The title refers to the story's mainantagonist,[b] theDark LordSauron, whoin an earlier age created theOne Ring, allowing him to rule the otherRings of Power given tomen,dwarves, andelves, in his campaign to conquer all of Middle-earth. From homely beginnings inthe Shire, ahobbit land reminiscent of the English countryside, the story ranges across Middle-earth, followingthe quest to destroy the One Ring, seen mainly through the eyes of the hobbitsFrodo,Sam,Merry, andPippin. Aiding the hobbits are the wizardGandalf, the menAragorn andBoromir, the elfLegolas, and the dwarfGimli, who unite as theCompany of the Ring to rally the Free Peoples of Middle-earth against Sauron's armies and give Frodo a chance to destroy the One Ring in the fires ofMount Doom.
Tolkien drew inspiration fromvarious influences for the story, includingphilology, mythology,Christianity,earlier fantasy works, andhis own experiences in the First World War. Although often called a trilogy, the work was intended by Tolkien to be a single volume in a two-volume set, along withThe Silmarillion.[3][T 3] For economic reasons, it was first published over the course of a year, from 29 July 1954 to 20 October 1955,in three volumes rather than one,[3][4] under the titlesThe Fellowship of the Ring,The Two Towers, andThe Return of the King;The Silmarillion appeared only after Tolkien's death. The work is divided internally into six books, two per volume, with several appendices of chronologies, genealogies, and linguistic information.[c] These three volumes were later published as aboxed set in 1957, and even finally as a single volume in 1968, following Tolkien's original intent.
Bilbo Baggins celebrates his birthday and leaves the Ring toFrodo, his heir.Gandalf (awizard) suspects it is aRing of Power; seventeen years later, he confirms it is the One Ring, lost by the Dark LordSauron, 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 cousinPippin Took and gardenerSam Gamgee. They are pursued byBlack Riders, but meet someElves, whose singing toElbereth wards off the Riders. The Hobbits take an evasive shortcut to Bucklebury Ferry, where they meet their friendMerry Brandybuck. 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 theOld Forest. Merry and Pippin are trapped by the malignOld Man Willow, but are rescued byTom Bombadil. Leaving Tom's house, they are caught by abarrow-wight. 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 ofBree, where they meetStrider, aRanger. 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 theElvish sanctuary ofRivendell. AtWeathertop, they are attacked by five Black Riders. Their leader wounds Frodo with a cursed blade. Strider fights them off and treats Frodo with the herbathelas. They are joined by the ElfGlorfindel, 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 byElrond.
Frodo recovers in Rivendell under Elrond's care. Gandalf informs Frodo that the Black Riders are theNazgûl, Men enslaved by Rings of Power to serve Sauron.The Council of Elrond discusses what to do with the Ring. Strider is revealed to be Aragorn, the heir ofIsildur 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 toGollum and then to Bilbo. Gandalf reports that the chief wizard,Saruman, is a traitor. The Council decides that the Ring must be destroyed in the fire ofMount Doom inMordor, where it was forged. Frodo takes this task upon himself. Elrond chooses companions for him: Sam, Merry, and Pippin; Gandalf; the Men Aragorn andBoromir, son of theSteward of Gondor; the ElfLegolas; and theDwarfGimli, representing the Free Peoples of the West.After a failed attempt to cross theMisty Mountains, the Fellowship risk the path through theMines of Moria. They learn thatBalin and his Dwarves, who had attempted to regain possession of Moria, were killed byOrcs. They are attacked by Orcs and aBalrog, a fire demon. Gandalf confronts the Balrog: both fall into an abyss. The others escape to theElvish forest ofLothlórien, where the LadyGaladriel 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 theRiver Anduin. 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.
A party of Orcs sent bySaruman andSauron 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 byRiders of Rohan, led byÉomer. The Hobbits escape intoFangorn Forest, where they are befriended by theEntTreebeard. 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 toEdoras, capital of Rohan. Gandalf frees KingThéoden from the influence of Saruman's spyGríma Wormtongue. Théoden musters his army and rides to the fortress ofHelm's Deep; Gandalf departs to seek help from Treebeard. The Ents destroyIsengard, Saruman's stronghold, and flood it, trapping the wizard in the tower ofOrthanc. Gandalf convinces Treebeard to send an army ofHuorns 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 apalantír, a seeing-stone that Saruman used to speak with Sauron, becoming ensnared. Sauron sees Pippin, but misunderstands the circumstances. Gandalf rides forMinas Tirith, chief city ofGondor, taking Pippin with him.
Frodo and Sam struggle through the barren hills of theEmyn Muil. 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 theDead Marshes. Sam overhears Gollum debating with his alter ego, Sméagol, whether to steal the Ring.TheBlack Gate of Mordor is too well guarded, so they travel south throughIthilien to a secret pass that Gollum knows. They are captured by rangers led byFaramir, Boromir's brother, and brought to the secret fastness ofHenneth Annûn. 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 spiderShelob in the tunnels ofCirith Ungol. Frodo holds up his gift, thePhial of Galadriel, which holds thelight ofEärendil's star: it drives Shelob back. Frodo cuts through a giant web using his swordSting. Shelob attacks again, and Frodo falls to her venom. Sam picks up Sting and thePhial. He wounds the monster. Believing Frodo to be dead, a devastated 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.
Sauron sends a great army againstGondor. Gandalf arrives atMinas Tirith to warnDenethor 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-woundbattering ram 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 theRangers of the North, takes thePaths of the Dead 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 theCorsairs of Umbar invading southern Gondor. He and men of southern Gondor sail in the Corsairs' ships up theAnduin, reaching Minas Tirith just in time to turn the tide of battle. Théoden's nieceÉowyn, 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 theBattle of the Pelennor Fields, 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 theBattle of the Morannon, his army is vastly outnumbered.
Sam rescues Frodo from the tower of Cirith Ungol. They set out across Mordor. When they reach the edge of theCracks of Doom, 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 theEagles rescue Frodo and Sam from the ruin of Mount Doom. Aragorn is crowned King, and wedsArwen, 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 andscours the Shire. Saruman reveals crimes that Wormtongue has done, causing Wormtongue to turn on Saruman and kill him in front ofBag End, 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 theGrey Havens over the Sea to find peace.
Extensive appendices outline more details of the history, cultures,genealogies, andlanguages that Tolkien imagined for the peoples of Middle-earth.In antiquarian style,[6] they provide background details for the narrative, with much detail for Tolkien fans who want to know more about the stories.
Tolkien presentsThe Lord of the Rings within a fictionalframe story where he is not the original author, but merely the translator of part of an ancient document, theRed Book of Westmarch.[7] That book is modelled on the realRed Book of Hergest, which similarly presents an older mythology. Various details of the frame story appear in the Prologue, its "Note onShire Records", and in the Appendices, notably Appendix F. In this frame story, theRed Book is the purported source of Tolkien's other works relating toMiddle-earth:The Hobbit,The Silmarillion, andThe Adventures of Tom Bombadil.[8]
Although a major work in itself,The Lord of the Rings was only the last movement of a much older set of narratives Tolkien had worked on since 1917 encompassingThe Silmarillion,[9] in a process he described asmythopoeia.[e]
The Lord of the Rings started as a sequel to Tolkien's workThe Hobbit, published in 1937.[11] The popularity ofThe Hobbit 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 forThe Silmarillion, puttingRoverandom on hold, and acceptingFarmer Giles of Ham, Allen & Unwin continued to ask for more stories abouthobbits.[12]
Navigable diagram ofTolkien's legendarium.The Lord of the Rings began as a sequel toThe Hobbit but gradually took in elements of the legendarium, the mythology summarized inThe Silmarillion.
Persuaded by his publishers, he started "a new Hobbit" in December 1937.[11] 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 titleThe Lord of the Rings did not come until the spring of 1938.[11] 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.[11] As the story progressed, he brought in elements fromThe Silmarillion mythology.[13]
Writing was slow, because Tolkien had a full-time academic position, marked exams to bring in a little extra income, and wrote many drafts.[11][T 4] Tolkien abandonedThe Lord of the Rings during most of 1943 and only restarted it in April 1944,[11] as a serial for his sonChristopher Tolkien, who was sent chapters as they were written while he was serving in South Africa with theRoyal Air Force. Tolkien made another major effort in 1946 and showed the manuscript to his publishers in 1947.[11] The story was effectively finished the next year, but Tolkien did not complete the revision of earlier parts of the work until 1949.[11] The original manuscripts, which total 9,250 pages, now reside in the J. R. R. Tolkien Collection atMarquette University.[14]
Unusually for 20th century novels, the prose narrative is supplemented throughout byover 60 pieces of poetry. These include verse and songs of many genres: for wandering,marching to war,drinking, and having a bath; narrating ancient myths,riddles,prophecies, and magical incantations; and of praise and lament (elegy).[15] Some, such as riddles, charms, elegies, and narrating heroic actions are found inOld Englishpoetry.[15] 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.[16][17] The poetry has been judged to be of high technical skill, reflected in Tolkien's prose; for instance, he wrote much ofTom Bombadil's speech in metre.[18]
Tolkien worked on the text usinghis maps of Middle-earth as a guide, to ensure the elements of the story fitted together in time and space.[T 5] He prepared a variety of types of illustration – maps, calligraphy, drawings, cover designs, even a facsimile painting of theBook of Mazarbul – but only the maps, the inscription on the Ring, and a drawing of theDoors of Durin were included in the first edition.[19][T 6]
The hardback editions sometimes had cover illustrations by Tolkien,[f] sometimes by other artists. According toThe New York Times,Barbara Remington's cover designs forBallantine's paperback editions "achieved mass-cult status in the 1960s, particularly on college campuses" across America.[20]
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 threepowerful women in the book, Galadriel, Éowyn, and Arwen; that life, even in rural Hobbiton, is not idealized; thatChristianity is a pervasive theme; and thatTolkien was sharply anti-racist both in peacetime and during the Second World War, while Middle-earth is evidently polycultural.[46][47][48] Others have discussed the apparent or implicitsexuality in the book.[49][50][51]
A dispute with his publisher,Allen & Unwin, led Tolkien to offer the work toWilliam Collins in 1950. Tolkien intendedThe Silmarillion (itself largely unrevised at this point) to be published along withThe Lord of the Rings, butAllen & Unwin was unwilling to do this. AfterMilton Waldman, his contact at Collins, expressed the belief thatThe Lord of the Rings itself "urgently wanted cutting", Tolkien eventually demanded that they publish the book in 1952.[52] Collins did not; and so Tolkien wrote toAllen & Unwin, 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.[11]
For publication, the work wasdivided into three volumes to minimize any potential financial loss due to the high cost of type-setting and modest anticipated sales:The Fellowship of the Ring (Books I and II),The Two Towers (Books III and IV), andThe Return of the King (Books V and VI, and six appendices).[53] Delays in producing appendices,maps 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.[54] In the United States,Houghton Mifflin publishedThe Fellowship of the Ring on 21 October 1954,The Two Towers on 21 April 1955, andThe Return of the King on 5 January 1956.[55]
The Return of the King was especially delayed as Tolkien revised the ending and prepared appendices (some of which had to be left out because of space constraints). Tolkien did not like the titleThe Return of the King, believing it gave away too much of the storyline, but deferred to his publisher's preference.[56] Tolkien wrote that the titleThe Two Towers "can be left ambiguous",[T 13] but considered naming the two asOrthanc andBarad-dûr,Minas Tirith and Barad-dûr, or Orthanc and theTower of Cirith Ungol.[T 14] However, a month later he wrote a note published at the end ofThe Fellowship of the Ring and later drew a cover illustration, both of which identified the pair asMinas Morgul and Orthanc.[57][58]
Tolkien was initially opposed to titles being given to each two-book volume, preferring instead the use of book titles: e.g.The Lord of the Rings: Vol. 1,The Ring Sets Out andThe Ring Goes South; Vol. 2,The Treason of Isengard andThe Ring Goes East; Vol. 3,The War of the Ring andThe End of the Third Age. However, these individual book titles were dropped, and after pressure from his publishers, Tolkien suggested the volume titles: Vol. 1,The Shadow Grows; Vol. 2,The Ring in the Shadow; Vol. 3,The War of the Ring orThe Return of the King.[59][60]
Because the three-volume binding was so widely distributed, the work is often referred to as theLord of the Rings "trilogy". In a letter to the poetW. H. Auden, who famously reviewed the final volume in 1956,[61] Tolkien himself made use of the term "trilogy" for the work[T 15] though he did at other times consider this incorrect, as it was written and conceived as a single book.[T 16] It is often called a novel; however, Tolkien objected to this term as he viewed it as aheroic romance.[T 17]
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.[62] It has ultimately become one of the best-selling novels ever written, with at least 50 million copies sold by 2003[63] and over 150 million copies sold by 2007.[2] The work was published in the UK by Allen & Unwin until 1990, when the publisher and its assets were acquired byHarperCollins.[64][65]
In the early 1960sDonald A. Wollheim, science fiction editor of the paperback publisherAce Books, claimed thatThe Lord of the Rings was not protected in the United States underAmerican copyright law because Houghton Mifflin, the US hardcover publisher, had neglected to copyright the work in the United States.[68][69] Then, in 1965, Ace Books proceeded to publish an edition, unauthorized by Tolkien and without payingroyalties to him. Tolkien took issue with this and quickly notified his fans of this objection.[70]Grass-roots pressure from these fans became so great that Ace Books withdrew their edition and made a nominal payment to Tolkien.[71][T 18]
Authorized editions followed fromBallantine Books andHoughton Mifflin 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 ofThe Lord of the Rings, published in 1965.[71] 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 onThe New York Times's Paperback Bestsellers list as number three, and was number one by 4 December, a position it held for eight weeks.[72] Houghton Mifflin editions after 1994 consolidate variant revisions by Tolkien, and corrections supervised byChristopher Tolkien, which resulted, after some initial glitches, in a computer-based unified text.[73]
In 2004, for the 50th Anniversary Edition,Wayne G. Hammond andChristina Scull, 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.[74] 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.[75] 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.[T 19]
The work has been translated, with varying degrees of success, into at least 38,[d] and reportedly at least 70, languages.[77] Tolkien, an expert inphilology, 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 theSwedish translation byÅke Ohlmarks,[T 20] Tolkien wrote a "Guide to the Names in The Lord of the Rings" (1967). BecauseThe Lord of the Rings purports to be a translation of the fictitiousRed Book of Westmarch, using the English language to represent theWestron 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.[78][79]
Earlyreviews of the work were mixed. The initial review in theSunday Telegraph described it as "among the greatest works of imaginative fiction of the twentieth century".[80] TheSunday Times echoed this sentiment, stating that "the English-speaking world is divided into those who have readThe Lord of the Rings andThe Hobbit and those who are going to read them."[80] TheNew York Herald Tribune appeared to predict the books' popularity, writing in its review that they were "destined to outlast our time".[81]W. H. Auden, a former pupil of Tolkien's and an admirer of his writings, regardedThe Lord of the Rings as a "masterpiece", further stating that in some cases it outdid the achievement ofJohn Milton'sParadise Lost.[82] Kenneth F. Slater wrote inNebula Science Fiction, April 1955, "... if you don't read it, you have missed one of the finest books of its type ever to appear".[83][84] On the other hand, in 1955, the Scottish poetEdwin Muir attackedThe Return of the King, 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.[85] In 1956, theliterary criticEdmund Wilson 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."[86]
Within Tolkien's literary group,The Inklings, the work had a mixed reception.Hugo Dyson complained loudly at its readings,[87][g] whereasC. S. Lewis 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."[9] 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".[88] Despite the mixed reviews and the lack of a paperback until the 1960s,The Lord of the Rings initially sold well in hardback.[9]
Judith Shulevitz, writing inThe New York Times, criticized the "pedantry" ofTolkien's literary style, saying that he "formulated a high-minded belief in the importance of his mission as a literary preservationist, which turns out to be death to literature itself".[89] The critic Richard Jenkyns, writing inThe New Republic, 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".[90] The science fiction authorDavid Brin interprets the work as holding unquestioning devotion to a traditional hierarchical social structure.[91] In his essay "Epic Pooh", fantasy authorMichael Moorcock critiques the world-view displayed by the book as deeply conservative, in both the "paternalism" of the narrative voice and thepower structures in the narrative.[92]Tom Shippey, 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 dislikedThe Lord of the Rings, and the work's subtlety, themes, and merits, including theimpression of depth that it conveys.[13] The scholar of humanitiesBrian Rosebury analysed Tolkien's prose style in detail, showing that it was generally quite plain, varying to suit the voices of the different characters, and rising to a heroic register for special moments.[93] The criticPatrick Curry cited the work's first publisher,Rayner Unwin's "pithy and accurate" assessment of the novel: "a very great book in its own curious way".[94]
In 1957,The Lord of the Rings was awarded theInternational Fantasy Award. Despite its numerous detractors, the publication of theAce Books andBallantine paperbacks helpedThe Lord of the Rings 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.[95][96] In the 2003 "Big Read" survey conducted in Britain by the BBC,The Lord of the Rings was found to be the "Nation's best-loved book". In similar 2004 polls both Germany[97] and Australia[98] choseThe Lord of the Rings as their favourite book. In a 1999 poll ofAmazon.com customers,The Lord of the Rings was judged to be their favourite "book of the millennium".[99] In 2019, theBBC News listedThe Lord of the Rings on itslist of the "100 most inspiring novels".[100]
The book has been adapted for radio four times. In 1955 and 1956, theBBC broadcastThe Lord of the Rings, a 13-part radio adaptation of the story. In the 1960s radio stationWBAI produced a shortradio adaptation. A 1979 dramatization ofThe Lord of the Rings was broadcast in the United States and subsequently issued on tape and CD. In 1981, the BBC broadcastThe Lord of the Rings, a new dramatization in 26 half-hour instalments.[101][102]
In 2013, the artist Phil Dragash recorded the whole of the book, using the score from Peter Jackson's movies.[133][134][135]
During theCOVID-19 lockdown,Andy Serkis read the entire book ofThe Hobbit online to raise money for charity.[136] He then recorded the work again as an audiobook.[137] The cover art was done byAlan Lee. In 2021, Serkis recordedThe Lord of the Rings novels.[138]
The enormous popularity of Tolkien's work expanded the demand for fantasy. Largely thanks toThe Lord of the Rings, the genre flowered throughout the 1960s and enjoys popularity to the present day.[139] The opus has spawned many imitations, such asThe Sword of Shannara, whichLin Carter called "the single most cold-blooded, complete rip-off of another book that I have ever read,"[140] as well as alternate interpretations of the story, such asThe Last Ringbearer.The Legend of Zelda, which popularized theaction-adventure game genre in the 1980s, was inspired byThe Lord of the Rings among other fantasy books.[141][142]Dungeons & Dragons, which popularized therole-playing game genre in the 1970s, features several races fromThe Lord of the Rings, includinghalflings (hobbits), elves, dwarves,half-elves, orcs, and dragons. However,Gary Gygax, 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.[143]Because Dungeons & Dragons has gone on toinfluence many popular games, especiallyrole-playing video games, the influence ofThe Lord of the Rings extends to many of them, with titles such asDragon Quest,[144][145]EverQuest, theWarcraft series, andThe Elder Scrolls series of games[146] as well asvideo games set in Middle-earth itself.
In 1965, the composer and songwriterDonald Swann, best known for his collaboration withMichael Flanders asFlanders & Swann, set six poems fromThe Lord of the Rings and one fromThe Adventures of Tom Bombadil ("Errantry") to music. When Swann met with Tolkien to play the songs for his approval, Tolkien suggested for "Namárië" (Galadriel's lament) a setting reminiscent ofplain chant, which Swann accepted.[147] The songs were published in 1967 asThe Road Goes Ever On: A Song Cycle,[148] and a recording of the songs performed by singer William Elvin with Swann on piano was issued that same year byCaedmon Records asPoems and Songs of Middle Earth.[149]
Rock bands of the 1970s were musically and lyrically inspired by the fantasy-embracing counter-culture of the time. The British rock bandLed Zeppelin recorded several songs that contain explicit references toThe Lord of the Rings, such as mentioning Gollum and Mordor in "Ramble On", theMisty Mountains in "Misty Mountain Hop", and Ringwraiths in "The Battle of Evermore". In 1970, the Swedish musicianBo Hansson released aninstrumentalconcept album entitledSagan om ringen ("The Saga of the Ring", the title of the Swedish translation at the time).[150] The album was subsequently released internationally asMusic Inspired by Lord of the Rings in 1972.[150] From the 1980s onwards, many heavy metal acts have been influenced by Tolkien.[151]
In 1988, the Dutch composer and trombonistJohan de Meij completed hisSymphony No. 1 "The Lord of the Rings". It had 5 movements, titled "Gandalf", "Lothlórien", "Gollum", "Journey in the Dark", and "Hobbits".[152] The 1991 albumShepherd Moons by the Irish musicianEnya contains an instrumental titled "Lothlórien", in reference to the home of the wood-elves.[153]
The Lord of the Rings has had a profound and wide-ranging impact on popular culture, beginning with its publication in the 1950s, but especially during the 1960s and 1970s, when young people embraced it as acountercultural saga.[154] "Frodo Lives!" and "Gandalf for President" were two phrases popular among United StatesTolkien fans during this time.[155] Its impact is such that the words "Tolkienian" and "Tolkienesque" have entered theOxford English Dictionary, and many of his fantasy terms, formerly little-known in English, such as "Orc" and "Warg", have become widespread in that domain.[156]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.[157]
In 1969, Tolkien sold the merchandising rights toThe Lord of The Rings andThe Hobbit toUnited Artists under an agreement stipulating a lump sum payment of £10,000[158] (equivalent to £208,000 in 2023) plus a 7.5% royalty after costs,[159] payable to Allen & Unwin and the author.[160] In 1976, three years after the author's death, United Artists sold the rights toSaul Zaentz Company, who now trade asTolkien Enterprises. Since then all "authorised" merchandise has been signed off by Tolkien Enterprises, although theintellectual property rights of the specific likenesses of characters and other imagery from various adaptations is generally held by the adaptors.[161]
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 asBarbara Remington.[162]
The work was named Britain's best novel of all time in the BBC'sThe Big Read.[163] In 2015, the BBC rankedThe Lord of the Rings 26th on its list of the 100 greatest British novels.[164] It was included inLe Monde's list of "100 Books of the Century".[165]
^J. R. R. Tolkien disliked having the word "novel" applied to his works, preferring the phrase "heroicromance", but "novel" is commonly applied.[T 1]
^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]
^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.
^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 inTree and Leaf in 1988.[10]
^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.ISBN978-1-4382-4631-4.
^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.ISSN1063-3685.JSTOR20107391.S2CID162244172.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 storywas already written...
^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.ISBN978-1250038296.
^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.ISBN1-4039-6025-9.
^Resnick, Henry (1967). "An Interview with Tolkien".Niekas:37–47.
^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.ISBN978-0-7864-6482-1.OCLC731009810.
^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.S2CID162647975.
^"From Book to Script", The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Appendices (DVD).New Line Cinema. 2002.
^Tolkien 1954, Book 2, ch. 10 "The Breaking of the Fellowship". Note at end: "The second part is calledThe Two Towers, since the events recounted in it are dominated by Orthanc, ..., and the fortress of Minas Morgul..."
^"Genome BETA Radio Times 1923 – 2009".BBC. 1981. Retrieved24 August 2020.12.00: The Lord of the Rings: 1: The Long Awaited Party by J. R. R. Tolkien prepared for radio in 26 episodes by Brian Sibley Starring Ian Holm as Frodo and Michael Hordern as Gandalf
^"Yle teettää oman sovituksen Taru sormusten herrasta-sadusta" [Yle to produce its own version of the tale ofThe Lord of the Rings].Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). 18 June 1991.
^Bogstad, Janice M.; Kaveny, Philip E. (2011)."Introduction". In Janice M. Bogstad; Philip E. Kaveny (eds.).Picturing Tolkien: Essays on Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings Film Trilogy. McFarland. pp. 5–23.ISBN978-0-7864-8473-7.
^"Classic: Zelda und Link" [Classic: Zelda and Link].Club Nintendo (in German). Vol. 1996, no. 2.Nintendo of Europe. April 1996. p. 72.[The two program designers Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka were responsible for the game, who set themselves the goal of developing a fairytale adventure game with action elements... ...Takashi Tezuka, a great lover of fantasy novels such as Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, wrote the script for the first two games in the Zelda series].
^"Shigeru Miyamoto Interview".Super PLAY (in Swedish) (4/03). Medströms Dataförlag AB. March 2003. Archived fromthe original on 7 September 2006. Retrieved24 September 2006.Shigeru Miyamoto: All ideas for The legend of Zelda were mine and Takashi Tezukas...Books, movies and our own lives. Legend of Zelda was based on my childhood
^Tolkien had recorded a version of his theme on a friend's tape recorder in 1952. This was later issued byCaedmon Records in 1975 as part ofJ. R. R. Tolkien reads and sings The Lord of the Rings (LP recording TC1478).
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