The Return of the King
core novel 1955 Middle-earth
Record
| First published | 1955 |
|---|---|
| Original language |  EN |
| Work type | novel |
| Canon status | core |
| Reader rating | 4.59 (1,088,810 ratings, collected 2026-09-11) |
| Page count | 404 |
| First-edition ISBN | 9780345339737 |
| First-edition date | 1955-10-20 |
| First-edition publisher | George Allen & Unwin |
| First-edition country | UK |
Synopsis
The Return of the King is the third and final volume of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, published in 1955. As Sauron's forces move to attack the kingdom of Gondor, Gandalf rides to the city of Minas Tirith to warn its steward Denethor of the coming assault, while King Theoden rallies the armies of Rohan to ride to Gondor's aid. As the Fellowship's remaining members help organize the city's defense against Sauron's forces, Aragorn sets out through the Paths of the Dead to gather ancient allies and claim his birthright as heir to Gondor and Arnor. Meanwhile, far from the battlefields, Frodo and Sam, guided by Gollum, press on toward Mount Doom to complete their quest to destroy the One Ring before Sauron's armies can overrun the Free Peoples' last defenses.
Where it sits
- Universe: Middle-earth
- Series: The Lord of the Rings core; position 3 of 3 in the series' recorded order
- Author: J.R.R. Tolkien
Notes
- From the series record (The Lord of the Rings): Published 1954-1955 in three volumes; structurally one novel issued as a trilogy.
Neighbouring works
Publication order and internal chronology are tracked as two separate orderings and are never conflated: a book's place in one says nothing about its place in the other.
- Publication order, within the series The Lord of the Rings: position 3 of 3: previous The Two Towers (1954)
Sources
← Middle-earth dossier · All universes
Part of the Library. Fields without an identified source are omitted, never guessed.