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The Return of the King
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The Return of the King
The Return of the King is the third and final volume of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, following The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers. It was published in 1955. The story begins in the kingdom of Gondor, which is soon to be attacked by the Dark Lord Sauron.
The volume was praised by literary figures including W. H. Auden, Anthony Price, and Michael Straight, but attacked by Edwin Muir, who had praised The Fellowship of the Ring.
The chapter "The Scouring of the Shire", and a chapter-length narrative in the appendices, "The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen", have attracted discussion by scholars and critics. "The Scouring of the Shire" has been called the most important chapter in the whole novel, providing in its internal quest to restore the Shire a counterbalance to the main quest to destroy the Ring. Commentators have read into it a variety of contemporary political allusions including a satire of socialism and a strand of environmentalism. Tolkien described "The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen" as essential to the plot of the novel. It covers events both before and after the main narrative, and differs from it in not being from the hobbits' point of view. Scholars have discussed the tale's themes including love and death, Tolkien's balance between open Christianity and treating the characters as pagan; and the fact that having the tale as an appendix deprives the main story of much of its love-interest.
Tolkien conceived of The Lord of the Rings as a single work comprising six "books" plus extensive appendices. In 1953, he proposed titles for the six books to his publisher, Rayner Unwin; Book Five was to be The War of the Ring, while Book Six was to be The End of the Third Age. These titles were eventually used in the (2000) Millennium edition. Unwin however split the work into three volumes, publishing the fifth and sixth books with the appendices into the final volume with the title The Return of the King. Tolkien felt the chosen title revealed too much of the story, and indicated that he preferred The War of the Ring as a title for the volume.
The Return of the King was in the end published as the third and final volume of The Lord of the Rings, on 20 October 1955 in the UK.
Some editions of the volume contain a synopsis for readers who have not read the earlier volumes. The body of the volume consists of books five and six. Book six has variously been titled The Return of the King (clashing with the title of the third volume) and The End of the Third Age, though in many editions the Books are untitled. The volume ends with a set of appendices and an index, varying in different editions.
Sauron sends a great army against Gondor. Gandalf arrives at Minas Tirith to warn Denethor of the attack, while Théoden musters the Rohirrim to ride to Gondor's aid. Minas Tirith is besieged; the Lord of the Nazgûl uses a spell-wound battering ram to destroy the city's gates. Denethor, deceived by Sauron, falls into despair. He burns himself alive on a pyre; Pippin and Gandalf rescue his son Faramir from the same fate.
Aragorn, accompanied by Legolas, Gimli, and the Rangers of the North, takes the Paths of the Dead to recruit the Dead Men of Dunharrow, oathbreakers who are bound by an ancient curse which denies them rest until they fulfil their oath to fight for the King of Gondor. Aragorn unleashes the Army of the Dead on the Corsairs of Umbar invading southern Gondor. With that threat eliminated, Aragorn uses the Corsairs' ships to transport the men of southern Gondor up the Anduin, reaching Minas Tirith just in time to turn the tide of battle. Théoden's niece Éowyn, who joined the army in disguise, kills the Lord of the Nazgûl with help from Merry; both are wounded. Together, Gondor and Rohan defeat Sauron's army in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, though at great cost; Théoden is among the dead.
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The Return of the King
The Return of the King is the third and final volume of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, following The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers. It was published in 1955. The story begins in the kingdom of Gondor, which is soon to be attacked by the Dark Lord Sauron.
The volume was praised by literary figures including W. H. Auden, Anthony Price, and Michael Straight, but attacked by Edwin Muir, who had praised The Fellowship of the Ring.
The chapter "The Scouring of the Shire", and a chapter-length narrative in the appendices, "The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen", have attracted discussion by scholars and critics. "The Scouring of the Shire" has been called the most important chapter in the whole novel, providing in its internal quest to restore the Shire a counterbalance to the main quest to destroy the Ring. Commentators have read into it a variety of contemporary political allusions including a satire of socialism and a strand of environmentalism. Tolkien described "The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen" as essential to the plot of the novel. It covers events both before and after the main narrative, and differs from it in not being from the hobbits' point of view. Scholars have discussed the tale's themes including love and death, Tolkien's balance between open Christianity and treating the characters as pagan; and the fact that having the tale as an appendix deprives the main story of much of its love-interest.
Tolkien conceived of The Lord of the Rings as a single work comprising six "books" plus extensive appendices. In 1953, he proposed titles for the six books to his publisher, Rayner Unwin; Book Five was to be The War of the Ring, while Book Six was to be The End of the Third Age. These titles were eventually used in the (2000) Millennium edition. Unwin however split the work into three volumes, publishing the fifth and sixth books with the appendices into the final volume with the title The Return of the King. Tolkien felt the chosen title revealed too much of the story, and indicated that he preferred The War of the Ring as a title for the volume.
The Return of the King was in the end published as the third and final volume of The Lord of the Rings, on 20 October 1955 in the UK.
Some editions of the volume contain a synopsis for readers who have not read the earlier volumes. The body of the volume consists of books five and six. Book six has variously been titled The Return of the King (clashing with the title of the third volume) and The End of the Third Age, though in many editions the Books are untitled. The volume ends with a set of appendices and an index, varying in different editions.
Sauron sends a great army against Gondor. Gandalf arrives at Minas Tirith to warn Denethor of the attack, while Théoden musters the Rohirrim to ride to Gondor's aid. Minas Tirith is besieged; the Lord of the Nazgûl uses a spell-wound battering ram to destroy the city's gates. Denethor, deceived by Sauron, falls into despair. He burns himself alive on a pyre; Pippin and Gandalf rescue his son Faramir from the same fate.
Aragorn, accompanied by Legolas, Gimli, and the Rangers of the North, takes the Paths of the Dead to recruit the Dead Men of Dunharrow, oathbreakers who are bound by an ancient curse which denies them rest until they fulfil their oath to fight for the King of Gondor. Aragorn unleashes the Army of the Dead on the Corsairs of Umbar invading southern Gondor. With that threat eliminated, Aragorn uses the Corsairs' ships to transport the men of southern Gondor up the Anduin, reaching Minas Tirith just in time to turn the tide of battle. Théoden's niece Éowyn, who joined the army in disguise, kills the Lord of the Nazgûl with help from Merry; both are wounded. Together, Gondor and Rohan defeat Sauron's army in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, though at great cost; Théoden is among the dead.