The Background, Hobbits, and Wizards in Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings

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According to The return of The Kings, “known as The Lord of the Rings, was so immediately successful that a new, larger printing was required, and soon another, still larger printing became necessary. The Hobbit, under wartime pressure of paper shortages, went out of print in 1942, and its subsequent popularity largely derives from the success of The Lord of the Rings” (Kroeber). According to The return of The Kings, The Lord of The rings was successful because people read it and liked it. JOHN RONALD REUEL TOLKIEN (always called Ronald by his family) was born on 3 January 1892, at Bloemfontein, South Africa, where his father Arthur had taken a position with the Bank of Africa (Firchow). The Tolkien family had been prosperous piano manufacturers, but the business had failed. Mabel Suffield, Arthur’s wife, was the daughter of a once successful drapery manufacturer in Birmingham, England, who had gone bankrupt and survived by selling disinfectant to shopkeepers around the city. According to the Background, Sauron always sought pleasure in whoever has interest in the ring and whoever had possession of the ring was called the ring Barer. Sauron is a giant eyeball sitting on top of a tower. From there, he watches every move anyone takes but he is mainly looking for the ring bearer. Once Sauron finally obtained possession of the ring, he then transformed into his omnipotent transformation meaning he makes all that is afraid of fear, fear him. He was then so powerful to the point that no man can defeat him only women. The first of Tolkien’s four children was born in November 1917. After the Armistice Tolkien joined the staff of the Oxford English Dictionary, and in 1920 he was appointed Reader in English Language at Leeds University, whe...

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...scour" or save the Shire (Waito).

Works Cited

Firchow, Peter Edgerly. "The Politics of Fantasy: The Hobbit and Fascism." The Midwest Quarterly 50.1 (2008): 15+. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 14 Jan. 2014.

Krivak, Andrew. "Author of 'The Rings': Tolkien's Catholic Journey." Commonweal 130.22 (19 Dec. 2003): 10-13. Rpt. in Children's Literature Review. Ed. Dana Ferguson. Vol. 152. Detroit: Gale, 2010. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 14 Jan. 2014.

Kroeber, Karl. "Tolkien, J. R. R. (1892-1973)." British Writers: Supplement 2. Ed. George Stade. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1992. 519-536. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 14 Jan. 2014.

Waito, David M. "The Shire Quest: The 'Scouring of the Shire' as the Narrative and Thematic Focus of The Lord of the Rings." Mythlore 28.3-4 (2010): 155+. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 14 Jan. 2014.

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