The fantasy writings ofJ. R. R. Tolkien have had a huge popular impact. HisMiddle-earth books have sold hundreds of millions of copies.^[1][2]The Lord of the Ringstransformed the genre of fantasy writing.^[3] It andThe Hobbit have spawnedPeter Jackson'sMiddle-earth films, which have had billion-dollar takings at the box office.^[4][5] The books and films have stimulated enormousTolkien fandom activity in meetings such asTolkienmoot^[6] and on the Internet, with discussion groups,fan art, and many thousands ofTolkien fan fiction stories.^[7] The mythology'sOrcs,Trolls,Dwarves,Elves,Wizards, andHalflings are firmly established in popular culture,^[8] such as in thetabletop role-playing gameDungeons & Dragons,^[9] and inMiddle-earth video games.^[10] Individual characters likeGollum, too, have become familiar popular figures,^[11] for instance featuring ina song byLed Zeppelin.^[12]

J. R. R. Tolkien was an English author andphilologist of ancientGermanic languages, specialising inOld English; he spent much of his career as a professor at theUniversity of Oxford.^[13] He is best known for his novels about his inventedMiddle-earth,The Hobbit andThe Lord of the Rings, and for the posthumously publishedThe Silmarillion which provides a more mythical narrative about earlier ages. A devoutRoman Catholic, he describedThe Lord of the Rings as "a fundamentally religious and Catholic work",rich in Christian symbolism.^{[T 1]} His Middle-earth books have sold hundreds of millions of copies.^[1][2]

The Lord of the Ringstransformed the genre of fantasy writing.^[3] Tolkien has been called the "father" of modern fantasy.^[14] The author and editor ofJournal of the Fantastic in the Arts,Brian Attebery, writes that fantasy is defined "not by boundaries but by a centre", which isThe Lord of the Rings.^[15]

Many laterfantasy writers have either imitated Tolkien's work, or have written in reaction against it.^[16] One of the first wasUrsula Le Guin'sEarthsea series of novels, starting in 1968, which used Tolkienian archetypes such as wizards, a disinherited prince, a magical ring, a quest, and dragons.^[17] A publishing rush followed.^[18] Fantasy authors includingStephen R. Donaldson andPhilip Pullman have created intentionally non-Tolkienian fantasies, Donaldson with an unloveable protagonist,^[19] and Pullman, who is critical ofThe Lord of the Rings, with a different view of the purpose of life.^[20]

Since the publication ofThe Hobbit in 1937, artists have sought to capture aspects of Tolkien'sMiddle-earth fantasy novels in paintings and drawings. He liked the work ofCor Blok,^[21]Mary Fairburn,^[22]Queen Margrethe II of Denmark,^[23] andTed Nasmith,^[24] but not the illustrations byHorus Engels for the German edition ofThe Hobbit.^{[T 2]}

After Tolkien's death in 1973, many artists have created illustrations of Middle-earth characters and landscapes, in media ranging fromAlexander Korotich'sscraperboard depictions,^[25] to Margrethe II of Denmark'swoodcut-style drawings,^[23] Sergey Yuhimov's Russian Orthodoxicon-style representations,^[26] andDonato Giancola'sneoclassical oil paintings.^[27]Peter Jackson's 2001–2003film trilogy ofThe Lord of the Rings, and laterofThe Hobbit, made use ofconcept art byJohn Howe andAlan Lee; the resulting images of Middle-earth and the story's characters have strongly influenced subsequent representations of Tolkien's work.^[28]Jenny Dolfen has specialised in makingwatercolour paintings ofThe Silmarillion, winning three awards fromThe Tolkien Society.^[29]

The Lord of the Rings andThe Hobbit have spawnedPeter Jackson'sMiddle-earth films, which have had billion-dollar takings at the box office.^[4][5]

A substantial body of music has been created on the basis of Tolkien's works, in a wide range of genres from classical to many kinds of popular music includingjazz,blues,country and western,new age,heavy metal, andpsychedelic.^[30]Donald Swann's 1967 song cycleThe Road Goes Ever On sets six of Tolkien's songs to music.^[31] The Danish groupThe Tolkien Ensemble set all thepoetry inThe Lord of the Rings to music, publishing it on four CDs –An Evening in Rivendell (1997),A Night in Rivendell (2000),At Dawn in Rivendell (2002), and (withChristopher Lee)Leaving Rivendell (2005).^[32] Classical music inspired by Middle-earth includesJohan de Meij'sSymphony No. 1 "The Lord of the Rings" andAulis Sallinen's Symphony No. 7The Dreams of Gandalf.^[33] Among many works of popular music that reference Tolkien's works is theLed Zeppelin song "Ramble On", in whichGollum and the Dark Lord (Sauron) get up to some surprising things.^[12]

The mythology'sOrcs,Trolls,Dwarves,Elves,Wizards, andHobbits (orHalflings) are firmly established in popular culture,^[8] such as in thetabletop role-playing gameDungeons & Dragons,^[9] and inMiddle-earth video games.^[10]

Tolkien's books and Jackson's films have stimulated enormousTolkien fandom activity in meetings such asTolkienmoot,^[6] inTolkien Societies in many countries, and on theInternet, with discussion groups,fan art, and many thousands ofTolkien fan fiction stories.^[7] Individual characters likeGollum have become familiar popular figures.^[11]Tolkien tourism has become commercially important, especially to some of Jackson's film locations in New Zealand,^[34] such as theHobbiton film set.^[35]

Tolkien fan films cannot be released commercially as the rights remain private, but some non-commercial films with small budgets and good production standards have been released on the Internet. These include Chris Bouchard'sThe Hunt for Gollum andKate Madison'sBorn of Hope.^[36][37]

Tolkien fan art consists of Middle-earth-themed artworks created by fans, using any media, but usually shared online in digital form, typically on specialist websites. Fan art elicits abundant responses from other fans. Such responses can be grouped as praise; challenge and multi-person discussion of interpretation; discussion of (romantic) relationships; and references to Tolkien's original text, as authority. People involved in such discussions have nearly always read Tolkien's Middle-earth books.^[38] Artworks may feature well-known or minor characters, or may depict dramatic moments from Tolkien's stories.^[39]

Tolkien fan fiction is fantasy writing by Tolkien fans, usually women, on some aspect of Middle-earth, often shared on the Internet; it exists in enormous quantities. It is based either on Tolkien's books or on a depiction of Middle-earth, especially Peter Jackson's films. Some authors seek to fill in gaps, such as events in the lives of characters before the main action described by Tolkien. Others write about the daily lives of minor characters; or they may invent characters in a suitable Middle-earth setting. The types of writing that have resulted include homoeroticslash fiction and several strands offeminist storytelling.^[40][41]

Beowulf'seotenas [ond] ylfe [ond] orcneas, "giants [and] elves [and] devil-corpses" inspired Tolkien'sElves andOrcs.^[42]

Maxims II'sOrthanc enta geweorc, "skilful work of giants" inspiredOrthanc andEnts.^[43]

Tolkien research has studied Tolkien's sources.

Muchearly literary comment on Tolkien's fantasy writings, especiallyThe Lord of the Rings, was hostile. Other scholars, includingPaul H. Kocher in 1972,Jane Chance in 1979,Tom Shippey in 1982, andVerlyn Flieger in 1983, began a process of rehabilitation, which has enabled the discipline of Tolkien studies to develop.^[44]

The scope of Tolkien research encompasses all aspects of his published novels, along withhis legendarium that remained unpublished until after his death, andhis constructed languages, especially theElvish languagesQuenya andSindarin.^[44][45] Scholars from different disciplines have examined the linguistic and literary origins of Middle-earth, and have debatedthe themes of his writings fromChristianity tofeminism andrace.^[46] Several journals specialise in the publication of Tolkien research.^[47]

Out of Tolkien's writings,The Lord of the Rings in particular has had a profound and wide-ranging impact on popular culture, especially during the 1960s and 1970s when young people embraced it as acountercultural saga.^[48] The phrase "Frodo Lives!" became popular at that time.^[49] The words "Tolkienian" and "Tolkienesque" have entered theOxford English Dictionary, and many of his fantasy terms, such as "Hobbit", "Orc", and "Warg", formerly little-known, have become widespread.^[50] Among its effects are numerousparodies, especiallyHarvard Lampoon'sBored of the Rings, which has had the distinction of remaining continuously in print from its publication in 1969, and of being translated into at least 11 languages.^[51] Outside commercial exploitation from adaptations, from the late 1960s onwards there has been an increasing variety of original licensed merchandise, with posters andcalendars created by illustrators such asBarbara Remington.^[52]The Lord of the Rings was named Britain's best novel of all time in the BBC'sThe Big Read.^[53] In 2015, the BBC ranked it 26th on its list of the 100 greatest British novels.^[54] It was included inLe Monde's list of "100 Books of the Century".^[55]

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