Why Lord of the Rings is Actually 6 Books, Not 3
The Lord of the Rings is widely known as a trilogy, both in the literary and cinematic worlds. So why is it often referred to as a series of 6 books, and how does Amazon's Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power fit into the picture? On bookshelves and film libraries across the world, Frodo's trek from the Shire to Mordor in Lord of the Rings is split into three parts: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers and The Return of the King. This is how the story was originally published in the mid-1950s and also how Peter Jackson adapted Tolkien's magnum opus, with each book translated into an epic, longer-than-feature-length movie that served to bring Middle-earth to both a new generation and a more mainstream audience.
The release of the Lord of the Rings film trilogy also consolidated the idea that the story is split into 3 parts, although this notion had already been firmly established by half a century of printing LOTR in three chunky installments. In fact, this structure has been in place for so long that Tolkien's original intentions have been mostly forgotten. The legendary author had already enjoyed success with The Hobbit and was encouraged to write a follow-up, in addition to his ongoing work on Lord of the Rings' relative, The Silmarillion. Unlike The Hobbit, which was intended and released as a single work, things got complicated with The Lord of the Rings.
Related: Lord Of The Rings: Saruman's Movie Death Explained (& Why It Was Cut)
With Amazon's Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power debuting in 2022, the question of exactly how Tolkien's writings have been categorized and interpreted over the years becomes even more relevant and interesting. Although Peter Jackson's initial trilogy provides a fairly direct
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