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This episode is sponsored 
by the Manhattan Rare Book Company.

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In 1954, J.R.R. Tolkien was 62 years old,

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and had just spent the last 16 years
working industriously on a book.

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It was now time
to release it into the world,

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and he was very nervous.

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And he should have been,

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because no one had seen anything
quite like "The Lord of the Rings" before.

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It was a huge risk for the publishers

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who were convinced 
that it wouldn't sell many copies.

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Who was the audience for this strange book

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filled with unfamiliar and unpronouncable
names of people and places?

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Was it a children's book
like "The Hobbit"?

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It certainly had wizards
and strange creatures,

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and it was also an epic adventure
of some kind.

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It was also very, very, long.

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Three volumes in fact,

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and several appendices.

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But no, it was neither a children's book
or an adult novel.

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Tolkien wrote to his publisher
at the time:

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"My work has escaped from my control
and I have produced a monster,

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"an immensely long, complex,

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"rather bitter, and rather
terrifying romance,

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"quite unfit for children 
(if fit for anybody)..."

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"I now wonder whether
many beyond my friends [...],

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"would read anything so long."

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"We can only imagine 
what was at stake for Tolkien.

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If the first volume wasn't a success,

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what would happen to the other two volumes

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which he had spent 
the best part of 16 years writing?

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In the early 1930s, when Tolkien
was a professor of anglo-saxon at Oxford,

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he was grading papers when he noticed

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that one of the candidates
had left a blank sheet of paper.

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"Nothing to read. So I scribbled on it
I can't think why:

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"In a hole in the ground
there lived a Hobbit"

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And so, the Hobbits were born.

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The Hobbit can broadly be considered
a prequel to The Lord of the Rings.

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It introduces Tolkien's world 
of Middle Earth.

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The world of Hobbits, wizards, 
dwarves, and elves.

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But it is a much different book,

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with a different intended audience.

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Upon publication, 
Tolkien''s friend C.S. Lewis

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compared "The Hobbit" to such classics

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as "Alice in Wonderland" 
and "The Wind in the Willows",

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and like those works
it has often been considered

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a children's fantasy book

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written primarily
for children or adolescents,

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but enjoyed by adults as well.

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"The Hobbit" was a huge success

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and only a few weeks 
after its publication,

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Tolkien met 
with his publisher Stanley Unwin,

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to discuss a sequel.

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The writer expressed his desire to publish

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a long, detailed, mythological work

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about Middle Earth, called the Silmarillion.

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But Unwin insisted that
what the public really wanted,

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was more stories about the Hobbits.

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He wanted The Hobbit 2.

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Tolkien and Unwin had variations
of this debate

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for the entire 16 years Tolkien
was working on his next book.

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Ultimately the Lord of the Rings

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succeeded in developing
Tolkien's Middle Earth,

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without losing 
the narrative appeal of "The Hobbit".

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The result was not so much a sequel 
but a much more complex, adult work.

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In the process Tolkien had invented
a whole new genre - the fantasy novel.

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"I am in fact a Hobbit (in all but size).

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I like gardens, trees
and unmechanised farmlands,

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"I smoke a pipe, 
and like good plain food."

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"- J.R.R. Tolkien

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Tolkien in his later years professed
to love the simple life,

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much like his beloved
Hobbits in the Shire.

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This desire for peace, security, 
and companionship, however

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was likely the result of his upbringing
and young adulthood,

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which was anything
but peaceful and secure.

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This quintessentially English Professor

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was born John Ronald Reuel Tolkien 
in Bloemfontein,

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in what is now South Africa, in 1892.

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In 1895 Tolkien, his mother, 
and his infant brother, Hillary,

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went to England for a visit
to his mother's family,

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who like her were British.

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But soon after their arrival, 
his father died in Bloemfontein,

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of rheumatic fever,

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leaving the family 
with very little inheritance.

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The family stayed in Britain, 
where she had the support of her family,

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and moved to the small village of Sarehole

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just outside the industrial city
of Birmingham.

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Although they didn't have much money,

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Tolkien became captivated
with his environment.

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He would later say:

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"It was a kind of lost paradise.

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"There was an old mill that really
did grind corn with two millers,

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"a great big pond with swans on it,

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"a sandpit, a wonderful dell with flowers,

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"a few old-fashioned village houses

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"and, further away,
a stream with another mill..."

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The village scenery would Inspire the Shire.

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But it was just outside
the major industrial city of Birmingham

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which was expanding rapidly

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and in the process absorbing
the surrounding villages.

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"I was brought up in considerable poverty,

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"but I was happy running about
in that country.

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"I took the idea of the Hobbits
from the village people and children...

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"The Hobbits are just what I should like
to have been but never was...

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"an entirely unmilitary people

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"who always came up
to scratch in a clinch...

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"Behind all thi Hobbit stuff
lay a sense of insecurity.

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"I always knew it would go - and it did."

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The theme of the destruction
of idilic countryside

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would fill his literature.

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Tolkien's mother Mabel was the primary
influence on his early life.

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In 1900 when Tolkien was 8,

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Mabel converted to Catholicism.

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Her family, who were Methodist, 
disapproved.

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Her father disowned her,

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and her brother-in-law,
who had been assisting her financially,

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withdrew his support.

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It was a spectacular fall from grace,

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a theme we often find in Tolkien's books.

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She homeschooled him
until the age of eight,

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encouraging him to read widely,

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and introducing him to the works
of George McDonald and Andrew Lang,

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early developers of fantasy literature.

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In 1904 however, when a Tolkien was 12,

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Mabel died of diabetes,

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hastened, Tolkien later believed,

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by persecution for her faith,

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leaving her two sons orphaned 
with bleak prospects.

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He took refuge in language, 
learning Chaucer's Middle English,

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the old norse of the Viking sagas,

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the old English of Beowulf,

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and even reviving long dead languages

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and inventing languages of his own.

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"I first began seriously inventing languages...

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"about when I was 13 or 14,
and I've never stopped really."

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School was a haven for Tolkien.

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He first attended 
King Edward's School in Birmingham,

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and it was here crucially, that he formed
his first literary group

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the "Tea club and Barovian Society",

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four friends who played rugby together,

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and talked about Norse mythology,

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while drinking tea
and inventing languages.

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Groups like this were important to Tolkien

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a fatherless boy, and now an orphan.

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And it was the first
of many literary groups

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that Tolkien would form
- a fellowship of sorts.

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Even this early on, he was obsessed
with myths, legends, and folklore,

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and concerned with creating 
a British mythology.

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He won a scholarship
to Exeter college, Oxford,

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and unsurprisingly he showed
a special aptitude for languages,

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Old and Middle English, 
Old Norse, and Gothic in particular.

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Graduating in 1915 with a degree
in English language and literature,

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with First Class honours.

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And it is these studies that will lead

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to the creation of a series
of languages in Lord of the Rings

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which are among the most fully developed
fictional languages in literature.

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But 1915 could only mean one thing...war.

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And almost immediately after graduation

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he was commissioned
into the Lancashire Fusiliers.

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"The Lord of the Rings" is
at its most basic level, a hero's quest.

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But the hero in this case
is not someone strong and fierce

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like Odysseus, Beowulf, or Aeneas,

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but the Hobbit Frodo Baggins,

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a diminutive creature who, at his core,
like other Hobbits,

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wishes to be left alone 
to enjoy peace, good food and fellowship,

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in his homeland the Shire.

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Frodo has no special abilities,

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and is extraordinary, only in his courage,
loyalty, and incorruptibility.

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And the quest of Frodo and his companions
is most unusual.

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Instead of trying to gain power,

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they are dedicated to the destruction
of the one thing, a magical ring,

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that would give them great power.

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In fact, the quest succeeds,

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because the idea
that someone would forego power

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and intentionally destroy the most
coveted possession in their world,

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is a thought that is impossible
for their enemy Sauron to anticipate,

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or even to contemplate.

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Tolkien was an academic deeply steeped
in the tradition of the Epic,

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but he also knew 
how to subvert those traditions,

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to create a new kind of Epic,

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that address the fears
and concerns of his generation

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- the generation of World War One.

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War of one kind or another
permeates "The Lord of the Rings",

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through death and loss, 
through notions of power,

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through camaraderie in deathly times,

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and eventually through disappointment.

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Tolkien took part
in the battle of the Somme,

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one of the most horrific battles
of the 20th century.

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Over 3 million men fought in the battle,

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which saw over a million 
killed or injured,

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scarring the Earth in one
of the most deadliest battles

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in human history.

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He saw many of his school friends
die in the fighting,

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and by 1918, he said that he had lost
all but one of his closest friends.

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In some sense he was lucky

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to have contracted 
a severe case of trench fever

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near the end of the battle of the Somme,

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and sent back to England to recover.

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While convalescing in army barracks,

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with the war very much fresh in his mind,

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Tolkien put to paper much of the story

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that would later become 
"The Fall of Gondolin",

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a story published after his death,

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of a cataclysmic battle featuring orcs,
dragons, and bullrogs,

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and notably his first work
to feature "Middle Earth".

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"They walked slowly, stooping, 
keeping close in line,

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following attentively
every move that Gollum made.

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"The fens grew more wet, opening
into wide stagnant meres.

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"among which it grew
more and more difficult,

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"to find the firmer places
where feet could tread

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"without sinking into gurgling mud...

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"Wrenching his hands out of the bog,

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"he sprang back with a cry.

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" 'There are dead things, dead faces
in the water', he said with horror.

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" 'Dead faces!' "

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Although Tolkien here is describing
the outskirts of Mordor

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in his fictional Middle Earth,

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it is not hard to imagine this 
as a description of Tolkien's experience

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during the battle of the Somme.

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The I World War begins as a battle 
on horseback with cavalries,

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but it is the beginning 
of mechanised warfare.

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Characters in "The Lord of the Rings"

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describe being watched 
by mysterious figures flying overhead,

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and in 1914, airplanes on both sides 
were first used for reconnaissance,

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flying deep behind enemy lines.

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Over the course of the war,

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aviation developed significantly
into a major force,

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and by the end of that war

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it was obvious that airplanes
were the weapon of the future.

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"Then Frodo and Sam staring at the sky...

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"saw it come: a small cloud 
flying from the accursed hills,

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"a black shadow loosed from Mordor;

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"a vast shape winged and ominous."

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"It scudded across the moon,

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"and with a deadly cry went westward,

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"outrunning the wind in its fell speed."

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He is at the Somme 
when tanks were first used,

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and although Orcs make up the bulk
of Sauron's Army

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in "The Lord of the Rings",

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one of his most powerful weapons
were the tanks of Middle Earth

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- the "Oliphaunts".

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Newsreel: "A state of war once more exists

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between Great Britain and Germany"

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Tolkien began writing
"The Lord of the Rings"

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at the outbreak
of the II World War, late 1937.

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So the world was once again
on the precipice of war.

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Tolkien denied
it was an allegory of any kind

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in the forward to the book,

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but also admitted that an author
is influenced by his experiences.

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The writing of the novel began
during the rise of Hitler,

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and continued during the darkest days
of World War II,

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when all hopes of a peaceful 
New World Order had vanished,

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especially for someone living in England

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and in constant fear of air raids
and Nazi victory.

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"If you really come down
to any 'large' story

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"that interests people - that can hold
their attention for a considerable time

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"stories - human stories - are practically
always about one thing: death."

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The I World War almost certainly
had more influence on Tolkien,

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but "The Lord of the Rings" 
can also be considered part

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of post-World War II literature,

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that includes "The Lord of the Flies", 
"1984", and "Animal Farm",

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books that were marked 
by their author's wartime experiences,

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and deal with the question
of good and evil.

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"Sauron was become now
a sorcerer of dreadful power,

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"master of shadows and of phantoms,

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"foul in wisdom, cruel in strength,

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"misshaping what he touched,
twisting what he ruled."

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In "The Lord of the Rings"

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there is the rise of an evil force Sauron,

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who is not unlike Hitler

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in his desire for power
and world domination.

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Just like countries during the war,

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some societies in the book,

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whether out of self-interest or fear,
side with Sauron,

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adding to the hopelessness
of the good-hearted.

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The fate of the world
is at stake in both worlds,

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and the outcome hinges on a race

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to prevent ultimate power
getting in the wrong hands.

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Crucially, the ring 
is not just about power,

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it is about what we do with power

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and how it can corrupt us,

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and how that corruption
can be addictive

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leading to the eventual loss 
of your Humanity,

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as the evil within you is exposed,

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absorbing all morals.

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The very things that were being discussed

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at the outbreak, during, and at the conclusion of World War II. 
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The horrific evils of the 20th century were just around the corner.
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Despite the horrors Tolkien witness firsthand, the Lord of the Rings is not as you might expect explicitly anti-war. 
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Tolkien may describe battles, almost poetically, and place an emphasis on heroism in combat, but for a man 
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who spent his life studying traditional myths and legends, often involving War, he understood 
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that nobility often means that we need to take up arms for a "just" cause. The Lord of the Rings is 
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in fact, a book about the "unfortunate necessity" of War - when it is a just war - against evil. 
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But crucially, Tolkien also understood that there was good and evil on BOTH sides of War, an unpopular 
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sentiment in a time when those boundaries were being blurred beyond recognition. He was outspoken against bombing campaigns
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on German cities, and even used a quote from The Lord of the Rings, in a letter to his son about the campaigns:
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He knew, as the characters of the fellowship do, that just because one fights for good,
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it doesn't make one immune to the power of evil - to the power of the Ring. The Fellowship 
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must resist the temptation of the ring, as we must resist using evil to fight evil. Tolkien understood 
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that bravery is a complex notion, for while battles swarm around him it is our little hobbit Frodo who 
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succeeds on his journey by avoiding War. But even he is not immune to War's effects and Trauma. 
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When the war is over and he is returning to the Shire, Frodo confesses to Gandalf, in one of 
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the most poignant passages in the book, that he is in pain, as so many shellshocked men of the trenches were.
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After World War I, and certainly during World War II, artists and writers had to wrestle with a new reality:
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"How to present life in the aftermath of such Horrors?", "Were the old stories of heroism even relevant anymore?"
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Tolkien, through his fictional world, has reinvented the heroic epic for our times. Giving us a fresh and more ambiguous perspective
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on Modern Warfare, through the realm of fantasy. You may get all the heroics, but there are also points when his greatest heroes are full of fear.
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Reducing the Lord of the Rings to a heroic Quest or a war narrative, is convenient, and an an aid to our understanding, but ultimately 
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does disservice to the book. It more likely just exposes our difficulties in identifying exactly what this strange work is.
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The action of the book takes place over a relatively short period of time, but throughout the Lord of the Rings, we hear tales and legends about the past, often stretching back thousands of 
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years. Tolkien hasn't just written a story, but has given us the impression that we are witnessing a 
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series of events, inside an entire history that exists outside of the books. Although he is just 
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one writer, he has created an entire mythology comparable to traditional cultural mythologies. 
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Documenting the history of Middle Earth, was a lifelong project of Tolkien's. In his letters, notes, and unpublished works 
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he filled in details of this mythology, complete with elaborate geneologies, and geographical details.
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Tolkien had the genius to make it sound like it was a "real history" he was exploring, as if
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he was just "researching" it and reporting it to us. There had been fantasy books before Tolkien,
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but never had there been such successful "World building", with such a serious tone and seismic events
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From 1924 to 1945, Tolkien was the professor of anglo-saxon at Oxford, and even after the huge success of The Hobbit