The&Lord&of&the&Rings
The Lord of the
This article is about the novel. For other
uses, see .
The Lord of the Rings
Tolkien's own cover designs for the three volumes
United Kingdom
1954 and 1955
Print (hardback and paperback)
Preceded by
The Lord of the Rings is a
written by
professor . The story began as a sequel
to Tolkien's earlier, less complex children's fantasy novel
(1937), but eventually developed into a much
larger work. It was written in stages between 1937 and 1949, much
of it during the .
It is the second best-selling novel ever written, with over 150
million copies sold.
Although known to most readers as a trilogy, the work was
initially intended by Tolkien to be one volume split into three
sections. However, when Tolkien submitted the first volume entitled
The Lord of the Rings to his publisher, it was decided for
economic reasons to publish the work as three separate volumes,
each consisting of two books, over the course of a year in 1954&55,
creating the now familiar Lord of the Rings trilogy.
The three volumes were entitled , , and . Structurally, the
volumes are divided internally into six books, two per volume, with
several appendices of background material, much abbreviated from
Tolkien's originals, included at the end of the third volume.
The Lord of the Rings has since been reprinted numerous
times and ,
becoming one of the most popular and influential works in the field
of 20th-century fantasy literature and the subject of several
The title of the novel refers to the story's main antagonist,
the Dark Lord , who had in an earlier age created the
to rule the other
as the ultimate weapon in his
campaign to conquer and rule all of . From quiet beginnings in the
land not unlike the English
countryside, the story ranges across north-west Middle-earth,
following the course of the
through the eyes of its
characters, notably the Hobbits , ,
and , but also the Hobbits'
chief allies and travelling companions: , a Human , , a Human nobleman, , a
warrior, , an Elven prince, and , a Wizard.
Tolkien's work has been the subject of
and origins. Although a
major work in itself, the story was only the last movement of a
larger epic Tolkien had worked on since 1917, in a process he
described as .
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 , as well as earlier fantasy
works and Tolkien's experiences in .
The Lord of the Rings in its turn is considered to have had
a great effe the impact of Tolkien's works is
such that the use of the words "Tolkienian" and "Tolkienesque" has
been recorded in the .
The enduring popularity of The Lord of the Rings has led
to numerous references in popular culture, the founding of many
societies by ,
and the publication of many books about Tolkien and his works.
The Lord of the Rings has , artwork, music,
films and television, , and subsequent literature. Award-winning
have been made for radio, theatre, and
of the Rings
The story takes place in the context of historical events in
North-West . Long before the start of the
novel the Dark Lord
forged the
in the year 1600 of the Second Age to gain power
over other rings held by the leaders of ,
and Dwarves. He is defeated in battle in
the year 3441 of the Second Age, and , son of
cuts off the One Ring and claims it as
an heirloom for his line. Isildur is later killed by , and the Ring is lost in the river
. Over two thousand years later, the
Ring comes into the hands of the hobbit D&agol, who is then
strangled to death by his friend Sm&agol, who takes the ring, is
banished from his community and hides under the mountains, where
the Ring transforms him over the course of hundreds of years into a
twisted, corrupted creature called . Eventually he loses the Ring, which,
as recounted in , is found by . Meanwhile Sauron takes a new
physical form and reoccupies , his old realm. Gollum sets out in
search of the Ring, but is captured by Sauron, who learns that
Bilbo Baggins has the Ring. Gollum is set loose, and Sauron, who
needs the Ring to regain his full power, sends forth the , his dark, fearsome servants, to
The novel begins in , as
inherits the Ring from Bilbo,
his cousin and guardian. Both are unaware of its origin, but
, a , learns of the Ring's history and
advises Frodo to take it away from the Shire. Frodo leaves, taking
his gardener and friend, , and two cousins,
and , as companions. They
nearly encounter the Ringwraiths while still in the Shire, but
shake off pursuit by cutting through the , where they are aided by the
enigmatic and powerful , upon whom the Ring has no
effect. After leaving the Forest, they stop in the town of
, where they meet , Isildur's heir, who joins them as
guide and protector. They leave Bree after narrowly escaping
attack, but the Ringwraiths follow them to the look-out hill of
and wound Frodo with an accursed
knife. Aragorn leads the hobbits toward the refuge of , while Frodo gradually succumbs to
the wound. At the Ford of , the Ringwraiths attack again, but
flood waters controlled by , master of Rivendell, rise up and
overwhelm them, saving the company.
Frodo recovers in Rivendell under the care of Elrond. The
reveals much significant
history about Sauron and the Ring, as well as the news that Sauron
has corrupted the wizard . The Council decides that the threat
of Sauron is too great and that the best course of action is to
destroy the Ring by returning it to
in Mordor, where it was forged.
Frodo volunteers to take the Ring, and a "" is chosen to accompany and protect him:
Sam, Merry, Pippin, Aragorn, Gandalf,
the Dwarf,
the Elf, and the man , son of the Ruling Steward
of the realm of .
After failing to cross the
via the pass below , the company pass through the
, where they are attacked by
Orcs. Gandalf falls while fighting the ancient and terrible
, allowing the others to escape. The
remaining company take refuge in the Elven forest of . With boats and gifts from the Lady
, the company then travel down the
to the hill of . There Boromir succumbs to the lure of the Ring and
attempts to take it from Frodo, who breaks from the Fellowship to
continue the quest to
alone, though Sam insists on coming to
assist and protect him.
Meanwhile, orcs sent by Sauron and Saruman kill Boromir and
kidnap Merry and Pippin. Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas pursue the orcs
into the kingdom of . Merry and Pippin escape when the orcs
are slain by the . The hobbits flee into
forest, where they are befriended by
the tree-like . In Fangorn forest Aragorn, Gimli and
Legolas find not the hobbits but Gandalf, resurrected after his
battle with the Balrog and now the significantly more powerful
"Gandalf the White". Gandalf assures them that Merry and Pippin are
safe, and they travel instead to rouse , King of Rohan, from a stupor of
despair inflicted by Saruman, and to aid the Rohirrim in a stand
against Saruman's armies. Th&oden fortifies himself at
along with Aragorn, Legolas, and
Gimli while Gandalf rides off to gather more soldiers.
is besieged by Saruman's orcs, but
Gandalf arrives with reinforcements, and the orcs are defeated.
The Ents attack , trapping Saruman in the tower of
. Gandalf, Th&oden and the others
arrive at Isengard to confront Saruman. Saruman refuses to
acknowledge the error of his ways, and Gandalf strips him of his
rank and most of his powers. Merry and Pippin rejoin the others and
Pippin looks into a , a seeing-stone that Sauron had
used to communicate with Saruman, unknowingly leading Sauron to
think that Saruman has captured the Ring-bearer, so Gandalf takes
Pippin to Gondor.
On their way to Mordor, Frodo and Sam capture Gollum, who has
been following them from Moria, and force him to guide them to
Mordor. Finding Mordor's main gate impassable, they travel toward a
pass known to Gollum. Gollum betrays Frodo by leading him to the
great spider
in the tunnels of . Frodo is left seemingly dead by
Shelob's bite, but Sam fights her off. Sam takes the Ring, and
forces himself to leave Frodo. Orcs find Frodo's body, and Sam
learns that Frodo is not in fact dead, but unconscious. Frodo is
carried to the tower of Cirith Ungol, and Sam determines to rescue
Sauron begins his military assault upon . Gandalf arrives at
in Gondor with Pippin to alert
Denethor of the impending attack. Minas Tirith is , and Denethor, under the influence of Sauron
through another palant&r, loses hope and commits suicide.
Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli come to Gondor by the , where Aragorn raises an
undead army of oath-breakers in fulfilment of an old prophecy. The
ghostly army help him to defeat the
invading southern Gondor,
and the forces freed from the south, along with Rohan's cavalry,
help break the siege at Minas Tirith.
Sam rescues Frodo, and they journey through Mordor. Frodo
weakens as they near Mount Doom, but is aided by Sam. Meanwhile, in
the climactic battle at the
of Mordor, the vastly outnumbered alliance of
Gondor and Rohan fight desperately against Sauron's armies, with
the intent of diverting Sauron's attention from . At the edge of the , Frodo is unable to resist the
Ring, and claims it for himself. Gollum reappears, struggles with
Frodo for the Ring, and bites off Frodo's finger, Ring and all, but
in so doing falls into the fire, taking the Ring with him. The Ring
is thus unmade. In the instant of its destruction, Sauron perishes,
his armies retreat, his tower crumbles into dust, the Ringwraiths
disintegrate, and the War of the Ring seemingly ends. Aragorn is
crowned Elessar, King of Arnor and Gondor, and marries his longtime
love, , the daughter of Elrond.
Meanwhile, however, Saruman has escaped his captivity and
enslaved the Shire. The four returning hobbits raise a rebellion
and overthrow him. Saruman is killed by his former servant
, who is in turn killed by
Hobbit archers. The War of the Ring thus comes to its true end on
Frodo's very doorstep. Merry and Pippin are acclaimed heroes. Sam
uses his gifts from Galadriel to restore the Shire, and marries
. Frodo remains wounded in body
and spirit, and some years later, accompanied by Bilbo and Gandalf,
sails from the
west over the Sea to the
to find peace. After Rosie's
death, Sam gives his daughter the , containing the story
and adventures of Bilbo, Frodo, Sam, Pippin and Merry. Sam is then
said to have crossed west over the Sea, the last of the
Ring-bearers, but his ultimate fate remains unknown.
characters
For a more comprehensive list, see the Lord of the Rings
box at the bottom of this page
Protagonists:
, a well-to-do
who inherits the
from Bilbo. Frodo is responsible for
destroying the Ring in the fire of Mount Doom.
, manservant for the Bagginses,
who accompanies Frodo on the quest to destroy the Ring.
, or Merry, Frodo's cousin
and companion in the Fellowship.
, Pip or Pippin, Frodo's cousin
and companion in the Fellowship.
who aids Frodo in his quest.
, descendant of
and rightful heir to the thrones of
, an elf prince who aids Frodo and the
Fellowship. Son of King
, son of , a dwarf included in the
Fellowship.
, the eldest son of Denethor and member
of the Fellowship.
, ruling Steward of Gondor and Lord of
Minas Tirith.
, younger brother of Boromir and not
favoured by Denethor.
, King of .
, the 3rd Marshall of the Mark, Th&oden's
nephew. Later King of Rohan after Theoden's death.
, sister of Eomer. Disguises herself as a
male warrior named Dernhelm to fight beside Th&oden.
Antagonists:
, the Dark Lord and titular Lord of the
Rings, a fallen
who helped the Elves forge the Rings of
Power long ago. He forged the One Ring in secret to control all the
other Rings of Power.
or Ringwraiths, nine servants of
Sauron. Men of old, they were enslaved to the One Ring through the
Rings of Power.
The , the Lord of the Nazg&l,
and Sauron's most powerful servant, who commands Sauron's
, a corrupted
who seeks the One Ring for
(named Sm&agol in earlier life),
who formerly possessed the One Ring, which turned him to evil and
gave him unnaturally long life.
Concept and
Background
The Lord of the Rings started as a sequel to J. R. R.
Tolkien's earlier work, , published in 1937.
The popularity of The Hobbit had led 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 , putting on hold
, and accepting , Allen
& Unwin thought more stories about hobbits would be
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 would not be fully
published until 1955, when Tolkien was 63 years old.
Persuaded by his publishers, he started "a new Hobbit" in
December 1937.
After several false starts, the story of the One Ring emerged. The
idea for 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
however, he remembered the Ring and its powers and decided to
write about that instead.
Writing was slow, due to Tolkien having a full-time academic
position, and needing to earn further money as a university
Tolkien abandoned The Lord of the Rings during most of 1943
and only re-started it in April 1944,
as a serial for his son , who was sent chapters as
they were written while he was serving in South Africa with the
. 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 complete the revision of earlier parts of the work until
Influences
Mentioned at the beginning of The Lord of the Rings, the Ivy
is the closest public house to
which Tolkien attended
while living near .
is nearby.
Main article:
The Lord of the Rings developed as a personal exploration
by Tolkien of his interests in , religion (particularly ),
and general ,
Tolkien acknowledged, and external critics have verified the
influences of George MacDonald and
The question of a direct influence of 's
on Tolkien's work is
Tolkien included neither any explicit religion nor cult in his
work. Rather the themes, moral philosophy, and cosmology of the
Lord of the Rings reflect his Catholic worldview. In one of his
letters Tolkien states, "The Lord of the Rings is of course a
fundamentally religious and C unconsciously so at
first, but consciously in the revision. That is why I have not put
in, or have cut out, practically all references to anything like
'religion', to cults or practices, in the imaginary world. For the
religious element is absorbed into the story and the
symbolism."
Some locations and characters were inspired by Tolkien's
childhood in , where he first lived near
, and later near .
There are also hints of the , which is within easy reach of
north west Edgbaston. This shows in such names as "Underhill", and
the description of Saruman's industrialization of Isengard and The
Shire. It has also been suggested that
and its surroundings were based on
the countryside around
where Tolkien frequently stayed
during the 1940s.
The work was influenced by the effects of his military service
during , to the point that Frodo has been
"diagnosed" as suffering from , or "shell-shock," which
was first diagnosed at the Battle of the Somme, at which Tolkien
&Publication history
A dispute with his publisher, , led to
the book being offered to
in 1950. Tolkien intended
(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 wanted cutting", he
eventually demanded that they publish the book in 1952.
T and so Tolkien wrote to Allen and Unwin, saying, "I
would gladly consider the publication of any part of the
For publication, the book was divided into three volumes:
(Books I, The Ring
Sets Out, and II, The Ring Goes South,)
(Books III, The Treason
of Isengard, and IV, The Ring Goes East,), and
(Books V, The
War of the Ring, and VI, The End of the Third Age, plus
six appendices). This was due largely to post-war paper shortages,
as well as being a way to keep down the price of the book. 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 , 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.
and revisions
In the early 1960s ,
editor of the paperback
publisher , claimed that The Lord of the Rings was not
protected in the United States under
because , the U.S. hardcover
publisher, had neglected to copyright the work in the United
Ace Books then proceeded to publish an edition, unauthorized by
Tolkien and without paying
to him. Tolkien took issue with this
and quickly notified his fans of this objection.
pressure from these fans became so
great that Ace Books withdrew their edition and made a nominal
payment to Tolkien.
Authorized editions followed from
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, published in 1965.
Houghton Mifflin editions after 1994 consolidate variant revisions
by Tolkien, and corrections supervised by , which resulted, after
some initial glitches, in a computer-based unified text.
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 stages of the text's development,
in volumes 6&9 of his
series. The four
volumes carry the titles , , , and .
&Translations
Main article:
The novel has been translated, with various degrees of success,
into at least 38 other languages.
Tolkien, an expert in , examined many of these
translations, and made comments on each that reflect both the
translation process and his work. As he was unhappy with some
choices made by early translators, such as the
Tolkien wrote a "" (1967). Because
The Lord of the Rings purports to be a translation of the
fictitious , with the English
language representing the
of the "original", Tolkien suggested
that translators attempt to capture the interplay between English
and the invented nomenclature of the English work, and gave several
examples along with general guidance.
Main article:
The Lord of the Rings has received mixed reviews since
its inception, ranging from terrible to excellent. Recent reviews
in various media have been, on the whole, highly positive and
Tolkien's literary achievement is slowly being acknowledged as a
significant one. On its initial review the
felt it was "among the
greatest works of imaginative fiction of the twentieth
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."
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."
, an admirer of Tolkien's writings, regarded
The Lord of the Rings as a "masterpiece", further stating
that in some cases it outdid the achievement of
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
Critic Richard Jenkyns, writing in , criticized the work for
a lack of psychological depth. Both the characters and the work
itself are, according to Jenkyns, "anemic, and lacking in
Even within Tolkien's literary group, , reviews were mixed.
complained loudly at its readings,
records Dyson as "lying on
the couch, and lolling and shouting and saying, 'Oh God, not
another Elf!'"
However, another Inkling, , 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.
In 1957, The Lord of the Rings was awarded the . Despite its numerous
detractors, the publication of the
paperbacks helped The Lord of
the Rings become immensely popular in the United States 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 "" survey conducted in Britain 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
customers, The Lord of the
Rings was judged to be their favourite "book of the
The Lord of the Rings was awarded the
Ethan Gilsdorf, writing for
commented that while
there are movements within academia to approach The Lord of the
Rings as a serious literary work, the
film trilogy
has contributed to a
of the reception of the novel by
the forces of mass-commercialization.
Main article:
Although The Lord of the Rings was published in the
1950s, Tolkien insisted that the One Ring was not an
nor were his works a strict allegory of any kind, but were open to
interpretation as the reader saw fit.
A few critics have found what they consider to be racial
elements in the story, generally based upon their views of how
Tolkien's imagery depicts good and evil, characters' race (e.g.
Elf, Dwarf, Hobbit, , , Orc); and that the character's
race is seen as determining their behaviour.
Counter-arguments note that race-focused critiques often omit
relevant textual evidence to the contrary,
cite imagery from adaptations rather
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
Critics have also seen
rather than race as being the
determinant factor for the portrayal of good and evil.
Commentators such as
have interpreted the work to hold
unquestioning devotion to a traditional
social structure.
In his essay "", science fiction and fantasy author
critiques the world-view
displayed by the book as deeply , in both the 'paternalism' of the
narrative voice and the power-structures in the narrative.
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.
The book has been read as fitting the model of 's "".
&Adaptations
Main article:
The Lord of the Rings has been adapted for film, radio
and stage.
The book has been adapted for radio four times. In 1955 and
broadcast , a
12-part radio adaptation of the story. In the 1960s radio station
produced a short . A 1979
dramatization of
broadcast in the United States and subsequently issued on tape and
CD. In 1981, the BBC broadcast , 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.
Two film adaptations of the trilogy as a whole have been made.
The first was
(1978), by
animator , the first part of what was
originally intended to be a two-part ada it
covers The Fellowship of the Ring and part of The Two
Towers. When Bakshi's investors shied away of financing the
second film that would complete the story, the remainder of the
story was covered in an animated television special by . Stylistically, the two segments
are very different. Finally, there was director 's live action , produced by
and released in three
installments as
(2002), and
(2003). All three parts received nearly
universal acclaim and were each nominated for and won multiple
, including consecutive
nominations. The final instalment
of this trilogy was the second film to break the one-billion-dollar
barrier and won a total of 11
(something only two other films in
and , have accomplished), including
"", "", ",", and "".
based on elements of the appendices
to The Lord of the Rings, was released on the internet in
May 2009 and has been covered in major media.
In 1990, Recorded Books published an
of The Lord of the
with British actor Rob Inglis&& who had previously
starred in one-man stage productions of The Hobbit and
The Lord of the Rings&& reading. A
large-scale
adaptation,
was first staged in
in 2006 and opened in
London in May 2007.
Main article:
Influences on the fantasy genre
The enormous popularity of Tolkien's epic saga greatly expanded
the demand for . Largely thanks to The Lord
of the Rings, the genre flowered throughout the 1960s, and
enjoys popularity to the present day.
The work also had an influence upon such
authors as
and filmmakers such as .
popularized the
(RPG) genre in the 1970s,
features many races found in The Lord of the Rings, most
(another term for hobbits), elves,
dwarves, , , and dragons. However, , 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
the influence of The Lord of the Rings extends to many of
them as well, with titles such as , the
series, and the
series of games
as well as, quite naturally,
In 1965, songwriter , who was best known for his
collaboration with
as , set six
poems from The Lord of the Rings and one from
("Errantry") to
music. When Swann met with Tolkien to play the songs for his
approval, Tolkien suggested a different setting for "", which Swann accepted.
The songs were published in 1967 as ,
and a recording of the songs performed by singer William Elvin with
Swann on piano was issued that same year by
as Poems and Songs of
Middle Earth.
In 1988, Dutch composer and trombonist
completed his ,
which encompassed 5 movements, titled "Gandalf", "Lothl&rien",
"Gollum", "Journey in the Dark", and "Hobbits". In 1989 the
symphony was awarded the , awarded
biennially for best wind band composition.
The Danish
have released a number of
albums that feature the complete poems and songs of The Lord of
the Rings set to music, with some featuring recitation by
Rock bands of the 1970s were musically and lyrically inspired by
the fantasy embracing counter- British 70s rock
recorded several songs that
contain explicit references to The Lord of the Rings
("", "", "", and ""). In 1970, the Swedish
released an
based on the book entitled
Sagan om ringen (translated as "The Saga of the Ring", which
was the title of the Swedish translation of The Lord of the
Rings at the time).
The album was subsequently released internationally as
The songs "Rivendell" and "The Necromancer" by the progressive rock
were inspired by Tolkien. And
also paid homage to Tolkien on their
"Pieces of Eight" album with the song "Lords of the Ring," while
's song, "The Wizard", which
appeared on their , was influenced by Tolkien's hero,
Gandalf. The
took their name from a fictional
place in Middle-earth of the .
paid homage to the text in their lengthy
composition "Nimrodel/The Procession/The White Rider", and
Progressive rock band
was inspired by the
character Galadriel to write a song by that name, and used
"Bombadil", the name of another character, as a pseudonym under
which their 1972 single "Breathless"/"When the City Sleeps" was
there are other references scattered through the BJH
Later, from the 1980s to the present day, many
acts have been influenced by
has written many songs relating
to Middle-earth, including the full concept album . Almost all of 's songs and the entire discography
are Tolkien-themed.
take their names from an area of
take their name from the
of Mordor. The Finnish metal band
and the Norwegian metal band
have also incorporated many Tolkien
references into their music.
wrote an instrumental piece called
"Lothl&rien" in 1991, and composed two songs for the film
—"" (sung in English and ) and "" (sung in ).
on popular culture
The Lord of the Rings has had a profound and wide-ranging
impact on , beginning with its
publication in the 1950s, but especially throughout the 1960s and
1970s, during which time young people embraced it as a
"" and "Gandalf for President" were
two phrases popular among American
during this time.
In one scene of the 1993 film, , Paul () mocks The Lord of the Rings
books in front of 's character. Less than a decade
after this film was made, Ian McKellen would play the role of
Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy.
Parodies like the 's , the
episode "", the
episode "",
episode "Lights! Camera! Danger!", and
episode "The Precious
Fragmentation" 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
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
Company, who trade as . Since then all
"authorized" merchandise has been signed-off by Tolkien
Enterprises, although the
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
and the , to figurines and
miniatures to ,
games. Recent examples include
use of literature in a game) board game
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