Who Wrote “The Lord of the Rings”
“The Lord of the Rings” is a fantasy novel that was originally written as a sequel to the children’s novel “The Hobbit.” However, the work became an epic and was actually split into three volumes, “The Fellowship of the Ring,” “The Two Towers” and “The Return of the King,” when it was first published between 1954 and 1955. The book is one of the most famous and popular novels of all time and is one of the bestselling novels ever published (about 150 million copies have been sold). The book has also been adapted for television, film, radio, video games and many more. The best known adaptation of this novel is the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy of movies, which began in 2001. This introduced a whole new audience to this fantasy world and sparked another surge in sales for the book. Let’s find out who wrote this successful novel.
Who Wrote “The Lord of the Rings”?
The “The Lord of the Rings” was written by English author J. R. R. Tolkien between 1937 and 1949, with the largest portion written during the second World War. He initially began writing a sequel to his popular novel “The Hobbit” in 1937 at the request of his publisher. However, he had trouble with the idea for the novel at first. He came up with the title a year later, but the project was put on hold on many occasions and was not finished until 1949. He had a dispute with his publisher and it was offered to Collins Publishers in 1950. However, they believed the novel needed major editing, including major cutting, and Tolkien decided to try again with his original publisher Georges Allen & Unwin. The novel was divided into three volumes because of a paper shortage after the war and to ensure it was affordable. The first volume was published in July 1954 and the last was delayed until October 1955. This was partly because of a dispute about the title of the last volume, which Tolkien believed gave away the plot.
Did you know?
Due to a mix up with copyright in the United States, a publisher produced an unauthorized printing of the novel in 1960. After a public protest by Tolkien and public pressure from his fans the work was withdrawn and a payment was made to Tolkien.
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