The Lord of the Rings is an epic high fantasy novel written by J.
R.
R. Tolkien. The story began as a sequel to Tolkien's earlier
fantasy
book The Hobbit and soon developed into a much larger story. It was
written in stages between 1937 and 1949, with much of it being
written
during World War II. It was originally published in three volumes in
1954 and 1955, and has since been reprinted numerous times and
translated into at least 38 different languages, becoming one of the
most popular works in twentieth-century literature. The action in
The
Lord of the Rings is set in what the author conceived to be the lands
of the real Earth, inhabited by humanity but placed in a fictional
past before our history. Tolkien gave this setting a modern English
name, Middle-earth, a rendering of the Old English Middangeard. The
story concerns peoples such as Hobbits, Elves, Men, Dwarves, Wizards,
and Orcs, and centres on the Ring of Power made by the Dark Lord
Sauron. Starting from quiet beginnings in The Shire, the story
ranges
across Middle-earth and follows the courses of the War of the Ring.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lord_of_the_Rings
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1877:
After battling U.S. armed forces for more than three months,
retreating
over 1,000 miles across Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Montana, and
enduring a five-day siege, Chief Joseph and his Nez Percé band finally
surrendered.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chief_Joseph)
1908:
Prince Ferdinand became the first Tsar of Bulgaria since the Ottoman
invasion in the 14th century.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_I_of_Bulgaria)
1930:
The British airship R101 crashed in France en route to India on its
maiden voyage, killing 48 passengers and crew.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R101)
1969:
The first episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus was broadcast on
BBC1.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monty_Python's_Flying_Circus)
1970:
Members of the Front de Libération du Québec kidnapped a British
diplomat,
sparking the October Crisis in Montréal, Canada.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Front_de_libération_du_Québec)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
Almost all men, and those that seem to be very miserable, love life,
because they cannot bear to lose sight of such a beautiful and lovely
world. The ideas, that every moment whilst we live have a beauty
that
we take not distinct notice of, brings a pleasure that, when we come
to the trial, we had rather live in much pain and misery than lose.
-- Jonathan Edwards
The ideas, that every moment whilst we live have a
beauty... that, when we come to the trial, we had rather live in much
pain and misery than lose. -- Jonathan Edwards
(
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jonathan_Edwards)