The Return of the King

• 1. The Split Manuscript And Title Choice

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  J. R. R. Tolkien conceived The Lord of the Rings as a single work containing six books plus extensive appendices. In 1953, he proposed specific titles for these books to his publisher Rayner Unwin. Book Five was to be called The War of the Ring while Book Six was named The End of the Third Age. These original titles eventually appeared in the 2000 Millennium edition but were not used at first publication. Rayner Unwin split the manuscript into three volumes instead. He published the fifth and sixth books with the appendices under the title The Return of the King on the 20th of October 1955 in the UK. Tolkien felt this chosen title revealed too much of the story's outcome. He preferred the name The War of the Ring for that volume.

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• 2. Siege Of Minas Tirith And Dead Men

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  Sauron sends a great army against the kingdom of Gondor. Gandalf arrives at Minas Tirith to warn Denethor of the attack. Théoden musters the Rohirrim to ride to Gondor's aid. The Lord of the Nazgûl uses a spell-wound battering ram to destroy the city gates. Denethor falls into despair after being deceived by Sauron. He burns himself alive on a pyre while Pippin and Gandalf rescue his son Faramir from the same fate. Aragorn takes the Paths of the Dead to recruit the Dead Men of Dunharrow. These oathbreakers are bound by an ancient curse denying them rest until they fulfill 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 men up the Anduin. They reach Minas Tirith just in time to turn the tide of battle. Éowyn kills the Lord of the Nazgûl with help from Merry though both are wounded. Théoden dies during the Battle of the Pelennor Fields.

• 3. The Hobbits Return To A Changed Shire

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  Sam rescues Frodo from the tower of Cirith Ungol. They set out across Mordor toward the Cracks of Doom. Frodo cannot resist the Ring any longer and claims it for himself. Gollum reappears and struggles with Frodo. He bites off Frodo's finger with the Ring still on it. Celebrating wildly, Gollum loses his footing and falls into the Fire taking the Ring with him. Sauron loses power forever when the Ring is destroyed. All he created collapses and the Nazgûl perish. The four hobbits make their way back to the Shire only to find it taken over by men directed by Sharkey. They later discover this man is Saruman. The hobbits led by Merry raise a rebellion to scour the Shire of Sharkey's evil. Gríma Wormtongue turns on Saruman and kills him in front of Bag End before being killed by hobbit archers. Sam marries Rosie Cotton and uses gifts from Galadriel to help heal the Shire. Frodo remains wounded in body and spirit after bearing the Ring so long. A few years later Frodo sails from the Grey Havens west over the Sea to the Undying Lands.

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• 4. Appendices And Historical Continuity

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  The appendices outline details of history cultures genealogies and languages Tolkien imagined for Middle-earth peoples. The Annals of the Kings and Rulers provide extensive background including brief overviews of events from the first two Ages. It offers detailed histories of Gondor and Rohan plus the royal Dwarvish line of Durin during the Third Age. The Tale of Years provides a timeline of events throughout the series affecting the narrative context. It states that Sam gives his daughter Elanor the fictional Red Book of Westmarch containing Bilbo's adventures and Frodo's role. This book serves as Tolkien's source for The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings with Tolkien representing himself as a translator. Family Trees give hobbit genealogies connecting the Baggins family to the Tooks and Brandybucks. Calendars describe names used by characters explaining Roman month names as translations of the hobbits' calendar. Writing and Spelling describes dwarves' runes and elvish runes used across Middle-earth. Languages and Peoples of the Third Age presents outlines of various languages current during the narrative.

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• 5. Critical Praise And Literary Criticism

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  W. H. Auden reviewed The Return of the King in The New York Times calling it a masterpiece of the genre. Anthony Boucher wrote in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction that the volume was a masterly narration of tremendous climactic events. He noted Tolkien's prose sometimes seemed protracted for its own sake. Anthony Price reviewed the novel for The Oxford Mail describing it as more than immense but complete. Michael Straight called the work genius in The New Republic while noting devastated landscapes recalled Tolkien's First World War experiences. Edwin Muir attacked the completed book in 1955 in The Sunday Observer as a boy's adventure story. He compared it to works by Rider Haggard stating all characters except wizards were boys masquerading as adults.

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• 6. Scholarly Themes Of Scouring And Love

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  Critics consider The Scouring of the Shire the most important chapter in the whole of The Lord of the Rings. Although Tolkien denied allegory for postwar Britain commentators argue it applies to that period with clear political references. These include satire of socialism echoes of Nazism and allusions to shortages in postwar Britain plus environmentalism. The chapter was intended to counterbalance the larger plot concerning the physical journey to destroy the One Ring. It presents a moral quest upon return home to purify the Shire and take personal responsibility. Scholars discuss The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen as really essential to the story. This tale extends the main narrative to cover events before and after the central text. It mirrors the Tale of Beren and Lúthien creating historical depth similar to Dante's Inferno. Aspects discussed include nature of love and death plus balance between Christianity and pagan treatment of characters. Relegation to an appendix deprives the main story of much of its love-interest shifting emphasis toward action.

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