The three armies almost start to fight each other, but then the wizard Gandalf appears. Gandalf tells them that an army of Goblins is coming to the Lonely Mountain, and because of that the humans, elves, and dwarves have to fight the Goblins together. The "Battle of Five Armies" is long and hard, but is finally won with the help of the Great Eagles and Beorn. Thorin's nephews Fíli and Kíli are killed in the battle. Thorin is wounded and dies afterwards. Dáin becomes "King under the Mountain". Everyone gets a part of the dwarves' treasure. In the end Bilbo returns home, and lives happily everafter.
"The Hobbit" has been adapted many times.
The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings is a book written by J. R. R. Tolkien. It was first published in 1954. It is split in three parts (or volumes), which are named "The Fellowship of the Ring", "The Two Towers", and "The Return of the King".
"The Lord of the Rings" takes place in Tolkien's fictional world, called Middle-earth. Middle-earth has its own geography, several different races and peoples (elves, dwarves, humans, hobbits, ents), their languages, and a history that is thousands of years old.
The plot of "The Lord of the Rings" is about the war of the peoples of Middle-earth against a dark lord (who is the 'Lord of the Rings' of the title). At the same time they try to destroy a ring which would give the dark lord a lot of power if he got it, but the only place to destroy the ring is deep into the territory of the enemy.
"The Lord of the Rings" has also been made into films, the most well-known is the film trilogy directed by Peter Jackson.
"The Lord of the Rings" began as a sequel to Tolkien's earlier fantasy book, "The Hobbit", but quickly became a much larger story. He also moved its (and "The Hobbit"'s) story into his fictional world Middle-earth, which he had already invented long before he wrote "The Hobbit".
Tolkien wrote the story between 1937 and 1949. It was originally published in three parts in the years 1954 and 1955. Since then, "The Lord of the Rings" has been translated into 38 languages. It is one of the most popular stories in 20th-century literature and has been an important book for the fantasy genre.
"The Lord of the Rings" is often called a trilogy, because the publisher split the book into three parts because of the book's size. Tolkien himself had sub-divided "The Lord of the Rings" into six parts, called Book I-VI, according to the plot. Tolkien never liked it being published in three parts or called a trilogy.
The backstory of "The Lord of the Rings" begins thousands of years before the action in the book.
In the Second Age, the Dark Lord Sauron wanted to rule Middle-earth. He disguised himself as Annatar, the "Lord of Gifts", and pretended to be good. As Annatar he told the elves how to make magical rings which give power to their wearers.
Sauron and the elves together made sixteen rings. The Elves also made three rings by themselves, called Vilya, Nenya and Narya. These nineteen rings were the "Rings of Power". But Sauron secretly forged a Great Ring of his own, the "One Ring". In this Ring Sauron put half of his power. He planned to control the wearers of the other rings with this One Ring. But the Elves finally realized that Annatar really was the evil Sauron and hid the Rings of Power.
Sauron then started a war. During this war he took back the sixteen rings which he had made together with the Elves. Seven of these rings he gave to the kings of the dwarves, and nine rings he gave to human kings. These human kings became the "Nazgûl", the Ringwraiths, ghostly servants of Sauron.
Led by Gil-galad and Elendil, the Elves and the Men of Gondor and Arnor formed the "Last Alliance of Men and Elves" to fight Sauron. There was a long war and siege of Sauron's fortress Barad-dûr. In the last battle, Gil-galad and Elendil were killed by Sauron. After his father's death, Elendil' son Isildur cut off the One Ring from Sauron's hand. Sauron was defeated and the war ended.
Because half of Sauron's power was in the One Ring, Sauron did not die fully. His spirit still existed as long as the Ring existed. The elves told Isildur to destroy the One Ring, but Isildur did not want to and kept it.
The One Ring was lost when Isildur was attacked by Orcs. Isildur tried to escape, but he was killed when he lost the Ring. In the Third Age, the Ring was found by the Stoor hobbit Déagol, who was killed by his friend Sméagol over the Ring. Sméagol went to live under the Misty Mountains, where he kept the Ring for five hundred years, and he became known by the name Gollum.
In "The Hobbit" the Ring is found by the hobbit Bilbo Baggins. He thinks it is an unimportant 'magic ring' that simply makes its wearer invisible. Bilbo keeps it, and brings it back with him to the Shire at the end of his journey. There the One Ring stayed until the beginning of the story of "The Lord of the Rings".
The book begins in the Third Age of Middle-earth, in the Shire, the land of the hobbits. Sixty years after his adventures in the book "The Hobbit", Bilbo Baggins is living in the Shire with his adopted cousin Frodo Baggins. But Bilbo wants to make another long journey. After a birthday party for his 111th birthday, and Frodo's 33rd birthday, Bilbo leaves the Shire. His home, Bag End, and the One Ring now belong to Frodo. For another eighteen years nothing happens in Frodo's life.
In April of the year 3018, the wizard Gandalf the Grey, who is a friend of Bilbo and Frodo, comes to Bag End. He tells Frodo that his 'magic ring' is really the One Ring of Sauron, and tells him its backstory. Sauron is returning and getting more powerful, because he could not die while the Ring still existed. Sauron is now also searching for the Ring. Gandalf tells Frodo that he has to leave the Shire and take the One Ring to Rivendell, an Elven city. Samwise Gamgee, Frodo's gardener and servant, will go with Frodo. Gandalf promises to meet the two hobbits halfway in the town Bree. Then Gandalf leaves.
Frodo and Sam prepare to leave the Shire in September 3018. On their way to leave the Shire they are already followed by Sauron's Ringwraiths. Frodo's cousins, Meriadoc "Merry" Brandybuck and Peregrin "Pippin" Took also come with them. The four hobbits journey eastwards through the "Old Forest", and over the "Barrow-downs". They come to Bree, but Gandalf is not there. They meet a man named Strider, and they get a letter from Gandalf. In the letter they are told to go with Strider, who is really named Aragorn.
The hobbits continue their journey to Rivendell with Aragorn. On the mountain Weathertop they are attacked by the Ringwraiths, and Frodo is badly wounded by their leader, the Witch-king. Aragorn can defend them, and helps Frodo to stay alive. Along the way they meet the elf Glorfindel. Shortly before Rivendell they are attacked again. Frodo can flee on Glorfindel's horse, followed by the Ringwraiths. Frodo crosses the river Bruinen, beyond which is Rivendell, but the Ringwraiths still follow him. Suddenly the river floods, which carries the Ringwraiths away. Frodo falls unconscious because of the stab wound.
Frodo wakes up in Rivendell. He has been healed by the elven lord Elrond, and Frodo's friends are also well. Gandalf is in Rivendell, as are messengers from other peoples. Frodo also meets Bilbo again, who has lived in Rivendell for the past years.
The next day the "Council of Elrond" is held. The messengers of the different peoples all tell the stories why they have come, which are connected to Sauron's doings. Elrond tells them of Sauron and the One Ring. Many other things are told and revealed. Aragorn is the descendant of Isildur. The wizard Saruman has betrayed the free peoples and turned to evil. Also, the One Ring cannot be used by anyone except Sauron. The One Ring turns normal people invisible, but it also corrupts them, makes its wearer power-hungry, and the ring only does evil.