In addition to The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien's published fiction includes The Silmarilion and other posthumously published books about what he called a legendarium, a connected body of tales, fictional histories, invented languages, and other literary essays about an imagined world called Arda, and Middle Earth (from middangeard, the lands inhabitable by Men) in particular, loosely identified as an 'alternative' remote past of our own world. Most of these works were compiled from Tolkien's notes by his son Christopher Tolkien.
The enduring popularity and influence of Tolkien's works have established him as the "father of modern fantasy literature". Tolkien's other published fiction includes adaptations of stories originally told to his children and not directly related to the legendarium.
"One summer's day at Northmoor Road, Ronald was grading exam papers. It was a tedious job, to be sure, and he was relieved when he saw that "One of the candidates had mercifully left one of the pages with no writing on it (which is the best thing that can possibly happen to an examiner)." But what happened to that blank sheet of paper started a legacy: "I wrote on it: 'In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.' Names always generate a story in my mind. Eventually I thought I'd better find out what hobbits were like. But that's only the beginning."
"All Ronald's fascinations and studies were mounting in epic fashion. His language study helped him create names; themes of the Norse tales and Arthurian legends that he had always loved were seemlessly woven into the new story; and most importantly (although he hadn't intended this at first), the world of hobbits started to become the same world of The Silmarillion. Ronald was finally living his dream of creating truly English mythology, and the heroes of the story were rustic English people themselves."
"But by 1936, Ronald had abandoned The Hobbit. He was certain that his first plan for the death of the dragon, Smaug, was completely unfitting. "Bilbo plunges in his little magic knife. Throes of dragon. Smashes walls and entrance to tunnel." A hobbit who killed dragons didn't fit Ronald's conception of hobbits at all. And while he emended Smaug's death to what would become the final version, with Bard the bowman shooting the dragon, his three sons were growing older and no longer had much interest in "Winter Reads," as they called them. It seemed like The Hobbit was going to suffer the same fate as so many of Ronald's other deserted writings."
"It could have suffered the same fate. But it didn't. Elaine Griffiths, a former Tolkien pupil, was shown the draft of The Hobbit; she in turn showed it to Susan Dagnall, a staff member of publishers Allen & Unwin. Susan thought Allen & Unwin should by all means consider publishing the story--if the tale had a proper ending. She contacted Ronald, who hurried to finish it and turned in the final manuscript at the beginning of October, 1936. Allen & Unwin chairman Stanley Unwin gave the typescript to his son, Rayner Unwin, age ten. Rayner was paid a shilling for the following badly misspelled report: "Bilbo Baggins was a hobbit who lived in his hobbit-hole and never went for adventures, at last Gandalf the wizard and his dwarves perswaded him to go. He had a very exiting time fighting goblins and wargs. at last they got to the lonely mountain; Smaug, the dragon who gawreds it is killed and after a terrific battle with the goblins he returned home--rich! This book, with the help of maps, does not need any illustrations it is good and should appeal to all children between the ages of 5 and 9."
Stanley took his son's word. After a few minor squabbles between publisher and author (although they seemed anything but minor to Ronald himself), The Hobbit was published on September 21, 1937. Most critics had no criticisms; except for a few puzzlingly disparaging reviews, everyone loved the book--including C.S. Lewis, who paid his friend a worthy compliment by saying, "All who love that kind of children's book which can be read and re-read by adults should take note that a new star has appeared in this constellation." With the first edition sold out that Christmas, the second was printed up with all possible speed, and graced American bookshelves with its presence a few months later. The book had reached bestseller status, and what did Stanley Unwin want now? Another hobbit story."
"Next summer, Bingo had transformed into Frodo and the story was no longer geared toward children. It was "becoming more terrifying than The Hobbit," as Ronald wrote to Stanley Unwin. The world of "The Lord of the Rings" was firmly set as the world of The Silmarillion, and the "hobbit sequel" was more of a "Silmarillion sequel." Even the Elvish languages and Fëanorian alphabet were playing a part in the new tale."
"In October of 1965, the authorised version of The Lord of the Rings appeared in America (the unauthorized version had been published some time before without Ronald's consent and without paying him royalties). But every cloud has a silver lining, and the controversy over the two versions gave the book considerable publicity. The unauthorized publisher, Ace Books, cowed under the pressure and offered to reimburse Ronald for every copy they had sold, and to cease to print copies after their current stock had sold out. By now it was at the top of the best-seller list, and drawing in millions of student fans. Students at Yale University snapped it up faster than The Lord of the Flies; at Harvard, it overtook The Catcher in the Rye. "Frodo Lives" and "Gandalf for President" were popular slogans, and "J.R.R. Tolkien is Hobbit-forming" appeared as graffiti. Ronald called the mania "my deplorable cultus."