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The Lord of the Rings
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<h2 id="plot">Plot</h2> <h3><i>The Fellowship of the Ring</i></h3> <p class="note">Further information: <a href="/facts/The_Fellowship_of_the_Ring/7weHJwBP">The Fellowship of the Ring § Contents</a></p> <p><a href="/facts/Bilbo_Baggins/F9J2yoeT">Bilbo Baggins</a> celebrates his birthday and leaves the Ring to <a href="/facts/Frodo_Baggins/fQ3CvWH0">Frodo</a>, his heir. <a href="/facts/Gandalf/MzblM2hQ">Gandalf</a> (a <a href="/facts/Wizard_(Middle-earth)/xK1GqPx1">wizard</a>) suspects it is a <a href="/facts/Rings_of_Power/j2wYF8nS">Ring of Power</a>; seventeen years later, he confirms it is the One Ring, lost by the Dark Lord <a href="/facts/Sauron/Jat03nTw">Sauron</a>, and counsels Frodo to take it away from the Shire. Gandalf leaves, promising to return, but fails to do so. Frodo sets out on foot with his cousin <a href="/facts/Pippin_Took/xd9NSDK8">Pippin Took</a> and gardener <a href="/facts/Sam_Gamgee/bh8PtDjC">Sam Gamgee</a>. They are pursued by <a href="/facts/Nazg%25C3%25BBl/fl1SF8gC">Black Riders</a>, but meet some <a href="/facts/Elves_(Middle-Earth)/FccW53tg">Elves</a>, whose singing to <a href="/facts/Elbereth/PMoPIVhh">Elbereth</a> wards off the Riders. The Hobbits take an evasive shortcut to Bucklebury Ferry, where they meet their friend <a href="/facts/Merry_Brandybuck/wdtWLLTd">Merry Brandybuck</a>. Merry and Pippin reveal they know about the Ring and insist on joining Frodo on his journey. They try to shake off the Black Riders by cutting through the <a href="/facts/Old_Forest/yoDRSh5C">Old Forest</a>. Merry and Pippin are trapped by the malign <a href="/facts/Old_Man_Willow/VXFUSeBK">Old Man Willow</a>, but are rescued by <a href="/facts/Tom_Bombadil/gWzTsN7w">Tom Bombadil</a>. Leaving Tom's house, they are caught by a <a href="/facts/Barrow-wight/uJE4UK1A">barrow-wight</a>. Frodo, awakening from the barrow-wight's spell, calls Tom Bombadil, who frees them and gives them ancient swords from the wight's hoard. The Hobbits reach the village of <a href="/facts/Bree_(Middle-earth)/KSvkdG50">Bree</a>, where they meet <a href="/facts/Aragorn/yrI0GImr">Strider</a>, a <a href="/facts/Dunedain/DjEBGYuu">Ranger</a>. The innkeeper gives Frodo an old letter from Gandalf, which identifies Strider as a friend. Knowing the Black Riders will attempt to seize the Ring, Strider guides the group toward the <a href="/facts/Elf_(Middle-earth)/FccW53tg">Elvish</a> sanctuary of <a href="/facts/Rivendell/bmNW3xyw">Rivendell</a>. At <a href="/facts/Weathertop/CDNxMoej">Weathertop</a>, they are attacked by five Black Riders. Their leader wounds Frodo with a cursed blade. Strider fights them off and treats Frodo with the herb <i>athelas</i>. They are joined by the Elf <a href="/facts/Glorfindel/aqvNsvLF">Glorfindel</a>, who rides with Frodo, now deathly ill, towards Rivendell. The Black Riders pursue Frodo into the Ford of Bruinen, where they are swept away by flood waters summoned by <a href="/facts/Elrond/lTGtkoQX">Elrond</a>. </p><p> Frodo recovers in Rivendell under Elrond's care. Gandalf informs Frodo that the Black Riders are the <a href="/facts/Nazg%25C3%25BBl/fl1SF8gC">Nazgûl</a>, Men enslaved by Rings of Power to serve Sauron. <a href="/facts/The_Council_of_Elrond/aS5RH7YT">The Council of Elrond</a> discusses what to do with the Ring. Strider is revealed to be Aragorn, the heir of <a href="/facts/Isildur/dQBbcYvd">Isildur</a> who had cut the Ring from Sauron's hand in the Second Age, but claimed it for himself. The Ring was lost when Isildur was killed; it passed to <a href="/facts/Gollum/GgooTk1b">Gollum</a> and then to Bilbo. Gandalf reports that the chief wizard, <a href="/facts/Saruman/cUT08FUA">Saruman</a>, is a traitor. The Council decides that the Ring must be destroyed in the fire of <a href="/facts/Mount_Doom/wQUxPgf4">Mount Doom</a> in <a href="/facts/Mordor/Goa0Eh16">Mordor</a>, where it was forged. Frodo takes this task upon himself. Elrond chooses companions for him: Sam, Merry, and Pippin; Gandalf; the Men Aragorn and <a href="/facts/Boromir/u9crKepe">Boromir</a>, son of the <a href="/facts/Stewards_of_Gondor/juhTbXxo">Steward of Gondor</a>; the Elf <a href="/facts/Legolas/FWLXHcSo">Legolas</a>; and the <a href="/facts/Dwarf_(Middle-earth)/QPXzfen9">Dwarf</a> <a href="/facts/Gimli_(Middle-earth)/t8oLRGqD">Gimli</a>, representing the Free Peoples of the West. After a failed attempt to cross the <a href="/facts/Misty_Mountains/CDNxMoej">Misty Mountains</a>, the Fellowship risk the path through the <a href="/facts/Moria_(Middle-earth)/0g5KBClw">Mines of Moria</a>. They learn that <a href="/facts/Balin_(Middle-earth)/qNhzFcUy">Balin</a> and his Dwarves, who had attempted to regain possession of Moria, were killed by <a href="/facts/Orc_(Middle-earth)/PMVplCFa">Orcs</a>. They are attacked by Orcs and a <a href="/facts/Balrog/aBfQHVns">Balrog</a>, a fire demon. Gandalf confronts the Balrog: both fall into an abyss. The others escape to the <a href="/facts/Time_in_The_Lord_of_the_Rings/CYyumxq8">Elvish forest</a> of <a href="/facts/Lothl%25C3%25B3rien/zPsBkB8z">Lothlórien</a>, where the Lady <a href="/facts/Galadriel/lEreyfEn">Galadriel</a> tests their loyalty, and gives them magical gifts. She allows Frodo and Sam to look into her vision-giving fountain, the Mirror of Galadriel. Frodo offers her the Ring: she refuses, knowing that it would master her. Galadriel's husband Celeborn gives the Fellowship boats, cloaks, and waybread. They travel down the <a href="/facts/River_Anduin/HCQrvKQe">River Anduin</a>. At Amon Hen, Boromir tries to take the Ring, but Frodo puts on the Ring and disappears. Frodo chooses to cross the river and go alone to Mordor, but Sam, guessing what he intends, intercepts and joins him. </p> <h3><i>The Two Towers</i></h3> <p class="note">Further information: <a href="/facts/The_Two_Towers/EsmGe6lb">The Two Towers § Contents</a></p> <p>A party of Orcs sent by <a href="/facts/Saruman/cUT08FUA">Saruman</a> and <a href="/facts/Sauron/Jat03nTw">Sauron</a> attack the Fellowship. Boromir tries to protect Merry and Pippin from the Orcs, but they kill him and capture the two Hobbits. Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas decide to pursue the Orcs. The Orcs are killed by <a href="/facts/Rohan_(Middle-earth)/E5rqn3kr">Riders of Rohan</a>, led by <a href="/facts/%25C3%2589omer/04Pau5X8">Éomer</a>. The Hobbits escape into <a href="/facts/Fangorn/PEYUH17S">Fangorn</a> Forest, where they are befriended by the <a href="/facts/Ent/6shkaQCt">Ent</a> <a href="/facts/Treebeard/PEYUH17S">Treebeard</a>. Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas track the hobbits to Fangorn, where they meet Gandalf: he explains that he killed the Balrog; he too was killed in the fight, but was sent back to Middle-earth. He is now Gandalf the White, replacing Saruman as chief of the wizards. They ride to <a href="/facts/Edoras/E5rqn3kr">Edoras</a>, capital of Rohan. Gandalf frees King <a href="/facts/Th%25C3%25A9oden/xDXGLCwU">Théoden</a> from the influence of Saruman's spy <a href="/facts/Gr%25C3%25ADma_Wormtongue/znUzw62k">Gríma Wormtongue</a>. Théoden musters his army and rides to the fortress of <a href="/facts/Helm%2527s_Deep/v136wQ9S">Helm's Deep</a>; Gandalf departs to seek help from Treebeard. The Ents destroy <a href="/facts/Isengard/aePdCwVJ">Isengard</a>, Saruman's stronghold, and flood it, trapping the wizard in the tower of <a href="/facts/Orthanc/aePdCwVJ">Orthanc</a>. Gandalf convinces Treebeard to send an army of <a href="/facts/Huorn/6shkaQCt">Huorns</a> to Théoden's aid. He brings an army of Riders of Rohan to Helm's Deep. They defeat the Orcs, who flee into the forest of Huorns and are destroyed. Gandalf, Théoden, Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli ride to Isengard, where they find Merry and Pippin relaxing amidst the ruins. Gandalf offers Saruman a chance to turn away from evil. When Saruman refuses, Gandalf strips him of his rank and most of his powers. Wormtongue throws down a hard round object to try to kill Gandalf. Pippin picks it up; Gandalf swiftly takes it, but Pippin steals it in the night. It is a <i><a href="/facts/Palant%25C3%25ADr/fb7s1V79">palantír</a></i>, a seeing-stone that Saruman used to speak with Sauron, becoming ensnared. Sauron sees Pippin, but misunderstands the circumstances. Gandalf rides for <a href="/facts/Minas_Tirith/juhTbXxo">Minas Tirith</a>, chief city of <a href="/facts/Gondor/juhTbXxo">Gondor</a>, taking Pippin with him. </p><p>Frodo and Sam struggle through the barren hills of the <a href="/facts/Emyn_Muil/juhTbXxo">Emyn Muil</a>. They realize they are being tracked; on a moonlit night they capture Gollum, who has followed them from Moria. Frodo makes Gollum swear to serve him, as Ringbearer, and asks him to guide them to Mordor. Gollum leads them across the <a href="/facts/Dead_Marshes/oCnyMmob">Dead Marshes</a>. Sam overhears Gollum debating with his alter ego, Sméagol, whether to steal the Ring. The <a href="/facts/Black_Gate_(Middle-earth)/Goa0Eh16">Black Gate</a> of Mordor is too well guarded, so they travel south through <a href="/facts/Ithilien/juhTbXxo">Ithilien</a> to a secret pass that Gollum knows. They are captured by rangers led by <a href="/facts/Faramir/bWC3fLF4">Faramir</a>, Boromir's brother, and brought to the secret fastness of <a href="/facts/Henneth_Ann%25C3%25BBn/juhTbXxo">Henneth Annûn</a>. Faramir resists the temptation to seize the Ring and, disobeying orders to arrest strangers, releases them. Gollum guides the hobbits to the pass, but leads them into the lair of the great spider <a href="/facts/Shelob/xHj1gXT1">Shelob</a> in the tunnels of <a href="/facts/Cirith_Ungol/Goa0Eh16">Cirith Ungol</a>. Frodo holds up his gift, the <a href="/facts/Phial_of_Galadriel/u6unMEVe">Phial of Galadriel</a>, which holds the <a href="/facts/Christianity_in_Middle-earth/bkuWe66q">light</a> of <a href="/facts/E%25C3%25A4rendil/A0yzeIJe">Eärendil</a>'s star: it drives Shelob back. Frodo cuts through a giant web using his sword <a href="/facts/Sting_(sword)/Y7weesRW">Sting</a>. Shelob attacks again, and Frodo falls to her venom. Sam picks up Sting and the <a href="/facts/The_Phial_of_Galadriel/u6unMEVe">Phial</a>. He wounds the monster. Believing Frodo to be dead, a devestated Sam takes the Ring to continue the quest alone. Orcs take Frodo; Sam overhears them saying that Frodo is still alive, and sets out to rescue him. </p> <h3><i>The Return of the King</i></h3> <p class="note">Further information: <a href="/facts/The_Return_of_the_King/XR7IHHJe">The Return of the King § Contents</a></p> <p>Sauron sends a great army against <a href="/facts/Gondor/juhTbXxo">Gondor</a>. Gandalf arrives at <a href="/facts/Minas_Tirith/juhTbXxo">Minas Tirith</a> to warn <a href="/facts/Denethor/6A5ooKtd">Denethor</a> of the attack, while Théoden musters the Riders of Rohan to go to Gondor's aid. Minas Tirith is besieged; the Lord of the Nazgûl uses a spell-wound <a href="/facts/Battering_ram/zrfgLhfI">battering ram</a> to destroy the city's gates. Denethor, deceived by Sauron, falls into despair. He burns himself alive on a pyre; Pippin and Gandalf rescue his son Faramir from the same fate. Aragorn, accompanied by Legolas, Gimli, and the <a href="/facts/Rangers_of_the_North/DjEBGYuu">Rangers of the North</a>, takes the <a href="/facts/Paths_of_the_Dead/juhTbXxo">Paths of the Dead</a> to recruit the Dead Men of Dunharrow, oathbreakers who will have no rest until they fight for the King of Gondor. Aragorn unleashes the Army of the Dead on the <a href="/facts/Corsairs_of_Umbar/Y9lD11lM">Corsairs of Umbar</a> invading southern Gondor. He and men of southern Gondor sail in the Corsairs' ships up the <a href="/facts/Anduin/CDNxMoej">Anduin</a>, reaching Minas Tirith just in time to turn the tide of battle. Théoden's niece <a href="/facts/%25C3%2589owyn/nLN7flFB">Éowyn</a>, who joined the army in disguise, kills the Lord of the Nazgûl with help from Merry; both are wounded. Gondor and Rohan defeat Sauron's army in the <a href="/facts/Battle_of_the_Pelennor_Fields/X4gh7Y0U">Battle of the Pelennor Fields</a>, but Théoden is killed. Aragorn enters Minas Tirith and heals the sick. He leads an army through Ithilien to the Black Gate to distract Sauron from his true danger. At the <a href="/facts/Battle_of_the_Morannon/Dro4qbzu">Battle of the Morannon</a>, his army is vastly outnumbered. </p><p>Sam rescues Frodo from the tower of Cirith Ungol. They set out across Mordor. When they reach the edge of the <a href="/facts/Cracks_of_Doom/wQUxPgf4">Cracks of Doom</a>, Frodo cannot resist the Ring any longer: he claims it for himself and puts it on. Gollum reappears. He bites off Frodo's Ring finger. Celebrating wildly, Gollum loses his footing and falls into the Fire, taking the Ring with him. When the Ring is destroyed, Sauron loses his power. All he created collapses, the Nazgûl perish, Aragorn wins the battle of the Morannon, and the <a href="/facts/Eagles_in_Middle-earth/QtD6ExB9">Eagles</a> rescue Frodo and Sam from the ruin of Mount Doom. Aragorn is crowned King, and weds <a href="/facts/Arwen/vTUjPqFU">Arwen</a>, Elrond's daughter. Théoden is buried; Éomer is crowned King of Rohan. His sister Éowyn is engaged to Faramir, now Steward of Gondor and Prince of Ithilien. Galadriel, Celeborn, and Gandalf say farewell to Treebeard, and to Aragorn. The four hobbits travel home, only to find it has been taken over by Saruman's men. Merry raises a rebellion and <a href="/facts/The_Scouring_of_the_Shire/YgRUuvvU">scours the Shire</a>. Saruman reveals crimes that Wormtongue has done, causing Wormtongue to turn on Saruman and kill him in front of <a href="/facts/Bag_End/rEgaJC8m">Bag End</a>, Frodo's home. Wormtongue then is killed by hobbit archers. Merry and Pippin are celebrated as heroes. Sam marries Rosie Cotton and uses his gifts to heal the Shire. Frodo, broken by the quest, leaves a few years later, sailing from the <a href="/facts/Grey_Havens/FccW53tg">Grey Havens</a> over the Sea to find peace. </p><p>Extensive appendices outline more details of the history, cultures, <a href="/facts/Tolkien%2527s_Middle-earth_family_trees/K3EVbj84">genealogies</a>, and <a href="/facts/Languages_constructed_by_J._R._R._Tolkien/w0gEl7eo">languages</a> that Tolkien imagined for the peoples of Middle-earth. <a href="/facts/Tolkien_and_antiquarianism/dMw26x1r">In antiquarian style</a>,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:12" href="#fn:12"><sup>12</sup></a> they provide background details for the narrative, with much detail for Tolkien fans who want to know more about the stories. </p> <h3>Frame story</h3> <p class="note">Further information: <a href="/facts/Tolkien%2527s_frame_stories/s7BTSoeI">Tolkien's frame stories</a></p> <p>Tolkien presents <i>The Lord of the Rings</i> within a fictional <a href="/facts/Frame_story/BBgDrsky">frame story</a> where he is not the original author, but merely the translator of part of an ancient document, the <i><a href="/facts/Red_Book_of_Westmarch/oL3NKvwv">Red Book of Westmarch</a></i>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:13" href="#fn:13"><sup>13</sup></a> That book is modelled on the real <i><a href="/facts/Red_Book_of_Hergest/Q1lGR8Xt">Red Book of Hergest</a></i>, which similarly presents an older mythology. Various details of the frame story appear in the Prologue, its "Note on <a href="/facts/The_Shire/rEgaJC8m">Shire</a> Records", and in the Appendices, notably Appendix F. In this frame story, the <i>Red Book</i> is the purported source of Tolkien's other works relating to <a href="/facts/Middle-earth/HCQrvKQe">Middle-earth</a>: <i><a href="/facts/The_Hobbit/Tt5fpB1m">The Hobbit</a></i>, <i><a href="/facts/The_Silmarillion/v3g2SWpm">The Silmarillion</a></i>, and <i><a href="/facts/The_Adventures_of_Tom_Bombadil/DA1wwg7w">The Adventures of Tom Bombadil</a></i>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:14" href="#fn:14"><sup>14</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="concept-and-creation">Concept and creation</h2> <h3>Background</h3> <p class="note">Further information: <a href="/facts/Tolkien%2527s_legendarium/eI1du5Ij">Tolkien's legendarium</a></p> <p>Although a major work in itself, <i>The Lord of the Rings</i> was only the last movement of a much older set of narratives Tolkien had worked on since 1917 encompassing <i>The Silmarillion</i>,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:15" href="#fn:15"><sup>15</sup></a> in a process he described as <i><a href="/facts/Mythopoeia/ClBkUGU8">mythopoeia</a></i>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:16" href="#fn:16"><sup>16</sup></a> </p><p><i>The Lord of the Rings</i> started as a sequel to Tolkien's work <i><a href="/facts/The_Hobbit/Tt5fpB1m">The Hobbit</a></i>, published in 1937.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:17" href="#fn:17"><sup>17</sup></a> The popularity of <i>The Hobbit</i> 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 <i><a href="/facts/The_Silmarillion/v3g2SWpm">The Silmarillion</a></i>, putting <i><a href="/facts/Roverandom/ho02GRrR">Roverandom</a></i> on hold, and accepting <i><a href="/facts/Farmer_Giles_of_Ham/3V7qgPPB">Farmer Giles of Ham</a></i>, Allen & Unwin continued to ask for more stories about <a href="/facts/Hobbit/I8c6m2IE">hobbits</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:18" href="#fn:18"><sup>18</sup></a> </p> <h3>Writing</h3> <p class="note">Main article: <a href="/facts/Constructing_The_Lord_of_the_Rings/wutJB0pH">Constructing The Lord of the Rings</a></p> <p>Persuaded by his publishers, he started "a new Hobbit" in December 1937.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:19" href="#fn:19"><sup>19</sup></a> 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 <i>The Lord of the Rings</i> did not come until the spring of 1938.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:20" href="#fn:20"><sup>20</sup></a> 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.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:21" href="#fn:21"><sup>21</sup></a> As the story progressed, he brought in elements from <i><a href="/facts/The_Silmarillion/v3g2SWpm">The Silmarillion</a></i> mythology.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:22" href="#fn:22"><sup>22</sup></a> </p><p>Writing was slow, because Tolkien had a full-time academic position, marked exams to bring in a little extra income, and wrote many drafts.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:23" href="#fn:23"><sup>23</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:24" href="#fn:24"><sup>24</sup></a> Tolkien abandoned <i>The Lord of the Rings</i> during most of 1943 and only restarted it in April 1944,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:25" href="#fn:25"><sup>25</sup></a> as a serial for his son <a href="/facts/Christopher_Tolkien/fIM8mUU5">Christopher Tolkien</a>, who was sent chapters as they were written while he was serving in South Africa with the <a href="/facts/Royal_Air_Force/P10CbL5H">Royal Air Force</a>. Tolkien made another major effort in 1946 and showed the manuscript to his publishers in 1947.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:26" href="#fn:26"><sup>26</sup></a> The story was effectively finished the next year, but Tolkien did not complete the revision of earlier parts of the work until 1949.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:27" href="#fn:27"><sup>27</sup></a> The original manuscripts, which total 9,250 pages, now reside in the J. R. R. Tolkien Collection at <a href="/facts/Marquette_University/huBBf51C">Marquette University</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:28" href="#fn:28"><sup>28</sup></a> </p> <h3>Poetry</h3> <p class="note">Main article: <a href="/facts/Poetry_in_The_Lord_of_the_Rings/UW0X3Wu7">Poetry in <i>The Lord of the Rings</i></a></p> <p>Unusually for 20th century novels, the prose narrative is supplemented throughout by <a href="/facts/Poetry_in_The_Lord_of_the_Rings/UW0X3Wu7">over 60 pieces of poetry</a>. These include verse and songs of many genres: for wandering, <a href="/facts/Marching_song/cT14edHB">marching to war</a>, <a href="/facts/Drinking_song/5y6QnCux">drinking</a>, and having a bath; narrating ancient myths, <a href="/facts/Riddle/ev2S5kvB">riddles</a>, <a href="/facts/Prophecy/uR8eaHXj">prophecies</a>, and magical incantations; and of praise and lament (<a href="/facts/Elegy/wqeeMAJW">elegy</a>).<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:29" href="#fn:29"><sup>29</sup></a> Some, such as riddles, charms, elegies, and narrating heroic actions are found in <a href="/facts/Old_English/9rsmQG2a">Old English</a> <a href="/facts/Old_English_literature/sfFJE3Xq">poetry</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:30" href="#fn:30"><sup>30</sup></a> 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.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:31" href="#fn:31"><sup>31</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:32" href="#fn:32"><sup>32</sup></a> The poetry has been judged to be of high technical skill, reflected in Tolkien's prose; for instance, he wrote much of <a href="/facts/Tom_Bombadil/gWzTsN7w">Tom Bombadil</a>'s speech in metre.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:33" href="#fn:33"><sup>33</sup></a> </p> <h3>Illustrations</h3> <p class="note">Main article: <a href="/facts/Non-narrative_elements_in_The_Lord_of_the_Rings/dMw26x1r">Non-narrative elements in The Lord of the Rings</a></p> <p>Tolkien worked on the text using <a href="/facts/Tolkien%2527s_maps/CMCATetc">his maps of Middle-earth</a> as a guide, to ensure the elements of the story fitted together in time and space.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:34" href="#fn:34"><sup>34</sup></a> He prepared a variety of types of illustration – maps, calligraphy, drawings, cover designs, even a facsimile painting of the <a href="/facts/Book_of_Mazarbul/w0W3oxBe">Book of Mazarbul</a> – but only the maps, the inscription on the Ring, and a drawing of the <a href="/facts/Doors_of_Durin/0g5KBClw">Doors of Durin</a> were included in the first edition.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:35" href="#fn:35"><sup>35</sup></a>[T 6] </p><p>The hardback editions sometimes had cover illustrations by Tolkien,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:36" href="#fn:36"><sup>36</sup></a> sometimes by other artists. According to <i><a href="/facts/The_New_York_Times/T9marWVX">The New York Times</a></i>, <a href="/facts/Barbara_Remington/LVTRkpJo">Barbara Remington</a>'s cover designs for <a href="/facts/Ballantine_Books/Lj4moIBI">Ballantine</a>'s paperback editions "achieved mass-cult status in the 1960s, particularly on college campuses" across America.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:37" href="#fn:37"><sup>37</sup></a> </p> <h3>Influences</h3> <p class="note">Main article: <a href="/facts/J._R._R._Tolkien%2527s_influences/dXIWXVH5">J. R. R. Tolkien's influences</a></p> <p>Tolkien drew on <a href="/facts/J._R._R._Tolkien%2527s_influences/dXIWXVH5">a wide array of influences</a> including language,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:38" href="#fn:38"><sup>38</sup></a> Christianity,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:39" href="#fn:39"><sup>39</sup></a> <a href="/facts/Mythology/kG8UTfem">mythology</a> and <a href="/facts/Germanic_heroic_legend/AhP3gJX1">Germanic heroic legend</a> including the Norse <i><a href="/facts/V%25C3%25B6lsunga_saga/VG3WS9U2">Völsunga saga</a></i>,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:40" href="#fn:40"><sup>40</sup></a> <a href="/facts/Archaeology/K3Q5P38R">archaeology</a>, especially at the Temple of <a href="/facts/Nodens/8XYrnd9o">Nodens</a>,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:41" href="#fn:41"><sup>41</sup></a> ancient and modern literature, like Finnish 19th-century <a href="/facts/Epic_poetry/h84KSHA7">epic poetry</a> <i><a href="/facts/Kalevala/NanH6D3y">The Kalevala</a></i> by <a href="/facts/Elias_L%25C3%25B6nnrot/510o7JdF">Elias Lönnrot</a>,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:42" href="#fn:42"><sup>42</sup></a> and personal experience. He was inspired primarily by his profession, <a href="/facts/Philology/5u0xzd5g">philology</a>;<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:43" href="#fn:43"><sup>43</sup></a> his work centred on the study of <a href="/facts/Old_English/9rsmQG2a">Old English</a> literature, especially <i><a href="/facts/Beowulf/RH8v7yW6">Beowulf</a></i>, and he acknowledged <a href="/facts/Beowulf_in_Middle-earth/dHM3kqS1">its importance to his writings</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:44" href="#fn:44"><sup>44</sup></a> He was a gifted linguist, influenced by Celtic,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:45" href="#fn:45"><sup>45</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:46" href="#fn:46"><sup>46</sup></a> Finnish,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:47" href="#fn:47"><sup>47</sup></a> Slavic,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:48" href="#fn:48"><sup>48</sup></a> and Greek language and mythology.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:49" href="#fn:49"><sup>49</sup></a> 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 <a href="/facts/John_Buchan/jKfRjwjL">John Buchan</a> and <a href="/facts/Rider_Haggard/x5bU2zsv">Rider Haggard</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:50" href="#fn:50"><sup>50</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:51" href="#fn:51"><sup>51</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:52" href="#fn:52"><sup>52</sup></a> The <a href="/facts/Arts_and_Crafts/MXjkwQQD">Arts and Crafts</a> polymath <a href="/facts/William_Morris/sVWM3gXC">William Morris</a> was a major influence,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:53" href="#fn:53"><sup>53</sup></a> and Tolkien undoubtedly made use of some real place-names, such as Bag End, the name of his aunt's home.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:54" href="#fn:54"><sup>54</sup></a> Tolkien stated, too, that he had been influenced by his childhood experiences of the English countryside of <a href="/facts/Worcestershire/EpkMSBnL">Worcestershire</a> near <a href="/facts/Sarehole_Mill/HW737H02">Sarehole Mill</a>, and its urbanization by the growth of <a href="/facts/Birmingham/lNd1h81V">Birmingham</a>,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:55" href="#fn:55"><sup>55</sup></a> and his personal experience of <a href="/facts/Trench_warfare/GXDoLeRJ">fighting in the trenches</a> of the <a href="/facts/First_World_War/vITTUanQ">First World War</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:56" href="#fn:56"><sup>56</sup></a> 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.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:57" href="#fn:57"><sup>57</sup></a> </p> <h3>Themes</h3> <p class="note">Main article: <a href="/facts/Themes_of_The_Lord_of_the_Rings/P5lKHwNP">Themes of <i>The Lord of the Rings</i></a></p> <p>Scholars and critics have identified <a href="/facts/Themes_of_The_Lord_of_the_Rings/P5lKHwNP">many themes in the book</a> with its <a href="/facts/Interlacing_in_The_Lord_of_the_Rings/hk5ma8NL">complex interlaced narrative</a>, including a reversed <a href="/facts/Quest/X71Xqc9I">quest</a>,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:58" href="#fn:58"><sup>58</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:59" href="#fn:59"><sup>59</sup></a> the struggle of <a href="/facts/Good_and_evil/nPIx3ruo">good and evil</a>,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:60" href="#fn:60"><sup>60</sup></a> <a href="/facts/The_Tale_of_Aragorn_and_Arwen/1fRVWy5a">death and immortality</a>,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:61" href="#fn:61"><sup>61</sup></a> fate and free will,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:62" href="#fn:62"><sup>62</sup></a> <a href="/facts/Addiction_to_power_in_The_Lord_of_the_Rings/Evhw1A9v">the addictive danger of power</a>,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:63" href="#fn:63"><sup>63</sup></a> and various aspects of Christianity such as the presence of three Christ figures, for <a href="/facts/Threefold_office/VHPpvWbh">prophet, priest, and king</a>, as well as elements like hope and <a href="/facts/Redemptive_suffering/w22mBY86">redemptive suffering</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:64" href="#fn:64"><sup>64</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:65" href="#fn:65"><sup>65</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:66" href="#fn:66"><sup>66</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:67" href="#fn:67"><sup>67</sup></a> There is a common theme throughout the work of <a href="/facts/Languages_constructed_by_J._R._R._Tolkien/w0gEl7eo">language</a>, <a href="/facts/Sound_and_language_in_Middle-earth/cLjA7YPE">its sound</a>, and its relationship to peoples and places, along with hints of <a href="/facts/Divine_providence/r862Y9Xq">providence</a> in descriptions of weather and landscape.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:68" href="#fn:68"><sup>68</sup></a> Out of these, Tolkien stated that the central theme is death and immortality.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:69" href="#fn:69"><sup>69</sup></a> To those who supposed that the book was an <a href="/facts/Allegory/RKXvafFK">allegory</a> 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." </p><p>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 <a href="/facts/Women_in_The_Lord_of_the_Rings/tcuxovjE">powerful women in the book</a>, Galadriel, Éowyn, and Arwen; that life, even in rural Hobbiton, is not idealized; that <a href="/facts/Christianity_in_Middle-earth/bkuWe66q">Christianity is a pervasive theme</a>; and that <a href="/facts/Tolkien_and_race/y3gPpd8n">Tolkien was sharply anti-racist</a> both in peacetime and during the Second World War, while Middle-earth is evidently polycultural.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:70" href="#fn:70"><sup>70</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:71" href="#fn:71"><sup>71</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:72" href="#fn:72"><sup>72</sup></a> Others have discussed the apparent or implicit <a href="/facts/Sexuality_in_The_Lord_of_the_Rings/YzeqdaSP">sexuality</a> in the book.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:73" href="#fn:73"><sup>73</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:74" href="#fn:74"><sup>74</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:75" href="#fn:75"><sup>75</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="publication-history">Publication history</h2> <p>A dispute with his publisher, <a href="/facts/Allen_%2526_Unwin/lF35ffrf">Allen & Unwin</a>, led Tolkien to offer the work to <a href="/facts/William_Collins%2c_Sons/twpSGSjH">William Collins</a> in 1950. Tolkien intended <i><a href="/facts/The_Silmarillion/v3g2SWpm">The Silmarillion</a></i> (itself largely unrevised at this point) to be published along with <i>The Lord of the Rings,</i> but <a href="/facts/Allen_%2526_Unwin/lF35ffrf">Allen & Unwin</a> was unwilling to do this. After <a href="/facts/Milton_Waldman/nKWdInbW">Milton Waldman</a>, his contact at Collins, expressed the belief that <i>The Lord of the Rings</i> itself "urgently wanted cutting", Tolkien eventually demanded that they publish the book in 1952.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:76" href="#fn:76"><sup>76</sup></a> Collins did not; and so Tolkien wrote to <a href="/facts/Allen_%2526_Unwin/lF35ffrf">Allen & Unwin</a>, telling that he would have gladly considered the publication of any part of the stuff, fearing his work would never see the light of day.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:77" href="#fn:77"><sup>77</sup></a> </p><p>For publication, the work was <a href="/facts/Three-volume_novel/Hw6ow97q">divided into three volumes</a> to minimize any potential financial loss due to the high cost of type-setting and modest anticipated sales: <i><a href="/facts/The_Fellowship_of_the_Ring/7weHJwBP">The Fellowship of the Ring</a></i> (Books I and II), <i><a href="/facts/The_Two_Towers/EsmGe6lb">The Two Towers</a></i> (Books III and IV), and <i><a href="/facts/The_Return_of_the_King/XR7IHHJe">The Return of the King</a></i> (Books V and VI, and six appendices).<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:78" href="#fn:78"><sup>78</sup></a> Delays in producing appendices, <a href="/facts/Tolkien%2527s_maps/CMCATetc">maps</a> 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.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:79" href="#fn:79"><sup>79</sup></a> In the United States, <a href="/facts/Houghton_Mifflin_Harcourt/byG66zxw">Houghton Mifflin</a> published <i>The Fellowship of the Ring</i> on 21 October 1954, <i>The Two Towers</i> on 21 April 1955, and <i>The Return of the King</i> on 5 January 1956.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:80" href="#fn:80"><sup>80</sup></a> </p><p><i>The Return of the King</i> 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 <i>The Return of the King</i>, believing it gave away too much of the storyline, but deferred to his publisher's preference.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:81" href="#fn:81"><sup>81</sup></a> Tolkien wrote that the title <i>The Two Towers</i> "can be left ambiguous",<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:82" href="#fn:82"><sup>82</sup></a> but considered naming the two as <a href="/facts/Isengard/aePdCwVJ">Orthanc</a> and <a href="/facts/Barad-d%25C3%25BBr/M6J22ybq">Barad-dûr</a>, <a href="/facts/Minas_Tirith/juhTbXxo">Minas Tirith</a> and Barad-dûr, or Orthanc and the <a href="/facts/Minor_places_in_Middle-earth/CDNxMoej">Tower of Cirith Ungol</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:83" href="#fn:83"><sup>83</sup></a> However, a month later he wrote a note published at the end of <i>The Fellowship of the Ring</i> and later drew a cover illustration, both of which identified the pair as <a href="/facts/Minas_Morgul/fl1SF8gC">Minas Morgul</a> and Orthanc.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:84" href="#fn:84"><sup>84</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:85" href="#fn:85"><sup>85</sup></a> </p><p>Tolkien was initially opposed to titles being given to each two-book volume, preferring instead the use of book titles: e.g. <i>The Lord of the Rings</i>: Vol. 1, <i>The Ring Sets Out</i> and <i>The Ring Goes South</i>; Vol. 2, <i>The Treason of Isengard</i> and <i>The Ring Goes East</i>; Vol. 3, <i>The War of the Ring</i> and <i>The End of the Third Age</i>. However, these individual book titles were dropped, and after pressure from his publishers, Tolkien suggested the volume titles: Vol. 1, <i>The Shadow Grows</i>; Vol. 2, <i>The Ring in the Shadow</i>; Vol. 3, <i>The War of the Ring</i> or <i>The Return of the King</i>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:86" href="#fn:86"><sup>86</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:87" href="#fn:87"><sup>87</sup></a> </p><p>Because the three-volume binding was so widely distributed, the work is often referred to as the <i>Lord of the Rings</i> "trilogy". In a letter to the poet <a href="/facts/W._H._Auden/4AwR9p7y">W. H. Auden</a>, who famously reviewed the final volume in 1956,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:88" href="#fn:88"><sup>88</sup></a> Tolkien himself made use of the term "trilogy" for the work<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:89" href="#fn:89"><sup>89</sup></a> though he did at other times consider this incorrect, as it was written and conceived as a single book.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:90" href="#fn:90"><sup>90</sup></a> It is often called a novel; however, Tolkien objected to this term as he viewed it as a <a href="/facts/Heroic_romance/NjG0kEat">heroic romance</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:91" href="#fn:91"><sup>91</sup></a> </p><p>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.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:92" href="#fn:92"><sup>92</sup></a> It has ultimately become one of the best-selling novels ever written, with at least 50 million copies sold by 2003<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:93" href="#fn:93"><sup>93</sup></a> and over 150 million copies sold by 2007.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:94" href="#fn:94"><sup>94</sup></a> The work was published in the UK by Allen & Unwin until 1990, when the publisher and its assets were acquired by <a href="/facts/HarperCollins/HHLz5lk5">HarperCollins</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:95" href="#fn:95"><sup>95</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:96" href="#fn:96"><sup>96</sup></a> </p> <h3>Editions and revisions</h3> <p>In the early 1960s <a href="/facts/Donald_A._Wollheim/RRW5G6fN">Donald A. Wollheim</a>, science fiction editor of the paperback publisher <a href="/facts/Ace_Books/SdltKWC7">Ace Books</a>, claimed that <i>The Lord of the Rings</i> was not protected in the United States under <a href="/facts/Copyright_law_of_the_United_States/NThjeF4w">American copyright law</a> because Houghton Mifflin, the US hardcover publisher, had neglected to copyright the work in the United States.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:97" href="#fn:97"><sup>97</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:98" href="#fn:98"><sup>98</sup></a> Then, in 1965, Ace Books proceeded to publish an edition, unauthorized by Tolkien and without paying <a href="/facts/Royalties/8caVPHCP">royalties</a> to him. Tolkien took issue with this and quickly notified his fans of this objection.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:99" href="#fn:99"><sup>99</sup></a> <a href="/facts/Grass-roots/GMw7sKCr">Grass-roots</a> pressure from these fans became so great that Ace Books withdrew their edition and made a nominal payment to Tolkien.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:100" href="#fn:100"><sup>100</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:101" href="#fn:101"><sup>101</sup></a> </p><p>Authorized editions followed from <a href="/facts/Ballantine_Books/Lj4moIBI">Ballantine Books</a> and <a href="/facts/Houghton_Mifflin/byG66zxw">Houghton Mifflin</a> 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 <i>The Lord of the Rings</i>, published in 1965.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:102" href="#fn:102"><sup>102</sup></a> 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 <i><a href="/facts/The_New_York_Times/T9marWVX">The New York Times</a></i>'s Paperback Bestsellers list as number three, and was number one by 4 December, a position it held for eight weeks.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:103" href="#fn:103"><sup>103</sup></a> Houghton Mifflin editions after 1994 consolidate variant revisions by Tolkien, and corrections supervised by <a href="/facts/Christopher_Tolkien/fIM8mUU5">Christopher Tolkien</a>, which resulted, after some initial glitches, in a computer-based unified text.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:104" href="#fn:104"><sup>104</sup></a> </p><p>In 2004, for the 50th Anniversary Edition, <a href="/facts/Wayne_G._Hammond/knj1kRtN">Wayne G. Hammond</a> and <a href="/facts/Christina_Scull/UTz7H0x7">Christina Scull</a>, 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.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:105" href="#fn:105"><sup>105</sup></a> 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.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:106" href="#fn:106"><sup>106</sup></a> 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.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:107" href="#fn:107"><sup>107</sup></a> </p> <h3>Posthumous publication of drafts</h3> <p>From 1988 to 1992 Christopher Tolkien published the surviving drafts of <i>The Lord of the Rings</i>, chronicling and illuminating with commentary the stages of the text's development, in volumes 6–9 of his <i><a href="/facts/The_History_of_Middle-earth/IyltosmA">History of Middle-earth</a></i> series. The four volumes carry the titles <i><a href="/facts/The_Return_of_the_Shadow/RKAkHIMU">The Return of the Shadow</a></i>, <i><a href="/facts/The_Treason_of_Isengard/RKAkHIMU">The Treason of Isengard</a></i>, <i><a href="/facts/The_War_of_the_Ring/RKAkHIMU">The War of the Ring</a></i>, and <i><a href="/facts/Sauron_Defeated/RKAkHIMU">Sauron Defeated</a></i>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:108" href="#fn:108"><sup>108</sup></a> </p> <h3>Translations</h3> <p class="note">Further information: <a href="/facts/Translating_The_Lord_of_the_Rings/9l3Grwdr">Translating <i>The Lord of the Rings</i></a></p> <p class="note">See also: <a href="/facts/List_of_translations_of_The_Lord_of_the_Rings/4VrFbhM6">List of translations of <i>The Lord of the Rings</i></a></p> <p>The work has been translated, with varying degrees of success, into at least 38,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:109" href="#fn:109"><sup>109</sup></a> and reportedly at least 70, languages.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:110" href="#fn:110"><sup>110</sup></a> Tolkien, an expert in <a href="/facts/Philology/5u0xzd5g">philology</a>, 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 <a href="/facts/Translation_of_The_Lord_of_the_Rings_into_Swedish/6YRxV0r9">Swedish translation</a> by <a href="/facts/%25C3%2585ke_Ohlmarks/D8hUc9MF">Åke Ohlmarks</a>,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:111" href="#fn:111"><sup>111</sup></a> Tolkien wrote a "<a href="/facts/Guide_to_the_Names_in_The_Lord_of_the_Rings/9l3Grwdr">Guide to the Names in The Lord of the Rings</a>" (1967). Because <i>The Lord of the Rings</i> purports to be a translation of the fictitious <i><a href="/facts/Red_Book_of_Westmarch/oL3NKvwv">Red Book of Westmarch</a></i>, using the English language to represent the <a href="/facts/Westron/w0gEl7eo">Westron</a> 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.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:112" href="#fn:112"><sup>112</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:113" href="#fn:113"><sup>113</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="reception">Reception</h2> <p class="note">Main article: <a href="/facts/Literary_reception_of_The_Lord_of_the_Rings/8e2Q07Xq">Literary reception of <i>The Lord of the Rings</i></a></p> <h3>1950s</h3> <p>Early <a href="/facts/Reception_of_J._R._R._Tolkien/8e2Q07Xq">reviews of the work were mixed</a>. The initial review in the <i><a href="/facts/Sunday_Telegraph/RplezRC5">Sunday Telegraph</a></i> described it as "among the greatest works of imaginative fiction of the twentieth century".<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:114" href="#fn:114"><sup>114</sup></a> The <i><a href="/facts/The_Sunday_Times_(UK)/15om0zLf">Sunday Times</a></i> echoed this sentiment, stating that "the English-speaking world is divided into those who have read <i>The Lord of the Rings</i> and <i>The Hobbit</i> and those who are going to read them."<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:115" href="#fn:115"><sup>115</sup></a> The <i><a href="/facts/New_York_Herald_Tribune/p3DRaNaM">New York Herald Tribune</a></i> appeared to predict the books' popularity, writing in its review that they were "destined to outlast our time".<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:116" href="#fn:116"><sup>116</sup></a> <a href="/facts/W._H._Auden/4AwR9p7y">W. H. Auden</a>, a former pupil of Tolkien's and an admirer of his writings, regarded <i>The Lord of the Rings</i> as a "masterpiece", further stating that in some cases it outdid the achievement of <a href="/facts/John_Milton/VCDqX83S">John Milton</a>'s <i><a href="/facts/Paradise_Lost/wDw6Bwuv">Paradise Lost</a></i>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:117" href="#fn:117"><sup>117</sup></a> Kenneth F. Slater wrote in <a href="/facts/Nebula_Science_Fiction/rUIzE0Bl">Nebula Science Fiction</a>, April 1955, "... if you don't read it, you have missed one of the finest books of its type ever to appear".<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:118" href="#fn:118"><sup>118</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:119" href="#fn:119"><sup>119</sup></a> On the other hand, in 1955, the Scottish poet <a href="/facts/Edwin_Muir/saccflpo">Edwin Muir</a> attacked <i><a href="/facts/The_Return_of_the_King/XR7IHHJe">The Return of the King</a></i>, 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.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:120" href="#fn:120"><sup>120</sup></a> In 1956, the <a href="/facts/Literary_critic/sj0LQGdF">literary critic</a> <a href="/facts/Edmund_Wilson/khywH0vT">Edmund Wilson</a> 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."<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:121" href="#fn:121"><sup>121</sup></a> </p><p>Within Tolkien's literary group, <a href="/facts/The_Inklings/VavWME2L">The Inklings</a>, the work had a mixed reception. <a href="/facts/Hugo_Dyson/EjI27CHB">Hugo Dyson</a> complained loudly at its readings,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:122" href="#fn:122"><sup>122</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:123" href="#fn:123"><sup>123</sup></a> whereas <a href="/facts/C._S._Lewis/hELtVT9R">C. S. Lewis</a> 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."<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:124" href="#fn:124"><sup>124</sup></a> 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".<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:125" href="#fn:125"><sup>125</sup></a> Despite the mixed reviews and the lack of a paperback until the 1960s, <i>The Lord of the Rings</i> initially sold well in hardback.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:126" href="#fn:126"><sup>126</sup></a> </p> <h3>Later</h3> <p class="note">Further information: <a href="/facts/Tolkien%2527s_prose_style/UENEuExb">Tolkien's prose style</a> and <a href="/facts/Literary_hostility_to_J._R._R._Tolkien/m6DPUG9h">Literary hostility to J. R. R. Tolkien</a></p> <p>Judith Shulevitz, writing in <i><a href="/facts/The_New_York_Times/T9marWVX">The New York Times</a></i>, criticized the "pedantry" of <a href="/facts/Tolkien%2527s_style/UENEuExb">Tolkien's literary style</a>, 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".<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:127" href="#fn:127"><sup>127</sup></a> The critic Richard Jenkyns, writing in <i><a href="/facts/The_New_Republic/Ff6tcskp">The New Republic</a></i>, 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".<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:128" href="#fn:128"><sup>128</sup></a> The science fiction author <a href="/facts/David_Brin/4NHcXmxL">David Brin</a> interprets the work as holding unquestioning devotion to a traditional hierarchical social structure.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:129" href="#fn:129"><sup>129</sup></a> In his essay "<a href="/facts/Epic_Pooh/vlG11Gky">Epic Pooh</a>", fantasy author <a href="/facts/Michael_Moorcock/w01y6Hkv">Michael Moorcock</a> critiques the world-view displayed by the book as deeply conservative, in both the "<a href="/facts/Paternalism/QuGtQF9n">paternalism</a>" of the narrative voice and the <a href="/facts/Power_structure/pzeyF9qA">power structures</a> in the narrative.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:130" href="#fn:130"><sup>130</sup></a> <a href="/facts/Tom_Shippey/eH2wJlA5">Tom Shippey</a>, 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 <i>The Lord of the Rings</i>, and the work's subtlety, themes, and merits, including the <a href="/facts/Impression_of_depth_in_The_Lord_of_the_Rings/TSHk3UU9">impression of depth</a> that it conveys.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:131" href="#fn:131"><sup>131</sup></a> The scholar of humanities <a href="/facts/Brian_Rosebury/XWffKyLp">Brian Rosebury</a> 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.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:132" href="#fn:132"><sup>132</sup></a> The critic <a href="/facts/Patrick_Curry/T1sLLIKj">Patrick Curry</a> cited the work's first publisher, <a href="/facts/Rayner_Unwin/s2JQcSSq">Rayner Unwin</a>'s "pithy and accurate" assessment of the novel: "a very great book in its own curious way".<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:133" href="#fn:133"><sup>133</sup></a> </p> <h3>Awards</h3> <p>In 1957, <i>The Lord of the Rings</i> was awarded the <a href="/facts/International_Fantasy_Award/6Q87Js5q">International Fantasy Award</a>. Despite its numerous detractors, the publication of the <a href="/facts/Ace_Books/SdltKWC7">Ace Books</a> and <a href="/facts/Ballantine_Books/Lj4moIBI">Ballantine</a> paperbacks helped <i>The Lord of the Rings</i> become immensely popular in the United States in the 1960s. The book has remained so ever since, ranking as the most popular works of fiction of the twentieth century, judged by all of three different measures: sales, library borrowings, and reader surveys.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:134" href="#fn:134"><sup>134</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:135" href="#fn:135"><sup>135</sup></a> In the 2003 "<a href="/facts/Big_Read/qmjdECbN">Big Read</a>" survey conducted in Britain by the BBC, <i>The Lord of the Rings</i> was found to be the "Nation's best-loved book". In similar 2004 polls both Germany<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:136" href="#fn:136"><sup>136</sup></a> and Australia<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:137" href="#fn:137"><sup>137</sup></a> chose <i>The Lord of the Rings</i> as their favourite book. In a 1999 poll of <a href="/facts/Amazon.com/YzUTUVE8">Amazon.com</a> customers, <i>The Lord of the Rings</i> was judged to be their favourite "book of the millennium".<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:138" href="#fn:138"><sup>138</sup></a> In 2019, the <a href="/facts/BBC_News/oGAe2H8E">BBC News</a> listed <i>The Lord of the Rings</i> on its <a href="/facts/BBC%2527s_100_Most_Inspiring_Novels/BKYI9AKC">list of the "100 most inspiring novels"</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:139" href="#fn:139"><sup>139</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="adaptations">Adaptations</h2> <p class="note">Main article: <a href="/facts/Adaptations_of_The_Lord_of_the_Rings/3AulP2au">Adaptations of <i>The Lord of the Rings</i></a></p> <p><i>The Lord of the Rings</i> has been adapted into various media, including radio, stage, motion pictures, and videogames. </p> <h3>Radio</h3> <p>The book has been adapted for radio four times. In 1955 and 1956, the <a href="/facts/BBC/qFateIz8">BBC</a> broadcast <i><a href="/facts/The_Lord_of_the_Rings_(1955_radio_series)/YKwj21AI">The Lord of the Rings</a></i>, a 13-part radio adaptation of the story. In the 1960s radio station <a href="/facts/WBAI/LDHhybpQ">WBAI</a> produced a short <a href="/facts/Adaptations_of_The_Lord_of_the_Rings/3AulP2au">radio adaptation</a>. A 1979 dramatization of <i><a href="/facts/The_Lord_of_the_Rings_(1979_radio_series)/l2zh18AH">The Lord of the Rings</a></i> was broadcast in the United States and subsequently issued on tape and CD. In 1981, the BBC broadcast <i><a href="/facts/The_Lord_of_the_Rings_(1981_radio_series)/mAtyq38Q">The Lord of the Rings</a></i>, a new dramatization in 26 half-hour instalments.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:140" href="#fn:140"><sup>140</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:141" href="#fn:141"><sup>141</sup></a> </p> <h3>Motion pictures</h3> <p class="note">Main articles: <a href="/facts/Middle-earth_in_motion_pictures/c3aXsEQc">Middle-earth in motion pictures</a> and <a href="/facts/Peter_Jackson%2527s_interpretation_of_The_Lord_of_the_Rings/PtzBMzJu">Peter Jackson's interpretation of <i>The Lord of the Rings</i></a></p> <p>A variety of filmmakers considered adapting Tolkien's book, among them <a href="/facts/Stanley_Kubrick/y5cxcQzV">Stanley Kubrick</a>, who thought it <a href="/facts/Unfilmable/QgL2AnfG">unfilmable</a>,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:142" href="#fn:142"><sup>142</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:143" href="#fn:143"><sup>143</sup></a> <a href="/facts/Michelangelo_Antonioni/AXPqSFqn">Michelangelo Antonioni</a>,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:144" href="#fn:144"><sup>144</sup></a> <a href="/facts/Jim_Henson/srqup3Fg">Jim Henson</a>,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:145" href="#fn:145"><sup>145</sup></a> <a href="/facts/Heinz_Edelmann/7gQaSa8H">Heinz Edelmann</a>,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:146" href="#fn:146"><sup>146</sup></a> and <a href="/facts/John_Boorman/dRs70aLx">John Boorman</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:147" href="#fn:147"><sup>147</sup></a> A Swedish live action television film, <i><a href="/facts/Sagan_om_ringen_(1971_film)/jcNMvj9y">Sagan om ringen</a></i>, was broadcast in 1971.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:148" href="#fn:148"><sup>148</sup></a> In 1978, <a href="/facts/Ralph_Bakshi/9p6CYJ2r">Ralph Bakshi</a> made an animated <a href="/facts/The_Lord_of_the_Rings_(1978_film)/0CQUFUnv">film version</a> covering <i>The Fellowship of the Ring</i> and part of <i>The Two Towers</i>, to mixed reviews.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:149" href="#fn:149"><sup>149</sup></a> In 1980, <a href="/facts/Rankin%2fBass_Productions/6TWrIALz">Rankin/Bass</a> released <a href="/facts/The_Return_of_the_King_(1980_film)/5HN5eK3h">an animated TV special</a> based on the closing chapters of <i>The Return of the King</i>, gaining mixed reviews.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:150" href="#fn:150"><sup>150</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:151" href="#fn:151"><sup>151</sup></a> The 1991 Soviet Union live-action adaptation of <i>The Fellowship of the Ring</i>, <i><a href="/facts/Khraniteli/IvTN2ULH">Khraniteli</a></i>, was aired once and thought lost,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:152" href="#fn:152"><sup>152</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:153" href="#fn:153"><sup>153</sup></a> but was rediscovered and republished on the Web. It includes <a href="/facts/Tom_Bombadil/gWzTsN7w">Tom Bombadil</a> and the <a href="/facts/Barrow-wight/uJE4UK1A">Barrow-wight</a>, omitted from Jackson's version.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:154" href="#fn:154"><sup>154</sup></a> In Finland, a live action television miniseries, <i><a href="/facts/Hobitit/mIWrvblQ">Hobitit</a></i>, was broadcast in 1993 based on <i>The Lord of the Rings</i>, with a flashback to Bilbo's encounter with Gollum in <i>The Hobbit</i>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:155" href="#fn:155"><sup>155</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:156" href="#fn:156"><sup>156</sup></a> </p><p>A far more successful adaptation was <a href="/facts/Peter_Jackson/bBA5NchM">Peter Jackson</a>'s live action <a href="/facts/The_Lord_of_the_Rings_(film_series)/LR5Q0xn9"><i>The Lord of the Rings</i> film trilogy</a>, produced by <a href="/facts/New_Line_Cinema/JauA3pp0">New Line Cinema</a> and released in three instalments as <i><a href="/facts/The_Lord_of_the_Rings%3a_The_Fellowship_of_the_Ring/hD2yWfDr">The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring</a></i> (2001), <i><a href="/facts/The_Lord_of_the_Rings%3a_The_Two_Towers/1t5FL5Xw">The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers</a></i> (2002), and <i><a href="/facts/The_Lord_of_the_Rings%3a_The_Return_of_the_King/tyW7C0ho">The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King</a></i> (2003). All three parts won multiple <a href="/facts/Academy_Awards/CwTxYuNQ">Academy Awards</a>, including consecutive <a href="/facts/Academy_Award_for_Best_Picture/C6komTsX">Best Picture</a> nominations. The final instalment of this trilogy was the second film to break the one-billion-dollar barrier and won a total of 11 <a href="/facts/Academy_Awards/CwTxYuNQ">Oscars</a> (something only two other films in history, <i><a href="/facts/Ben-Hur_(1959_film)/tDGYj6ry">Ben-Hur</a></i> and <i><a href="/facts/Titanic_(1997_film)/d0LuCwoQ">Titanic</a></i>, have accomplished), including <a href="/facts/Academy_Award_for_Best_Picture/C6komTsX">Best Picture</a>, <a href="/facts/Academy_Award_for_Best_Director/3TuCQ2Sd">Best Director</a> and <a href="/facts/Academy_Award_for_Best_Adapted_Screenplay/JI9tgesp">Best Adapted Screenplay</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:157" href="#fn:157"><sup>157</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:158" href="#fn:158"><sup>158</sup></a> Commentators including Tolkien scholars, literary critics and film critics are divided on <a href="/facts/The_Lord_of_the_Rings%3a_film_versus_book/PtzBMzJu">how faithfully Jackson adapted Tolkien's work, or whether a film version is inevitably different</a>, and if so the reasons for any changes, and the effectiveness of the result.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:159" href="#fn:159"><sup>159</sup></a> </p><p><i><a href="/facts/The_Hunt_for_Gollum/Qrn3BGzu">The Hunt for Gollum</a></i>, a 2009 film by <a href="/facts/Chris_Bouchard/rvXNrmaY">Chris Bouchard</a>,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:160" href="#fn:160"><sup>160</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:161" href="#fn:161"><sup>161</sup></a> and the 2009 <i><a href="/facts/Born_of_Hope/2dVjgsP1">Born of Hope</a></i>, written by Paula DiSante and directed by <a href="/facts/Kate_Madison/QHrjrEj2">Kate Madison</a>, are <a href="/facts/Fan_film/0RWJ8oPL">fan films</a> based on details in the appendices of <i>The Lord of the Rings</i>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:162" href="#fn:162"><sup>162</sup></a> </p><p>From September 2022, <a href="/facts/Amazon_(company)/YzUTUVE8">Amazon</a> has been presenting a multi-season television series of stories, <i><a href="/facts/The_Lord_of_the_Rings%3a_The_Rings_of_Power/QuJD4IGv">The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power</a></i>. It is set at the beginning of the <a href="/facts/Second_Age/JcID0C1T">Second Age</a>, long before the time of <i>The Lord of the Rings</i>, based on materials in the novel's appendices.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:163" href="#fn:163"><sup>163</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:164" href="#fn:164"><sup>164</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:165" href="#fn:165"><sup>165</sup></a> </p><p>In 2023, <a href="/facts/Warner_Bros._Discovery/0rV6EadW">Warner Bros. Discovery</a> began making a series of films set in Middle-earth, produced along with <a href="/facts/New_Line_Cinema/JauA3pp0">New Line Cinema</a> and Freemode.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:166" href="#fn:166"><sup>166</sup></a> The first was <i><a href="/facts/The_Lord_of_the_Rings%3a_The_War_of_the_Rohirrim/CkXzyBTE">The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim</a></i>, an <a href="/facts/Anime/d5j1by0m">anime</a> written by Jeffrey Addiss, Will Matthews and <a href="/facts/Philippa_Boyens/rBcXv3QX">Philippa Boyens</a>, directed by <a href="/facts/Kenji_Kamiyama/E4dQtID2">Kenji Kamiyama</a> and released in December 2024. It was based on the story of the legendary Rohan king <a href="/facts/Helm_Hammerhand/E5rqn3kr">Helm Hammerhand</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:167" href="#fn:167"><sup>167</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:168" href="#fn:168"><sup>168</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:169" href="#fn:169"><sup>169</sup></a> </p> <h3>Audiobooks</h3> <p>In 1990, <a href="/facts/Recorded_Books/9ogzfGol">Recorded Books</a> published an <a href="/facts/Audiobook/7JwAugme">audio version</a> of <i>The Lord of the Rings</i>,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:170" href="#fn:170"><sup>170</sup></a> read by the British actor <a href="/facts/Rob_Inglis/fnPvTDme">Rob Inglis</a>. A large-scale musical theatre adaptation, <i><a href="/facts/The_Lord_of_the_Rings_(musical)/evk0ve7D">The Lord of the Rings</a></i>, was first staged in <a href="/facts/Toronto/cnXH7881">Toronto, Ontario, Canada</a> in 2006 and opened in London in June 2007; it was a commercial failure.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:171" href="#fn:171"><sup>171</sup></a> </p><p>In 2013, the artist Phil Dragash recorded the whole of the book, using the score from Peter Jackson's movies.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:172" href="#fn:172"><sup>172</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:173" href="#fn:173"><sup>173</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:174" href="#fn:174"><sup>174</sup></a> </p><p>During the <a href="/facts/COVID-19_lockdown/albASEEY">COVID-19 lockdown</a>, <a href="/facts/Andy_Serkis/bAxDtDo1">Andy Serkis</a> read the entire book of <i><a href="/facts/The_Hobbit/Tt5fpB1m">The Hobbit</a></i> online to raise money for charity.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:175" href="#fn:175"><sup>175</sup></a> He then recorded the work again as an audiobook.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:176" href="#fn:176"><sup>176</sup></a> The cover art was done by <a href="/facts/Alan_Lee_(illustrator)/ruDAxEel">Alan Lee</a>. In 2021, Serkis recorded <i>The Lord of the Rings</i> novels.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:177" href="#fn:177"><sup>177</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="legacy">Legacy</h2> <p class="note">Further information: <a href="/facts/Works_inspired_by_J._R._R._Tolkien/z4H10Mlk">Works inspired by J. R. R. Tolkien</a></p> <h3>Influence on fantasy</h3> <p class="note">Main article: <a href="/facts/Tolkien%2527s_impact_on_fantasy/PdxHIjf8">Tolkien's impact on fantasy</a></p> <p>The enormous popularity of Tolkien's work expanded the demand for fantasy. Largely thanks to <i>The Lord of the Rings</i>, the genre flowered throughout the 1960s and enjoys popularity to the present day.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:178" href="#fn:178"><sup>178</sup></a> The opus has spawned many imitations, such as <i><a href="/facts/The_Sword_of_Shannara/W6F3kSbx">The Sword of Shannara</a></i>, which <a href="/facts/Lin_Carter/I9v7X88P">Lin Carter</a> called "the single most cold-blooded, complete rip-off of another book that I have ever read,"<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:179" href="#fn:179"><sup>179</sup></a> as well as alternate interpretations of the story, such as <i><a href="/facts/The_Last_Ringbearer/1AxqjjNh">The Last Ringbearer</a></i>. <i><a href="/facts/The_Legend_of_Zelda/nSRDtJaI">The Legend of Zelda</a></i>, which popularized the <a href="/facts/Action-adventure_game/djec9lIK">action-adventure game</a> genre in the 1980s, was inspired by <i>The Lord of the Rings</i> among other fantasy books.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:180" href="#fn:180"><sup>180</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:181" href="#fn:181"><sup>181</sup></a> <i><a href="/facts/Dungeons_%2526_Dragons/1FQKcQSL">Dungeons & Dragons</a></i>, which popularized the <a href="/facts/Role-playing_game/bN0QjhPs">role-playing game</a> genre in the 1970s, features several races from <i>The Lord of the Rings,</i> including <a href="/facts/Halfling/thBFcME2">halflings</a> (hobbits), elves, dwarves, <a href="/facts/Half-elven/g8JgFVCs">half-elves</a>, orcs, and dragons. However, <a href="/facts/Gary_Gygax/wux6kfJj">Gary Gygax</a>, the lead designer of the game, stated 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.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:182" href="#fn:182"><sup>182</sup></a> Because Dungeons & Dragons has gone on to <a href="/facts/Middle-earth_in_video_games/kubz35Wz">influence many popular games</a>, especially <a href="/facts/Role-playing_video_games/o4sTj5vl">role-playing video games</a>, the influence of <i>The Lord of the Rings</i> extends to many of them, with titles such as <i><a href="/facts/Dragon_Quest/d12SMKRF">Dragon Quest</a></i>,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:183" href="#fn:183"><sup>183</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:184" href="#fn:184"><sup>184</sup></a> <i><a href="/facts/EverQuest/WLcx0FmD">EverQuest</a></i>, the <i><a href="/facts/Warcraft/MYYjIyuD">Warcraft</a></i> series, and <i><a href="/facts/The_Elder_Scrolls/KALTlW1f">The Elder Scrolls</a></i> series of games<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:185" href="#fn:185"><sup>185</sup></a> as well as <a href="/facts/Middle-earth_in_video_games/kubz35Wz">video games set in Middle-earth</a> itself. </p> <h3>Music</h3> <p class="note">Further information: <a href="/facts/Music_of_Middle-earth/DME10Juk">Music of Middle-earth</a></p> <p>In 1965, the composer and songwriter <a href="/facts/Donald_Swann/fLe5CF2p">Donald Swann</a>, best known for his collaboration with <a href="/facts/Michael_Flanders/0E7VutSY">Michael Flanders</a> as <a href="/facts/Flanders_%2526_Swann/XjluVk1a">Flanders & Swann</a>, set six poems from <i>The Lord of the Rings</i> and one from <i><a href="/facts/The_Adventures_of_Tom_Bombadil/DA1wwg7w">The Adventures of Tom Bombadil</a></i> ("Errantry") to music. When Swann met with Tolkien to play the songs for his approval, Tolkien suggested for "<a href="/facts/Nam%25C3%25A1ri%25C3%25AB/CABmekje">Namárië</a>" (Galadriel's lament) a setting reminiscent of <a href="/facts/Plain_chant/C1WHYKJp">plain chant</a>, which Swann accepted.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:186" href="#fn:186"><sup>186</sup></a> The songs were published in 1967 as <i><a href="/facts/The_Road_Goes_Ever_On/cqtd5l1N">The Road Goes Ever On: A Song Cycle</a></i>,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:187" href="#fn:187"><sup>187</sup></a> and a recording of the songs performed by singer William Elvin with Swann on piano was issued that same year by <a href="/facts/Caedmon_Records/pE9yfQu9">Caedmon Records</a> as <i>Poems and Songs of Middle Earth</i>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:188" href="#fn:188"><sup>188</sup></a> </p><p>Rock bands of the 1970s were musically and lyrically inspired by the fantasy-embracing counter-culture of the time. The British rock band <a href="/facts/Led_Zeppelin/fwP2oGAU">Led Zeppelin</a> recorded several songs that contain explicit references to <i>The Lord of the Rings</i>, such as mentioning Gollum and Mordor in "<a href="/facts/Ramble_On/lqF694p3">Ramble On</a>", the <a href="/facts/Misty_Mountains/CDNxMoej">Misty Mountains</a> in "<a href="/facts/Misty_Mountain_Hop/l97mDXPY">Misty Mountain Hop</a>", and Ringwraiths in "<a href="/facts/The_Battle_of_Evermore/QK4lqg0I">The Battle of Evermore</a>". In 1970, the Swedish musician <a href="/facts/Bo_Hansson/bz6Bme6a">Bo Hansson</a> released an <a href="/facts/Instrumental/LgT0uHzo">instrumental</a> <a href="/facts/Concept_album/QAyolfv8">concept album</a> entitled <i>Sagan om ringen</i> ("The Saga of the Ring", the title of the Swedish translation at the time).<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:189" href="#fn:189"><sup>189</sup></a> The album was subsequently released internationally as <i><a href="/facts/Music_Inspired_by_Lord_of_the_Rings_(Bo_Hansson_album)/Kxa65x70">Music Inspired by Lord of the Rings</a></i> in 1972.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:190" href="#fn:190"><sup>190</sup></a> From the 1980s onwards, many heavy metal acts have been influenced by Tolkien.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:191" href="#fn:191"><sup>191</sup></a> </p><p>In 1988, the Dutch composer and trombonist <a href="/facts/Johan_de_Meij/2tQTjrBp">Johan de Meij</a> completed his <i><a href="/facts/Symphony_No._1_%2522The_Lord_of_the_Rings%2522/ycpq5Vj9">Symphony No. 1 "The Lord of the Rings"</a></i>. It had 5 movements, titled "Gandalf", "Lothlórien", "Gollum", "Journey in the Dark", and "Hobbits".<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:192" href="#fn:192"><sup>192</sup></a> </p><p>The 1991 album <i><a href="/facts/Shepherd_Moons/hqSgvHvK">Shepherd Moons</a></i> by the Irish musician <a href="/facts/Enya/vrff672z">Enya</a> contains an instrumental titled "Lothlórien", in reference to the home of the wood-elves.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:193" href="#fn:193"><sup>193</sup></a> </p> <h3>Impact on popular culture</h3> <p class="note">Further information: <a href="/facts/Impact_of_Tolkien%2527s_mythology/1dr6VGey">Impact of Tolkien's mythology</a></p> <p><i>The Lord of the Rings</i> 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 <a href="/facts/Counterculture/8vyVeL92">countercultural</a> saga.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:194" href="#fn:194"><sup>194</sup></a> "<a href="/facts/Frodo_Lives!/JYxERc8q">Frodo Lives!</a>" and "Gandalf for President" were two phrases popular among United States <a href="/facts/Tolkien_fandom/R5IeJwvl">Tolkien fans</a> during this time.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:195" href="#fn:195"><sup>195</sup></a> Its impact is such that the words "Tolkienian" and "Tolkienesque" have entered the <i><a href="/facts/Oxford_English_Dictionary/qaxKX8Bc">Oxford English Dictionary</a></i>, and many of his fantasy terms, formerly little-known in English, such as "<a href="/facts/Orc/gYLdQb4B">Orc</a>" and "<a href="/facts/Warg/cVSgLyPX">Warg</a>", have become widespread in that domain.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:196" href="#fn:196"><sup>196</sup></a> Among its effects are numerous <a href="/facts/Parody/xDs59sgV">parodies</a>, especially <i><a href="/facts/Harvard_Lampoon/temNqoKR">Harvard Lampoon</a></i>'s <i><a href="/facts/Bored_of_the_Rings/hAtcMppb">Bored of the Rings</a></i>, which has had the distinction of remaining continuously in print from its publication in 1969, and of being translated into at least 11 languages.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:197" href="#fn:197"><sup>197</sup></a> </p><p>In 1969, Tolkien sold the merchandising rights to <i>The Lord of The Rings</i> and <i>The Hobbit</i> to <a href="/facts/United_Artists/4cSJnjrI">United Artists</a> under an agreement stipulating a lump sum payment of £10,000<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:198" href="#fn:198"><sup>198</sup></a> (equivalent to £208,000 in 2023) plus a 7.5% royalty after costs,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:199" href="#fn:199"><sup>199</sup></a> payable to Allen & Unwin and the author.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:200" href="#fn:200"><sup>200</sup></a> In 1976, three years after the author's death, United Artists sold the rights to <a href="/facts/Saul_Zaentz/4qla5ndH">Saul Zaentz</a> Company, who now trade as <a href="/facts/Tolkien_Enterprises/NDbhk718">Tolkien Enterprises</a>. Since then all "authorised" merchandise has been signed off by Tolkien Enterprises, although the <a href="/facts/Intellectual_property/PqHW9mVP">intellectual property rights</a> of the specific likenesses of characters and other imagery from various adaptations is generally held by the adaptors.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:201" href="#fn:201"><sup>201</sup></a> </p><p>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 <a href="/facts/Barbara_Remington/LVTRkpJo">Barbara Remington</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:202" href="#fn:202"><sup>202</sup></a> </p><p>The work was named Britain's best novel of all time in the BBC's <a href="/facts/The_Big_Read/qmjdECbN">The Big Read</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:203" href="#fn:203"><sup>203</sup></a> In 2015, the BBC ranked <i>The Lord of the Rings</i> 26th on its list of the 100 greatest British novels.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:204" href="#fn:204"><sup>204</sup></a> It was included in <i><a href="/facts/Le_Monde/MrP78sIH">Le Monde</a></i>'s list of "<a href="/facts/Le_Monde%2527s_100_Books_of_the_Century/2pI0Xtoy">100 Books of the Century</a>".<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:205" href="#fn:205"><sup>205</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="notes">Notes</h2> <h3>Primary</h3> <h3>Secondary</h3> <h2 id="sources">Sources</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Humphrey_Carpenter/oWXMXVJb">Carpenter, Humphrey</a> (1977). <i><a href="/facts/J._R._R._Tolkien%3a_A_Biography/TpVXjjD6">J. R. R. Tolkien: A Biography</a></i>. New York: <a href="/facts/Ballantine_Books/Lj4moIBI">Ballantine Books</a>. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 978-0-04-928037-3.</li> <li><a href="/facts/Humphrey_Carpenter/oWXMXVJb">Carpenter, Humphrey</a>, ed. (2023) [1981]. <i><a href="/facts/The_Letters_of_J._R._R._Tolkien/Idx2k23C">The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien</a>: Revised and Expanded Edition</i>. New York: <a href="/facts/Harper_Collins/HHLz5lk5">Harper Collins</a>. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 978-0-35-865298-4.</li> <li><a href="/facts/Michael_Drout/oMMP05x2">Drout, Michael D. C.</a> (2006). <a href="/facts/The_J._R._R._Tolkien_Encyclopedia/Ej4jDPEg"><i>The J. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia</i></a>. Routledge. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 978-0-415-96942-0.</li> <li><a href="/facts/Wayne_G._Hammond/knj1kRtN">Hammond, Wayne G.</a>; <a href="/facts/Christina_Scull/UTz7H0x7">Scull, Christina</a> (2005). <a href="/facts/The_Lord_of_the_Rings%3a_A_Reader%2527s_Companion/1eTl00aQ"><i>The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion</i></a>. Houghton Mifflin Co. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 978-0-00-720907-1.</li> <li><a href="/facts/Christopher_Tolkien/fIM8mUU5">Tolkien, Christopher</a> (ed.) (1988–1992). <i><a href="/facts/The_History_of_The_Lord_of_the_Rings/RKAkHIMU">The History of The Lord of the Rings</a></i>, 4 vols.</li> <li><a href="/facts/J._R._R._Tolkien/41HPhk5C">Tolkien, J. R. R.</a> (1997). <i><a href="/facts/The_Monsters_and_the_Critics%2c_and_Other_Essays/9A1pN5YP">The Monsters and the Critics, and Other Essays</a></i>. HarperCollins. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 978-0-261-10263-7.</li></ul> <h2 id="external-links">External links</h2> Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Lord of the Rings. Wikiquote has quotations related to <i>The Lord of the Rings</i>. Wikivoyage has a travel guide for <i>The Lord of the Rings tourism</i>. <ul><li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33.The_Lord_of_the_Rings">Lord of the Rings</a> at <a href="/facts/Goodreads/FGaLXTCx">Goodreads</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.tolkien.co.uk">Tolkien website of Harper Collins</a> (the British publisher)</li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>Chance, Jane (1980) [1979]. "The Lord of the Rings: Tolkien's Epic". Tolkien's Art: A Mythology for England. Macmillan. pp. 97–127. ISBN 0-333-29034-8. <a href="0-333-29034-8" target="_blank">0-333-29034-8</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>J. R. R. Tolkien disliked having the word "novel" applied to his works, preferring the phrase "heroic romance", but "novel" is commonly applied.[T 1] <a href="/wiki/J._R._R._Tolkien" target="_blank">/wiki/J._R._R._Tolkien</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>Wagner, Vit (16 April 2007). "Tolkien proves he's still the king". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on 9 March 2011. Retrieved 8 March 2011. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110309035210/http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/article/203389" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20110309035210/http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/article/203389</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>Tolkien has the wizard Gandalf say to the hobbit Frodo "the Black Riders are the Ringwraiths, the Nine Servants of the Lord of the Rings."[T 2] <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>Reynolds, Pat. "The Lord of the Rings: The Tale of a Text" (PDF). The Tolkien Society. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 24 October 2015. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20160303231904/http://www.tolkiensociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/LOTR-The-Tale-of-a-Text.pdf" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20160303231904/http://www.tolkiensociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/LOTR-The-Tale-of-a-Text.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>Carpenter 2023, letter #126 to Milton Waldman (draft), 10 March 1950 - Carpenter, Humphrey, ed. (2023) [1981]. The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien: Revised and Expanded Edition. New York: Harper Collins. ISBN 978-0-35-865298-4. <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>Reynolds, Pat. "The Lord of the Rings: The Tale of a Text" (PDF). The Tolkien Society. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 24 October 2015. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20160303231904/http://www.tolkiensociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/LOTR-The-Tale-of-a-Text.pdf" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20160303231904/http://www.tolkiensociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/LOTR-The-Tale-of-a-Text.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:8"><p>"The Life and Works for JRR Tolkien". BBC. 7 February 2002. Archived from the original on 1 November 2010. Retrieved 4 December 2010. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20101101074147/http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A672022" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20101101074147/http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A672022</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:9"><p>Volume I: Prologue, The Ring Sets Out, The Ring Goes South; Volume II: The Treason of Isengard, The Ring Goes East; Volume III: The War of the Ring, The End of the Third Age, Appendices A–F. <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:10"><p>At least 38 languages are listed at the FAQ. This number is a very conservative estimate; some 56 translations are listed at translations of The Lord of the Rings, and 57 languages are listed at Elrond's Library. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20070530043707/http://www.tolkien.co.uk/faq3.aspx" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20070530043707/http://www.tolkien.co.uk/faq3.aspx</a> <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:11"><p>Gilsdorf, Ethan (23 March 2007). "Elvish Impersonators". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 5 December 2007. Retrieved 3 April 2007. <a href="https://travel.nytimes.com/2007/03/23/travel/escapes/23Ahead.html" target="_blank">https://travel.nytimes.com/2007/03/23/travel/escapes/23Ahead.html</a> <a href="#fnref:11" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:12"><p>Groom, Nick (2020) [2014]. "The English Literary Tradition: Shakespeare to the Gothic". In Lee, Stuart D. (ed.). A Companion to J. R. R. Tolkien. Wiley Blackwell. pp. 286–302. doi:10.1002/9781118517468.ch20. ISBN 978-1119656029. OCLC 1183854105. <a href="978-1119656029" target="_blank">978-1119656029</a> <a href="#fnref:12" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:13"><p>Hooker, Mark T. (2006). "The Feigned-manuscript Topos". A Tolkienian Mathomium: a collection of articles on J. R. R. Tolkien and his legendarium. Llyfrawr. pp. 176–177. ISBN 978-1-4382-4631-4. <a href="978-1-4382-4631-4" target="_blank">978-1-4382-4631-4</a> <a href="#fnref:13" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:14"><p>Bowman, Mary R. (October 2006). "The Story Was Already Written: Narrative Theory in "The Lord of the Rings"". Narrative. 14 (3): 272–293. doi:10.1353/nar.2006.0010. ISSN 1063-3685. JSTOR 20107391. S2CID 162244172. the frame of the Red Book of Westmarch, which becomes one of the major structural devices Tolkien uses to invite meta-fictional reflection... He claims, in essence, that the story was already written... <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/Doi_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:14" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:15"><p>Doughan, David. "J. R. R. Tolkien: A Biographical Sketch". TolkienSociety.org. Archived from the original on 3 March 2006. Retrieved 16 June 2006. <a href="http://www.tolkiensociety.org/tolkien/biography.html" target="_blank">http://www.tolkiensociety.org/tolkien/biography.html</a> <a href="#fnref:15" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:16"><p>Tolkien created the word to define a different view of myth from C. S. Lewis's "lies breathed through silver", writing the poem "Mythopoeia" to present his argument; it was first published in Tree and Leaf in 1988.[10] <a href="/wiki/Mythopoeia_(poem)" target="_blank">/wiki/Mythopoeia_(poem)</a> <a href="#fnref:16" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:17"><p>Carpenter 1977, pp. 187–208 - Carpenter, Humphrey (1977). J. R. R. Tolkien: A Biography. New York: Ballantine Books. ISBN 978-0-04-928037-3. <a href="#fnref:17" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:18"><p>Carpenter 1977, p. 195. - Carpenter, Humphrey (1977). J. R. R. Tolkien: A Biography. New York: Ballantine Books. ISBN 978-0-04-928037-3. <a href="#fnref:18" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:19"><p>Carpenter 1977, pp. 187–208 - Carpenter, Humphrey (1977). J. R. R. Tolkien: A Biography. New York: Ballantine Books. ISBN 978-0-04-928037-3. <a href="#fnref:19" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:20"><p>Carpenter 1977, pp. 187–208 - Carpenter, Humphrey (1977). J. R. R. Tolkien: A Biography. New York: Ballantine Books. ISBN 978-0-04-928037-3. <a href="#fnref:20" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:21"><p>Carpenter 1977, pp. 187–208 - Carpenter, Humphrey (1977). J. R. R. Tolkien: A Biography. New York: Ballantine Books. ISBN 978-0-04-928037-3. <a href="#fnref:21" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:22"><p>Shippey, Tom (2005) [1982]. The Road to Middle-earth (Third ed.). HarperCollins. pp. 1–6, 260–261, and passim. ISBN 978-0-261-10275-0. <a href="978-0-261-10275-0" target="_blank">978-0-261-10275-0</a> <a href="#fnref:22" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:23"><p>Carpenter 1977, pp. 187–208 - Carpenter, Humphrey (1977). J. R. R. Tolkien: A Biography. New York: Ballantine Books. ISBN 978-0-04-928037-3. <a href="#fnref:23" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:24"><p>Carpenter 2023, letter #17 to Stanley Unwin, 15 October 1937 - Carpenter, Humphrey, ed. (2023) [1981]. The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien: Revised and Expanded Edition. New York: Harper Collins. ISBN 978-0-35-865298-4. <a href="#fnref:24" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:25"><p>Carpenter 1977, pp. 187–208 - Carpenter, Humphrey (1977). J. R. R. Tolkien: A Biography. New York: Ballantine Books. ISBN 978-0-04-928037-3. <a href="#fnref:25" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:26"><p>Carpenter 1977, pp. 187–208 - Carpenter, Humphrey (1977). J. R. R. Tolkien: A Biography. New York: Ballantine Books. ISBN 978-0-04-928037-3. <a href="#fnref:26" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:27"><p>Carpenter 1977, pp. 187–208 - Carpenter, Humphrey (1977). J. R. R. Tolkien: A Biography. New York: Ballantine Books. ISBN 978-0-04-928037-3. <a href="#fnref:27" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:28"><p>"J. R. R. Tolkien Collection: Marquette Archives | Raynor Memorial Libraries | Marquette University". Archived from the original on 19 December 2013. <a href="http://www.marquette.edu/library/archives/tolkien.shtml#original" target="_blank">http://www.marquette.edu/library/archives/tolkien.shtml#original</a> <a href="#fnref:28" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:29"><p>Kullmann, Thomas (2013). "Poetic Insertions in Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings". Connotations: A Journal for Critical Debate. 23 (2): 283–309. Archived from the original on 8 November 2018. Retrieved 15 May 2020. <a href="https://www.connotations.de/article/thomas-kullmann-poetic-insertions-in-tolkiens-the-lord-of-the-rings/" target="_blank">https://www.connotations.de/article/thomas-kullmann-poetic-insertions-in-tolkiens-the-lord-of-the-rings/</a> <a href="#fnref:29" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:30"><p>Kullmann, Thomas (2013). "Poetic Insertions in Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings". Connotations: A Journal for Critical Debate. 23 (2): 283–309. Archived from the original on 8 November 2018. Retrieved 15 May 2020. <a href="https://www.connotations.de/article/thomas-kullmann-poetic-insertions-in-tolkiens-the-lord-of-the-rings/" target="_blank">https://www.connotations.de/article/thomas-kullmann-poetic-insertions-in-tolkiens-the-lord-of-the-rings/</a> <a href="#fnref:30" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:31"><p>Higgins, Andrew (2014). "Tolkien's Poetry (2013), edited by Julian Eilmann and Allan Turner". Journal of Tolkien Research. 1 (1). Article 4. Archived from the original on 1 August 2019. Retrieved 15 May 2020. <a href="http://scholar.valpo.edu/journaloftolkienresearch/vol1/iss1/4" target="_blank">http://scholar.valpo.edu/journaloftolkienresearch/vol1/iss1/4</a> <a href="#fnref:31" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:32"><p>Straubhaar, Sandra Ballif (2005). "Gilraen's Linnod : Function, Genre, Prototypes". Journal of Tolkien Studies. 2 (1): 235–244. doi:10.1353/tks.2005.0032. ISSN 1547-3163. S2CID 170378314. <a href="/wiki/Sandra_Ballif_Straubhaar" target="_blank">/wiki/Sandra_Ballif_Straubhaar</a> <a href="#fnref:32" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:33"><p>Zimmer, Paul Edwin (1993). "Another Opinion of 'The Verse of J. R. R. Tolkien'". Mythlore. 19 (2). Article 2. <a href="/wiki/Paul_Edwin_Zimmer" target="_blank">/wiki/Paul_Edwin_Zimmer</a> <a href="#fnref:33" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:34"><p>Carpenter 2023, letter #144 to Naomi Mitchison, 25 April 1954 - Carpenter, Humphrey, ed. (2023) [1981]. The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien: Revised and Expanded Edition. New York: Harper Collins. ISBN 978-0-35-865298-4. <a href="#fnref:34" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:35"><p>Holmes, John R. (2013) [2007]. "Art and Illustrations by Tolkien". In Drout, Michael D. C. (ed.). The J. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia. Routledge. pp. 27–32. ISBN 978-0-415-86511-1. <a href="978-0-415-86511-1" target="_blank">978-0-415-86511-1</a> <a href="#fnref:35" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:36"><p>See the lead images in the articles on the three separate volumes, e.g. The Fellowship of the Ring. <a href="/wiki/The_Fellowship_of_the_Ring" target="_blank">/wiki/The_Fellowship_of_the_Ring</a> <a href="#fnref:36" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:37"><p>Carmel, Julia (15 February 2020). "Barbara Remington, Illustrator of Tolkien Book Covers, Dies at 90". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 September 2020. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/15/books/barbara-remington-dead.html" target="_blank">https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/15/books/barbara-remington-dead.html</a> <a href="#fnref:37" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:38"><p>Tolkien 1997, pp. 162–197 "English and Welsh" - Tolkien, J. R. R. (1997). The Monsters and the Critics, and Other Essays. HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-261-10263-7. <a href="#fnref:38" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:39"><p>Carpenter 2023, letter #142 to Robert Murray, S. J., 2 December 1953 - Carpenter, Humphrey, ed. (2023) [1981]. The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien: Revised and Expanded Edition. New York: Harper Collins. ISBN 978-0-35-865298-4. <a href="#fnref:39" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:40"><p>Lee, Stuart D.; Solopova, Elizabeth (2005). The Keys of Middle-earth: Discovering Medieval Literature Through the Fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien. Palgrave. pp. 124–125. ISBN 978-1-4039-4671-3. <a href="978-1-4039-4671-3" target="_blank">978-1-4039-4671-3</a> <a href="#fnref:40" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:41"><p>Anger, Don N. (2013) [2007]. "Report on the Excavation of the Prehistoric, Roman and Post-Roman Site in Lydney Park, Gloucestershire". In Drout, Michael D. C. (ed.). The J. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia. Routledge. pp. 563–564. ISBN 978-0-415-86511-1. <a href="978-0-415-86511-1" target="_blank">978-0-415-86511-1</a> <a href="#fnref:41" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:42"><p>Noble Smith (2013). "Chapter 5: Dealing with "the Big People"". The Wisdom of the Shire: A Short Guide to a Long and Happy Life. St. Martin's Griffin. p. 46. ISBN 978-1250038296. <a href="978-1250038296" target="_blank">978-1250038296</a> <a href="#fnref:42" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:43"><p>Carpenter 2023, letter #165 to Houghton Mifflin, 30 June 1955 - Carpenter, Humphrey, ed. (2023) [1981]. The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien: Revised and Expanded Edition. New York: Harper Collins. ISBN 978-0-35-865298-4. <a href="#fnref:43" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:44"><p>Shippey, Tom (2005) [1982]. The Road to Middle-earth (Third ed.). HarperCollins. pp. 74, 169–170 and passim. ISBN 978-0-261-10275-0. <a href="978-0-261-10275-0" target="_blank">978-0-261-10275-0</a> <a href="#fnref:44" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:45"><p>Burns, Marjorie (2005). Perilous Realms: Celtic and Norse in Tolkien's Middle-earth. University of Toronto Press. pp. 13–29 and passim. ISBN 978-0-8020-3806-7. <a href="978-0-8020-3806-7" target="_blank">978-0-8020-3806-7</a> <a href="#fnref:45" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:46"><p>Lee, Stuart D.; Solopova, Elizabeth (2005). The Keys of Middle-earth: Discovering Medieval Literature Through the Fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien. Palgrave. pp. 124–125. ISBN 978-1-4039-4671-3. <a href="978-1-4039-4671-3" target="_blank">978-1-4039-4671-3</a> <a href="#fnref:46" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:47"><p>Handwerk, Brian (1 March 2004). "Lord of the Rings Inspired by an Ancient Epic". National Geographic News. National Geographic Society. pp. 1–2. Archived from the original on 16 March 2006. Retrieved 4 October 2006. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20060316192124/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2001/12/1219_tolkienroots.html" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20060316192124/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2001/12/1219_tolkienroots.html</a> <a href="#fnref:47" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:48"><p>Kuzmenko, Dmitry. "Slavic echoes in the works of J. R. R. Tolkien" (in Ukrainian). Archived from the original on 25 April 2012. Retrieved 6 November 2011. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120425143036/http://kuzmenko.org.ua/uk/tolkienslavic" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20120425143036/http://kuzmenko.org.ua/uk/tolkienslavic</a> <a href="#fnref:48" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:49"><p>Stanton, Michael (2001). Hobbits, Elves, and Wizards: Exploring the Wonders and Worlds of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 18. ISBN 1-4039-6025-9. <a href="1-4039-6025-9" target="_blank">1-4039-6025-9</a> <a href="#fnref:49" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:50"><p>Resnick, Henry (1967). "An Interview with Tolkien". Niekas: 37–47. <a href="/wiki/Niekas" target="_blank">/wiki/Niekas</a> <a href="#fnref:50" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:51"><p>Nelson, Dale (2013) [2007]. "Literary Influences, Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries". In Drout, Michael D. C. (ed.). The J. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia. Routledge. pp. 366–377. ISBN 978-0-415-86511-1. <a href="978-0-415-86511-1" target="_blank">978-0-415-86511-1</a> <a href="#fnref:51" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:52"><p>Hooker, Mark T. (2011). "Reading John Buchan in Search of Tolkien". In Fisher, Jason (ed.). Tolkien and the Study of his Sources: Critical essays. McFarland. pp. 162–192. ISBN 978-0-7864-6482-1. OCLC 731009810. <a href="978-0-7864-6482-1" target="_blank">978-0-7864-6482-1</a> <a href="#fnref:52" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:53"><p>Carpenter 2023, letter #19 to Stanley Unwin, 31 December 1960 - Carpenter, Humphrey, ed. (2023) [1981]. The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien: Revised and Expanded Edition. New York: Harper Collins. ISBN 978-0-35-865298-4. <a href="#fnref:53" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:54"><p>"Lord of the Rings inspiration in the archives". Explore the Past (Worcestershire Historic Environment Record). 29 May 2013. <a href="https://www.explorethepast.co.uk/2013/05/lord-of-the-rings-inspiration-in-the-archives/" target="_blank">https://www.explorethepast.co.uk/2013/05/lord-of-the-rings-inspiration-in-the-archives/</a> <a href="#fnref:54" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:55"><p>Carpenter 2023, letter #178 to Allen & Unwin, 12 December 1955, and #303 to Nicholas Thomas, 6 May 1968 - Carpenter, Humphrey, ed. (2023) [1981]. The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien: Revised and Expanded Edition. New York: Harper Collins. ISBN 978-0-35-865298-4. <a href="#fnref:55" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:56"><p>Livingston, Michael (2006). "The Shellshocked Hobbit: The First World War and Tolkien's Trauma of the Ring". Mythlore. Mythopoeic Society. pp. 77–92. Archived from the original on 23 December 2011. Retrieved 3 June 2011. <a href="http://www.thefreelibrary.com/The+shell-shocked+hobbit%3A+the+First+World+War+and+Tolkien's+trauma+of...-a0154698400" target="_blank">http://www.thefreelibrary.com/The+shell-shocked+hobbit%3A+the+First+World+War+and+Tolkien's+trauma+of...-a0154698400</a> <a href="#fnref:56" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:57"><p>Ahmed, Ali Arslan (8 May 2020). "How War Inspired JRR Tolkien To Write Lord Of The Rings". Dankanator. <a href="https://dankanator.com/62698/how-war-inspired-j-r-r-tolkien-write-lord-of-the-rings/" target="_blank">https://dankanator.com/62698/how-war-inspired-j-r-r-tolkien-write-lord-of-the-rings/</a> <a href="#fnref:57" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:58"><p>Campbell, Lori M. (2010). Portals of Power: Magical Agency and Transformation in Literary Fantasy. McFarland. p. 161. ISBN 978-0-7864-5655-0. <a href="978-0-7864-5655-0" target="_blank">978-0-7864-5655-0</a> <a href="#fnref:58" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:59"><p>West, Richard C. (1975). "Narrative Pattern in 'The Fellowship of the Ring'". In Lobdell, Jared (ed.). A Tolkien Compass. Open Court. p. 96. ISBN 978-0-87548-303-0. <a href="978-0-87548-303-0" target="_blank">978-0-87548-303-0</a> <a href="#fnref:59" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:60"><p>Flieger, Verlyn (2002). Splintered Light: Logos and Language in Tolkien's World (2nd ed.). Kent State University Press. p. 2. ISBN 978-0-87338-744-6. <a href="978-0-87338-744-6" target="_blank">978-0-87338-744-6</a> <a href="#fnref:60" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:61"><p>Hannon, Patrice (2004). "The Lord of the Rings as Elegy". Mythlore. 24 (2): 36–42. <a href="https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore/vol24/iss2/4/" target="_blank">https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore/vol24/iss2/4/</a> <a href="#fnref:61" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:62"><p>Spacks, Patricia Meyer (2005). "Power and Meaning in 'The Lord of the Rings'". In Isaacs, Neil David; Zimbardo, Rose A. (eds.). Understanding The Lord of the Rings: The Best of Tolkien Criticism. Houghton Mifflin. pp. 58–64. ISBN 978-0-618-42253-1. <a href="978-0-618-42253-1" target="_blank">978-0-618-42253-1</a> <a href="#fnref:62" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:63"><p>Perkins, Agnes; Hill, Helen (1975). "The Corruption of Power". In Lobdell, Jared (ed.). A Tolkien Compass. Open Court. pp. 57–68. ISBN 978-0-87548-303-0. <a href="978-0-87548-303-0" target="_blank">978-0-87548-303-0</a> <a href="#fnref:63" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:64"><p>Kreeft, Peter J. (November 2005). "The Presence of Christ in The Lord of the Rings". Ignatius Insight. Archived from the original on 24 November 2005. Retrieved 2 August 2020. <a href="/wiki/Peter_Kreeft" target="_blank">/wiki/Peter_Kreeft</a> <a href="#fnref:64" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:65"><p>Kerry, Paul E. (2010). Kerry, Paul E. (ed.). The Ring and the Cross: Christianity and the Lord of the Rings. Fairleigh Dickinson. pp. 32–34. ISBN 978-1-61147-065-9. <a href="978-1-61147-065-9" target="_blank">978-1-61147-065-9</a> <a href="#fnref:65" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:66"><p>Schultz, Forrest W. (1 December 2002). "Christian Typologies in The Lord of the Rings". Chalcedon. Retrieved 26 March 2020. <a href="https://chalcedon.edu/magazine/christian-typologies-in-the-lord-of-the-rings" target="_blank">https://chalcedon.edu/magazine/christian-typologies-in-the-lord-of-the-rings</a> <a href="#fnref:66" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:67"><p>Williams, Stan. "20 Ways 'The Lord of the Rings' Is Both Christian and Catholic". Catholic Education Resource Center. Archived from the original on 20 December 2013. Retrieved 20 December 2013. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20131220231901/http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/arts/al0160.html" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20131220231901/http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/arts/al0160.html</a> <a href="#fnref:67" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:68"><p>Shippey, Tom (2005) [1982]. The Road to Middle-earth (Third ed.). HarperCollins. pp. 129–133, 245–247. ISBN 978-0-261-10275-0. <a href="978-0-261-10275-0" target="_blank">978-0-261-10275-0</a> <a href="#fnref:68" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:69"><p>Carpenter 2023, letter #211 to Rhona Beare, 14 October 1958 - Carpenter, Humphrey, ed. (2023) [1981]. The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien: Revised and Expanded Edition. New York: Harper Collins. ISBN 978-0-35-865298-4. <a href="#fnref:69" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:70"><p>Wood, Ralph C. (2003). The Gospel According to Tolkien. Westminster John Knox Press. pp. 2-4. ISBN 978-0-664-23466-9. <a href="978-0-664-23466-9" target="_blank">978-0-664-23466-9</a> <a href="#fnref:70" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:71"><p>Rearick, Anderson (2004). "Why is the Only Good Orc a Dead Orc? The Dark Face of Racism Examined in Tolkien's World". Modern Fiction Studies. 50 (4): 866–867. doi:10.1353/mfs.2005.0008. S2CID 162647975. <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/Doi_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:71" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:72"><p>Straubhaar, Sandra Ballif (2004). "Myth, Late Roman History, and Multiculturalism in Tolkien's Middle-earth". In Chance, Jane (ed.). Tolkien and the Invention of Myth: A reader. University Press of Kentucky. pp. 112–115. ISBN 978-0-8131-2301-1. <a href="978-0-8131-2301-1" target="_blank">978-0-8131-2301-1</a> <a href="#fnref:72" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:73"><p>Craig, David M. (2001). "'Queer Lodgings': Gender and Sexuality in The Lord of the Rings". Mallorn (38): 11–18. JSTOR 45321703. <a href="/wiki/Mallorn_(journal)" target="_blank">/wiki/Mallorn_(journal)</a> <a href="#fnref:73" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:74"><p>LaFontaine, David (2015). "Sex and Subtext in Tolkien's World" (PDF). The Gay and Lesbian Review (November–December 2015): 14–17. <a href="https://glreview.org/wp-content/uploads/Nov-Dec%20Digital%20Edition/files/assets/common/downloads/page0014.pdf" target="_blank">https://glreview.org/wp-content/uploads/Nov-Dec%20Digital%20Edition/files/assets/common/downloads/page0014.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:74" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:75"><p>Mendro, Hannah (2023). "'Wondered at this Change': Queer Potential and Telling Silence in the Relationship of Legolas and Gimli". Journal of Tolkien Research. 18 (2): Article 8. <a href="https://scholar.valpo.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1374&context=journaloftolkienresearch" target="_blank">https://scholar.valpo.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1374&context=journaloftolkienresearch</a> <a href="#fnref:75" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:76"><p>Carpenter 1977, pp. 211 ff.. - Carpenter, Humphrey (1977). J. R. R. Tolkien: A Biography. New York: Ballantine Books. ISBN 978-0-04-928037-3. <a href="#fnref:76" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:77"><p>Carpenter 1977, pp. 187–208 - Carpenter, Humphrey (1977). J. R. R. Tolkien: A Biography. New York: Ballantine Books. ISBN 978-0-04-928037-3. <a href="#fnref:77" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:78"><p>Unwin, Rayner (1999). George Allen & Unwin: A Remembrancer. Merlin Unwin Books. pp. 97–99. ISBN 1-873674-37-6. <a href="1-873674-37-6" target="_blank">1-873674-37-6</a> <a href="#fnref:78" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:79"><p>Carpenter 1977, pp. 220–221. - Carpenter, Humphrey (1977). J. R. R. Tolkien: A Biography. New York: Ballantine Books. ISBN 978-0-04-928037-3. <a href="#fnref:79" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:80"><p>The Fellowship of the Ring: Being the First Part of The Lord of the Rings (publication history) Tolkien, J. R. R. (15 February 2012). The Fellowship of the Ring: Being the First Part of the Lord of the Rings. HarperCollins. ISBN 978-054795201-7. Archived from the original on 15 November 2017. Retrieved 16 September 2017. <a href="978-054795201-7" target="_blank">978-054795201-7</a> <a href="#fnref:80" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:81"><p>"From Book to Script", The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Appendices (DVD). New Line Cinema. 2002. <a href="/wiki/New_Line_Cinema" target="_blank">/wiki/New_Line_Cinema</a> <a href="#fnref:81" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:82"><p>Carpenter 2023, letter #140 to Rayner Unwin, 17 August 1953 - Carpenter, Humphrey, ed. (2023) [1981]. The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien: Revised and Expanded Edition. New York: Harper Collins. ISBN 978-0-35-865298-4. <a href="#fnref:82" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:83"><p>Carpenter 2023, letter #143 to Rayner Unwin, 22 January 1954 - Carpenter, Humphrey, ed. (2023) [1981]. 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(2023) [1981]. The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien: Revised and Expanded Edition. New York: Harper Collins. ISBN 978-0-35-865298-4. <a href="#fnref:86" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:87"><p>Tolkien, Christopher (2000). The War of the Ring: The History of The Lord of the Rings. Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0-618-08359-6. <a href="0-618-08359-6" target="_blank">0-618-08359-6</a> <a href="#fnref:87" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:88"><p>Auden, W. H. (26 January 1956). "At the End of the Quest, Victory: Book Review, "The Return of the King"". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 30 January 2016. Retrieved 21 February 2020. <a href="/wiki/W._H._Auden" target="_blank">/wiki/W._H._Auden</a> <a href="#fnref:88" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:89"><p>Carpenter 2023, letter #163 to W. H. Auden, 7 June 1955 - Carpenter, Humphrey, ed. (2023) [1981]. The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien: Revised and Expanded Edition. 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