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Influences on
this earlier work, and on the story of The Lord of the Rings,
include philology, mythology, industrialization, 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 effect 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 radio, theatre, and 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 many 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 Ringwraiths, in the guise of riders in black,
to the Shire, Bilbo and 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. Frodo 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. In order to fulfil
an ancient prophecy about the return of the King of Gondor
and Arnor, Aragorn was going to war against Sauron, armed
with the royal sword Narsil, which had cut the Ring from Sauron's
finger. 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. Since Narsil
was broken, Aragorn had it reforged and called it Andúril.
The company journeyed through plains and over mountains, and
ultimately to the Mines of Moria, where they were followed
by the wretched creature Gollum, whom Bilbo had met in the
Goblin-tunnels of the Misty Mountains years before (as detailed
in The Hobbit). 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, a Balrog, and fell into a deep chasm, apparently
to his death. Escaping from Moria, the Fellowship, now led
by Aragorn, went to the Elvish 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, but resisted. 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. At the end of the book, the Fellowship are attacked by
a new breed of orc and during the confusion, Sam and Frodo
make their escape. Unknown to them, Boromir is killed and
Merry and Pippin are kidnapped by the orcs because their commander,
the traitor Saruman, has commanded them to capture the hobbits
and bring them to him alive. He does this because he knows
that one of the hobbits has the Ring.
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 beginning of the
book, Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli went off in pursuit of Merry
and Pippin's 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. Faramir is also introduced, giving more detail on
the kingdom of Gondor.
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 (Large army) 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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