The Lord of the Rings is an epic high fantasy novel by the English author and scholar  J.R.R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937  children's book The Hobbit, but eventually developed into a much larger work. Written in stages between 1937 and 1949, The Lord of the Rings is one of thebest-selling books ever written, with over 150 million copies sold.

Tolkien drew on a wide array of influences including language, Christianity, Mythology and Germanic heroic legend including the Norse Volsunga saga, Archaelogy, especially at the Temple of Nodens, ancient and modern literature, like Finnish 19th-century epic poetry The Kalevala by Elias Lonnrot, and personal experience.

Some commentators have criticized the book for being a story about men for boys, with no significant women; or about a purely rural world with no bearing on modern life in cities; of containing no sign of religion; or of racism. Other commentators responded by noting that there are three powerful women in the book, Galadriel, Éowyn, and Arwen; that life, even in rural Hobbiton, is not idealised; that Cristianity is a pervasive theme; and that Tolkien was sharply anti-racist both in peacetime and during the Second World War, while Middle-earth is evidently polycultural.

The work was named Britain's best novel of all time in the BBC's The Big Read.In 2015, the BBC ranked The Lord of the Rings 26th on its list of the 100 greatest British novels.It was included in Le Mondes's list of "100 books of the century.