What is considered to be the most important fantasy epic of the 20th century roars to a close in this third and final volume of THE LORD OF THE RINGS. The armies of the West mass for their final assault upon the forces of Sauron, but they have little hope of prevailing against the Dark Lord. All depends on whether the Ring-bearer Frodo will complete his quest, and destroy Sauron's Ring of Power in the fires of Mount Doom. But Frodo is imprisoned in the dungeons of Mordor. Are the quest--and Middle-earth--doomed? There are very few fantasy writers who can claim to be as detailed a world-builder as Tolkien was, and that comes to the fore in this book, as it contains over one hundred pages of appendices concerning the history, cultures, and languages of the peoples of Middle-earth, including the ultimate destinies of most of the main characters in the story

約翰·羅納德·魯埃爾·托爾金（1892—1973）是牛津大學教授，古英語專傢，寫瞭不少小說，其中最著名的是《霍比特人》（又譯作《小矮人曆險記》〈1937〉）與《魔戒》（1954—1955）。

托爾金是日耳曼人後裔，他的父係祖先十八世紀從薩剋森移居英國，父親是銀行職員，母親傢族則是當地人。童年托爾金的傢境窘迫，四歲時父親客死他鄉，十二歲時，母親死於糖尿病，這在當時是不治之癥。他與弟弟成瞭孤兒，由法蘭西斯神父撫養。