The Lord of the Rings interesting facts

The Lord of the Rings sometimes called the greatest book of the 20th century. It was published in 1954 and has been translated into 25 languages. The book took 11 years to write. In 1970 the word hobbit was included in the Oxford Dictionary.
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, the author of the book, was born in 1892 in South Africa and grew up in a village near Birmingham. He took part in the First World War and then became a professor of English at Oxford University. While Tolkien was correcting exam papers he wrote down a strange sentence: “In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit…” Later the writer transformed this sentence into a full novel called The Hobbit, published in 1938.
Tolkien loved ancient myths and for his books he borrowed characters from Anglo-Saxon, Scandinavian and other European mythology. He created his own world inhabited by wizards, elves, dwarves, goblins and hobbits.

The word “hobbit” is a combination of Homo (man) and rabbit. They are rather short (about 1 meter) creatures with furry legs. Hobbits are a peaceful, home-loving race, fond of their gardens and their underground homes.
Bilbo Baggins’ nephew, Frodo Baggins, must destroy the magic ring which gives its owner great power. The Ring was made by Sauron the Dark Lord, but then it was lost and found by Bilbo. So Frodo has to take the Ring to Mordor, the Dark Lord’s own territory and throw it into the fires of Mount Doom.
The book was an immediate success. People are not only reading his books – many try to live in this world.
In 1969 Tolkien sold the film rights to The Lord of the Ring for 10,000 pounds. With modern computer effects it became possible to create a realistic and exact interpretation of the book. The director Peter Jackson found suitable settings in his native New Zealand and built the set where “the hobbits” lived. Peter Jackson’s children – Billy and Katie – appeared in the crowd in every film of the trilogy.
Christopher Lee (Saruman) was the only one of the crew who personally met with Tolkien.
All three parts of the trilogy were filmed simultaneously.
The Lord of the Rings has received the most Academy Award nominations (30). You can compare: The Godfather received – 28 and Star Wars – 21.