The Return of the King

The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of The Lord of the Rings is a novel written by J.R.R. Tolkien. It concludes the story told in The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers.
==Title==
Tolkien conceived of The Lord of the Rings as a single volume comprising six sections he called "books" and extensive appendices. The original publisher, Allen & Unwin made the decision to split the work into three parts, publishing the fifth and sixth books and the appendices under the title The Return of the King, in reference to Aragorn's assumption of the throne. Tolkien indicated he would have preferred The War of the Ring as a title, as it gave away less of the story.
==Structure==
The structure of The Return of the King mirrors somewhat that of The Two Towers in that the first section recounts the various adventures of several characters including a massive battle, and the second section resumes the quest of the Ring-bearers.
==Contents==
===Book V: The War of the Ring===
The story begins as Gandalf delivers news to Denethor, Steward of Gondor, that war is imminent. Gandalf brings Pippin with him, who enters the service of the Steward. Aragorn, by his courage and leadership, proves himself a worthy ruler of Men. He is destined to find a lost army of men, now dead yet entrapped in a curse set forth long ago by their own disobedience, in the place known as the Paths of the Dead. The remnants of the Fellowship lead the forces of Gondor and Rohan in defence of Gondor's capital city, Minas Tirith, resulting in the epic Battle of the Pelennor Fields. Those characters who manage to survive the battle are led by Aragorn on an assuredly suicidal feint-attack against the Black Gate of Mordor, partly to distract Sauron from guarding his other borders so that Frodo and Sam can gain a clear passage into Mordor. The Army of the West stands before the Black Gates of the Morannon exchanging idle words with the Mouth of Sauron.
====Chapters====
*I - Minas Tirith - Gandalf and Pippin arrive in Minas Tirith; they talk with Denethor; Pippin enters the service of the steward.
*II - The Passing of the Grey Company - Follows Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli as they pass through the Paths of the Dead between Rohan and Gondor.
*III - The Muster of Rohan - Rohan prepares for war; Merry heads off for Minas Tirith, on a horse with a rider who calls himself Dernhelm.
*IV - The Siege of Gondor - Back to Gandalf and Pippin, and the preparations of the city of Minas Tirith for the attack by the armies of Mordor; the defenses at Osgiliath and the Causeway Forts are breached, Minas Tirith is besieged; the chapter ends with Minas Tirith's Great Gate broken, and the army of Rohan finally arriving.
*V - The Ride of the Rohirrim - The Rohirrim pass through the Drúadan Forest with the aid of the Drúedain who live there, who are led by Ghân-buri-Ghân; the army arrives at Minas Tirith.
*VI - The Battle of the Pelennor Fields - Armies of Rohan and Gondor fight the armies of Mordor, Rhûn and Harad in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields; Merry and Éowyn together kill the Lord of the Nazgûl, the Witch-king of Angmar. Aragorn arrives with an army from southern Gondor, the forces of Mordor are heavily defeated.
*VII - The Pyre of Denethor - Denethor goes mad and tries to burn Faramir alive (believing him to be doomed); he is saved by Gandalf; Denethor then sets fire to himself. They discover that Denethor has been using a palantír.
*VIII - The Houses of Healing - Merry, Faramir, Éowyn and many others are injured and placed in the Houses of Healing; Aragorn uses kingsfoil to help treat the injured.
*IX - The Last Debate - Gimli and Legolas meet Merry and Pippin again; the Captains of the West hold a counsel on their next action; they decide to send 7000 men against Mordor to march on the Black Gate.
*X - The Black Gate Opens - The army, with Gandalf, Aragorn, Gimli, Legolas and Pippin (but not Merry) marches to the Black Gate. The Mouth of Sauron comes out to discuss terms, and presents tokens, which were owned by Frodo; he then departs and the army of Mordor attacks them.
===Book VI: The End of the Third Age/The Return of the King===
In the meanwhile, the brave and loyal Samwise Gamgee (who for a short time had himself become the Ring-bearer) enables the long-suffering Frodo Baggins to navigate the barren wasteland of Mordor. For part of the way, they are captured by a company of Orcs and must pretend to be Orcs before they are able to escape. The two Hobbits, tired and half-alive, finally reach the Cracks of Doom, where the One Ring is destroyed along with Gollum, freeing Middle-earth from Sauron's power forever. This happens when Frodo at the last moment decides to keep the Ring rather than destroy it, and is attacked by Gollum who bites off Frodo's finger to take the ring, trips, and falls into the lava while still holding the Ring. Frodo and Sam are rescued by the Great Eagles, whom Gandalf rides to Mount Doom, from the Black Gate. After Sauron is defeated, his armies at the Black Gate flee, and the men of Gondor and Rohan are victorious in the battle.
Aragorn is crowned King of Gondor at Minas Tirith. Waiting several months for the marriage of Aragorn and Arwen, the Fellowship of the Ring then part for good on Dol Baran, the Hobbits return home, only to find the Shire under the control of 'Sharkey' who they find out is Saruman, diminished in power but not in malevolence. Merry and Pippin, now experienced warriors of Rohan and Gondor respectively, take the lead in setting things right again, and lead an uprising of hobbits against Saruman, freeing the Shire. Time passes. The Shire heals, but Frodo does not. Eventually Frodo departs for the Undying Lands to find healing, along with Bilbo Baggins and the Keepers of the Three Rings. Sam, Merry and Pippin watch them depart and return home in silence. Sam is greeted by his wife Rosie and his daughter Elanor. In the last line of the book Sam says to Rosie; "Well, I'm back".
====Chapters====
*I - The Tower of Cirith Ungol - Sam infiltrates the Orc fortress to find Frodo.
*II - The Land of Shadow - Sam and Frodo make their way into Mordor; they are captured by an Orc company, who mistake them for Orc deserters.
*III - Mount Doom - Frodo and Sam reach Mount Doom; the final battle for the ring between Gollum and Frodo.
*IV - The Field of Cormallen - Continuing from Book Five, chapter X; the Battle of the Black Gate begins, the Great Eagles arrive; Captains of the west victorious; Frodo and Sam rescued by Gandalf; all the company meets again in Ithilien at the Field of Cormallen.
*V - The Steward and the King - chapter begins in Minas Tirith at the Houses of Healing after the army departs for the Black Gate; Éowyn is taken to see Faramir; Merry is also recovering in Minas Tirith but later leaves for Cormallen. Later the army returns with Aragorn, Gandalf and the four hobbits; Gandalf crowns Aragorn King of Gondor; Aragorn makes Faramir Prince of Ithilien, who also keeps the office of Steward; Gandalf takes Aragorn to Mount Mindolluin to survey the lands of his kingdom where they find a sapling of the White Tree of Gondor. On midsummer’s eve Elrond, Galadriel, Arwen, Celeborn and a party of Elves arrive in the city from the north; the wedding of Aragorn and Arwen.
*VI - Many Partings - The company rides north to Rohan, then Isengard, where Treebeard gives Aragorn the Keys of Orthanc. The Fellowship of the Ring parts on Dol Baran; Gimli and Legolas head north through Fangorn Forest; Aragorn returns to his kingdom; the rest of the company heads north where they meet Saruman and Wormtongue who were just released from Isengard; Galadriel, Celeborn and the Galadhrim leave over the pass of Caradhras; the hobbits and Gandalf then arrive in Rivendell.
*VII - Homeward Bound - The hobbits and Gandalf travel to Bree where they stay at The Prancing Pony, and are told by Butterbur that there has been trouble in Bree while they have been away.
*VIII - The Scouring of the Shire - The hobbits arrive in the Shire to find it taken over by 'the Chief' or 'Sharkey' at Bag End; Battle of Bywater; the hobbits find Saruman and Wormtongue at Bag End; Wormtongue kills Saruman, and is then killed himself by hobbit archers.
*IX - The Grey Havens - cleaning up of the Shire; several years pass; Sam and Frodo meet Elrond and Galadriel and Bilbo travelling west through the Shire; they travel to the Grey Havens where they meet Gandalf, and Merry and Pippin arrive; Frodo, Bilbo, Gandalf and the Elves set sail to the west; Sam returns to Rosie and their daughter Elanor at Bag End.
===Appendices===
====Appendix A, Annals of the Kings and Rulers====
#The Númenórean Kings
#The House of Eorl
#Durin's Folk
====Appendix B, The Tale of Years (Chronology of the Westlands)====
====Appendix C, Family Trees (Hobbits)====
====Appendix D, Calendars====
====Appendix E, Writing and Spelling====
#Pronunciation of Words and Names
#Writing
====Appendix F====
#The Languages and Peoples of the Third Age
#On Translation 
===Indices===
#Songs and Verses
#Persons, Beasts and Monsters
#Places
#Things
==In adaptations==
*The Return of the King, 1980 animated feature made for television, featuring the voices of Orson Bean and John Huston.
*The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, 2003 theatrical film directed by Peter Jackson.
==Translations==
Foreign Language 	Translated name
Afrikaans 	Die Terugkeer van die Koning
Albanian 	Kthimi i Mbretit
Arabic 	عودة الملك
Aragonese 	A Tornada d'o Rei
Armenian 	Թագավորի վերադարձը
Asturian 	La torna del Rei
Azerbaijani 	Kralın qayıdışı
شاهین قاییدیشی (South Azerbaijani)
Basque 	Erregearen itzulera
Belarusian Cyrillic	Вяртанне караля
Bengali 	রাজার প্রত্যাবর্তন
Bosnian 	Povratak kralja
Bulgarian Cyrillic 	Завръщането на краля
Burmese 	ဘုရင်အဖြစ်ပြန်လည်ရောက်ရှိလာခြင်း
Cambodian 	ការវិលត្រឡប់របស់ស្ដេច
Catalan 	El retorn del rei
Chinese 	王者再临
Croatian 	Povratak kralja
Czech 	Návrat krále
Danish 	Kongen vender tilbage
Dutch 	De Terugkeer van de Koning
Esperanto 	La Reveno de l' Reĝo
Estonian 	Kuninga tagasitulek
Faroese 	Kongurin kemur aftur
Filipino 	Ang pagbabalik ng hari
Finnish 	Kuninkaan paluu
French 	Le Retour du Roi
Frisian 	De Kening Komt Wer (Western)
Georgian 	მეფის დაბრუნება
German 	Die Rückkehr des Königs
Greek 	Η Επιστροφή του Βασιλιά
Gujarati 	રાજા ની રીટર્ન
Hausa 	Komawar Sarki
Hawaiian 	Ka hoʻihoʻiʻana o ka Mō'ī
Hebrew 	שיבת המלך
Hindi 	द रिटर्न ऑफ़ द किंग
Hungarian 	A király visszatér
Icelandic 	Hilmir snýr heim
Indonesian 	Kembalinya Sang Raja
Irish Gaelic 	Tuairisceán an Rí
Italian 	Il ritorno del Re
Japanese 	王の帰還
Javanese 	Bali Sang Prabu ?
Kannada 	ದಿ ರಿಟರ್ನ್ ಆಫ್ ದ ಕಿಂಗ್
Kazakh 	Патшаның оралуы (Cyrillic) Patşanıñ oralwı (Latin)
Korean 	왕의 귀환
Kurdish 	گەڕانەوەی پاشاکە (Central) Vegera padîşah ? (Kurmanji)
Kyrgyz Cyrillic 	Падышанын кайтып келиши
Laotian 	ການກັບຄືນຂອງກະສັດ
Latin 	Regressus Regis
Latvian 	Karaļa atgriešanās
Lithuanian 	Karaliaus sugrįžimas
Luxembourgish 	D'Zréck vum Kinnek
Macedonian Cyrillic	Враќањето на Кралот
Maltese 	Ir-Ritorn tar-re
Malayalam 	രാജയുടെ മടക്കം
Malaysian 	Kembalinya Raja
Marathi 	द रिटर्न ऑफ द किंग
Mongolian Cyrillic 	Хаан эргэж ирэх нь
Nepalese 	राजाको रिटर्न
Norwegian 	Atter en konge
Occitan 	Lo Retorn del rei
Pashto 	د پاچا بیرته ستنیدل
Persian 	بازگشت پادشاه
Polish 	Powrót Króla
Portuguese 	O Regresso do Rei (Portugal) 
O Retorno do Rei (Brazilian)
Punjabi 	ਰਾਜਾ ਦੀ ਵਾਪਸੀ
Romanian 	Întoarcerea Regelui
Russian 	Возвращение короля
Sardinian 	Sa Torrada de su Re
Scots 	The Return o the Keeng
Scottish Gaelic 	An Tilleadh an Rìgh
Serbian 	Повратак краља (Cyrillic) Povratak kralja (Latin)
Sindhi 	بادشاهه جو واپسي
Sinhalese 	රජුගේ පැමිණීම
Slovak 	Návrat kráľa
Slovenian 	Kraljeva vrnitev
Spanish 	El retorno del Rey
Swahili 	Kurudi kwa Mfalme
Swedish 	Sagan om konungens återkomst (Old) Konungens återkomst (New)
Tajik Cyrillic 	Бозгаштани Подшоҳ
Tamil 	த ரிடர்ன் ஆப் த கிங்
Telugu 	ది రిటర్న్ ఆఫ్ ది కింగ్
Thai 	ลอร์ดออฟเดอะริงส์ ตอน กษัตริย์คืนบัลลังก์
Turkish 	Kralın Dönüşü
Ukrainian Cyrillic 	Повернення короля
Urdu 	بادشاہ کی واپسی
Uzbek 	Қиролнинг қайтиши (Cyrillic) Qirolning qaytishi (Latin)
Vietnamese 	Sự trở về của nhà vua
Welsh 	Dychweliad y Brenin
Western Frisian 	De Kening Komt Wer
Xhosa 	Ukubuya koKumkani
Yiddish 	דער צוריקקער פון דעם מלך
Previous novel:The Two Towers	The Lord of the Ringsnovels	Next novel:Last in series
==External links==
Category:Novels
Category:The Lord of the Rings books
Category:Primary literature
Category:Middle-earth source literature
de:Der Herr der Ringe: Die Rückkehr des Königs (Buch)
es:El Señor de los Anillos: El Retorno del Rey
fr:Le Retour du Roi
it:Il ritorno del Re (libro)
ja:王の帰還
nl:In de ban van de ring Deel 3: De Terugkeer van de Koning
pl:Powrót Króla
pt-br:O Retorno do Rei
ru:Возвращение короля (книга)
tr:Kralın Dönüşü
uk:Роман "Повернення короля"