Both J.R.R. Tolkien and his works have achieved worldwide literary and cult status since the make-believe world of Middle Earth and its inhabitants came of age in 1937.
An Oxford Professor of English and Anglo-Saxon, Tolkien, even as a boy was inventing languages of his own. Developing the saga of Lord of the Rings, built around his linguistic creation, was a twelve year process, begun as a bedtime story for his children and evolving haphazardly into one of the richest and detailed mythologies ever created. J.R.R. Tolkien stands as one of the greatest imaginative authors of the twentieth century and Lord of the Rings is now hailed as a timeless masterpiece of English literature.

The three books of the Lord of the Rings were made into three action films between 2001 and 2003. An action film of The Hobbit is in production and is scheduled for screening in 2010.