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The Lord of the Rings is an epic high fantasy novel written by philologist J.R.R. Tolkien. The story began as a sequel to Tolkien's earlier, less complex children's fantasy novel The Hobbit (1937), but eventually developed into a much larger work. It was written in stages between 1937 and 1949, much of it during World War II. Although generally known to readers as a trilogy, Tolkien initially intended it as one volume of a three volume set, with the other volumes to be The Silmarillion and Akallabêth; however, the other works were never fully completed and the publisher released in 1954-55 The Lord of the Rings as three books rather than one, for economic reasons.
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Quotations
A story magnificently told, with every kind of color and movement and greatness.
New Statesman
Among the greatest works of imaginative fiction of the twentieth century.
Sunday Telegraph
The prime motive was the desire of a tale-teller to try his hand at a really long story that would hold the attention of readers, amuse them, delight them, and at times maybe excite them or deeply move them.
Some who have read the book, or at any rate have reviewed it, have found it boring, absurd, or contemptible; and I have no cause to complain, since I have similar opinions of their works, or of the kinds of writing that they evidently prefer.
The most critical reader of all, myself, now finds many defects, minor and major, but being fortunately under no obligation either to review the book or to write it again, he will pass over these in silence, except one that has been noted by others: the book is too short.
Oh, fuck, not another elf!
Hugo Dyson, Tolkien's friend and fellow academic, during a reading of The Lord of the Rings at a meeting of the Inklings; as quoted in C.S. Lewis: A Biography (1990) by A. N. Wilson, p. 217.
Encyclopedia
The Lord of the Rings is an epic high fantasy novel written by philologist J.R.R. Tolkien. The story began as a sequel to Tolkien's earlier, less complex children's fantasy novel The Hobbit (1937), but eventually developed into a much larger work. It was written in stages between 1937 and 1949, much of it during World War II. Although generally known to readers as a trilogy, Tolkien initially intended it as one volume of a three volume set, with the other volumes to be The Silmarillion and Akallabêth; however, the other works were never fully completed and the publisher released in 1954-55 The Lord of the Rings as three books rather than one, for economic reasons. It has since been reprinted countless times and translated into many different languages, becoming one of the most popular and influential works in 20th-century literature.
The title of the book refers to the story's main antagonist, the Dark Lord Sauron, who had in an earlier age created the One Ring that rules the other Rings of Power, as the ultimate weapon in his campaign to conquer and rule all of Middle-earth. From quiet beginnings in the Shire, a hobbit land not unlike the English countryside, the story ranges across Middle-earth following the course of the War of the Ring through the eyes of its characters, most notably the hobbits, Frodo Baggins, Samwise Gamgee (Sam), Meriadoc Brandybuck (Merry) and Peregrin Took (Pippin). The lands of Middle-earth are populated by Men (humans) and other humanoid races (Hobbits, Elves, Dwarves, and Orcs), as well as many other creatures, both real and fantastic (Ents, Wargs, Balrogs, Trolls, etc.).
Along with Tolkien's other works, The Lord of the Rings has been subjected to extensive analysis of its themes and origins. Although a major work in itself, the story was only the last movement of a larger work Tolkien had worked on since 1917, that he described as a mythopoeia. Influences on this earlier work, and on the story of The Lord of the Rings, include philology, mythology, religion and the author's distaste for the effects of industrialization, 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 effect on modern fantasy; the impact of Tolkien's works is such that the use of the words "Tolkienian" and "Tolkienesque" has been recorded in the Oxford English Dictionary.
The 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 the publication of many books about Tolkien and his works. The Lord of the Rings has inspired, and continues to inspire, artwork, music, films and television, video games, and subsequent literature. Adaptations of The Lord of the Rings have been made for radio, theatre, and film.
Synopsis
Backstory
The Dark Lord Sauron, the Maia, forges the Ruling Ring of Power in Samath Naur, his lair in Orodruin, Mount Doom, binding much of his power into it. His power grows and threatens to overwhelm all of Middle Earth. Gil-galad and Elendil form what is called the last alliance. They march on Mordor and lay siege to Sauron's realm. In the battle on the slopes of Mount Doom the Ring is cut off by Isildur with the shards of Elendil's sword Narsil. Isildur claims it, but the ring betrays him and he is killed by Orcs. The Ring falls into the Great River Anduin. Sméagol (Gollum) murderously obtains the Ring from Déagol while fishing and keeps it for nearly five hundred years before losing it, at which point it is found by Bilbo Baggins. Gollum, while meandering to look for the Ring, is captured and interrogated by Sauron's minions. Eventually, Gollum is set loose but is caught by Aragorn and imprisoned by the elves in Mirkwood and Sauron sends his fearsome servants, the Ringwraiths, to find the Ring.
Plot
The story begins in the Shire, as Frodo Baggins inherits the ring from Bilbo; both are unaware of its origins. Gandalf, who is Olórin of the race of the Maiar (In Unfinished Tales it is suggested that Gandalf is in fact Manwe, but that is not certain), learns some of the Ring's history and advises Frodo to take the Ring away from the Shire. Frodo leaves with his loyal gardener, Samwise "Sam" Gamgee, and two cousins, Merry and Pippin, to help him. On their dangerous journey, they run into many difficulties and are pursued by the Ringwraiths. Various characters give aid along the way, including Tom Bombadil and a disguised Aragorn, Isildur's heir and rightful king of Gondor. At Weathertop, Frodo is wounded by the Ringwraiths, but eventually they are unhorsed and forced to seek new disguises by the flood waters at the Ford of Bruinen, controlled by Elrond, master of Rivendell.
Frodo recovers under the care of Elrond. The Council of Elrond reveals much significant history and current news about Sauron and the Ring, including the escape of Gollum from Mirkwood and the corruption of the wizard Saruman. The council decides that the threat of Sauron is too great and the only course of action is to destroy the Ring in Mordor. Frodo volunteers to take the Ring, and a "Fellowship of the Ring" is chosen to accompany him.
The company is forced to travel through the Mines of Moria, where they are attacked by Orcs. Gandalf fights a Balrog of Morgoth and falls into a deep chasm. The others escape and take refuge in Lothlórien. With boats and gifts from the Lady Galadriel, the company then travel down the great River Anduin to the Amon Hen. There, Boromir, heir to the current Steward of Gondor, attempts to take the ring from Frodo, who then breaks from the Fellowship and continues the trek to Mordor accompanied only by Sam.
Saruman's orcs attack, killing Boromir and kidnapping Merry and Pippin. Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas pursue the Orcs and encounter Gandalf, who is now "Gandalf the White". Merry and Pippin escape when the Orcs are slain by the Rohirrim and find themselves in Fangorn where they befriend the tree-like Ents. Gandalf travels with the others to rouse Théoden King of the Rohirrim to take a stand against Saruman's armies at Helm's Deep. At the subsequent Battle of Hornburg, Saruman's armies are defeated.
Merry and Pippin motivate the Ents to destroy Saruman's remaining forces at Isengard. Gandalf, Théoden and the others head to Isengard. Saruman refuses to see his error, and Gandalf strips Saruman of his rank and most of his power. Pippin looks into a seeing-stone Sauron used to communicate with Saruman — alerting Sauron to the presence of the hobbit. Gandalf takes Pippin to Gondor.
Frodo and Sam capture Gollum and convince him to guide them to Mordor. They travel a long and hard road, briefly aided by Boromir's brother Faramir. Gollum betrays Frodo by leading him to the great spider Shelob in the tunnels of Cirith Ungol. Frodo is left unconscious by Shelob's bite, but Sam fights her off using Sting and the vial of Ëarendil's star — one of Galadriel's gifts. Sam, believing Frodo to be dead, takes the Ring, and Frodo is carried to the tower of Cirith Ungol by Orcs.
Sauron begins his military assault upon Gondor, with the Witch-king of Angmar, greatest of the Ringwraiths, leading a huge army into battle against Gondor.
Gandalf arrives at Minas Tirith in Gondor with Pippin to alert the city of the impending attack. Pippin becomes one of the Guards of the Citadel of Minas Tirith, while Merry becomes esquire to the King of the Rohirrim. Aragorn takes Gimli and Legolas through the Paths of the Dead and raises an undead army, oath breakers who betrayed Gondor and Isildur; he uses these in turn to defeat the armies of the Corsairs of Umbar in southern Gondor, enabling the region's forces to sail to the battle at Minas Tirith. Gandalf assists in the battles against the armies of Sauron, including the Siege of Minas Tirith. Denethor, Ruling Steward of Gondor, believing both his sons are dead loses hope and commits suicide. With the timely aid of Rohan's cavalry and Aragorn's reinforcements a significant portion of Sauron's army is defeated. Théoden is slain, and the Witch-king of Angmar is slain by Théoden's niece Éowyn and Merry.
Sauron retains innumerable forces in Mordor, and the main characters head to a climactic battle at the Black Gate, where the alliance of Gondor and Rohan fight desperately against Sauron's armies, hoping to divert Sauron's focus away from Mount Doom, which Frodo must reach in order to destroy the Ring.
Sam rescues Frodo from captivity. They make their way through Mordor and reach Mount Doom. At the edge of the Cracks of Doom in Samath Naur, the Ring proves too great for Frodo; and he claims it for himself. Gollum struggles with Frodo for the Ring, biting off Frodo's finger and then falling into the fire. The Ring is destroyed. Sauron is banished from the world, his armies lose all morale, the Ringwraiths disintegrate, and the war ends.
Aragorn is crowned king of Gondor and marries Arwen, the daughter of Elrond. Saruman escapes his captivity in Orthanc and enslaves the Shire. The returning Hobbits overthrow him in The Battle of Bywater. Sam helps to restore order, and using his gifts from Galadriel he beautifies the land. Sam marries Rosie Cotton. Frodo remains wounded in body and spirit and, accompanied by Bilbo and Gandalf, sails west over the Sea to the Undying Lands, where he can find peace. Sam, Merry, and Pippin return home where Sam eventually becomes Mayor and is bestowed the role of Counsellor of the North-kingdom by Aragorn. After Rosie's death Sam himself leaves behind the Red Book of Westmarch with his daughter and crosses over the sea, the last of the Ring bearers.
Appendices
The main story is followed by six appendices that provide a wealth of additional material, further extending the story and providing a timeline of the events, family trees, calendars and information on the peoples and Tolkien's invented languages.
Concept and creation
Background
The Lord of the Rings started as a sequel to J. R. R. Tolkien's earlier work, The Hobbit, that had been published in 1937. The popularity of The Hobbit led to George Allen & Unwin, the publishers, to request a sequel. Tolkien warned them that he wrote quite slowly, and responded with several stories he had already developed. Having rejected his contemporary drafts for the Silmarillion, putting on-hold Roverandom and accepting Farmer Giles of Ham, Allen & Unwin thought more stories about hobbits would be popular. So at the age of 45, Tolkien began writing the story that would become The Lord of the Rings. The story would not be finished until 12 years later, in 1949, and it would not be fully published until 1955, when Tolkien was 63 years old.
Writing
Persuaded by his publishers, he started 'a new Hobbit' in December 1937. After several false starts, the story of the One Ring soon emerged. The idea of the first chapter ("A Long-Expected Party") arrived fully-formed, although the reasons behind Bilbo's disappearance, the significance of the Ring, and the title The Lord of the Rings did not arrive until the spring of 1938. Originally, he planned to write a story in which Bilbo had used up all his treasure and was looking for another adventure to gain more; however, he remembered the Ring and its powers and decided to write about it instead.
Writing was slow due to Tolkien having a full-time academic position, and needing to earn more money as an examiner Tolkien abandoned The Lord of the Rings during most of 1943 and only re-started it in April 1944. This effort was written as a serial for Christopher Tolkien, who was sent chapters as they were written while he was serving in South Africa with the Royal Air Force. Tolkien made another concerted effort in 1946, and showed the manuscript to his publishers in 1947. The story was effectively finished the next year, but Tolkien did not finish revising earlier parts of the work until 1949.
Later in his life, Tolkien wrote that the work was better classified as a romance than as a novel.
Influences
The Lord of the Rings developed as a personal exploration by Tolkien of his interests in philology, religion (particularly Roman Catholicism), fairy tales, Norse and general Germanic mythology, and also Celtic and Finnish mythology. Tolkien acknowledged, and external critics have verified the influences of William Morris and the Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf.
Some locations and characters were inspired Tolkien's childhood in Birmingham, where he first lived near Sarehole Mill, and later near Edgbaston Reservoir. There are also hints of the Black Country, which is within easy reach of north west Edgbaston. This shows in such names as "Underhill", and the description of Saruman's industrialisation of Isengard and The Shire. It has also been suggested that The Shire and its surroundings were based on the countryside around Stonyhurst College in Lancashire where Tolkien frequently stayed during the 1940s. The work was influenced by the effects of his military service during World War I.
Publication history
A dispute with his publishers, Allen & Unwin, led to the book being offered to Collins in 1950. He intended The Silmarillion (itself largely unrevised at this point) to be published along with The Lord of the Rings, but A&U were unwilling to do this. After his contact at Collins, Milton Waldman, expressed the belief that The Lord of the Rings itself "urgently needed cutting", he eventually demanded that they publish the book in 1952. They did not do so, and so Tolkien wrote to Allen and Unwin, saying, "I would gladly consider the publication of any part of the stuff."
For publication, due largely to post-war paper shortages, but also to keep the price down, the book was divided into three volumes: The Fellowship of the Ring (Books I and II), The Two Towers (Books III and IV), and The Return of the King (Books V and VI plus six appendices). Delays in producing appendices, maps and especially indices led to the volumes being published later than originally hoped — on 21 July 1954, on 11 November 1954 and on 20 October 1955 respectively in the United Kingdom, and slightly later in the United States. The Return of the King was especially delayed. Tolkien, moreover, did not especially like the title The Return of the King, believing it gave away too much of the storyline. He had originally suggested The War of the Ring, which was dismissed by his publishers.
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. An index to the entire three-volume set at the end of third volume was promised in the first volume. However, this proved impractical to compile in a reasonable timescale. Later, in 1966, four indices, not compiled by Tolkien, were added to The Return of the King. Because the three-volume binding is so widely familiar, the work is often referred to as the Lord of the Rings "trilogy".
Editions and revisions
In the early 1960s Donald A. Wollheim, science fiction editor of the paperback publisher Ace Books, theorized that The Lord of the Rings was not protected in the United States under American copyright law because the U.S. hardcover edition had been bound from pages printed in the United Kingdom, with the original intention being for them to be printed in the British edition. Ace Books proceeded to publish an edition, unauthorized by Tolkien and without royalties to him. Tolkien took issue with this and quickly notified his fans of this objection. Grass-roots pressure from these fans became so great that Ace Books withdrew their edition and made a nominal payment to Tolkien, well below what he might have been due in an appropriate publication. However, this poor beginning was overshadowed when an authorized edition followed from Ballantine Books and Houghton Mifflin to tremendous commercial success. By the mid-1960s the novel had become a cultural phenomenon. Tolkien undertook various textual revisions to produce a version of the book that would be published with his consent and establish an unquestioned US copyright. This text became the Second Edition of The Lord of the Rings. Houghton Mifflin editions after 1994 consolidate variant revisions by Tolkien, and corrections supervised by Christopher Tolkien, which resulted, after some initial glitches, in a computer-based unified text.
Since the second edition many different printings of The Lord of the Rings have appeared.
Posthumous publication of drafts
From 1988 to 1992 Christopher Tolkien published the surviving drafts of the Lord of The Rings chronicling and illuminating with commentary the development of the text, in his History of Middle-earth series. The four volumes, 6 to 9 in the larger series carry the titles The Return of the Shadow, The Treason of Isengard, The War of the Ring, and The End of the Third Age, the last three being alternative titles suggested by Tolkien for the original divisions.
Translations
The novel has been translated, with various degrees of success, into at least 38 other languages. Tolkien, an expert in philology, examined many of these translations, and had comments on each that reflect both the translation process and his work. Because he was unhappy with some choices made by early translators such as the Swedish translation by Åke Ohlmarks, Tolkien wrote a "Guide to the Names in The Lord of the Rings" (1967). Because The Lord of the Rings purports to be a translation of the Red Book of Westmarch, with the English language representing the Westron of the original, Tolkien suggests translators attempt to capture the interplay between English and invented nomenclature in the translated version, and gives several examples along with general guidance.
Reception
The Lord of the Rings has received mixed reviews since its inception, ranging from terrible to excellent. Recent reviews in various media have been, in a majority, highly positive and Tolkien's literary achievement is slowly being acknowledged as a significant one. On its initial review the Sunday Telegraph felt it was "among the greatest works of imaginative fiction of the twentieth century." The Sunday Times seemed to echo these sentiments when in its review it was stated that "the English-speaking world is divided into those who have read The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit and those who are going to read them." The New York Herald Tribune also seemed to have an idea of how popular the books would become, writing in its review that they were "destined to outlast our time." W. H. Auden, a huge admirer of Tolkien's writings, regarded 'The Lord of the Rings' as a 'masterpiece,' furthermore stating that in some cases it outdid the achievement of Milton's Paradise Lost. Other supporters of the book from the literary world included Iris Murdoch, Naomi Mitchison, Richard Hughes and C. S. Lewis.
New York Times reviewer Judith Shulevitz criticized the "pedantry" of Tolkien's literary style, saying that he "formulated a high-minded belief in the importance of his mission as a literary preservationist, which turns out to be death to literature itself." Critic Richard Jenkyns, writing in The New Republic, criticized a perceived lack of psychological depth. Both the characters and the work itself are, according to Jenkyns, "anemic, and lacking in fiber." Even within Tolkien's literary group, The Inklings, reviews were mixed. Hugo Dyson complained loudly at its readings, and Christopher Tolkien records Dyson as "lying on the couch, and lolling and shouting and saying, 'Oh God, no more Elves.'" However, another Inkling, C. 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." Despite these reviews and its lack of paperback printing until the 1960s, The Lord of the Rings initially sold well in hardback.
Even though The Lord of the Rings was published in the 1950s, Tolkien insisted that the One Ring was not an allegory for the nuclear bomb, nor were his works a strict allegory of any kind, but were open to interpretation as the reader saw fit.
The Lord of the Rings has been read as a racist text by some critics. Their readings are generally based upon Tolkien's imagery depicting good and evil, characters' race (e.g. Elf, Dwarf, Hobbit, Southron, Númenórean, Orc) and that race is seen as ultimately determining character behaviour. Counter-arguments note that race-focused critiques often omit relevant textual evidence to the contrary, cite imagery from adaptations rather than the work itself; ignore the absence of evidence of racist attitudes or events in the author's personal life and claim that the perception of racism is itself a marginal view.
Critics have also seen social class rather than race as being the determinant factor for the portrayal of good and evil. Commentators such as science fiction author David Brin have interpreted the work to hold unquestioning devotion to a traditional elitist social structure. In his essay "Epic Pooh", science fiction and fantasy author Michael Moorcock critiques the world-view displayed by the book as deeply conservative, in both the 'paternalism' of the narrative voice and the power-structures in the narrative. Tom Shippey cites the origin of this portrayal of evil as a reflection of the prejudices of European middle-classes during the inter-war years towards the industrial working class.
In 1957, it was awarded the International Fantasy Award. Despite its numerous detractors, the publication of the Ace Books and Ballantine paperbacks helped The Lord of the Rings become immensely popular in the 1960s. The book has remained so ever since, ranking as one of the most popular works of fiction of the twentieth century, judged by both sales and reader surveys. In the 2003 "Big Read" survey conducted by the BBC, The Lord of the Rings was found to be the "Nation's best-loved book." In similar 2004 polls both Germany and Australia also found The Lord of the Rings to be their favourite book. In a 1999 poll of Amazon.com customers, The Lord of the Rings was judged to be their favourite "book of the millennium."
Ethan Gilsdorf, writing for The Boston Globe commented that while there are movements within academia to approach The Lord of the Rings as a serious literary work, the 2001–2003 film trilogy has contributed to a dumbing down of the reception of the novel by the forces of mass-commercialisation.
Adaptations
The Lord of the Rings has been adapted for film, radio and stage multiple times.
The book has been adapted for radio four times. In 1955 and 1956, the BBC broadcast The Lord of the Rings, a 12-part radio adaptation of the story. In the 1960s radio station WBAI produced a short radio adaptation. A 1979 dramatization of The Lord of the Rings was broadcast in the United States and subsequently issued on tape and CD. In 1981, the BBC broadcast The Lord of the Rings, a new dramatization in 26 half-hour instalments. This dramatization of The Lord of the Rings has subsequently been made available on both tape and CD both by the BBC and other publishers. For this purpose it is generally edited into 13 one hour episodes.
Three film adaptations have been made. The first was J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings (1978), by animator Ralph Bakshi, the first part of what was originally intended to be a two-part adaptation of the story, it covers The Fellowship of the Ring and part of The Two Towers. The second, The Return of the King (1980), was an animated television special by Rankin-Bass, who had produced a similar version of The Hobbit (1977). The third was director Peter Jackson's live action The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, produced by New Line Cinema and released in three instalments as The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002), and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003). All three parts received nearly universal acclaim and were each nominated for multiple Academy Awards, including consecutive Best Picture nominations. The final instalment of this trilogy was the second film to break the one-billion-dollar barrier and won a total of 11 Oscars, including "Best Picture", "Best Director", "Best Screenplay", and "Best Musical Score".
In 1965, songwriter Donald Swann, who was best known for his collaboration with Michael Flanders as Flanders & Swann, set six poems from The Lord of the Rings and one from The Adventures of Tom Bombadil ("Errantry") to music. When Swann met with Tolkien to play the songs for his approval, Tolkien suggested a different setting for "Namárië", which Swann accepted. The songs were published in 1967 as The Road Goes Ever On: A Song Cycle, and a recording of the songs performed by singer William Elvin with Swann on piano was issued that same year by Caedmon Records as Poems and Songs of Middle Earth. In 1990, Recorded Books published an audio version of The Lord of the Rings, with British actor Rob Inglis – who had previously starred in one-man stage productions of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings – reading. Inglis uses distinct voices for each character and reads the entire text, including performing the songs. A large-scale musical theatre adaptation, The Lord of the Rings was first staged in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in 2006 and opened in London in May 2007.
Legacy
Influences on the fantasy genre
The enormous popularity of Tolkien's epic saga greatly expanded the demand for fantasy fiction. Largely thanks to The Lord of the Rings, the genre flowered throughout the 1960s. Many other books in a broadly similar vein have subsequently been published, including the Earthsea books of Ursula K. Le Guin, The Riftwar Saga by Raymond Feist, The Belgariad by David Eddings, The Shannara series by Terry Brooks, the Thomas Covenant novels of Stephen R. Donaldson; the "Wheel of Time" books of Robert Jordan, and, in the case of the Gormenghast books by Mervyn Peake and The Worm Ouroboros by E. R. Eddison, rediscovered.
With a significant overlapping of their respective followings, there has been and still is extensive cross-pollination of influence between the fantasy and science fiction genres. In this way, the work also had an influence upon such science fiction authors as Frank Herbert and Arthur C. Clarke and filmmakers such as George Lucas.
Dungeons & Dragons, which popularized the role-playing game (RPG) genre in the 1970s, features many races found in The Lord of the Rings, most notably halflings (another term for hobbits), elves, dwarves, half-elves, orcs, and dragons. However, Gary Gygax, lead designer of the game, maintained that he was influenced very little by The Lord of the Rings, stating that he included these elements as a marketing move to draw on the popularity the work enjoyed at the time he was developing the game. Because D&D has influenced many popular video games, the influence of The Lord of the Rings extends to many of them as well, with titles such as Ultima, EverQuest, and the Warcraft series, but moreover the 'Elder Scrolls" series of games as well as, quite naturally, video games set in Middle-earth itself.
As in all artistic fields, a great many lesser derivatives of the more prominent works appeared. The term "Tolkienesque" is used in the genre to refer to the oft-used and abused storyline of The Lord of the Rings: a group of adventurers embarking on a quest to save a magical fantasy world from the armies of an evil dark lord, and is a testament to how much the popularity of these books has increased, since many critics initially decried it as being "Wagner for children" (a reference to Der Ring des Nibelungen) — an especially interesting commentary in light of a possible interpretation of the novel as a Christian response to Wagner. Tolkien's frequent use of alternative spellings for the plurals of elf and dwarf (using -ves instead of -fs), which had been abandoned in modern English, have caused them to return to common usage.
Music
The Danish Tolkien Ensemble have released a number of albums that have set the complete poems and songs of The Lord of the Rings to music, with some featuring recitation by Christopher Lee.
Beyond setting Tolkien's verse to music, the book has influenced many musicians. Rock bands of the 1970s were musically and lyrically inspired by the fantasy embracing counter-culture of the time; British 70s rock band Led Zeppelin are arguably the most well-known group to be directly inspired by Tolkien, and have several songs that contain explicit references to The Lord of the Rings ("Ramble On," "The Battle of Evermore," "Over the Hills and Far Away," and "Misty Mountain Hop").
Later, from the 1980s to the present day, many Heavy metal acts have been influenced by Tolkien. Blind Guardian has written many songs relating to Middle-earth, including the full concept album Nightfall in Middle Earth. Almost all of Summoning's songs and the entire discography of Battlelore are Tolkien-themed. Gorgoroth and Amon Amarth take their names from an area of Mordor, and Burzum take their name from the Black Speech of Mordor.
Outside of rock music, a number of classical and New Age artists have also been influenced by Tolkien's work. Enya wrote an instrumental piece called "Lothlórien" in 1991, and composed two songs for the film The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring—"May It Be" (sung in English and Quenya) and "Aníron" (sung in Sindarin). Swedish keyboardist Bo Hansson released an instrumental album entitled Music Inspired by Lord of the Rings in 1970.
The Finnish symphonic power metal group Nightwish take much inspiration for their music from Tolkien's works, including the entire Wishmaster album, and many of their songs on later albums, including the cover of Zeppelin's Over the Hills and Far Away.
Impact on popular culture
The Lord of the Rings has had a profound and wide-ranging impact on popular culture, from its publication in the 1950s, but especially throughout the 1960s and 1970s, where young people embraced it as a countercultural saga - "Frodo Lives!" and "Gandalf for President" were two phrases popular among American Tolkien fans during this time.
Parodies like the Harvard Lampoon's Bored of the Rings, the VeggieTales episode Lord of the Beans, the South Park episode The Return of the Fellowship of the Ring to the Two Towers, and the Internet meme The Very Secret Diaries are testimony to the work's continual presence in popular culture.
In 1969 Tolkien sold the merchandising rights to The Lord of The Rings (and The Hobbit) to United Artists under an agreement stipulating a lump sum payment of £10,000 plus a 7.5% royalty after costs, payable to Allen & Unwin and the author. In 1976 (three years after the author's death) United Artists sold the rights to Saul Zaentz Company, who trade as Tolkien Enterprises. Since then all "authorised" merchandise has been signed-off by Tolkien Enterprises, although the intellectual property rights of the specific likenesses of characters and other imagery from various adaptations is generally held by the adaptors.
Outside any commercial exploitation from adaptations, from the late 1960s onwards there has been an increasing variety of original licensed merchandise, from posters and calendars created by illustrators such as Pauline Baynes and the Brothers Hildebrandt, to figurines and miniatures to computer, video, tabletop and role-playing games. Recent examples include the Spiel des Jahres award winning (for best use of literature in a game) board game The Lord of the Rings by Reiner Knizia and the Golden Joystick award winning massively multiplayer online role-playing game, The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar by Turbine, Inc..
Further reading
The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion (2005), ISBN 0-618-64267-6.Christina Scull and Wayne G. Hammond, The J. R. R. Tolkien Companion and Guide (2006), ISBN 0618391134 .Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The History of The Lord of the Rings, 4 vols (1988–1992).Lin Carter, Tolkien: A Look Behind "The Lord of the Rings" (1969) David Day, "The World Tolkien: The Mythological Sources of The Lord of the Rings" (2004)
External links
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