The Lord of the Rings

The trilogy "The Lord of the Rings" undoubtedly tops the list of "cult" books of the 20th century. Its author, J.R.R. Tolkien, a professor at Oxford University and a specialist in ancient and medieval English language, created an amazing world — Middle-earth, which has irresistibly attracted millions of readers for nearly fifty years.

The magnificent film trilogy directed by Peter Jackson has vastly increased the ranks of fans of both Tolkien and the genre of heroic fantasy.

The title of the book is a reference to the main antagonist, the Dark Lord Sauron, who in ancient times created the One Ring (the Ring of Power) that gives him power over the other rings of power, obtained by men, dwarves, and elves, with the aim of conquering all of Middle-earth. The action of the novel begins in the Shire, the land of hobbits, reminiscent of the English countryside, and follows the heroes on their journey to the Black Land of Mordor, to Mount Doom — the only place where the Ring could be destroyed. The main characters of the novel are hobbits Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin, as well as the wizard Gandalf, the men Aragorn and Boromir, the elf Legolas, and the dwarf Gimli, representatives of the free peoples of Middle-earth who stood against Sauron.

Their company became the Fellowship of the Ring.