Barbara Remington
Barbara Remington (23 June 1929 – 23 January 2020) was an American artist and illustrator. Born in Minnesota, she was probably best known for her cover-art for Ballantine Books' first paperback editions of J. R. R. Tolkien's novels '' The Hob ...
.
The work was named Britain's best novel of all time in the BBC's
The Big Read
The Big Read was a survey on books carried out by the BBC in the United Kingdom in 2003, where over three-quarters of a million votes were received from the British public to find the nation's best-loved novel of all time. The year-long survey wa ...
. In 2015, the BBC ranked ''The Lord of the Rings'' 26th on its list of the 100 greatest British novels. It was included in ''
Le Monde
''Le Monde'' (; ) is a French daily afternoon newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average circulation of 323,039 copies per issue in 2009, about 40,000 of which were sold abroad. It has had its own website si ...
''s list of "
100 Books of the Century".
Notes
References
Primary
Secondary
Sources
*
*
*
*
*
Tolkien, Christopher (ed.) (1988–1992). ''
The History of The Lord of the Rings
''The History of The Lord of the Rings'' is a four-volume work by Christopher Tolkien published between 1988 and 1992 that documents the process of J. R. R. Tolkien's writing of ''The Lord of the Rings''. The ''History'' is also numbered as v ...
'', 4 vols.
*
External links
Tolkien website of Harper Collins(the British publisher)
Tolkien website of Houghton Mifflin (the American publisher)
Lord of the Rings, The at the
Encyclopedia of Fantasy
''The Encyclopedia of Fantasy'' is a 1997 reference work concerning fantasy fiction, edited by John Clute and John Grant. Other contributors include Mike Ashley, Neil Gaiman, Diana Wynne Jones, David Langford, Sam J. Lundwall, Michael Scot ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lord Of The Rings, The
Mythopoeia
1954 fantasy novels
1954 British novels
British adventure novels
Sequel novels
Epic novels
British novels adapted into films
BILBY Award-winning works
Allen & Unwin books
Three-volume novels
Middle-earth books
High fantasy novels
English fantasy novels
Novels set in fictional countries
Middle-earth
Books by J. R. R. Tolkien