The hobbits have it: topping the chart of what Guardian readers declare the 100 greatest novels published in English is a work of literature that didn’t even feature when authors, critics and academics made their selection. JRR Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings is, strictly speaking, a trilogy, although that was by no means fixed during the work’s bumpy journey towards publication in 1954, as author and publisher wrangled over how best to present it. It was composed over the course of many years, and although it was written in English, and in prose, the influence of other languages, storytelling traditions and poetic forms are key to its achievement.
It was chosen by readers from Uruguay to the Isle of Skye, Albuquerque to Sydney. Andrea Clark in Courtland, Alabama, voted for it because: “It has profound meaning about the importance of life, sacrifice, the natural world, corruption of power, the evils of war, generosity of spirit – and a lot more. I don’t know of any novel that is reread so often by so many as this one. It connects with all sorts of people on a very fundamental level.”
