J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy epic
The Lord of the Rings is almost unarguably
the most famous and influential fantasy book (or series) in the modern era.
Taking place in a world similar to our own but during an unknown era, the three
novels making up the main trilogy (
The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King) actually covers events which take place during the climax of a much longer
saga. Prior to the appearance of the LOTR trilogy in 1954, Tolkien had already
begun creating a mythopoeic history as far back as in 1914, although documents
describing this long backstory were not published until after the author's death
(in 1977's
The Silmarillion, edited by Tolkien's son Christopher).
Furthermore, the juvenile novel
The Hobbit, published in 1937, drew
heavily from elements originally created for Tolkien's Middle Earth mythology,
and eventually lead to the author's decision to focus on the events chronicled
in
The Lord of the Rings. Below are links to two pages on this site which delve deep into the story
elements behind Tolkien's Middle Earth epic.
The Hobbit/The Lord of the Rings
