The Lord of the Rings
J. R. R. Tolkien was a philologist by profession, and Middle-earth began as a setting for invented languages rather than the other way round — the mythology exists to give Quenya and Sindarin speakers and a history. Published in three volumes in 1954 and 1955, The Lord of the Rings effectively created modern commercial fantasy: the quest structure, the assembled fellowship, the invented map and appendices, and the elves-and-dwarves taxonomy that virtually every subsequent fantasy work either adopts or deliberately reacts against.
About The Lord of the Rings
J. R. R. Tolkien was a philologist by profession, and Middle-earth began as a setting for invented languages rather than the other way round — the mythology exists to give Quenya and Sindarin speakers and a history. Published in three volumes in 1954 and 1955, The Lord of the Rings effectively created modern commercial fantasy: the quest structure, the assembled fellowship, the invented map and appendices, and the elves-and-dwarves taxonomy that virtually every subsequent fantasy work either adopts or deliberately reacts against. Peter Jackson's film trilogy, shot simultaneously in New Zealand between 1999 and 2000, is one of the most logistically ambitious productions ever attempted.
Tolkien invented the languages first and built the world to house them, which is the reverse of how most fantasy settings are constructed.
Rights holder: Middle-earth Enterprises; film rights with Warner Bros.. CharacterTshirts.com is an independent guide. It is not affiliated with, authorized by, endorsed by, or connected to any character rights holder, publisher, studio or network named on this site. All character names and titles are trademarks of their respective owners and are used here only to identify the products described.
Key eras
| Era | Years | What happened |
|---|---|---|
| Publication | 1954–1955 | Three volumes, following The Hobbit in 1937. |
| Counterculture | 1960s–1970s | Paperback editions make it a campus phenomenon in the United States. |
| Jackson films | 2001–2003 | Shot back to back; The Return of the King won eleven Academy Awards. |