The Lord of the Rings (Magill’s Guide to Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature)
At a glance:
- Author: J. R. R. Tolkien
- First Published: 1954
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Fantasy—heroic fantasy
- Time of Work: The Third Age, an undefined time in the remote past
- Setting: Middle-earth, a feudal world populated by men, dwarves, wizards, and other fantastic beings
- Genres: Long fiction, Fantasy
- Subjects: Maturation or coming of age, Blizzards, Traveling or travelers, Folkloric or magical people, Magic or magicians, Supernatural, Leadership, Other worlds, Friendship, War, Good and evil, Adventure, Heroes or heroism, Dwarfs, Quest, Elves, Rings, Talisman or magical object
- Locales: Middle-earth (mythic)
The Plot
The Lord of the Rings, the seminal work of modern fantasy, was first published in sections only as a concession to its length; the division of the work into the three volumes familiar to most readers bears no relation to the development of the story. J. R. R. Tolkien himself divided the work into six numbered but untitled books, two of which appear in each volume. Although The Lord of the Rings was begun as a sequel to Tolkien’s popular 1938 children’s book The Hobbit, it so dwarfs the earlier volume in both seriousness and scope as to have...
[The entire page is 1660 words long]
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