The Lord of the Rings: 50th Anniversary, One Vol. Edition

Overview

One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them

In ancient times the Rings of Power were crafted by the Elven-smiths, and Sauron, the Dark Lord, forged the One Ring, filling it with his own power so that he could rule all others. But the One Ring was taken from him, and though he sought it throughout Middle-earth, it remained lost to him. After many ages it fell by chance into the hands of the hobbit Bilbo Baggins.

From Sauron's fastness in the Dark Tower of Mordor, his power spread far and wide. Sauron gathered all the Great Rings to him, but always he searched for the One Ring that would complete his dominion.

When Bilbo reached his eleventy-first birthday he disappeared, bequeathing to his young cousin Frodo the Ruling Ring and a perilous quest: to journey across Middle-earth, deep into the shadow of the Dark Lord, and destroy the Ring by casting it into the Cracks of Doom.

The Lord of the Rings tells of the great quest undertaken by Frodo and the Fellowship of the Ring: Gandalf the Wizard; the hobbits Merry, Pippin, and Sam; Gimli the Dwarf; Legolas the Elf; Boromir of Gondor; and a tall, mysterious stranger called Strider.

Editorial Reviews

Editorial Reviews for this product are not available at this time.

Author Information

Bio of J.R.R. Tolkien

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born on January 3, 1892, at Bloemfontein in the Orange Free State of South Africa; but at the age of 4, he and his brother were taken back to England by their mother. After his father's death, the family moved to Sarehole, on the southeastern edge of Birmingham. Tolkien spent a happy childhood in the countryside, and his sensibility to the rural landscape can clearly be seen in his writing and his pictures. His mother died when he was only 12, and both he and his brother were made wards of the local priest and sent to King Edward's School in Birmingham, where Tolkien shone in his classical work. After completing a First in English at the University of Oxford, Tolkien married Edith Bratt. He was also commissioned in the Lancashire Fusiliers and fought in the Battle of the Somme in World War I. After the war, he obtained a post on the New English Dictionary and began to write the mythological and legendary cycle which he originally called The Book of Lost Tales, but which eventually became known as The Silmarillion. In 1920 Tolkien was appointed Reader in English Language at the University of Leeds, and this was the beginning of a distinguished academic career, which culminated in his election as Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford. Meanwhile Tolkien wrote for his children and told them the story of The Hobbit. It was his publisher, Stanley Unwin, who asked for a sequel to The Hobbit, and gradually Tolkien wrote The Lord of the Rings, a huge story that took 12 years to complete and which was not published until Tolkien was approaching retirement. After retirement, Tolkien and his wife lived near Oxford, but then moved to Bournemouth. Tolkien returned to Oxford after his wife's death in 1971. He died on September 2, 1973, leaving The Silmarillion to be edited for publication by his son, Christopher.

Customer Reviews

• Window to Reading

  Posted April 23, 2009 by SS, WA

  I hated reading until one Christmas (many years ago) my parents purchased the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings trilogy and insisted I read the whole thing. After great protest I struggled with the first couple pages of the Hobbit not sure what I was diving into. I very quickly began see a new world open. I strongly recommend Tolkien's works as a must read for young and old readers alike. All readers will be able to find some hope and inspiration while following a handful of heroes through the struggles and dangers they encounter.

Additional Info

Imprint

HarperCollins

Filesize

7.62 MB

Number of Pages

1216

eBook ISBN

9780061917851