Question: When did lord of the rings become popular?

Disambiguated questions and answers:
context: In 1957, it was awarded the International Fantasy Award. Despite its numerous detractors, the publication of the Ace Books and Ballantine paperbacks helped "The Lord of the Rings" become immensely popular in the 1960s. The book has remained so ever since, ranking as one of the most popular works of fiction of the twentieth century, judged by both sales and reader surveys. In the 2003 "Big Read" survey conducted by the BBC, "The Lord of the Rings" was found to be the "Nation's best-loved book." In similar 2004 polls both Germany and Australia also found "The Lord of the Rings" to be their favourite book. In a 1999 poll of Amazon.com customers, "The Lord of the Rings" was judged to be their favourite "book of the millennium."
question: When did lord of the rings first become popular?
short_answers: 1960s
wikipage: Reception of J. R. R. Tolkien
context: "The Hobbit" appeared in Norwegian translation in 1972 and "The Lord of the Rings" followed from 1973 to 1975 ("Tiden Norsk Forlag"). Both translations were harshly criticized for errors and inconsistencies and complaints resulted in a new translation of "LotR", published in 1980/81. By the late 1980s, Tolkien's works were well known to the Norwegian public. A translation of the "Silmarillion" appeared in 1994. The unsatisfactory "Hobbit" translation was replaced only in 1997. By the mid-1990s, the popularity of Tolkien had risen to a level that made viable translations of his minor works. Arthedain - The Tolkien Society of Norway was founded in 1981.
question: When did lord of the rings become popular enough to make translations of his minor works in Norwegian viable?
short_answers: mid-1990s
wikipage: Reception of J. R. R. Tolkien

Long-form answers:
knowledge: content: The Lord of the Rings is an epic[1] high-fantasy novel[a] by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, a place like Earth at some distant time in the past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's book The Hobbit, but eventually developed into a much larger work. Written in stages between 1937 and 1949, The Lord of the Rings is one of the best-selling books ever written, with over 150 million copies sold.[2]
wikipage: The Lord of the Rings
content: Although generally known to readers as a trilogy, the work was intended by Tolkien to be one volume of a two-volume set along with The Silmarillion. [3][T 2] For economic reasons, The Lord of the Rings was published over the course of a year from 29 July 1954 to 20 October 1955, in three volumes[3][4] titled The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King.
wikipage: The Lord of the Rings
content: The Lord of the Rings has since been reprinted many times and translated into at least 38 languages.
wikipage: The Lord of the Rings
long_answer: The Lord of the Rings is an epic high-fantasy novel by J.R.R. Tolkien that was printed into three books for economic reasons due to its voluminous length. It became extremely popular in the 1960s and has been reprinted many times and translated into several languages. By the mid-1990s Tolkien's fiction had become so popular in Norway that even his minor works were able to be profitably translated into Norwegian.