The Lord of the Rings

Epic fantasy story by JRR Tolkien consisting of six books usually published in three volumes (two books each) in 1954-1955:

• The Fellowship of the Ring
• [The Two Towers]?
• [The Return of the King]?

This remarkable work by the mid-1960s had become, especially in its appeal to young people, a sociocultural phenomenon.

The Lord of the Rings is heavily influenced by Tolkien's interest in linguistics, [fairy tale]?s and Norse and Celtic mythology. Tolkien designed a complete mythology for his realm of Middle Earth, including genealogies of characters, languages, runes, calenders and histories.

The plot of the Lord of the Rings follows directly from his earlier book The Hobbit and more obliquely from the Silmarillion.

The hobbits of Tolkien's earlier tale become embroiled in great events that threaten their entire world, as Sauron, the embodiment of evil, attempts to regain the lost One Ring which will restore him to full potency.

There was an animated film made in 1978, directed by [Ralph Bakshi]?, based on The Lord of the Rings, which covered only the first volume. The intended sequels never appeared.

A new [live action film]? has been completed, and the first part is due to be released in December 2001. The other two parts have already been filmed, but will be released later.

• The Fellowship of the Ring
  • Frodo Baggins
  • Sam Gamgee
  • Peregrin "Pippin" Took
  • Meriadoc "Merry" Brandybuck
  • Aragorn
  • Boromir?
  • Legolas
  • Gimli?
  • Gandalf

• Other Characters
  • Bilbo Baggins
  • Bill the Pony
  • [Bill Ferny]?
  • Elrond?
  • [Fatty Bolger]?
  • Galadriel?
  • Gollum
  • Saruman
  • Sauron
  • Tom Bombadil
  • Treebeard?

• Pop-culture references to The Lord of the Rings
  • Led Zeppelin's 'Misty Mountain Hop' is named after Tolkien's Misty Mountains
  • Led Zeppelin's 'Ramble On' refers to Mordor
  • Rush? has a song called 'Rivendell' on their [Fly By Night]? album.
  • Swedish musician [Bo Hansson]? has made an entire instrumental album based on The Lord of the Rings
  • The [Brobdingnagian Bards] have named one of their tracks 'Tolkien', and the remix 'The Lord of the Rings'

The [Encyclopedia of Arda] is a good source for further information.