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162-585: The Lord of the Rings is an epic high fantasy novel by the English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien . Set in Middle-earth , the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's book The Hobbit , but eventually developed into a much larger work. Written in stages between 1937 and 1949, The Lord of the Rings is one of the best-selling books ever written , with over 150 million copies sold. The title refers to

324-526: A Great Eagle . That night, Strider reunites with Arwen, and they affirm their love for each other. Learning of Saruman's betrayal from Gandalf and now realising that they are facing threats from both Sauron and Saruman, Arwen's father, Lord Elrond , decides against keeping the Ring in Rivendell. He holds a council of Elves, Men, and Dwarves, also attended by Frodo and Gandalf, that decides the Ring must be destroyed in

486-537: A noun . Epic (noun) refers to a long poem , book , movie , etc. that tells the story of a hero 's adventures. The earliest epics were long poems performed out loud that told these grandiose stories about heroes. Today, in modern society , the word epic has been expanded and associated with all kinds of long literatures that still underlyingly focus on the values of a given society. It is often used as an adjective . Epic (adjective) refers to something very great or large and usually difficult or impressive. In addition,

648-583: A Ranger named Strider , who promises to escort them to Rivendell ; however, they are ambushed by the Nazgûl on Weathertop , and their leader, the Witch-King , stabs Frodo with a Morgul blade . Arwen , an Elf and Strider's beloved, locates Strider and rescues Frodo, summoning flood-waters that sweep the Nazgûl away. She takes him to Rivendell, where he is healed by the Elves. Frodo meets with Gandalf, who escaped Isengard on

810-515: A band of Uruk-hai to save their companions, Merry and Pippin , entering the kingdom of Rohan. The Uruk-hai are ambushed by a group of Rohirrim , allowing Merry and Pippin to escape into Fangorn Forest. Meeting Aragorn's group, the Rohirrim's leader Éomer explains that he and his men have been exiled by Rohan's king, Théoden , who is under the control of Saruman and his servant Gríma Wormtongue . Éomer believes Merry and Pippin were killed during

972-522: A burning tree . Gandalf deduces that the enemy plans to attack Gondor 's capital Minas Tirith ; he rides there to warn Gondor's corrupt steward Denethor . Pippin, who accompanies him, swears fealty to Denethor, whose now-dead heir Boromir had saved his life; on Gandalf's instruction, Pippin triggers the lighting of the beacons , which call for help from Rohan. Frodo , who carries the Ring, and Sam continue their journey towards Mordor , unaware that Gollum, now their guide, plans to betray them and take

1134-689: A cameo. Gimli was going to swear throughout the films and Arwen would join the Fellowship in Rohan and share a nude scene with Aragorn in the pools of the Glittering Caves. Jackson hired long-time collaborator Richard Taylor to lead Weta Workshop on five major design elements: armour, weapons, prosthetic makeup , creatures, and miniatures. At New Line's request, animation supervisor Jim Rygiel replaced Weta Digital 's Mark Stetson . In November 1997, famed Tolkien illustrators Alan Lee and John Howe joined

1296-528: A cave troll . They hold them off but are confronted by Durin's Bane : a Balrog residing within the mines. While the others escape, Gandalf fends off the Balrog and casts it into a vast chasm, but the Balrog drags Gandalf down into the darkness with him. The devastated Company reaches Lothlórien , ruled by the Elf-queen Galadriel , who privately informs Frodo that only he can complete the quest and that one of

1458-523: A chasm after a scuffle. Shelob discovers, paralyses, and binds Frodo, but is wounded and driven away by a returning Sam. Sam mourns Frodo's apparent death and takes the Ring, but then realizes his mistake when Orcs take Frodo captive. He rescues Frodo within Mordor and the two continue towards Mount Doom . Denethor sends his younger son, Faramir , on a suicide charge. Faramir returns gravely wounded; believing him dead, Denethor falls into madness. Gandalf marshals

1620-440: A computer-based unified text. In 2004, for the 50th Anniversary Edition, Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull , under supervision from Christopher Tolkien, studied and revised the text to eliminate as many errors and inconsistencies as possible, some of which had been introduced by well-meaning compositors of the first printing in 1954, and never been corrected. The 2005 edition of the book contained further corrections noticed by

1782-399: A cover illustration, both of which identified the pair as Minas Morgul and Orthanc. Tolkien was initially opposed to titles being given to each two-book volume, preferring instead the use of book titles: e.g. The Lord of the Rings : Vol. 1, The Ring Sets Out and The Ring Goes South ; Vol. 2, The Treason of Isengard and The Ring Goes East ; Vol. 3, The War of the Ring and The End of

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1944-559: A cursed blade. Strider fights them off and treats Frodo with the herb athelas . They are joined by the Elf Glorfindel , who rides with Frodo, now deathly ill, towards Rivendell. The Black Riders pursue Frodo into the Ford of Bruinen, where they are swept away by flood waters summoned by Elrond . Frodo recovers in Rivendell under Elrond's care. Gandalf informs Frodo that the Black Riders are

2106-512: A definitive definition for the umbrella term of “epic” as a genre. Epic originally comes from the Latin word epicus , which itself comes from the Ancient Greek adjective ἐπικός (epikos) deriving from ἔπος (epos), meaning "word, story, poem." The word Epic, throughout the years, has adapted to different meanings that stem far away from its origins. In Ancient Greece , Epic was used in the form of

2268-454: A film version is inevitably different , and if so the reasons for any changes, and the effectiveness of the result. The Hunt for Gollum , a 2009 film by Chris Bouchard , and the 2009 Born of Hope , written by Paula DiSante and directed by Kate Madison , are fan films based on details in the appendices of The Lord of the Rings . From September 2022, Amazon has been presenting a multi-season television series of stories, The Lord of

2430-503: A great army against Gondor . Gandalf arrives at Minas Tirith to warn Denethor of the attack, while Théoden musters the Riders of Rohan to go to Gondor's aid. Minas Tirith is besieged; the Lord of the Nazgûl uses a spell-wound battering ram to destroy the city's gates. Denethor, deceived by Sauron, falls into despair. He burns himself alive on a pyre; Pippin and Gandalf rescue his son Faramir from

2592-512: A great part of his power to dominate the other Rings and conquer Middle-earth. A final alliance of Men and Elves battles Sauron's forces in Mordor . Isildur of Gondor severs Sauron's finger and the Ring with it, thereby vanquishing Sauron and returning him to spirit form. With Sauron's first defeat, the Third Age of Middle-earth begins. The Ring's influence corrupts Isildur, who takes it for himself and

2754-413: A hard round object to try to kill Gandalf. Pippin picks it up; Gandalf swiftly takes it, but Pippin steals it in the night. It is a palantír , a seeing-stone that Saruman used to speak with Sauron, becoming ensnared. Sauron sees Pippin, but misunderstands the circumstances. Gandalf rides for Minas Tirith , chief city of Gondor , taking Pippin with him. Frodo and Sam struggle through the barren hills of

2916-459: A high-minded belief in the importance of his mission as a literary preservationist, which turns out to be death to literature itself". The critic Richard Jenkyns, writing in The New Republic , criticized the work for a lack of psychological depth. Both the characters and the work itself were, according to Jenkyns, "anemic, and lacking in fibre". The science fiction author David Brin interprets

3078-402: A larger overarching genre under which many subgenres, such as epic poetry, epic novels, and epic films could fall under. However, the nebulous definitions assigned to even the long-standing ancient epics due to their ubiquitous presence across vastly differing cultures and traditions, are still a topic of discourse for today's literary academics, and have caused lingering difficulties in creating

3240-735: A little of the visual magic of Legend . [...] It should have the historical authority of Braveheart , rather than the meaningless fantasy mumbo-jumbo of Willow . Production designer Grant Major was charged with converting Lee and Howe's designs into architecture, creating models of the sets, while Dan Hennah worked as art director , scouting locations and organizing the building of sets. Ngila Dickson collaborated with Richard Taylor on producing costumes, while Peter King and Peter Owen designed makeup and hair. Most of these crew members (and others) returned to work on The Hobbit . Jackson and cinematographer Andrew Lesnie considered shooting in large format like 65 mm film and/or to master

3402-406: A major work in itself, The Lord of the Rings was only the last movement of a much older set of narratives Tolkien had worked on since 1917 encompassing The Silmarillion , in a process he described as mythopoeia . The Lord of the Rings started as a sequel to Tolkien's work The Hobbit , published in 1937. The popularity of The Hobbit led George Allen & Unwin, the publishers, to request

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3564-482: A nominal payment to Tolkien. Authorized editions followed from Ballantine Books and Houghton Mifflin to tremendous commercial success. 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. The first Ballantine paperback edition

3726-497: A purely rural world with no bearing on modern life in cities; of containing no sign of religion; or of racism. Other commentators responded by noting that there are three powerful women in the book , Galadriel, Éowyn, and Arwen; that life, even in rural Hobbiton, is not idealized; that Christianity is a pervasive theme ; and that Tolkien was sharply anti-racist both in peacetime and during the Second World War, while Middle-earth

3888-514: A rebellion and scours the Shire . Saruman reveals crimes that Wormtongue has done, causing Wormtongue to turn on Saruman and kill him in front of Bag End , Frodo's home. Wormtongue then is killed by hobbit archers. Merry and Pippin are celebrated as heroes. Sam marries Rosie Cotton and uses his gifts to heal the Shire. Frodo, broken by the quest, leaves a few years later, sailing from the Grey Havens over

4050-417: A secret pass that Gollum knows. They are captured by rangers led by Faramir , Boromir's brother, and brought to the secret fastness of Henneth Annûn . Faramir resists the temptation to seize the Ring and, disobeying orders to arrest strangers, releases them. Gollum guides the hobbits to the pass, but leads them into the lair of the great spider Shelob in the tunnels of Cirith Ungol . Frodo holds up his gift,

4212-478: 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 Roverandom on hold, and accepting Farmer Giles of Ham , Allen & Unwin continued to ask for more stories about hobbits . Persuaded by his publishers, he started "a new Hobbit" in December 1937. After several false starts,

4374-557: A serial for his son 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 major 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 1949. The original manuscripts, which total 9,250 pages, now reside in

4536-400: A series or collection of connected individual works, evoking the epic cycle . Originating once again from the style of the ancient epic, a certain level of seriousness is expected in the prose of something considered an “epic”. Put another way, to achieve the grandiosity typical of an “epic”, distance must be created from the story for the reader via the style of the prose. To further this,

4698-404: A single trilogy: one film based on The Hobbit and, if that would prove successful, two Lord of the Rings films shot back-to-back. Jackson began rereading The Hobbit , looking at illustrations and commissioning concept art from the book, but the rights eventually proved unattainable, having been split between Zaentz and United Artists. Weinstein tried to buy the studio's share of the rights, but

4860-450: A trilogy, the work was intended by Tolkien to be a single volume in a two-volume set, along with The Silmarillion . For economic reasons, it was first published over the course of a year, from 29 July 1954 to 20 October 1955, in three volumes rather than one, under the titles The Fellowship of the Ring , The Two Towers , and The Return of the King ; The Silmarillion appeared only after

5022-519: Is a book which will break your heart." Lewis observed that the writing is rich, in that some of the 'good' characters have darker sides, and likewise some of the villains have "good impulses". Despite the mixed reviews and the lack of a paperback until the 1960s, The Lord of the Rings initially sold well in hardback. Judith Shulevitz, writing in The New York Times , criticized the "pedantry" of Tolkien's literary style , saying that he "formulated

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5184-725: Is a traitor. The Council decides that the Ring must be destroyed in the fire of Mount Doom in Mordor , where it was forged. Frodo takes this task upon himself. Elrond chooses companions for him: Sam, Merry, and Pippin; Gandalf; the Men Aragorn and Boromir , son of the Steward of Gondor ; the Elf Legolas ; and the Dwarf Gimli , representing the Free Peoples of the West. After a failed attempt to cross

5346-552: Is being watched by Saruman's spies. They instead set off over the mountain pass of Caradhras, but Saruman summons a storm that forces them to travel through the Mines of Moria , where a tentacled water beast blocks off the entrance with the Company inside, giving them no choice but to journey to the exit on the other end. After finding the Dwarves of Moria dead, the Company is attacked by Orcs and

5508-432: 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 appeared to predict the books' popularity, writing in its review that they were "destined to outlast our time". W. H. Auden , a former pupil of Tolkien's and an admirer of his writings, regarded The Lord of the Rings as a "masterpiece", further stating that in some cases it outdid

5670-411: Is evidently polycultural. A dispute with his publisher, George Allen & Unwin , led Tolkien to offer the work to William Collins in 1950. Tolkien intended The Silmarillion (itself largely unrevised at this point) to be published along with The Lord of the Rings, but Allen & Unwin were unwilling to do this. After Milton Waldman, his contact at Collins, expressed the belief that The Lord of

5832-511: Is later killed by Orcs . The Ring is lost in a river for 2,500 years until it is found by Gollum , who owns it for over four and a half centuries. The Ring abandons Gollum and is subsequently found by a hobbit named Bilbo Baggins , who is unaware of its history. Sixty years later, Bilbo celebrates his 111th birthday in the Shire , reuniting with his old friend, the wizard Gandalf the Grey . Bilbo departs

5994-758: Is not the original author, but merely the translator of part of an ancient document, the Red Book of Westmarch . That book is modelled on the real Red Book of Hergest , which similarly presents an older mythology. Various details of the frame story appear in the Prologue, its "Note on Shire Records", and in the Appendices, notably Appendix F. In this frame story, the Red Book is the purported source of Tolkien's other works relating to Middle-earth : The Hobbit , The Silmarillion , and The Adventures of Tom Bombadil . Although

6156-596: Is the vehicle by which the epic's long, difficult narrative must be carried. They must therefore be a strong, distinct, and memorable character. An epic tends to draw upon existing narratives, specifically within the community or culture it represents. This can be thought of as the “mythos” of the epic. In ancient epics, this was often existing, published works. In the modern context, many narratives that could be considered “epic” have developed their own mythos, such as with comic book franchises like DC , or sci-fi like Star Wars and Star Trek and fantasy like The Lord of

6318-546: The Emyn Muil . They realize they are being tracked; on a moonlit night they capture Gollum, who has followed them from Moria. Frodo makes Gollum swear to serve him, as Ringbearer, and asks him to guide them to Mordor. Gollum leads them across the Dead Marshes . Sam overhears Gollum debating with his alter ego, Sméagol, whether to steal the Ring. The Black Gate of Mordor is too well guarded, so they travel south through Ithilien to

6480-513: The Misty Mountains and becomes known as Gollum. Centuries later, during the War of the Ring , Gandalf leads Aragorn , Legolas , Gimli , and King Théoden of Rohan to Isengard , where they reunite with Merry and Pippin . Gandalf retrieves Saruman 's palantír , and the group returns to Edoras to celebrate their victory at Helm's Deep . Pippin looks into the palantír, seeing Sauron and

6642-708: The Misty Mountains , the Fellowship risk the path through the Mines of Moria . They learn that Balin and his Dwarves, who had attempted to regain possession of Moria, were killed by Orcs . They are attacked by Orcs and a Balrog , a fire demon. Gandalf confronts the Balrog: both fall into an abyss. The others escape to the Elvish forest of Lothlórien , where the Lady Galadriel tests their loyalty, and gives them magical gifts. She allows Frodo and Sam to look into her vision-giving fountain,

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6804-500: The Nazgûl , Men enslaved by Rings of Power to serve Sauron. The Council of Elrond discusses what to do with the Ring. Strider is revealed to be Aragorn, the heir of Isildur who had cut the Ring from Sauron's hand in the Second Age, but claimed it for himself. The Ring was lost when Isildur was killed; it passed to Gollum and then to Bilbo. Gandalf reports that the chief wizard, Saruman ,

6966-1232: The Old Testament and New Testament borrow many themes from Gilgamesh , which in turn has been found to draw from older Sumerian tradition. As such, some anthropologists identify Jesus as an embodiment of the same mythical archetype. Some similarities, among others, include stories of: Just as it provided a blueprint for biblical traditions, many other pre-Christian mythos and religious epics have also shown to be influenced by Gilgamesh , including those of Buddha in Buddhist tradition ; Krishna in Hindu tradition ; Odysseus , Perseus , and Dionysus in Greek tradition ; Ra , Horus , Osiris , and Amenhotep III in Ancient Egyptian tradition ; Romulus in Roman tradition ; and Zoroaster/Zarathustra and Mithra in Zoroastrian tradition . The Bible similarly extended its influence into existing epic literature such as

7128-469: The Phial of Galadriel , which holds the light of Eärendil 's star: it drives Shelob back. Frodo cuts through a giant web using his sword Sting . Shelob attacks again, and Frodo falls to her venom. Sam picks up Sting and the Phial . He wounds the monster. Believing Frodo to be dead, Sam takes the Ring to continue the quest alone. Orcs take Frodo; Sam overhears them saying that Frodo is still alive. Sauron sends

7290-490: The Round Table lore whereby Arthur had twelve knights just as Jesus has twelve disciples . Specific echelons of popular culture draw from a variety of epic narrative tropes. This may preclude to genres such as heroic fantasy , sword and sorcery , space opera , fantasy adventures , and high fantasy . Some even draw influence from each other, just as ancient sources. For example Frank Herbert 's Dune Saga inspired

7452-638: The Star Wars trilogy and the Alejandro Jodorowsky 's Jodoverse . Folk Epic Folk epic can be defined as the earliest form of the epic genre, which was performed and passed down in oral form. Folk epics were often sung or narrated in royal courts. These stories recounted particular mythologies and consisted of mainly made on-the-spot stories. Due to their oral handing down, early folk epic authors and performers remain unknown. The authors are presumed to have been mostly common men. Literary Epic As

7614-533: The elf Legolas , the dwarf Gimli , Merry , Pippin , Boromir , and the wizard Gandalf , unite to save the Free Peoples of Middle-earth from the forces of Sauron and rally them in the War of the Ring to aid Frodo by distracting Sauron's attention. The three films were shot simultaneously in Jackson's native New Zealand from 11 October 1999 until 22 December 2000 , with pick-up shots from 2001 to 2003. It

7776-531: The literary critic Edmund Wilson wrote a review entitled "Oo, Those Awful Orcs!", calling Tolkien's work "juvenile trash", and saying "Dr. Tolkien has little skill at narrative and no instinct for literary form." Within Tolkien's literary group, The Inklings , the work had a mixed reception. Hugo Dyson complained loudly at its readings, whereas C. S. Lewis had very different feelings, writing, "here are beauties which pierce like swords or burn like cold iron. Here

7938-631: The pass of Emyn Muil , journeying on to Mordor. Awakening from a dream of Gandalf fighting the Balrog in Moria , Frodo Baggins finds himself, along with Samwise Gamgee , lost in the Emyn Muil near Mordor . They discover that they are being tracked by Gollum , a former bearer of the One Ring . Capturing Gollum, Frodo takes pity and allows him to guide them, reminding Sam that they need Gollum's help to infiltrate Mordor. Aragorn , Legolas , and Gimli pursue

8100-516: The 1960s, particularly on college campuses" across America. Tolkien drew on a wide array of influences including language, Christianity, mythology and Germanic heroic legend including the Norse Völsunga saga , archaeology , especially at the Temple of Nodens , ancient and modern literature, like Finnish 19th-century epic poetry The Kalevala by Elias Lönnrot , and personal experience. He

8262-552: The 2003 " Big Read " 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 chose The Lord of the Rings as 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". In 2019, the BBC News listed The Lord of

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8424-512: The Balrog; he too was killed in the fight, but was sent back to Middle-earth. He is now Gandalf the White, replacing Saruman as chief of the wizards. They ride to Edoras , capital of Rohan. Gandalf frees King Théoden from the influence of Saruman's spy Gríma Wormtongue . Théoden musters his army and rides to the fortress of Helm's Deep ; Gandalf departs to seek help from Treebeard. The Ents destroy Isengard , Saruman's stronghold, and flood it, trapping

8586-604: The Church tolerated new converts observing their older, pagan traditions. However, as the British Church grew in power, events taking place in Europe (such as The Crusades ) inspired authors to reshape the traditional legends with christian undertones. Author Robert de Boron , for instance, translated the legend into French in 1155, in which he would conceive of the now-iconic addition of the sword-in-the-stone legend, and would expand upon

8748-482: The Company will try to take the Ring. She also shows him a vision of the future in which Sauron succeeds in enslaving Middle-earth, including the Shire. Meanwhile, Saruman creates an army of Uruk-hai in Isengard to find and destroy the Company. The Company travels by river to Parth Galen . Frodo wanders off and is confronted by Boromir, who, as Lady Galadriel had warned, tries to take the Ring. Uruk-hai scouts then ambush

8910-702: The Company, attempting to abduct the Hobbits. Boromir breaks free of the Ring's power and protects Merry and Pippin, but the Uruk-Hai leader, Lurtz, mortally wounds Boromir as they abduct the Hobbits. Aragorn arrives and kills Lurtz before comforting Boromir as he dies, promising to help the people of Gondor in the coming conflict. Fearing the Ring will corrupt his friends, Frodo decides to travel to Mordor alone, but allows Sam to come along, recalling his promise to Gandalf to look after him. As Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli set out to rescue Merry and Pippin, Frodo and Sam make their way down

9072-503: The Ents decide not to take part in the coming war. Pippin asks Treebeard to take them in the direction of Isengard , where they witness the deforestation caused by Saruman's war effort. Enraged, Treebeard and the Ents storm Isengard, trapping Saruman in his tower. Aragorn arrives at Helm's Deep, warning Théoden of Saruman's army approaching. Théoden prepares for battle despite being vastly outnumbered. A company of Lothlorien Elves arrives to aid

9234-536: The Fellowship. Boromir tries to protect Merry and Pippin from the Orcs, but they kill him and capture the two Hobbits. Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas decide to pursue the Orcs. The Orcs are killed by Riders of Rohan , led by Éomer . The Hobbits escape into Fangorn Forest, where they are befriended by the Ent Treebeard . Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas track the hobbits to Fangorn, where they meet Gandalf: he explains that he killed

9396-581: The J. R. R. Tolkien Collection at Marquette University . Unusually for 20th century novels, the prose narrative is supplemented throughout by over 60 pieces of poetry . These include verse and songs of many genres: for wandering, marching to war , drinking , and having a bath; narrating ancient myths, riddles , prophecies , and magical incantations; and of praise and lament ( elegy ). Some, such as riddles, charms, elegies, and narrating heroic actions are found in Old English poetry . Scholars have stated that

9558-558: The King (2003). All three parts won 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 (something only two other films in history, Ben-Hur and Titanic , have accomplished), including Best Picture , Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay . Commentators including Tolkien scholars, literary critics and film critics are divided on how faithfully Jackson adapted Tolkien's work, or whether

9720-463: The King , believing it gave away too much of the storyline, but deferred to his publisher's preference. Tolkien wrote that the title The Two Towers "can be left ambiguous", but considered naming the two as Orthanc and Barad-dûr , Minas Tirith and Barad-dûr, or Orthanc and the Tower of Cirith Ungol . However, a month later he wrote a note published at the end of The Fellowship of the Ring and later drew

9882-665: The King . In 2021, the Library of Congress selected The Fellowship of the Ring for preservation in the United States National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". In the Second Age of Middle-earth , the lords of Elves , Dwarves , and Men are given Rings of Power . Unbeknownst to them, the Dark Lord Sauron forges the One Ring in Mount Doom , instilling into it

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10044-616: The Mirror of Galadriel. Frodo offers her the Ring: she refuses, knowing that it would master her. Galadriel's husband Celeborn gives the Fellowship boats, cloaks, and waybread. They travel down the River Anduin . At Amon Hen, Boromir tries to take the Ring, but Frodo puts on the Ring and disappears. Frodo chooses to cross the river and go alone to Mordor, but Sam, guessing what he intends, intercepts him. A party of Orcs sent by Saruman and Sauron attack

10206-411: The Morannon , his army is vastly outnumbered. Sam rescues Frodo from the tower of Cirith Ungol. They set out across Mordor. When they reach the edge of the Cracks of Doom , Frodo cannot resist the Ring any longer: he claims it for himself and puts it on. Gollum reappears. He bites off Frodo's Ring finger. Celebrating wildly, Gollum loses his footing and falls into the Fire, taking the Ring with him. When

10368-432: The One Ring, seen mainly through the eyes of the hobbits Frodo , Sam , Merry , and Pippin . Aiding the hobbits are the wizard Gandalf , the men Aragorn and Boromir , the elf Legolas , and the dwarf Gimli , who unite as the Company of the Ring in order to rally the Free Peoples of Middle-earth against Sauron's armies and give Frodo a chance to destroy the One Ring in the fires of Mount Doom . Although often called

10530-437: The Rangers. Learning of the One Ring, Faramir takes his captives to Gondor to bring the Ring to his father Denethor . Passing through the besieged city of Osgiliath, Frodo tries to explain to Faramir the true nature of the Ring, and Sam explains that Boromir was driven mad by its power. A Nazgûl nearly captures Frodo, who falls under the Ring's power, but Sam saves him and reminds a disheartened Frodo that they are fighting for

10692-455: The Rankin and Bass TV specials. In 1995, while completing post-production on The Frighteners , Jackson and Fran Walsh discussed making an original fantasy film, but could not think of a scenario that was not Tolkien-esque, and eventually decided to look up the film rights. They went to Harvey Weinstein from Miramax , who got the rights from Saul Zaentz. Jackson knew it would take multiple films to do Tolkien justice, but initially pitched

10854-400: The Ring and insist on joining Frodo on his journey. They try to shake off the Black Riders by cutting through the Old Forest . Merry and Pippin are trapped by the malign Old Man Willow , but are rescued by Tom Bombadil . Leaving Tom's house, they are caught by a barrow-wight . Frodo, awakening from the barrow-wight's spell, calls Tom Bombadil, who frees them and gives them ancient swords from

11016-411: The Ring and its powers and thought that would be a better focus for the new work. As the story progressed, he brought in elements from The Silmarillion mythology. Writing was slow, because Tolkien had a full-time academic position, marked exams to bring in a little extra income, and wrote many drafts. Tolkien abandoned The Lord of the Rings during most of 1943 and only restarted it in April 1944, as

11178-422: The Ring for himself. The trio witness the Witch-king of Angmar , lord of the nine Nazgûl , setting off towards Gondor with his army of Orcs . Gollum frames Sam for eating food supplies and desiring the Ring; Frodo is deceived and orders Sam to go home. As King Théoden gathers his army, Elrond tells Aragorn that Arwen is dying, having refused to leave Middle-earth. Elrond gives Aragorn Andúril , reforged from

11340-508: The Ring is destroyed, Sauron loses his power. All he created collapses, the Nazgûl perish, and Aragorn wins the battle of the Morannon. Aragorn is crowned King, and weds Arwen , Elrond's daughter. Théoden is buried; Éomer is crowned King of Rohan. His sister Éowyn is engaged to Faramir, now Steward of Gondor and Prince of Ithilien. Galadriel, Celeborn, and Gandalf say farewell to Treebeard, and to Aragorn. The four hobbits travel home, only to find it has been taken over by Saruman's men. Merry raises

11502-422: The Rings have been made for radio , theatre , and film . It was named Britain's best-loved novel of all time in a 2003 poll by the BBC called The Big Read . Bilbo Baggins celebrates his birthday and leaves the Ring to Frodo , his heir. Gandalf (a wizard ) suspects it is a Ring of Power ; seventeen years later, he confirms it was lost by the Dark Lord Sauron and counsels Frodo to take it away from

11664-462: The Rings is an example of epic fantasy, though the genre is not limited to the Western tradition, for example: Arabic epic literature includes One Thousand and One Nights ; and Indian epic poetry includes Ramayana and Mahabharata . The Lord of the Rings (film series) The Lord of the Rings is a trilogy of epic fantasy adventure films directed by Peter Jackson , based on

11826-504: 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. A variety of filmmakers considered adapting Tolkien's book, among them Stanley Kubrick , who thought it unfilmable , Michelangelo Antonioni , Jim Henson , Heinz Edelmann , and John Boorman . A Swedish live action television film, Sagan om ringen ,

11988-412: The Rings which go so far as to develop multiple novel languages for their mythos. This creative mythos could still, however, be argued to be drawing upon existing narratives, traditions, and motifs present in cultures and communities represented in these epics. The themes within an epic are reflected in the relationship between the epic hero and the epic setting. The concerns of an epic are greater than

12150-402: The Rings itself "urgently wanted cutting", Tolkien eventually demanded that they publish the book in 1952. Collins did not; and so Tolkien wrote to Allen and Unwin, saying, "I would gladly consider the publication of any part of the stuff", fearing his work would never see the light of day. For publication, the work was divided into three volumes to minimize any potential financial loss due to

12312-490: The Rings on its list of the 100 most influential novels . The Lord of the Rings has been adapted into various media, including radio, stage, motion pictures, and videogames. The book has been adapted for radio four times. In 1955 and 1956, the BBC broadcast The Lord of the Rings , a 13-part radio adaptation of the story. In the 1960s radio station WBAI produced a short radio adaptation . A 1979 dramatization of The Lord of

12474-565: The Rings 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 United States in the 1960s. The book has remained so ever since, ranking as the most popular works of fiction of the twentieth century, judged by all of three different measures: sales, library borrowings, and reader surveys. In

12636-646: The Rings , read by the British actor Rob Inglis . 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 June 2007; it was a commercial failure. Epic (genre) The use of epic as a genre, specifically for epic poetry, dates back millennia, all the way to the Epic of Gilgamesh , widely agreed to be

12798-649: The Rings , with a flashback to Bilbo's encounter with Gollum in The Hobbit . A far more successful adaptation was 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

12960-595: The Rings: The Rings of Power . It is set at the beginning of the Second Age , long before the time of The Lord of the Rings , based on materials in the novel's appendices. In early 2023, Warner Bros. Discovery announced that multiple new movies set in Middle-earth are in development, and will be produced along with New Line Cinema and Freemode. In 1990, Recorded Books published an audio version of The Lord of

13122-459: The Sea to find peace. Extensive appendices outline more details of the history, cultures, genealogies , and languages that Tolkien imagined for the peoples of Middle-earth. In antiquarian style , they provide background details for the narrative, with much detail for Tolkien fans who want to know more about the stories. Tolkien presents The Lord of the Rings within a fictional frame story where he

13284-451: The Shire for one last adventure and leaves his inheritance, including the Ring, to his nephew Frodo . Gandalf investigates the Ring, discovers its true nature, and learns that Gollum was captured and tortured by Sauron's Orcs, revealing two words during his interrogation: "Shire" and "Baggins." Gandalf returns and warns Frodo to leave the Shire. As Frodo departs with his friend, gardener Samwise Gamgee , Gandalf rides to Isengard to meet with

13446-456: The Shire. Gandalf leaves, promising to return, but fails to do so. Frodo sets out on foot with his cousin Pippin Took and gardener Sam Gamgee . They are pursued by Black Riders , but meet some Elves , whose singing to Elbereth wards off the Riders. The Hobbits take an evasive shortcut to Bucklebury Ferry, where they meet their friend Merry Brandybuck . Merry and Pippin reveal they know about

13608-505: The Third Age . However, these individual book titles were dropped, and after pressure from his publishers, Tolkien suggested the volume titles: Vol. 1, The Shadow Grows ; Vol. 2, The Ring in the Shadow ; Vol. 3, The War of the Ring or The Return of the King . Because the three-volume binding was so widely distributed, the work is often referred to as the Lord of the Rings "trilogy". In a letter to

13770-474: The United Kingdom. In the United States, Houghton Mifflin published The Fellowship of the Ring on 21 October 1954, The Two Towers on 21 April 1955, and The Return of the King on 5 January 1956. The Return of the King was especially delayed as Tolkien revised the ending and prepared appendices (some of which had to be left out because of space constraints). Tolkien did not like the title The Return of

13932-556: The Witch-king with Merry's help before Théoden dies in his niece's arms. Aragorn arrives with his Army of the Dead, who overcome Sauron's forces. Their oath fulfilled, the Dead are released from their curse. Aragorn decides to march on Mordor to distract Sauron from Frodo and Sam; all of Sauron's remaining forces march to meet Aragorn's diversion , allowing the hobbits to reach Mount Doom. Gollum, having survived his fall, attacks, but Frodo enters

14094-528: The Witch-king, departs Middle-earth for the Undying Lands with his uncle Bilbo , Gandalf, and the Elves. He leaves Sam the Red Book of Westmarch , which details their adventures. Jackson began abstract discussions on casting during the development of the scripts with Miramax. Jackson, Walsh, and Boyens compiled a casting wishlist, which included Cate Blanchett for Galadriel and Ian Holm for Bilbo. Wondering whether Patrick Stewart would be right for

14256-693: The achievement of John Milton 's Paradise Lost . Kenneth F. Slater wrote in Nebula Science Fiction , April 1955, "... if you don't read it, you have missed one of the finest books of its type ever to appear". On the other hand, in 1955, the Scottish poet Edwin Muir attacked The Return of the King , writing that "All the characters are boys masquerading as adult heroes ... and will never come to puberty ... Hardly one of them knows anything about women", causing Tolkien to complain angrily to his publisher. In 1956,

14418-429: The addictive danger of power , and various aspects of Christianity such as the presence of three Christ figures, for prophet, priest, and king , as well as elements like hope and redemptive suffering . There is a common theme throughout the work of language , its sound , and its relationship to peoples and places, along with hints of providence in descriptions of weather and landscape. Out of these, Tolkien stated that

14580-411: The author's death. The work is divided internally into six books, two per volume, with several appendices of chronologies, genealogies, and linguistic information. These three volumes were later published as a boxed set in 1957, and even finally as a single volume in 1968, following the author's original intent. Tolkien's work, after an initially mixed reception by the literary establishment, has been

14742-401: The author, that stem from their own learned knowledge. The author, unlike with folk epics, tends to be recognised. Transition from Folk to Literary Epic Early famous poems such as Iliad and Odyssey , show the transition from folk to literary epics. With a need to preserve these famous stories, they were adapted to a written format. Their author known as Homer probably never existed, as

14904-490: The books had broken even, after which he would take a large share of the profits. It has ultimately become one of the best-selling novels ever written, with at least 50 million copies sold by 2003 and over 150 million copies sold by 2007. The work was published in the UK by Allen & Unwin until 1990, when the publisher and its assets were acquired by HarperCollins . In the early 1960s Donald A. Wollheim , science fiction editor of

15066-529: The books. To allow the story to be clearer for viewers, Jackson took a more chronological approach to the story than Tolkien's complex interlacing of storylines . During shooting, the screenplays continued to evolve, in part due to contributions from cast members looking to further explore their characters. Earlier versions of the script included additional characters like Fatty Bolger, Glorfindel, Elladan, Elrohir, Erkenbrand, Imrahil, and Forlong. At one point, Jackson even considered reintroducing Tom Bombadil in

15228-438: The central theme is death and immortality. To those who supposed that the book was an allegory of events in the 20th century, Tolkien replied in the foreword to the Second Edition that it was not, saying he preferred "history, true or feigned, with its varied applicability to the thought and experience of readers." Some commentators have criticized the book for being a story about men for boys, with no significant women; or about

15390-502: The defenders, but the enormous Orc army breaks into the city. Denethor attempts to burn himself and Faramir on a pyre , but Pippin alerts Gandalf and they rescue Faramir. Denethor, set ablaze, jumps to his death. Théoden arrives and leads his army against the Orcs. Despite initial success in the ensuing battle , they are decimated by the Oliphaunt -riding Haradrim and the Witch-king mortally wounds Théoden; however, his niece Éowyn slays

15552-420: The editors and submitted by readers. Yet more corrections were made in the 60th Anniversary Edition in 2014. Several editions, including the 50th Anniversary Edition, print the whole work in one volume, with the result that pagination varies widely over the various editions. From 1988 to 1992 Christopher Tolkien published the surviving drafts of The Lord of the Rings , chronicling and illuminating with commentary

15714-661: The elements of the story fitted together in time and space. He prepared a variety of types of illustration – maps, calligraphy, drawings, cover designs, even a facsimile painting of the Book of Mazarbul – but only the maps, the inscription on the Ring, and a drawing of the Doors of Durin were included in the first edition. The hardback editions sometimes had cover illustrations by Tolkien, sometimes by other artists. According to The New York Times , Barbara Remington 's cover designs for Ballantine 's paperback editions "achieved mass-cult status in

15876-632: The entire period, amounting to over 1,000 shooting days. Weta Digital developed new technologies to allow for the groundbreaking digital effects required for the trilogy, including the development of the MASSIVE software to generate intelligent crowds for battle scenes, and advancing the art of motion capture , which was used on bipedal creatures like the Cave Troll or Gollum . With Jackson's future films, motion-capture technology came to be pushed so far that it became referred to as "digital makeup", although it

16038-460: The erupting Mount Doom and are saved by Gandalf with the help of eagles . The surviving Fellowship is happily reunited in Minas Tirith. Aragorn is crowned King of Gondor and marries Arwen; they and everyone else present bow to the hobbits. The hobbits return home to the Shire , where Sam marries Rosie Cotton. Four years later, Frodo, still plagued by trauma and the pain of his wound inflicted by

16200-612: The extended version of the films. Previous attempts to film J. R. R. Tolkien 's works were made by William Snyder , Peter Shaffer and John Boorman . These attempts resulted in a couple of unproduced scripts, concept art and an animated short. Other filmmakers and producers to have had an interest in adapting Tolkien are said to include Walt Disney , Al Brodax , Forrest Ackerman , Denis O'Dell (who considered Richard Lester to direct, but instead approached David Lean , Stanley Kubrick , and Michelangelo Antonioni ) and George Lucas . The rights to adapt Tolkien's works passed through

16362-528: The fictional world of Middle-earth , the films follow the hobbit Frodo Baggins as he and the Company of the Ring embark on a quest to destroy the One Ring to defeat its maker, the Dark Lord Sauron . The Company eventually splits up and Frodo continues the quest with his loyal companion Sam and, eventually, the treacherous Gollum . Meanwhile, Aragorn , heir in exile to the throne of Gondor , along with

16524-590: The films at 4K , but both were cost-prohibitive and could not be done on New Zealand soil. They decided to shoot on fine-grain Super 35 mm film and subject the films to rigorous digital grading. Principal photography for all three films was conducted concurrently in many locations within New Zealand's conservation areas and national parks . Filming took place between 11 October 1999 and 22 December 2000. Pick-up shoots were conducted annually from 2001 to 2004. The series

16686-521: The fires of Mount Doom. Frodo volunteers to take the Ring, accompanied by Gandalf, Sam, Merry, Pippin, the Elf Legolas , the Dwarf Gimli , Boromir of Gondor, and Strider—who is actually Aragorn, Isildur's heir and the rightful King of Gondor. Bilbo, now living in Rivendell, gives Frodo his sword Sting, and a chainmail shirt made of mithril . The Company of the Ring makes for the Gap of Rohan, but discover it

16848-531: The first epic. But critique and discourse has continuously arisen over this long period of time, with attempts to clarify what the core characteristics of the “epic” genre really are beginning only in the past two centuries as new mediums of storytelling emerged with developing technologies. Most significantly, the advent of the novel, such as classics like Tolstoy 's War and Peace which began to be referred to as “epic novels”, caused critics to reconsider what can be called an “epic”. With this discussion, epic became

17010-495: The first half of The Lord of the Rings . While profitable, the film did not make enough money to automatically warrant the sequel which would close the story and an argument with producer Saul Zaentz led Bakshi to abandon the project. Rankin/Bass then followed in 1980 with an animated TV adaptation of The Return of the King . Several other Tolkienesque fantasy films were produced at the time, including Jim Henson and Frank Oz 's The Dark Crystal and Lucas's Willow . At

17172-516: The fortress of the Hornburg at Helm's Deep . Gandalf departs to find Éomer and his followers, hoping they will fight for their restored king. Aragorn befriends Théoden's niece, Éowyn , who becomes infatuated with him. When the refugees travelling to Helm's Deep are attacked by Saruman's Warg -riding Orcs, Aragorn falls from a cliff and is presumed dead. He is found by Théodred's horse Brego and rides to Helm's Deep, witnessing Saruman's army marching toward

17334-562: The fortress. In Rivendell , Arwen is told by her father Elrond that Aragorn will not return. He reminds her that if she remains in Middle-earth, she will outlive Aragorn by thousands of years, and she reluctantly departs for Valinor . Elrond is contacted by Galadriel of Lothlórien , who convinces him that the Elves should honour their alliance to men, and they dispatch a company of Elves to Helm's Deep. In Fangorn, Merry and Pippin meet Treebeard , an Ent . Convincing Treebeard that they are allies, they are brought to an Ent Council, where

17496-526: The good still left in Middle-earth. Impressed by Frodo's resolve, Faramir releases them. Feeling betrayed by his capture, Gollum decides he will reclaim the Ring by leading Frodo and Sam to Shelob upon arriving at Cirith Ungol . The hobbit Déagol discovers the One Ring in a river while fishing with his cousin Sméagol . The Ring immediately ensnares Sméagol's mind, and he kills his cousin for it. Increasingly corrupted physically and mentally, he retreats into

17658-406: The hands of several studios, having been briefly leased to Rembrandt Films before being sold perpetually to United Artists . In 1976, UA passed the rights to The Lord of the Rings (and a part of the rights to The Hobbit ) to Fantasy Films . In 1977, an animated adaptation of The Hobbit was produced as a TV special by Rankin and Bass and in 1978 Ralph Bakshi made an animated feature of

17820-420: The high cost of type-setting and modest anticipated sales: 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 an index led to the volumes being published later than originally hoped – on 29 July 1954, on 11 November 1954 and on 20 October 1955 respectively in

17982-583: The individual hero's concerns; the grandiosity extends to the conflict, and the concern of the epic is the concern of the entire world within the narrative. There are many genres of epic and various mediums that have adopted such genres, including: Real-life stories of heroic figures have also been referred to as being epic. For example, Ernest Shackleton 's exploration adventures in Antarctica . Epic fantasy (or high fantasy) has been described as containing three elements: J. R. R. Tolkien 's The Lord of

18144-517: The interplay between English and the invented nomenclature of the English work, and gave several examples along with general guidance. Early reviews of the work were mixed . The initial review in the Sunday Telegraph described it as "among the greatest works of imaginative fiction of the twentieth century". The Sunday Times echoed this sentiment, stating that "the English-speaking world

18306-471: The legend of King Arthur , which, as it exists in the modern day, has been interpreted to be loosely modeled upon the life of Jesus , however this was not always the case. Arthurian literature had originally been based on pre-Christian, Celtic folklore and may have been based on a British warrior (5th–6th century) who staved off invading Saxons . During the early christianization of the United Kingdom ,

18468-419: The literary establishment disliked The Lord of the Rings , and the work's subtlety, themes, and merits, including the impression of depth that it conveys. The scholar of humanities Brian Rosebury analysed Tolkien's prose style in detail, showing that it was generally quite plain, varying to suit the voices of the different characters, and rising to a heroic register for special moments. In 1957, The Lord of

18630-415: The militarization and industrialization inspired the character of Sauron and his forces. The Orcs represented the worst of it as workers that have been tortured and brutalized by the war and industry. Scholars and critics have identified many themes in the book with its complex interlaced narrative , including a reversed quest , the struggle of good and evil , death and immortality , fate and free will,

18792-485: The modern fantasy genre. Since release, it has been reprinted many times and translated into at least 38 languages . Its enduring popularity 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. It has inspired many derivative works , including paintings, music, films , television, video games , and board games. Award-winning adaptations of The Lord of

18954-486: The mountain. There, he succumbs to the Ring's power, putting it on his finger. Gollum bites Frodo's finger off and reclaims the Ring, leading to a scuffle before they stumble off the ledge. Frodo clings to the ledge and Sam pulls him up while Gollum falls into the lava with the Ring, destroying it and vanquishing Sauron once and for all. The lands of Mordor collapse into the earth, destroying the Orc army. Frodo and Sam narrowly escape

19116-632: The name was used to incorporate the many generations of performers who told, retold, and shaped the stories of the Iliad and the Odyssey over time. It has been well-established that narrative works of extreme length can be considered “epics”. The exact length is less important than the relative length within its medium. For example, with poetry, the distinction is made between epics and lyrics , relatively long and short respectively as poetry. In film, television, or novels, just as in epic poetry, this can manifest as

19278-624: The novel The Lord of the Rings by English author J. R. R. Tolkien . The films are titled identically to the three volumes of the novel: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Two Towers (2002), and The Return of the King (2003). Produced and distributed by New Line Cinema with the co-production of WingNut Films , the films feature an ensemble cast including Elijah Wood , Ian McKellen , Liv Tyler , Viggo Mortensen , Sean Astin , Cate Blanchett , John Rhys-Davies , Christopher Lee , Billy Boyd , Dominic Monaghan , Orlando Bloom , Hugo Weaving , Andy Serkis , and Sean Bean . Set in

19440-601: The paperback publisher Ace Books , claimed that The Lord of the Rings was not protected in the United States under American copyright law because Houghton Mifflin, the US hardcover publisher, had neglected to copyright the work in the United States. Then, in 1965, Ace Books proceeded to publish an edition, unauthorized by Tolkien and without paying 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

19602-598: The part (both declined). When von Sydow inquired for the part later, his agent told him they were looking for an English actor. While casting, Jackson looked for backup options for the various parts, including Lucy Lawless and Nicole Kidman for Galadriel; Anthony Hopkins or Sylvester McCoy (eventually cast as Radagast in The Hobbit trilogy) for Bilbo; Paul Scofield , Jeremy Irons , Malcolm McDowell , or Tim Curry for Saruman. For Gandalf, they looked into Tom Baker , Tom Wilkinson , Sam Neill , Bernard Hill (who

19764-594: The part of Gandalf, Philippa Boyens drew a tape of him performing opposite Ian McKellen, only to suggest the latter to Jackson. McKellen became Jackson's first choice for Gandalf. Christopher Lee sent Jackson a photograph of himself in a wizard's costume, wanting to play Gandalf, but Jackson decided Lee would instead be better as Saruman. Miramax wanted a recognisable name for Gandalf and suggested Max von Sydow or Paul Scofield and, wanting an American star, even mentioned Morgan Freeman . When New Line took over, they suggested Christopher Plummer or Sean Connery for

19926-450: The people of Rohan, shortly before Saruman's army attacks the fortress. The Uruk-hai breach the outer wall with explosives and during the ensuing charge, killing the Elves' commander, Haldir. The defenders retreat into the keep, where Aragorn convinces Théoden to meet the Uruk-hai in one last charge. At dawn, as the defenders are overwhelmed, Gandalf and Éomer arrive with the Rohirrim, turning

20088-468: The poet W. H. Auden , who famously reviewed the final volume in 1956, Tolkien himself made use of the term "trilogy" for the work though he did at other times consider this incorrect, as it was written and conceived as a single book. It is often called a novel; however, Tolkien objected to this term as he viewed it as a heroic romance . The books were published under a profit-sharing arrangement, whereby Tolkien would not receive an advance or royalties until

20250-415: The poetry is essential for the fiction to work aesthetically and thematically, as it adds information not given in the prose, and it brings out characters and their backgrounds. The poetry has been judged to be of high technical skill, reflected in Tolkien's prose; for instance, he wrote much of Tom Bombadil 's speech in metre. Tolkien worked on the text using his maps of Middle-earth as a guide, to ensure

20412-477: The project; but Jackson also relied on the work of Ted Nasmith, who later turned down an offer to join Alan and John. Jackson wanted realistic designs in the style of historical epics rather than fantasy films, citing Braveheart as an inspiration: It might be clearer if I described it as an historical film. Something very different to Dark Crystal or Labyrinth . Imagine something like Braveheart , but with

20574-478: The raid but leaves the group with two horses. In Fangorn, Aragorn's group encounters Gandalf, who, after dying in battle fighting the Balrog, was resurrected as Gandalf the White to help save Middle-earth . Gandalf leads the trio to Rohan's capital, Edoras , where Gandalf frees Théoden from Saruman's control. Aragorn stops Théoden from executing Wormtongue, who flees. Learning of Saruman's plans to destroy Rohan with his Uruk-hai army, Théoden evacuates his citizens to

20736-831: The same fate. Aragorn, accompanied by Legolas, Gimli, and the Rangers of the North , takes the Paths of the Dead to recruit the Dead Men of Dunharrow, oathbreakers who will have no rest until they fight for the King of Gondor. Aragorn unleashes the Army of the Dead on the Corsairs of Umbar invading southern Gondor. He and men of southern Gondor sail in the Corsairs' ships up the Anduin , reaching Minas Tirith just in time to turn

20898-577: The scripts took shape, it became clear that the budget required would exceed Miramax's capabilities. The Weinsteins suggested cutting the project to one film. Jackson inquired whether it could be around four hours in duration, but Miramax insisted on two hours, suggesting major cuts to the story, which Jackson refused. Harvey Weinstein threatened to replace Jackson with screenwriter Hossein Amini and directors John Madden or Quentin Tarantino . Jackson believed this

21060-447: The series with Christian Rivers , Fran Walsh , and Philippa Boyens in 1997 and assigned his crew to begin designing Middle-earth at the same time. Jackson, Walsh, and Boyens did not write each film to correspond exactly to its respective book, opting instead to write a three-part adaptation with some sequences missing, some sequences created from scratch, and some sequences moved from one area to another, regardless of its placement in

21222-403: The shards of King Elendil 's sword Narsil , and urges him to claim Gondor's throne, to which he is heir. Aragorn travels the Paths of the Dead with Legolas and Gimli and pledges to release the ghosts there from their curse should they come to Gondor's aid. Gollum tricks Frodo into venturing alone into the giant spider Shelob 's lair. Frodo narrowly escapes and confronts Gollum, who falls down

21384-476: The stages of the text's development, in volumes 6–9 of his History of Middle-earth series. The four volumes carry the titles The Return of the Shadow , The Treason of Isengard , The War of the Ring , and Sauron Defeated . The work has been translated, with varying degrees of success, into at least 38, and reportedly at least 70, languages. Tolkien, an expert in philology , examined many of these translations, and made comments on each that reflect both

21546-481: 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 come 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

21708-464: The story's main antagonist , the Dark Lord Sauron , who in an earlier age created the One Ring , allowing him to rule the other Rings of Power given to men , dwarves , and elves , in his campaign to conquer all of Middle-earth. From homely beginnings in the Shire , a hobbit land reminiscent of the English countryside, the story ranges across Middle-earth, following the quest to destroy

21870-435: The studio deemed too young. After shooting began, Jackson agreed and decided to recast the role. They approached Viggo Mortensen , but also spoke to Russell Crowe (who auditioned for Boromir previously), as a backup choice. Patrick McGoohan , their first choice for Denethor, proved "quite grumpy" when they met, and they instead looked into Donald Sutherland and John Rhys-Davies , and ultimately cast John Noble . Davies

22032-470: The subject of extensive analysis of its themes , literary devices , and origins. Influences on this earlier work, and on the story of The Lord of the Rings , include philology , mythology, Christianity , earlier fantasy works , and his own experiences in the First World War . The Lord of the Rings is considered one of the greatest fantasy books ever written, and it has helped to create and shape

22194-565: The tide of battle. Théoden's niece Éowyn , who joined the army in disguise, kills the Lord of the Nazgûl with help from Merry; both are wounded. Gondor and Rohan defeat Sauron's army in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields , but Théoden is killed. Aragorn enters Minas Tirith and heals the sick. He leads an army through Ithilien to the Black Gate to distract Sauron from his true danger. At the Battle of

22356-497: The tide of the battle. The surviving Uruk-hai flee into Fangorn Forest and are killed by the trees. Gandalf warns that Sauron will retaliate. Gollum leads Frodo and Sam through the Dead Marshes to the Black Gate , but recommends they enter Mordor by another route. Frodo and Sam are captured by Rangers of Ithilien led by Faramir , younger brother of the late Boromir . Frodo helps Faramir catch Gollum to save him from being killed by

22518-526: The time of the release of Bakshi's film, a teenaged Peter Jackson had not read the book, but "heard the name", and went to see the film: "I liked the early part—it had some quaint sequences in Hobbiton, a creepy encounter with the Black Rider on the road, and a few quite good battle scenes—but then, about half way through, the storytelling became very disjointed and disorientating and I really didn't understand what

22680-655: The translation process and his work. As 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 fictitious Red Book of Westmarch , using the English language to represent the Westron of the "original", Tolkien suggested that translators attempt to capture

22842-478: The trilogy would be successful, which led them to sign on. Final cut rights were shared contractually between Jackson and Bob Shaye, but there was never any interference in Jackson's cut. Initially, each film had a production budget of $ 60 million, but New Line accepted Jackson's request for an increased budget after a 26-minute preview of The Fellowship of the Ring was presented at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival . Jackson began storyboarding and screenwriting

23004-407: The wight's hoard. The Hobbits reach the village of Bree , where they meet Strider , a Ranger . The innkeeper gives Frodo an old letter from Gandalf, which identifies Strider as a friend. Knowing the Black Riders will attempt to seize the Ring, Strider guides the group toward the Elvish sanctuary of Rivendell . At Weathertop , they are attacked by five Black Riders. Their leader wounds Frodo with

23166-524: The wizard Saruman but discovers his betrayal and alliance with Sauron, who has dispatched his nine undead Nazgûl servants to find Frodo. Frodo and Sam are joined by fellow hobbits Merry and Pippin , and they evade the Nazgûl before arriving in Bree , where they are meant to meet Gandalf at the Inn of The Prancing Pony. However, Gandalf never arrives, having been taken prisoner by Saruman. The hobbits are then aided by

23328-520: The wizard in the tower of Orthanc . Gandalf convinces Treebeard to send an army of Huorns to Théoden's aid. He brings an army of Riders of Rohan to Helm's Deep. They defeat the Orcs, who flee into the forest of Huorns and are destroyed. Gandalf, Théoden, Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli ride to Isengard, where they find Merry and Pippin relaxing amidst the ruins. Gandalf offers Saruman a chance to turn away from evil. When Saruman refuses, Gandalf strips him of his rank and most of his powers. Wormtongue throws down

23490-472: The word epic can be used to describe any media that has a large scope, that speaks about the human condition and that is ambitious with artistic goals. Star Wars , for example, is considered a modern cinematic epic. Providing a plethora of narrative tropes, the Mesopotamian Epic of Gilgamesh , as the first recorded epic poem, would lay the foundation for the entire Western branch of the genre. Both

23652-520: The work as holding unquestioning devotion to a traditional hierarchical social structure. In his essay " Epic Pooh ", 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 , like Tolkien an English philologist, notes the wide gulf between Tolkien's supporters, both popular and academic, and his literary detractors, and attempts to explain in detail both why

23814-419: The work must be high quality within its medium, again to evoke “epicness”. Epics are thought of as representative of a culture and a community, and something which defines a social identity , thus the epic hero is the individual representative of that. The hero is often righteous or moralistically good, especially in the ancient epic, or else above all others in some field such as combat or leadership. The hero

23976-465: The years went by there was a need to preserve these folk epics in written form and attribute value to their authors. With this increased demand, the literary epic genre emerged. Literary epic shares similarities with folk epic, but instead of being in oral form, it is presented in a written format to ensure its survival across the years. Literary epics tend to be more polished, coherent, and compact in structure and style. They most often are based on ideas of

24138-477: Was a major influence, and Tolkien undoubtedly made use of some real place-names, such as Bag End, the name of his aunt's home. Tolkien stated, too, that he had been influenced by his childhood experiences of the English countryside of Worcestershire near Sarehole Mill , and its urbanization by the growth of Birmingham , and his personal experience of fighting in the trenches of the First World War . Moreover,

24300-446: Was an empty threat to get him to concede to making a one-film version himself. Harvey Weinstein eventually relented and agreed to put the project into turnaround , but his onerous conditions were meant to prevent the project from being taken up by another studio. Jackson got an audience with New Line CEO Robert Shaye , who accepted the project, but requested that it be expanded into a trilogy. New Line had many promising reasons that

24462-409: Was broadcast in 1971. In 1978, Ralph Bakshi made an animated film version covering The Fellowship of the Ring and part of The Two Towers , to mixed reviews. In 1980, Rankin/Bass released an animated TV special based on the closing chapters of The Return of the King , gaining mixed reviews. In Finland, a live action television miniseries, Hobitit , was broadcast in 1993 based on The Lord of

24624-412: Was going on. However, what it did do was to make me want to read the book—if only to find out what happened!" Jackson bought a tie-in paperback edition. He later read The Hobbit and The Silmarillion and listened to the 1981 BBC radio adaptation. Assuming someone would one day adapt it to a live-action film, Jackson read up on some previous attempts to bring the piece to the screen. He had not watched

24786-579: Was inspired primarily by his profession, philology ; his work centred on the study of Old English literature, especially Beowulf , and he acknowledged its importance to his writings . He was a gifted linguist, influenced by Celtic, Finnish, Slavic, and Greek language and mythology. Commentators have attempted to identify literary and topological antecedents for characters, places and events in Tolkien's writings; he acknowledged that he had enjoyed adventure stories by authors such as John Buchan and Rider Haggard . The Arts and Crafts polymath William Morris

24948-414: Was instead cast as Théoden), and Peter O'Toole , and into several older actors who auditioned for other parts, such as Patrick McGoohan and Anthony Hopkins . Miramax and Jackson discussed Daniel Day-Lewis for Aragorn, starting "fanciful internet speculation" that Day-Lewis was approached for the part numerous times, although Jackson eventually inquired about him. Jackson cast Stuart Townsend , whom

25110-537: Was later clarified that during The Lord of the Rings period, it was still fairly reliant on the CG animators. Each film had the benefit of a full year of post-production time before its respective December release, often finishing in October–November, with the crew immediately going to work on the next film. Jackson originally wanted to edit all three films with Jamie Selkirk , but this proved too much work. The next idea

25272-745: Was one of the biggest and most ambitious film projects ever undertaken , with a budget of $ 281 million (equivalent to $ 514 million in 2023). The first film in the series premiered at the Odeon Leicester Square in London on 10 December 2001; the second film premiered at the Ziegfeld Theatre in New York City on 5 December 2002; the third film premiered at the Embassy Theatre in Wellington on 1 December 2003. An extended edition of each film

25434-507: Was printed in October that year, selling a quarter of a million copies within ten months. On 4 September 1966, the novel debuted on The New York Times ' s Paperback Bestsellers list as number three, and was number one by 4 December, a position it held for eight weeks. Houghton Mifflin editions after 1994 consolidate variant revisions by Tolkien, and corrections supervised by Christopher Tolkien , which resulted, after some initial glitches, in

25596-538: Was recast as Gimli, instead of Billy Connolly (later cast as Dáin in The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies ), Robert Trebor , and Timothy Spall . In conversations with Miramax, Liam Neeson 's name came up for Boromir, but he declined. New Line suggested Nicolas Cage , but the filmmakers declined and cast Sean Bean . The following are the cast members who voiced or portrayed characters appearing in

25758-529: Was released on home video a year after its release in cinemas. The Lord of the Rings is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential film series ever made . It was a major financial success and is among the highest-grossing film series of all time , having grossed over $ 2.9 billion worldwide. Their faithfulness to the source material was a subject of discussion. The series received numerous accolades , winning 17 Academy Awards out of 30 total nominations, including Best Picture for The Return of

25920-413: Was shot at many different locations, with seven different units shooting, and soundstages around Wellington and Queenstown . Along with Jackson directing the whole production, other unit directors included John Mahaffie , Geoff Murphy , Barrie M. Osborne , Rick Porras , George Marshall Ruge , and any other assistant director, producer, or writer available. Miniature Photography took place throughout

26082-431: Was to have John Gilbert , Michael Horton , and Selkirk, respectively, editing the three films simultaneously, but after a month that proved too difficult for Jackson, and the films were edited in consecutive years, although Selkirk continued to act as "Supervising Editor" on the first two entries. Daily rushes would often last up to four hours, and by the time The Fellowship of the Ring had been released, assembly cuts of

26244-461: Was unsuccessful. With The Hobbit postponed for a later prequel, Jackson proceeded with making two or more Lord of the Rings films: "We pitched the idea of three films and Miramax didn't really want to take that risk, but we agreed on two." He began writing the scripts with Walsh and Stephen Sinclair , storyboarding with Christian Rivers , and discussing casting ideas with the Weinsteins. As

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