Table Of ContentLO R D
OF
TH E
T H E
R I NG S
20
YEARS ON
The Origins, the Stories, the
FILM
Extraordinary Adventure
A New Journey
to Middle-earth
The Genius of
J.R.R. Tolkien
LORD
THE
OF � E
� NGS
The Lord of the Rings
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2 LIFE THE LORD OF THE RINGS COVER PHOTO-ILLUSTRATION BY SEAN MCCABE
4 46
The Reach of the Rings The Two Towers
50
Part Two’s New Crew
10
The Magical Mind
58
The Secrets of Helm’s Deep
Behind Middle-earth
64
20
Architect of Argot The Return of the King
80
26 Drawn Together
The Fellowship of the Ring
82
32
The Fellowship's Primary Players The Hobbit Trilogy
90
Beast in Show
IN THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE
Ring (2001), an imminent
attack in the Mines of Moria
puts (from left) Ian McKellen,
Viggo Mortensen, John
Rhys-Davies, Orlando Bloom,
and Sean Bean on guard.
33
4 LIFE THE LORD OF THE RINGS
PRODUCTION DESIGNER
Grant Major masterfully
planned the shoot for Peter
Jackson’s fi lms, allowing
a full year for greenery to
grow on locations like the
Hobbiton countryside . He
was nominated for an Oscar
for his work on all three Rings
fi lms, ultimately winning for
The Return of the King.
deeds captured the imagination of a generation and legitimized
an entire genre. Its infl uence is still being felt today.
5
F
antasy has a history of the sequel, and it proved worth the wait. the American counterculture, becom-
misfires,” filmmaker Spanning more than 1,100 pages over ing fi xtures on university bookshelves
The Lord of the Rings
Peter Jackson told three volumes, across the country, which grew their
Entertainment Weekly
in told a far more complicated story, dense popularity and influence. “The hob-
2001, just weeks before with mythology and invented lan- bit habit seems to be almost as catch-
Time
the release of his first guages, and made for a dazzling read. ing as LSD,” proclaimed magazine
The
movie based on Even if it perplexed certain critics, it in 1966. “On many U.S. campuses, but-
Lord of the Rings,
J.R.R. Tolkien’s liter- gained an immediate foothold with tons declaring FRODO LIVES and GO
ary landmark. “For every other genre— a generation of readers and forever GO GANDALF—frequently written in
Westerns, war—you can name truly changed the cultural landscape. Elvish script—are almost as common
amazing fi lms. So fantasy is interest- “His work reflected the potential as football letters.”
ing, because there aren’t really any cli- of fantasy as a genre, and its infl uence Among those Me Generation fans
chés. It’s [a chance] to give an audience extended beyond fantasy as well,” was future author Stephen King, who
The Lord of the Rings
an original experience.” says Tolkien scholar Amy H. Sturgis, has cited as one
Back in 1937, that’s precisely what an author and professor at Lenoir- of his 10 favorite novels. “Hobbits were
the fledgling novelist and distin- Rhyne University in North Carolina. big when I was nineteen ,” King writes
guished Oxford professor had done “His stories spawned many imitators, in the introduction to one of the books
The Hobbit. Dark Tower
with His debut, set in his but they also continue to inspire cre- in his Tolkien-inspired
imagined world of Middle-earth, drew ators who seek to tell different tales series. “There were probably half a
on a long- running fascination with from other perspectives. Just think dozen Merrys and Pippins slogging
Star Trek
fairy tales and Norse myth, creating of modern mythologies like through the mud at Max Yasgur’s farm
Star Wars
a high- fantasy world unlike anything or ; they use detailed maps during the Great Woodstock Music
ever previously committed to paper. and created languages and invented Festival, twice as many Frodos, and
The tale of a resolute homebody, hob- histories for imaginary cultures in hippie Gandalfs without number,” he
bit Bilbo Baggins, drawn into a quest— order to build immersive worlds and continued, naming popular characters
involving wizards, dwarves, elves, galaxies. They invite audiences to from the saga.
The Lord of
giant spiders, a fi re-breathing dragon, inhabit these fi ctional landscapes and In the decades since,
the Rings
a hoard of gold, and a massive confl ict explore the human condition through has served as a gateway for
among fi ve armies— immediately cap- their hopeful morality tales. That’s readers to discover the joys of adven-
tured the public’s imagination and Tolkienian storytelling.” ture stories set in worlds far beyond
Lord of the Rings
vaulted the novel to best-seller status. The novels found their own. It has inspired authors to
Tolkien then spent 17 years crafting an especially receptive audience among explore the furthest reaches of their
ACROSS THE GLOBE, INTEREST
in the Rings fl ourished. In 2004,
Priscilla Tolkien (left), the
author’s daughter, unveiled
a British stamp featuring her
father’s drawing The Hall at Bag-
End. Opposite, clockwise from
top left: Tourists visit the fi lms’
Hobbiton sets in New Zealand in
2012; fans cavorted in costume
at the 2001 German premiere
of Fellowship; the stage-musical
adaptation got a second chance
in 2007 on London’s West End,
where it ran for 13 months;
afi cionados soaked in the sights
at Switzerland’s Greisinger
Museum, a trove of all things
Tolkien; and, in 2017, the Florence
Opera performed along with a
screening of The Two Towers.
6 LIFE THE LORD OF THE RINGS
A NEW SERIES FROM AMAZON
based on Tolkien’s works will
be set in the Second Age, when
villain Sauron forged the all-
important Ring .
imaginations and conjure countless me—truly a light in dark places when Power became inescapable—though
stories that are equally beloved. “Of all other lights went out,” Colbert wrote some longtime Tolkien experts were
EW
all the authors [that] had an impact on in in 2014. “For an awkward teen- less enamored with the movies than
me . . . Tolkien is right up there at the ager, Middle-earth was a world I could general audiences.
top,” said George R.R. Martin, whose escape to.” “Ever since the Jackson adaptations
F
novels spawned the blockbuster TV were released there have been fans who
Game of Thrones,
series in 2019. “I yield ilmmaker Peter Jackson read confuse what Tolkien wrote with what
The The Lord of the Rings
to no one in my admiration for in his Jackson fi lmed,” say Tolkien scholars
Lord of the Rings
—I re-read it every later teen years, not realizing Wayne Hammond and Christina Scull
.
few years. It’s one of the great books of he’d someday return Tolkien’s in an e-mail to LIFE “Jackson did well
the 20th century . . .” epic to the forefront of popular cul- from his fi lms, but they sharply [and]
Of Tolkien’s many famous fans, ture. Released between 2001 and sometimes angrily divided Tolkien
Rings
however, few may understand and trea- 2003, Jackson’s cinematic tril- enthusiasts, some of whom praise
sure his work more deeply than come- ogy dominated the worldwide box them highly and accept their many
dian and late-night talk show host off ice, earning billions and racking up departures from their source, while
Stephen Colbert, who can even read countless critical accolades. No lon- others—such as ourselves— fi nd them
Tolkien’s invented Elvish language (see ger just the domain of fantasy devo- seriously fl awed.”
“Architect of Argot,” page 20). “Tolkien’s tees, the story of heroic Frodo Baggins Subsequent attempts at adaptation
work has been a lifelong haven for and his quest to destroy the Ring of have fared less well than Jackson’s
8 LIFE THE LORD OF THE RINGS
