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The Lord of the Rings is an epic high fantasy novel
written by English academic J. R. R. Tolkien. The story began as a
sequel to Tolkien's earlier fantasy book, The Hobbit, and soon developed
into a much larger story. It was written in stages between 1937 and
1949, with much of it being created during World War II. It was
originally published in three volumes in 1954 and 1955 (much to
Tolkien's annoyance, since he had intended it to be a single volume),
and has since been reprinted numerous times and translated into at least
38 languages, becoming one of the most popular works in 20th-century
literature.
The action in The Lord of the Rings is set in what the author conceived
to be the lands of the real Earth,
inhabited by humanity but placed in a fictional past, before our science
but after the fall of his version of Atlantis, which he calls Númenor.
Tolkien gave this setting a modern English name, Middle-earth, derived
from the Old English Middangeard, the realm where humans live in Norse
and related Germanic mythologies.
The story concerns peoples such as Hobbits, Elves, Men, Dwarves,
Wizards, and Orcs and centres on the Ring of Power made by the Dark Lord
Sauron. Starting from quiet beginnings in The Shire, the story ranges
across Middle-earth and follows the courses of the War of the Ring. The
main story is followed by six appendices that provide a wealth of
historical and linguistic background material, as well as an index of
characters, place names, and terms of note.
Along with Tolkien's other writings, The Lord of the Rings has been
subjected to extensive analysis of its literary themes and origins.
Although a major work in itself, the story is merely the last movement
of a larger cycle, or legendarium, that Tolkien had worked on for many
years since 1917. Influences on this earlier work, and on the story of
The Lord of the Rings, include philology, mythology and religion, as
well as earlier fantasy works and Tolkien's experiences in World War I.
The Lord of the Rings in its turn is considered to have had a great
impact on modern fantasy, and the impact of Tolkien's works is such that
the use of the words "Tolkienian" and "Tolkienesque" have been recorded
in the Oxford English Dictionary.
The immense and enduring popularity of The Lord of the Rings has led to
numerous references in popular culture, the founding of many societies
by fans of Tolkien's works, and a large number of books about Tolkien
and his works being published. The Lord of the Rings has inspired (and
continues to inspire) short stories, video games, artworks and musical
works. Numerous adaptations of Tolkien's works have been made for a wide
range of media. Adaptations of The Lord of the Rings in particular have
been made for the radio, for the theatre, and for film. The 2001–2003
release of the widely acclaimed Lord of the Rings film trilogy prompted
a new surge of interest in The Lord of the Rings and Tolkien's other
works.
 The Lord of the Rings was first published in three volumes - The
Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers and The Return of the King. The
main story is divided into six books (two for each volume), successively
numbered by Roman numerals. There is also a Foreword and a Prologue in
The Fellowship of the Ring and six Appendices at the end of The Return
of the King.
The Foreword of the Second Edition includes a dedication to American
fans and a statement that the book is not an allegory, as some of its
readers had already supposed. The Prologue includes a few sections
providing backstory on the identity and customs of Hobbits, and a brief
synopsis of The Hobbit.
Book I in The Fellowship of the Ring begins with Bilbo's
hundred-and-eleventh birthday party, about 60 years after the end of The
Hobbit', and his subsequent disappearance using his magic ring. Leaving
to journey once more, he left much of his belongings, including the
ring, to his cousin and adoptive heir Frodo Baggins.
After seventeen years of investigating, their old friend Gandalf the
Grey revealed that the ring was in fact the One Ring, the instrument of
Sauron's power, which the Dark Lord had been searching for most of the
Third Age, and which corrupted others with desire for it and the power
it held.
Sauron sent the sinister Ringwraiths, in the guise of riders in black,
to the Shire, Frodo's native land, in search of the Ring. Frodo escaped,
with the help of his loyal gardener Samwise "Sam" Gamgee and three close
friends, Meriadoc "Merry" Brandybuck, Peregrin "Pippin" Took, and
Fredegar "Fatty" Bolger. While Fatty acted as a decoy for the
Ringwraiths, Frodo and the others set off to take the Ring to the Elven
haven of Rivendell. They were aided by the enigmatic Tom Bombadil, who
saved them from Old Man Willow and took them in for a few days of
feasting, rest, and counsel. At the town of Bree, Frodo's party was
joined by a man called "Strider", who was revealed, in a letter left by
Gandalf at the local inn for Frodo, to be Aragorn, the heir to the
kingships of Gondor and Arnor, two great realms founded by the
Númenórean exiles. Aragorn led the hobbits to Rivendell on Gandalf's
request. However, Frodo was gravely wounded by the leader of the
Ringwraiths at the hill of Weathertop. With the help of his companions
and the Elf-lord Glorfindel, Frodo managed to enter Rivendell's borders
by crossing the Ford of the river Bruinen. Here he engaged in a
stand-off with the Ringwraiths, but they were swept away by an
enchantment of the river when they entered its waters. The book ends
with Frodo losing consciousness.
Book II in The Fellowship of the Ring reveals that Frodo managed to
recover under the care of the Half-elven lord Elrond, master of
Rivendell. The hobbits also learned that Sauron's forces can only be
resisted if Aragorn took up his inheritance and fulfilled an ancient
prophecy by wielding the sword Andúril, which had been forged anew from
the shards of Narsil, the sword that cut the Ring from Sauron's finger
in the Second Age. Frodo also meets Bilbo, now living in retirement, and
sees Elrond's daughter Arwen, Aragorn's betrothed.
Later, much of the story's exposition is given during a high council,
attended by representatives of the major races of Middle-earth; Elves,
Dwarves, and Men, and presided over by Elrond. Gandalf told them of the
emerging threat of Saruman, the leader of the Order of Wizards, who
wanted the Ring for himself and had imprisoned him for a time. After
pondering several choices, the Council decided that the only course of
action that could save Middle-earth was to destroy the Ring by taking it
to Mordor and casting it into Mount Doom, where it was forged.
Frodo volunteered for the task, and a "Fellowship of the Ring" was
formed to aid him — which consisted of Frodo, his three Hobbit
companions, Gandalf, Aragorn, Boromir of Gondor, Gimli the Dwarf, and
Legolas the Elf. Their journey took them through plains and over
mountains, and ultimately the Mines of Moria, where they were followed
by the wretched creature Gollum, whom Bilbo had met in the Goblin-caves
of the Misty Mountains years before. (The full tale of their meeting is
told in The Hobbit.) Gollum long possessed the Ring before it passed to
Bilbo. Earlier in Book I, Gandalf explained that Gollum belonged to a
people "of hobbit-kind" before he came upon the Ring, which corrupted
him. A slave to the Ring's evil power, Gollum desperately sought to
regain his "Precious". As they proceeded through the Mines, Pippin
unintentionally betrayed their presence and the party was attacked by
Orcs. Gandalf battled a demon of fire and darkness, the Balrog, and fell
into a deep chasm, apparently to his death. Escaping from Moria, the
Fellowship, now led by Aragorn, went to the Elven realm of Lothlórien.
Here, the Lady Galadriel showed Frodo and Sam visions of the past,
present, and future. Frodo also perceived the Eye of Sauron, a
metaphysical expression of Sauron himself, and Galadriel was tempted by
the Ring. By the end of the first volume, after the Fellowship had
travelled along the great River Anduin, Frodo decided to continue the
trek to Mordor on his own, largely due to the Ring's growing influence
on Boromir; however, the faithful Sam insisted on going with him.
The second volume, The Two Towers, deals with two parallel storylines in
each of its books. Book III details the exploits of the remaining
members of the Fellowship who aid the country of Rohan in its war
against Saruman. At the start of the book, the Fellowship was further
scattered; Merry and Pippin were captured by Sauron's and Saruman's orcs,
Boromir was mortally wounded defending them, and Aragorn and the others
went off in pursuit of their captors. The three met Gandalf, who had
returned as "Gandalf the White"; he had defeated the Balrog at the cost
of his life, but had been sent back to Middle-earth, with enhanced
powers, to aid the forces of good. Gandalf, Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli
helped defeat Saruman's armies at the Battle of the Hornburg while
Saruman himself was cornered by the tree-like Ents and Huorns,
accompanied by Merry and Pippin, who have escaped from captivity. The
two groups were reunited in the aftermath of the battle. After Saruman
refused to repent of his folly, Gandalf cast him from the Order of
Wizards.
Book IV tells of Frodo and Sam's exploits on the way to Mount Doom. They
managed to capture and "tame" Gollum, who showed them a way to enter
Mordor secretly (as opposed to the Black Gate), albeit through the
dreaded valley of Minas Morgul. At the end of the volume, Gollum
betrayed Frodo to the great spider, Shelob, and though he survived, he
was captured by orcs. Meanwhile, Sauron launched an all-out military
assault upon Middle-earth, with the Witch-king (leader of the
Ringwraiths) leading a fell host from Minas Morgul into battle against
Gondor, in the War of the Ring.
In the third volume, The Return of the King, the further adventures of
Gandalf, Aragorn and company are related in the first book of the
volume, while Frodo and Sam's are related in the second, as with The Two
Towers. As told in Book V, the Fellowship assisted in the final battles
against the armies of Sauron, including the siege of the tower-city of
Minas Tirith in Gondor and the climactic life-or-death battle before the
Black Gate of Mordor, where the alliance of Gondor and Rohan fought
desperately against Sauron's armies in order to distract him from the
Ring, and hoped to gain time for Frodo to destroy it.
In Book VI, Sam rescued Frodo from captivity. After much struggle, they
finally reached Mount Doom itself, tailed by Gollum. However, the
temptation of the Ring proved too great for Frodo and he claimed it for
himself. Subsequently, Gollum struggled with him and managed to bite the
Ring off. Crazed with triumph, Gollum slipped into the fires of the
mountain, and the Ring was destroyed.
Thus, Sauron was banished from the world and his realm ended. Aragorn
was crowned king and married Arwen, the daughter of Elrond. However, all
was not over, for Saruman had managed to escape his captivity and
enslave the Shire. Although he was overthrown by the Hobbits and the
four heroes helped to restore order and beautify the land again, it was
not the same Shire that they left. At the end, Frodo remained wounded in
body and spirit and sailed west accompanied by Bilbo over the Sea to the
Undying Lands, where he could find peace.
The Appendices contain much material concerning the timeline of the
story, and information on the peoples and the languages of Middle-earth.
Notably, Arwen, physically absent for much of the book, is dealt with in
full here; her backstory and future with Aragorn are related.
According to Tolkien's timeline, the events depicted in the story
occurred between Bilbo's announcement of his T.A. September 22, 3001
birthday party, and Sam's re-arrival to Bag End on T.A. October 6, 3021.
Most of the events portrayed in the story occur in 3018 and 3019, with
Frodo heading out from Bag End on T.A. September 23 3018, and the
destruction of the Ring six months later on T.A. March 25 3019.
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