The Lord of the Rings

[Adonisus]

Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,
Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,
Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die,
One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.

Man......this write-up is going to be difficult. I mean, seriously, what can I possibly say about this particular book(s) that hasn't already been said a million times over? It's only an honest-to-God classic of 20th century literature. It single-handedly gave birth to an entire genre of popular fiction. Every single novel in western fantasy that has been published since then is compared to it. It became the template for pretty much every fantasy world since then. Almost every fantasy world now has to have Elves, Dwarfs, Orcs, etc. in order for it to be called a fantasy world.

But this only masks the true originality of J. R. R. Tolkien's work. It's easy to forget that, before the publication of LOTR, there was quite literally nothing like it on the literary scene. Oh, sure, there had been books before that came close....like E.R. Eddison's The Worm Ouroboros, William Morris's prose romances, or Lord Dunsany's The King of Elfland's Daughter.

But noone before Tolkien had so perfectly melded a complex fictional world with dynamic characters, intelligent prose and wonderful composition (seriously, Tolkien's books get the kind of treatment from publishers that your average author can only dream of, and the fact that Tolkien was a talented illustrator made it that much easier).

But of course, LOTR wasn't something that just popped up out of the blue. It was the labor of over a decade, which in turn was the culmination of work that had begun some 40 odd years before. Middle-earth was a labor of love for Tolkien, a hobby that he continuously worked and refined since the first World War. It included everything from it's own cosmology, geography, it's own fictional languages (he WAS a philologist after all), and creation myths.

The thing is, though, Tolkien never really intended to be a literary superstar (or atleast not during his lifetime). He was perfectly comfortable with his position as a Professor of Old English at Oxford University, working on Middle-earth during his spare time.

Of course, Tolkien was also the father of four children he absolutely adored, and they often became the sounding board for many of his stories (as well as some obscure group called the Inklings with some guy named C. S. Lewis, but that's another story). And, of course, LOTR was the sequel for another previous work called The Hobbit, which is a classic in its own right. That book had begun as both a bedtime story for his children, as well as random scribblings on a blank piece of paper.

That book was very popular, and publishers asked for more. LOTR was the result (although actually, Tolkien had written and illustrated a storybook called Mr. Bliss, but that wasn't published until the early 80s). Tolkien originally intended for LOTR to be published as a single volume in a two-volume set (with the other volume being what is now called The Silmarillion), but the publisher found it more economically viable to publish the novel in three volumes (hence why it's often mistaken for a trilogy).

LOTR was moderately successful in the beginning, but remained mostly a cult hit for a decade. That all changed in the 1960s, when Ballatine Books began publishing paperback editions of the trilogy for popular consumption. Through word of mouth, the series became a MAJOR publishing and cultural phenomenon that has yet to stop. It spawned the popular 'Frodo Lives!" meme in the late 60s, became the inspiration for numerous video games and film adaptations....and of course there's all of the Led Zeppelin songs.

Tolkien was a prolific author, and there is much material by him that has yet to be published. Much of what we now have access to was published posthumously, thanks to the editorial wizardry of Christopher Tolkien. Recent publications include The Children of Hurin, which predates both The Hobbit and LOTR by centuries.

The story, of course, is well known. Centuries ago, the Valar (demigods created by the One God, Eru) gave rings of power to the three races of Elves, Dwarves, and Men. However, the dark lord Sauron (who inherited the title from the Valar Morgoth) created his own ring, the One Ring, from the fires of Mt. Doom, a volcano located in Sauron's realm of Mordor. Through various random events, this ring would eventually come into the hands of a certain Hobbit, by the name of Bilbo Baggins (the hero of The Hobbit).

Now, many years later, Bilbo has grown tired and is ready to retire to Rivendell. He leaves the ring to his nephew, Frodo Baggins. With the help of Gandalf the Grey (an angel incarnate that Men call 'wizards), the humans Aragorn and Boromir, the Elf Legolas, the dwarf Ghimli, and the hobbits Samwise, Merry and Pippin, Frodo must return the One Ring to Mt. Doom, to be thrown back into the fires from which it came. This quest and the events around it will close the Third Age of Middle-earth, and the result will change the face of all of Middle-earth.

The result is a deep, spiritual and emotional tale of adventure, suspense and redemption. Tolkien's work is understandably considered a classic. Once you get it, you will forever dedicate your very soul to it. It is THAT good.

[Daryn]

I am afraid to admit that I have only seen the films and not read the book. While I really like long books, in particular listening to them, this was one I could never bring myself to sit down and actually read. I have seen the films though, and while a lot of people may say that they're not as good as the novel, I got the basics of the story out of that. It might not be quite the same, but it was still satisfying.

[karakris]

I prefer my own "take" on The Lord of The Rings - or more accurately, The Complete History of Middle Earth - and comments on Tolkein.
However - it does not cover Publications since the mid 1980's, when finances severely limiited my ability to buy all of the Books I would have liked to.

I have read the complete Lord of The Rings about fifty times before I saw the Films, which WERE good, and some several times since.
I also have all of the Precursor Material, published in a simple form as "The Silmarilion". This I have also read at least some forty times or more.

The Lord of The Rings just hints at more ancient times - and that it is the most recent stage of an ancient saga. However - Tolkein envisaged this as only a part of a truly Gigantic Epic Tale.

I have read the Silmarillion - which includes several parts, and tells of the very beginning of the creation of the World, Arda - hundreds of thousands of years before.
Arda which was marred and damaged and perverted from its original intent by Melkor, the original Dark Lord - one of the original Gods ( the Valar ) who created the World and helped to shape it. Melkor who became vain and jealous, and eventually tried to undo and destroy all which the Gods were trying to create.
Eventually he held all of Middle Earth in his sway - with only the Elves to oppose him, for thousands of years. The Gods, the Valar stayed out of this battle on their sacred island far in the West.

Eventually they did come to Middle Earth, and did battle with Melkor, and subdued him. In this War many of the ancient lands were lost, drowned in the seas by the violence of the conflict. Melkor was thrust through "the doors of the night" into the Void, never to return. From this time the Name of MELKOR was forbidden - and he was always called Morgoth, meaning "The Dark Lord".
But much of the Evil he had created remained. The Evil Balrogs, spirits of fire - who were perverted from some of the Maier ( the lesser gods ) whom Melkor had recruited to his worship.
The Orcs which Melkor had made and Bred, in evil imitation of the Elves.
The Dragons or Fire-Drakes, which Melkor had bred in his pits.
But worst of all was the most powerful of the Maier - Sauron, his dark Lieutenant who was only slightly less evil than his Master, and who worshipped him.
Sauron lived on - and "inherited" much of the power which his Master had given to him - with armies of Orcs.

Now all of this happened long, long ago - tens of thousands of years before the story in The Lord of the Rings, and some of the characters in The Lord of The Rings have their origins in those times. Galadriel was a young woman when the Elves first made open War against the Armies of Melkor.

A stange tale from those ancient dark times was Beren and Luthien - for Beren was the son of one of the ladies of the race of Elves, but his father was a Man. Luthien was the daughter of Thingol, one of the Kings of the Elves, and Melian one of the Maier ( a lesser Goddess ).
Their story was a long and sad tale, but eventually after many tribulations Beren and Luthien were married - and although Luthien chose to die as a Mortal, to join Beren - they had a son Dior.
Now Dior had a daughter, Elwing who was the mother of Elrond. So Elrond has been called half-elven, implying that he was half-human. But he was actually one quarter human, and also one quarter a descendent of one of the Maier, his grandmother Melian.
Elves live forever, and Elrond chose to be "judged" as an Ef.
But his brother Elros chose to live as a Mortal Man - the first of the line of Kings of Numenor or "Westernesse" the promised Island far to the West, but not as far West as the sacred kingdom of the Valar.
But Sauron came to the Island of Numenor, and in time perverted the Kings and the people to the worship of his Dark Master, Melkor - and to defy the Ban which the Valar had placed on them, not to attempt to sail to the sacred Kingdom of the Valar.
The punishment meted out to the people of Numenor was dire - the whole island was thrown down into the deeps - in the Akkaballeth or downfalling, and came to be refered to as "Atalante" - the lost, the downfallen.
Sauron escaped with his life, but he was never able to put on his disguised appearance of charm again, he became an evil and grim creature.
Some of the "faithful" amongst the Numenorians also escaped, those who had stayed true to respect for the Valar, and who had not been perverted or decieved by Sauron, those few who had seen through his lies. These people founded the Kingdoms of Gondor in the South, and Arnor in the North.

In the times following this - Sauron rose to power again, at the same time as the Elves of Eregion ( Hollin ) reached the peak of their Powers, and these Elves forged the Rings of Power. Suaron never touched these Rings - but eager for knowledge, they shared their knowledge and skills with Sauron - much to their eternal regret.
Sauron worked secretly in his furnaces at Mount Doom, and forged the One Ring to rule them all - putting very much of his own power into the Ring itself.
When he had finished he read out the words himself - in a voice which could be heard throughout Middle Earth. The Elves of Eregion heard these words "One Ring To Rule Them All", and realised that they had been undone - all of their skills and acheivements would come to naught.
The Elves of Eregion ( Hollin ) were among the first to flee Middle Earth, via the Havens - and journey far into the West, to the Blessed Realm of the Valar.

So Sauron arose again with power, and defeated and destryod the Northern Kingdom of Arnor with his ally, the Witch King of Angmar ( Angmar - the "iron hells" built by Melkor ), who later became the leader of the Nazgul.
The survivors of Arnor became "rangers" - like the direct ancestor of Aragorn, the rightful King of Arnor, and thus of Gondor.
Then Sauron, with armies of Orcs from his fastness in the mountain ring of Mordor, set forth to destroy the remaining Kingdoms of Men, and of the Elves.
The final Alliance of Elves and Men fought Sauron's Armies, under the command of Elendil for Gondor and Gil-Galad for the Elves. Both of these died in that battle, but Sauron's finger was cut off, with his Ring of power, by Elendil's Son Isildur. The rest you all know.

But - remember the time scale. Elrond was a young man, an Esquire of Gil-Galad - but this all happened nearly three thousand years before the times of Bilbo and Frodo.
Elves live forever, if not slain - and Elrond fathered a daughter Arwen whose mother was Celebrian, daughter of Galadriel and Celeborn.
Celebrian died of grief at the dark shadow of Sauron, which was spreading across the whole of Middle Earth.

I have read all of the proper, Published Books of Tolkein.
But I have also read the 16 Books, of all of the Notes which Tolkein left on his death, showing how his ideas evolved and developed, his ideas and thought which he never had enough time to fully flesh out.
For Tolkein lived in a time before computers and word processors, when unless you were a good typist, you had to write everything by hand, then rewrite revisions - and so on, over and over.
A lot of what he imagined and thought only exists in the form of the sheets and scraps of notes and sketches, poems and poetic forms, songs even, which were never published during his life.
These have been collected, correlated and annoted in the 16 or more Volumes relating to Middle Earth which have been Published by his Son, Christopher.

End of Post.

[Slate]

That was fairly enlightening, thank you Karakris for sharing your knowledge with us.

[karakris]

Glad to Help

I just know these Books off by Heart.

My approach to reading Fiction differs from that of some other people.
If I am to enjoy reading a Book, and even want to read it again - then at least for the time I am reading the Book, it has to be REAL to me - it has to be something which I can fully get into, almost Live In.
In the case of The Lord of The Rings, I would be a very poor specimen in that world - not brave, not heroic, not good at making vital decisions, not even lucky. However, it is still a World which it would be a real thrill to inhabit. All I have is honesty, loyalty, consideration for others.

[Adonisus]

One of the things I LOVE about Tolkien (something that I'll probably mention again in a future review), is that he was one of the few people who could actually illustrate his own stories with pictures as well as with words.

Tolkien always claimed that he had no talent for drawing.....Tolkien was lying through his teeth. Anyone whose ever seen the pin & ink illustrations for The Hobbit, the "Book of Mazarbul" designs for LOTR, the watercolors for Roverandom, and the illustrations for the Mr. Bliss picture book can clearly see that he had a natural talent for composition and style. His style was somewhat minimalistic in detail, as the wonder of his art was less the detail and more of the some of its parts.