http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/deadmarsh.jpg
[[caption-width:700:"AreWeThereYet?" "Almost, give or take [[{{Doorstopper}} another 1000 pages."]]]]

-->''One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,''\\
''One Ring to bring them all, and in the Darkness bind them.''

With those words, [[BigBad Sauron]] forged the [[ArtifactOfDoom One Ring]], the [[SoulJar vessel of his power]] and the pivot on which the fate of Middle-earth would turn for five thousand years -- until the [[{{Hobbits}} most unlikely of heroes]] did the one thing Sauron could never have imagined, and brought his [[EvilTowerOfOminousness dark tower]] [[CollapsingLair tumbling down]].

The story was originally intended as a ''shorter'' sequel to TheHobbit, but as its author famously remarked, "the tale grew in the telling." '''''{{The Lord of the Rings}}''''' by [[JRRTolkien J. R. R. Tolkien]] is too well-known, and too complex, to be summarised in full, but in brief, Frodo Baggins, one of the [[{{Hobbits}} hobbit]] gentry, learns that the magical trinket he inherited from his uncle Bilbo is actually the One Ring, Sauron's masterpiece. While it exists, Sauron cannot truly be destroyed; should Sauron ever regain it, ultimate victory will be his.

Frodo, his cousins Merry and Pippin, and his gardener Sam take the Ring to the Elves of Rivendell, where the elven-lord Elrond fills in the rest of the BackStory. There it was decided that the Ring cannot be kept there since Sauron would stop at nothing to reclaim it and its malignant influence would threaten to corrupt all who would attempt to guard it and especially those who would attempt to wield it. However, it was decided that one thing [[EvilCannotComprehendGood Sauron would not expect]] would be for his enemies to destroy it in the [[NighInvulnerable only way possible]]: in the fiery bowels of Mount Doom in the [[{{Mordor}} Land of Mordor]], the Dark Lord's province.

The hobbits are joined by five more characters, that represent [[FiveTokenBand the races of Middle-earth]]: Legolas, an elven archer from Mirkwood; Gimli son of Glóin, a dwarf of Erebor; [[TheAragorn Aragorn]], a Ranger of Eriador [[spoiler:and heir to the throne of the human kingdom of Gondor]]; Boromir, heir to the Steward of Gondor; and the wizard, Gandalf the Grey.

Before long, Gandalf [[YouShallNotPass is lost]] in combat against [[SealedEvilInACan an ancient evil]], leaving the Fellowship following Aragorn. When Boromir succumbs to the lure of the Ring, Frodo decides to complete the quest alone. Sam manages to catch up with him, but the others are unable to, due to being embroiled in a battle with the minions of Saruman, the first among wizards -- and traitor to the forces of good. Boromir [[HeroicSacrifice dies]] a KarmicDeath.

Guided by Gollum, a previous victim of the Ring, Frodo and Sam sneak into {{Mordor}}, Sauron's realm, making their way towards the only place where the Ring can be destroyed: the volcanic fire in which it was originally created. Meanwhile, Gandalf has returned from the dead as Gandalf the White and leads Aragorn and the Fellowship in a series of epic battles which keep Sauron distracted from the real threat until it's too late.

When the hobbits return home, they find that Saruman has taken over their homeland, but after they defeat his minions, [[KarmicDeath Saruman is killed]] by his [[TheRenfield Renfield]], Gríma.

There have been several adaptations. Among them:
* Animated/TheLordOfTheRings - The RalphBakshi animated adaptation.
* Film/TheLordOfTheRings - The PeterJackson live action adaptation.
* Animated/TheReturnOfTheKing - The Rankin-Bass animated adaptation of the third book.

In addition, there has been a BBC radio adaptation, two [[TabletopGames Tabletop [=RPGs=]]] set in Middle-earth, and several video games, from early [[InteractiveFiction text adventures]] to the latest MassivelyMultiplayerOnlineRolePlayingGame.

The first attempt to make a screen version was made in 1958 by a certain Zimmerman, who wrote a film script for “The Lord of the Rings”. J.R.R. Tolkien looked through it and in his letter to Forrest Ackerman heavily criticized this feeble attempt. It turned out that the script didn’t reflect many of Tolkien’s thoughts and some of the characters lost their appeal.

There was another aborted attempt by John Boorman to adapt the books in the 70's. It would've been live action and the notes from it might have suggested that adaptation might have looked like ''{{Zardoz}}''. The Harvard Lampoon published a parody titled ''BoredOfTheRings'' in 1969, which manages to cover the entire journey in under 200 pages.

The majority of tropes used in ''[=LotR=]'' are well-explained, unlike in the majority of its [[TheThemeParkVersion imitators]]. Mordor, for example, has large fertile areas, and the [[ArtifactOfDoom Ring]] is more than just a convenient {{MacGuffin}} -- its effects matter too much for that. This is largely due to the immensely elaborated BackStory and his life-defining experiences in [[http://www.greatwar.nl/frames/default-tolkiene.html The Great War.]]

There were, though, some tropes JRRTolkien couldn't justify to his satisfaction. He spent years trying to decide how orcs could be AlwaysChaoticEvil without being born evil or soulless (options he didn't think Morgoth, their corrupter, had the power to achieve), but never found any answer he liked. It was philosophical niggles like this that stopped him publishing the TheSilmarillion in his lifetime. His son Christopher did it anyway.
----
!![[TropeNamer Named The Following Tropes:]]
* TheAragorn ([[TropeMaker The original.]] The reason for this trope's existence was that Tolkien wanted to write a story about the folly of power and strength, sanctifying the weak and humble. If not for this theme, Aragorn would probably have been the main hero. As a bit of trivia, his character was originally a ranger hobbit named Trotter who would have turned out to be [[spoiler:in one early suggestion Bilbo, but then another cousin,]] who had lost his feet after torture in Mordor, resulting in him wearing wooden feet!).
* ArmyOfTheDead
* BlackSpeech: The language of Sauron and Mordor.
* DugTooDeep
* GollumMadeMeDoIt
* GondorCallsForAid
* {{Hobbits}}
* KneelBeforeFrodo: Aragorn bows to Frodo and Sam at Cormallen. In Jackson's films, a courtyard full of people bows to the hobbits.
* {{Mithril}}: The fantasy version of Unobtainium.
* {{Mordor}}: Although only true for parts of it (Volcanic soil is usually very fertile). The south of Mordor has huge fertile farmlands, which are needed to keep the Mooks fed.
* {{Mythopoeia}}: Tolkien coined the term.
* OurElvesAreBetter: Trope-maker.
* OurOrcsAreDifferent: Invented orcs.
* ReturnOfTheKing
* RingOfPower: Several rings, but The One Ring is nicknamed this.
* ShortCutsMakeLongDelays: Spoken first by Pippin.
* SpeakFriendAndEnter
* ThePalantirPloy
* WalkIntoMordor
* YouShallNotPass: Spoken first by Gandalf.

!!Provides Examples Of:
* AcheyScars: Frodo Baggins' wounds received from the Morgul blade and Shelob often pain him afterwards and make him ill, especially on their anniversaries. [[spoiler: He actually sails to the True West with the elves because of this, in the hope of finding a way of reducing the pain.]]
* ActionGirl: Éowyn
* {{Adventure}}
* [[AllThereInTheManual All There In The Appendices]], including the ''love story''. Tolkien's way of implying that the story of [=LotR=], despite being one of the most important things to happen in Middle-earth, was not the ''only'' thing happening.
* AllTrollsAreDifferent
* AlternativeCalendar: The different peoples have their own calendars, with varying degrees of difference between them. The books generally use the Shire (Hobbit) calendar.
* AlwaysChaoticEvil (In one possible BackStory, orcs were magically corrupted from elf stock to be Morgoth's minions. Tolkien's own thoughts on this suggest that this may not entirely be the case, though.)
* AmplifierArtifact: All of the rings, especially the One.
* AmusingAlien: Gimli the Dwarf, in the live-action movies.
* AnAxeToGrind: Gimli carries an axe.
* AncientTomb: The Barrow-downs. The barrows of the Kings of Rohan and the tombs in Minas Tirith are also Ancient Tombs, but not haunted by anything.
* AncestralWeapon: The shards of Narsil.
* AnnoyingArrows: Subverted; Boromir does get shot by several arrows, and does pull them out, but is still weakened and wounded to death and definitely cannot continue fighting.
* AntiVillain: Gollum (to the extent that he isn't "the real hero"; also doubles as TheWoobie)
* ApeShallNeverKillApe: Used in a heroic example during the [[spoiler:Scouring of the Shire]].
* ApocalypticLog: The Book of Mazarbul, chronicling Balin's failed attempt to retake Moria up until their last stand.
* {{Applicability}}: Read the entry for details.
* {{Arcadia}}: The Shire.
* ArcNumber: 9 - Nazgul, Fellowship
* ArtifactOfDoom: The One Ring.
* AuthorAvatar: Faramir. An early version of him explained in depth about the Elves.
* AvertedTrope
** CainAndAbel: Averted with Boromir and Faramir.
*** But played straight with Smeagol and Deagol.
** ElementalBaggage: Averted, Gandalf "cannot burn snow".
** YouAllMeetInAnInn: Only Aragorn is met this way. The rest are met at political conferences.
** NoCureForEvil: Averted, the Orcish medicine is made to heal the wounded as fast as possible but it tends to be very painful and it leaves scars.
** BlackAndWhiteMorality: Really. For example: Sam wonders if Sauron's human soldiers are truly evil at heart, or manipulated or forced to go to war. Similarly, Merry and Pippin say Saruman's own human troops are not truly evil compared to Orcs. (After battle, human enemies are offered mercy and given it, if accepted.) The Rohirrim have a history of hunting the Wild Men of Drúadan Forest for sport (which happened with Elves and Petty-dwarves in [[TheSilmarillion The Silmarillion]]). [[AllThereInTheManual In the Appendices]], it is related how the Gondorians have a civil war over the blood purity of their king, with a pure-blood usurper villain. And so on...
** WeirdMoon: Tolkien got the moon-phases all mapped out, so when they come up in the text they always fit.
* AwesomeMomentOfCrowning: Aragorn at the end.
* BabiesEverAfter: Sam marries his longtime sweetheart the year after the end of War, and the next year sees the birth of little [[strike:Frodo]] Elanor. He goes on to have many more, although, as the epilogue was cut, this is revealed in the Appendices instead of in the narrative.
* BackFromTheDead: Gandalf
* {{Backstory}} (And plenty of it)
* BadassBoast: Éowyn
* BadassBookworm: Faramir is considered the 'nerdy' one of the brothers, but is quite capable of fighting.
* BadassNormal: Boromir, Éowyn, and all the hobbits, but especially Sam.
* BarbarianHorde: The Orcs as well as most varieties of Eastern Humans.
* BatmanGambit: Gandalf used one of these to distract Sauron from the true location of the One Ring, convincing him that the Free People were planning to use it against him. Of course, the whole thing was a diversion to allow the hobbits to enter Mordor unnoticed.
* [[BattleButler Battle Gardener]]: Sam
* BearerOfBadNews: Gandalf has quite a reputation for this in many places. The Riders of Rohan don't like him much because of it.
** They probably like Shadowfax a whole lot more, just for being Shadowfax.
*** But that just means they hate Gandalf ''more'' for taking him, so, swings and roundabouts...
* BeingWatched: Being eavesdropped on by Sam (for the most [[CrowningMomentOFHeartwarming heart-warming]] conspiracy ever) and several times with Gollum.
* BeneathTheEarth: The dwarven realm of [[strike:Moria]] Khazad-dûm
* BetterToDieThanBeKilled: Denethor.
* TheBerserker: Éomer
* BigBad: Sauron
** BigBadDiumvirate: Subverted. Saruman seems to consider himself Sauron's equal partner and has full plans of double-crossing him, but Sauron is both phenomenally more powerful and smart enough to be fully aware of his pawn's ambitions. It's quite clear to everybody else that there is only ''one'' BigBad in LordOfTheRings.
* BigBadassWolf: Wargs
* BigDamnHeroes: Several times-- Gandalf at Helm's deep, the Rohan army at Pelennor and later Aragorn and the Dead Army in the same battle.
**The Dead Army doesn't appear at Pelennor in the book, only in the movie. In the Book, Aragorn uses the Dead Army to take out the Corsair fleet (which by the way were descendants of Numenorean colonists, so should have looked more like Aragorn). He then uses the fleet to transport a large army of Gondor allies that previously couldn't send many troops for fear of leaving their lands open to said fleet. He brings with him Elrond's sons, 30 Dunedain Rangers, Legolas, Gimli and a good few thousand fresh men.
* BigGood: Gandalf.
* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: The whole Tom Bombadil thing.
* BigOlEyebrows: Gandalf
* BilingualBonus: Most of the {{Meaningful Name}}s. Generally speaking, the rest have translations given.
* BittersweetEnding: Although Sam, Merry and Pippin have long happy lives, Frodo can't go back to enjoying life and leaves for the Undying Lands.
* BlackBlood: Orcs have it.
* BlackCloak: The unusually powerful Nazgûl.
* BodyCountCompetition: Gimli owns Legolas 42:41 at the Battle of the Hornburg.
* BreakTheHaughty: Saruman
* BulletProofVest: Frodo's mithril chainmail shirt.
* CallARabbitASmeerp: Pipe-weed, Oliphaunts/Mûmakil (Oliphaunt is an archaic english usage - so not really a Smeerp)
* CampCook: Samwise is always the cook, but he is neither bad nor comic relief.
* CapitalCity: Minas Tirith
** Somewhat Subverted in that Osgiliath is the actual capital of Gondor and Minas Tirith was merely the western most military fort. Denethor wastes a lot of resources trying to keep Osgiliath, though that fact isn't as prevalent in the books as it is in the movies.
*** In this case, though, Osgiliath is important not because as the former capital, but as a front line against Mordor because it is the best point to cross Anduin.
* TheCavalry: The Riders of Rohan [[spoiler: and Aragorn, Rangers of Eriador and troops from southern Gondor]]. They are also, literally, the cavalry.
* CaveBehindTheFalls: Henneth Annûn.
* CerebusSyndrome: LOTR is much darker in tone than The Hobbit. The early parts of Fellowship of The Ring still bear signs of pre-Cerebusness.
** Not a genuine example, as the Hobbit was written independently of his "serious" Middle-earth stories, and the story integrated into the previously existing Middle-earth continuity, upon which he took on its tone.
* {{Chessmaster}}: Several, but Denethor's "he uses others as his weapons" is probably the main doctrine of Chessmastery.
** Yeah 'cause that worked out so well for him in the end... see [[{{DrivenToSuicide}} below]]
*** It's still the doctrine most Chessmasters live by. That it failed in Denethor's case was more because he was [[OutGambitted up against a far more skillful opponent.]]
** Gandalf is the ultimate {{Chessmaster}} in the series, [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation according to some]].
**And of course, Sauron.
* ChessMotifs: See previous entry.
* ChildrenAreInnocent: Theoden manages to break free of Saruman's charming voice because of the dead children (and the [[DueToTheDead mutilation of a corpse]]).
* CityOfSpies: Bree
* ClingyMacGuffin: The One Ring -- justified.
* ComeToGawk: Saruman's accusation, when found on the road.
* ConLang: Elvish languages Quenya and Sindarin. And other less detailed ones, like Khuzdul, Black Speech, etc..
* ColdBloodedTorture: Orcs do it to anyone they can get away with doing it to, including each other.
* CollectibleCardGame: two, ''Middle Earth'' in the 1990s and [one of] The Game[s] Of TheMovie.
* CollapsingLair: Barad-dûr
* ColorCodedWizardry: Saruman the White, Gandalf the Grey, Radagast the Brown.
* CompellingVoice: Saruman
* ConstructedWorld: Set in the world of Tolkien's legendarium, on the continent Middle-earth.
** Which is actually just ancient Europe, or parts thereof.
* ContemptibleCover: In the first authorised American paperback, Tolkien complained about the [[ArtShift creative artwork]] for the covers. It supposedly had a "tree with bulbous fruit" and "lions and emus" on the covers. This edition is nicknamed the "[[http://lotrscrapbook.bookloaf.net/gallery/bookcovers/pages/04.htm Hippie Edition]]".
** What you say! The Ballantine artwork is awesome. Also, [[NewAgeRetroHippie Hippies]] are awesome. And Hippies buying the Ballantine edition is what popularised the book to begin with.
** The 50th Anniversary edition is worse: The heroes look like [[http://mrow.net/blog/archives/2004/03/30/two_towers_michael_herring.jpg 70's porn stars.]]
* CoolChair: The throne of the King of Gondor and Steward's chair.
* CoolHorse: Shadowfax
* CoolSword: Gandalf has Glamdring, Frodo has Sting, and Aragorn has Anduril. The Witch King of Angmar wields a flaming sword at the Siege of Gondor, and the Balrog of Moria uses a burning sword as well.
* CosmicHorror: In the backstory, the Dwarves DugTooDeep and connected with the tunnels of 'nameless things' which are older than Sauron, where the [[SealedEvilInACan Balrog]] was hiding; later Gandalf falls into their territory via the abyss below Durin's Bridge, and says that he will not speak of what he saw there.
* CosmopolitanCouncil: The Council of Elrond, possibly also The White Council.
* CowboyBebopAtHisComputer: Inflicted on the series by the Writer's Almanac.
* CrowningMomentOfAwesome: Pretty much every character has at least one.
* CrystalBall: The Palantíri
* DarkIsEvil, DarkIsNotEvil: Different nations and peoples on both ends of the good-evil-spectrum have used black as their color, or have black hair.
* DeathGlare: Aragorn to the Ambassador at the Black Gate.
* DeathOfTheAuthor
* DeathSeeker: Éowyn.
-->''"He caught the glint of clear grey eyes; and then he shivered, for it came suddenly to him that it was the face of one without hope who goes in search of death.''"
* {{Denouement}}
* DespairEventHorizon: Denethor during the Siege of Gondor, which leads to him trying to immolate himself and his son on a funeral pyre.
* DieForOurShip: Poor, poor Arwen. Both Aragorn/Legolas and Éowyn/Aragorn fanbrats hate and bash her like there's ''no'' tomorrow.
* DirtyBusiness: When Frodo lures Gollum into the hands of Faramir's men.
* DividedForPublication
* TheDogBitesBack: Gríma
* DoNotGoGentleIntoThatGoodNight: Every major battle begins with one or more, and Sam, in the movies at least, is the [[TearJerker master]] of these.
* DoomedHometown: The Shire, though it's sort of inverted. And it gets better eventually.
* {{Doorstopper}}: Despite being [[DividedForPublication called a trilogy]], it's really just one giant book. Which the publisher divided into three volumes because of its size.
** And, supposedly, postwar paper shortages. There wasn't enough to print a full run of the whole book.
* TheDragon: The Witch-king of Angmar to Sauron. Sauron himself was TheDragon to Morgoth.
** Actually, Ancalagon the Black was TheDragon to Morgoth. Sauron was more of TheAssassin or TheVizier
** Really, Morgoth had a bunch of Dragons- which one was ''the'' Dragon depends on which particular story from TheSilmarillion you're looking at. Sauron is definitely TheDragon in ''Beren and Luthien''.
* DressingAsTheEnemy: Frodo and Sam in Mordor.
* DrivenToSuicide: Denethor
* DueToTheDead: Good guys bury corpses, or at least keep them out of orcish hands; evil guys mutilate them, and even use their heads as siege weapons(for psychological warfare).
* EarnYourHappyEnding
* EasingIntoTheAdventure: The beginnings in the Shire.
* EldritchAbomination: Shelob, though technically she's the daughter of a full-on EldritchAbomination and an "ordinary" GiantSpider. The creatures that Gandalf and the Balrog encounter beneath Moria are implied to be this as well.
* ElephantsChild: Pippin during the ride with Gandalf to Minas Tirith. Gandalf tries answering questions, but finds each answer just leads to more questions. Exposition nicely done.
* EliteMooks: Saruman's Uruk-hai and Sauron's specially bred sun-proof Trolls. Heck, Morgoth essentially created all the evil races on Middle-earth through dark magic and breeding.
* ElvesVsDwarves: They don't get along. Possibly the originator of the cliche.
* EmotionBomb: Evil things, especially the Nazgûl, are cloaked in Fear and Despair. This may also be (at least part of) how Denethor was DrivenToSuicide.
* EndOfAnAge: Set at the end of the Third Age.
* EndingFatigue: [[{{YMMV}} Some consider the end to be too long]]. Tolkien wasn't eager to pawn off a pat "happy-ever-after" ending. Instead, the heroes' homecoming is just as important a part of the journey as it was in the old epics it emulates.
* EnemyToAllLivingThings: The Nazgûl; their horses have to be specially bred and trained just to stand being near them, let alone serving as their mounts.
* EngagementChallenge: Elrond gives this to Aragorn in the backstory. If he wants Arwen's hand in marriage, he's got to become King first.
* EnsembleDarkhorse: Glorfindel and Prince Imrahil.
* EstrogenBrigadeBait: Given the fact most of the major characters are guys, this shouldn't be surprising.
* EvilCannotComprehendGood: The whole plan hinges on the fact that Sauron can't even conceive of someone trying to ''destroy'' the Ring and get rid of that kind of power.
** In all fairness, [[AvertedTrope he was right]]. At the moment of truth, [[spoiler:instead of throwing the One Ring into Mount Doom, Frodo claimed it for his own. The Ring was only destroyed when Gollum tried to steal it back, succeeded, and fell into the lava still clutching his "precious"]].
* EvilOverlord: Sauron.
* EvilSorcerer: Saruman, and Sauron.
* EvilTowerOfOminousness - Barad-dûr, Minas Morgul, Orthanc, Dol Guldur, and the Tower of Cirith Ungol.
* EvilVersusEvil: Saruman was constantly plotting against Sauron.
* ExpansionPackWorld: Not directly, more like TheHobbit got transplanted ''very'' neatly into Middle-earth during the writing of [=LotR=].
* FaceHeelTurn: Saruman seduced into evil by the perceived superiority of Sauron's power; Denethor driven mad due to his imperfect understanding of how a Palantír works; The Scouring of the Shire, the ultimate result of a few hobbits wanting to bring in "outside ways" to do things "better" and "faster".
* TheFaceless: The Nazgûl
* TheFairFolk: Not exactly... The Elves in LOTR are all nice and good... but the Rohirrim ''think'' the Lorien elves are these.
* FamedInStory
* FantasyWorldMap: Yet another Tolkien example, also LeftJustifiedFantasyMap.
* {{Fellowship}}: The Fellowship of the Ring
* FemaleSuccessIsFamily
* FightingAShadow: The reason Sauron keeps coming back, until the [[SoulJar Ring]] is destroyed.
* FightingForSurvival
* TheFilmOfTheBook: Several, see bottom of page for tropes.
* FinalBattle
* FriendOrFoe: The fleet
* FlamingSword: The Balrog and the Witch-king.
* FollowTheLeader: It started the fantasy genre as we know it, and indirectly started role playing games as we know them too. The live action movies led the way for more film adaptations based on epic fantasy books.
* ForbiddenZone: The Paths of the Dead, and of course {{Mordor}}.
* GhibliHills - Most of Middle-earth fits, [[SceneryPorn especially in the films.]]
* GiantFlyer - The Ringwraiths' flying steeds, and the Eagles.
* GiantSpider - Shelob.
* GoddamnOrks - Orcs mainly, but the Dunlendings, Easterlings and Haradrim as well to a lesser extent.
* GodInHumanForm: The group of so-called "wizards", while appearing as old human men, are actually five ''Maiar'', a kind of angelic spirit, who are themselves incorporeal but can usually clothe themselves in any form they like. The five have been sent on a mission to help the peoples of Middle-earth against Sauron, during which they are bound in their physical form, unable to change it, and also limited in their powers and knownledge.
* GodsHandsAreTied: The Valar
* GondorCallsForAid
* GoodHurtsEvil
* GoodIsNotNice: Denethor. Also, Frodo threatening Gollum.
** BigGood Gandalf himself, who has a short temper and a caustic sense of humor.
* {{Gotterdammerung}}: The War of the Ring signals the passing of the Elves in Middle-earth.
* GrayEyes
* GreenEyedMonster
* HalfHumanHybrids: Elrond and his family are half-elven, Aragorn's ancestors had elven blood (his ancestor was Elrond's brother), and the Uruk-hai are rumoured to be part-human part-orc.
** Actually, if you trace the bloodlines of the Nûmenorians back to Luthien and then look at HER parents, you find that her father was an Elf Lord and her Mother was a ''Maia''. As such, Aragorn, Elrond and company are part spirit/angel as well as elf.
* HatePlague: The Ring
* HealingHands: Aragorn, as well as Elrond and other powerful Elves.
* HealingPotion: The Uruk-hai use this with Merry.
* {{Herald}}: Gandalf
* HereThereWereDragons: To us the War of the Ring takes place in such a world. To the characters, the earlier Ages were this.
* HeroicLineage: Elrond and Aragorn are descended from many of the Elven and Human heroes/protagonists from earlier Ages.
* HeterosexualLifePartners: Frodo and Sam, Gimli and Legolas, Merry and Pippin.
* HiddenElfVillage: Rivendell, Lothlorien.
* {{HoYay}}: Hi, meet the fandom. Read the books. Go on the Internet in general.
* {{Hobbits}}
* TheHorde: The orcs.
* HumansAreSpecial: Intersting twist on this, because the whole thing usually revolves around either their negative qualities or their mortality.
* IAmNotShazam: The "Lord of the Ring(s)" is Sauron. People get it wrong and are corrected in the book, as well as in real life.
* ICallItVera: In spades...which are probably also named.
* ICanFight: Éowyn tries this.
* IHaveManyNames: Gandalf, Aragorn, the Witch-king, and Sauron all have many names.
* InternetBackdraft: Everyone stand back... "The Balrog has no wings!" Watch the explosions!
* [[{{ptitle27wsaewjf1ss}} It's For A Book]]
* ItWasHisSled: Gandalf comes back. The Ring is destroyed.
* JumpedAtTheCall: Sam is even described as "springing up like a dog invited for walk" when Gandalf tells him to go with Frodo.
* JustEatGilligan: A few of these are ripe topics for fan squabbling, including [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yqVD0swvWU easier ways that the Ring might have been taken to Mordor]] and ways that Sauron might have guarded against the one thing that could defeat him, such as, I don't know, installing a door with a lock on it in the tunnel to the Cracks of Doom. Naturally, bringing something like this up among serious Ringers is at least as dangerous as making a statement about whether Balrogs have wings.
** [[http://fukung.net/v/5000/1173021908920.gif What about a catapult?]] (NSFW)
** [[http://img44.imageshack.us/img44/9263/boromir.gif It's better than his other ideas.]]
* KarmicDeath: Boromir, Saruman
* KillItWithFire: The Ringwraiths, Shelob. Depending on how you want to look at it, the Balrog inverted the trope.
* LadyOfWar: Éowyn
* LawfulEvil: Sauron (and by extension the Nazgul) is of the highly organized tyrant variety. Saruman starts out the WellIntentionedExtremist variety before [[MotiveDecay decaying]] into a tyrant as well, and then into a ChaoticEvil revenge-obsessed psycho in the Scouring of the Shire.
* LeastIsFirst: Frodo offering to take the Ring at the Counicil of Elrond, immediately joined by Sam.
* LemonyNarrator: Mostly in the early chapters in the Shire and till Bree; again in the later chapters on the way back.
* ALightInTheDistance: The will-o'-the-wisps seen in the Dead Marshes.
* LiteraryAgentHypothesis: The author claims that ''The Lord of the Rings'' is translated from the ''Red Book of Westmarch'', which was written by the hobbits (mainly Bilbo and Frodo).
**ThisTroper never heard before that Tolkien actually came out and said that, but it seemed obvious given the changing nature of the narrator's voice from section to section. Starting with Frodo's over-thinking, scholarly descriptions in the first part and ending with Sam's down-to-earth humble descriptions towards the end. Personally, I kind of wish that Merry had more impact on the narrating than he did. He's got a wonderful eye for detail and consequence that strikes quickly to the heart of matters.
* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters
* LoadBearingBoss: The fall of Barad-dûr coincides with Sauron's death.
** Justified because he created it using the Ring. Once the Ring's power was no longer holding it up, the whole unwieldy thing just fell in.
* TheLoneDalek: Gollum
* TheLostWoods: The Old Forest, Fangorn Forest, and Lothlórien
* LowestCommonDenominator: The positive version of this trope.
* MacGuffin: Frequently described as such, the Ring was originally intended to be a sequel hook to ''TheHobbit'' until Tolkien decided it was actually an ArtifactOfDoom.
* MacGuffinEscortMission: Escort the Ring to Mount Doom.
* MadeOfIndestructium: Quite possibly the origin of this trope. The One Ring can only be destroyed at Mt. Doom where it was made.
** Somewhat subverted in that it is implied that the Valar could destroy it if they wanted to break their own rules and that the main reason for the indestructibility is that no one has a full mastery of how it was made except Sauron.
*** I personally feel that Sauron only destroyed the Elf-Smiths of Eregion because, after they made the Three, he realized that they might eventually figure out how to unmake the One. I think he originally intended to use the Rings to ensalve that nation and then spread from there. The Three put a bump in his plan.
* TheMagicGoesAway: Elves sail off to the West, wizards leave (or otherwise drop off the radar), no more magic- although Tolkein was extremely loath to use the word "magic" to refer to any of that in the first place.
* MagicMirror: Galadriel's mirror, which is just water in a silver bowl.
* MagnificentBastard: Sauron, especially if you read his backstory in the appendixes and realize how magnificent a bastard he was.
** Saruman certainly tries to be one, but he's playing [[OutGambitted far out of his league]].
* MayflyDecemberRomance (Aragorn and Arwen)
* MeaningfulFuneral: The funerals of Boromir and [[spoiler:Theoden]].
* MeaningfulName: Most names in the books have other meanings and are often based on obscure words. [[http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Mordor Mordor, for example, comes from the old English word for "mortal sin" or "murder".]]
* MeaningfulRename
* MentorOccupationalHazard: This happened to Gandalf. He's feeling much better now.
* MilesToGoBeforeISleep: Sam and Frodo's hopeless persistence as they travel through Mordor.
* MonogenderMonsters: The movie's portrayal of Orcs, being all male and spawned from mud pits.
* {{Mooks}}
* MoreHeroThanThou
* {{Mythopoeia}}: The Ur-example.
* NarrativePoem: "Eärendil Was a Mariner"
* NearVillainVictory: Tolkien basically coined the word 'eucatastrophe' that describes this trope, and happens plenty of times throughout the novel.
* TheNecrocracy: The kingdom of Angmar in the BackStory and Minas Morgul.
* NeverAcceptedInHisHometown
* NoManOfWomanBorn: After [[{{Shakespeare}} ''Macbeth'']], the best-known example, like, ever.
** WordOfGod once mentioned that this case of the trope, as well as the whole idea of the Ents, was directly inspired by Macbeth. Tolkien said he was disappointed that Macbeth wasn't just killed by a woman and that Birnham Wood didn't ''actually'' get up and march against Macbeth.
* NoOneCouldSurviveThat: Pippin and the troll.
* TheObiWan: Gandalf, mentoring Aragorn, Frodo, and Faramir.
* NoOntologicalInertia: Everything done with the rings, including Mordor and Lothlórien.
* NoseTapping
* NotAGame
* ObviouslyEvil: Sauron.
* OddFriendship: Legolas and Gimli.
* OffingTheOffspring: Denethor, after he went into full-blown insanity and despair, tries to burn both himself and his feverish son Faramir on a pyre.
* OhCrap: Several of these, such as when the heroes are confronting the latest spawn of darkness (the Black Riders, the Balrog, the witch-king, etc). The best, though, is when Sauron spots the Ring near the Cracks of Doom and it finally dawns on him just what his enemies are up to, and how close they are to bringing about his utter ruin. "And Barad-dur trembled from the depths of its foundations to its proud and bitter crown."
* OlderThanTheyLook: Aragorn, and those descended from the Númenóreans in general. For instance, Aragorn is in the prime of his life when the war of the ring occurs- age 87. It is mentioned that his is a ''reduced'' lifespan compared to his ancestors.
* OmnicidalManiac: Morgoth, in the {{backstory}}
* OneGenderRace: The Ents, although not by design, as there originally was a distinct female gender - only those wandered off, and haven't been seen since. If they did not have such long lifespans, they would be extinct already for lack of children. (situation is elaborated upon in the trope entry).
* OneSidedBattle
* OrcusOnHisThrone: Tolkien does this with his villains, but only towards the ends of their careers - he had a theme of deliberate VillainDecay and MotiveDecay, with smart people with real goals turning to evil but evil itself corrupting them and gradually turning them into cardboard cutouts. Together with this, they start out going out and kicking arse by themselves (e.g. Morgoth fights Tulkas personally at the dawn of time, Sauron comes out to fight Huan in the ''Silmarillion'') but eventually becoming throne-bound. Often after one too many of such direct interaction had a painful outcome (e.g. Morgoth after his duel with the elven king Fingolfin, Sauron after his defeat/half-death and loss of the Ring in the War of the Last Alliance).
* OurElvesAreBetter: Originator of the trope, with at least two groups inside the book. A [[TheFairFolk rather different view of them]] is revealed in the BackStory, however.
** Anybody that's read the Silmarillion knows that the House of Feanor and many of their Noldor followers were just as bad as Morgoth or Ungoliant's spawn and minions.
* OurFounder: The ''Argonath'', two statues of Isildur and Anárion, founders of Gondor.
* OurOrcsAreDifferent: Yet another [[TropeMaker Tolkien-created]] trope.
** It's worth noting that Tolkien's orcs are actually quite different from the standard ChaoticEvil barbarian orcs when you look beyond the superficial level. They're actually a technologically advanced race (surpassed only by the humans of Nûmenorean descent, the elves and the dwarves) who are generally of human-level intelligence and have [[ColdBloodedTorture a sophisticated appreciation for others' pain]]. The problem is, they're usually not [[EnemyCivilWar working together in huge groups]] unless forced to do so by an outside force.
* OverlyLongName: The Ents, combined with the fact that they talk really, ''really'' slowly.
** Add to that their immortality, their isolated civilization and how generally hard to kill they are. Keep in mind that an Ent's full name is essentially his ''entire'' personal history.
* OvershadowedByAwesome: Celeborn by his wife Galadriel.
** Note that Galadriel is one of the few Noldor that escaped Feanor's curse and actually predates the day-night cycle. If she and Elrond weren't stuck maintaining the safety of their realms, the story would have been a bit different. After all, they're not bound by the stricture to inspire rather than champion like Gandalf is.
* PalsWithJesus: Gandalf and darn near anyone who's good.
* PapaWolf: Everyone is this to the hobbits. Even the hobbits get to be this on occasion because of ThePowerOfFriendship.
* ParentalFavoritism: Boromir (the elder son) is heavily preferred to Faramir by their father, Denethor. It's especially emphasized in The Movies, where Denethor is shown as blatantly unfair; in the book, Gandalf at least believes that it is partly that Denethor is still grief-stricken over the death.
* {{Pirates}}: The Corsairs of Umbar.
* PlayingPossum: A scene with Uruk-hai during Helm's Deep in the novel.
* PlayingWithFire: Gandalf
* PoisonedWeapons: The Morgul blade and the arrow that hit Faramir.
** Orcs in general are said to be fond of this.
* PopculturalOsmosis: ''[=LotR's=]'' influence is widespread and isn't limited to the fantasy genre.
** HighFantasy: It popularized the genre and is generally credited with creating it, although high fantasy in the novel format is actually older than Tolkien. The demand for novels similar to Lord of the Rings was so great that many imitators joined in to feed the demand. The term "Tolkienesque" has been used to describe the literature of his many imitators. A few writers actually tried to go in a different direction than Tolkien, such as [[UrsulaKLeGuin Ursula K. Le Guin]] with her [[EarthseaTrilogy Earthsea novels]]. Even today, Tolkien's shadow is so big that it's difficult for a writer to escape it.
** [[RolePlayingGame Role Playing Games]]: The Fellowship can be seen as the prototypical [=RPG=] party. It established many archetypes and tropes that are seen [=RPGs=] like "rangers", warrior dwarves, the Balrog and {{Mithril}}. The Fellowship's trek through the dwarven city of Khazad-dûm might have been the basis for RuinsForRuinsSake. It inspired D&D and many of the [=RPGs=] that came after it.
**War Gaming: Before ''[=LotR=]'', war games were limited to historical wars like WWII, the Napoleonic Wars, and the American Civil War. ''[=LotR=]'' popularized the idea that war gaming can take place in a fictional land with fictional races and nations. It influenced such games as {{Warhammer}}, WarCraft, and StarCraft.
*** Which came full circle when GamesWorkshop made a tabletop wargame based on LOTR, inspired partly by Warhammer.
**Music/HeavyMetal: Many of the earliest metal bands were influenced by Tolkien. [[HeavyMithril They use many of his themes and events as a basis for numerous songs]]. Led Zepplin is a band that shows a lot of Tolkien influence. There's even a subgenre called ''Tolkien Metal''.
* PosthumousCharacter: Boromir.
* PragmaticVillainy: Uglúk, to some extent Sauron.
* ProphecyTwist: The Witch-king
* PropheticFallacy: Denethor and the Corsairs
* PsychicDreamsForEveryone: Faramir, and Boromir once
** Frodo too.
* PublisherChosenTitle: The publisher meddled with the titles of the three volumes. Tolkien wanted the last one to be named ''The War of the Ring'' to avoid {{spoiler}}s, but it didn't get through.
* TheQuest: Frodo's quest is a double subversion. So much so, it might called an ''Anti Quest''
* RansackedRoom
* RedemptionEqualsDeath: Boromir
* RedEyesTakeWarning: Sauron, while not red-eyed himself, uses a red eye on black as his symbol.
** Although in the movie, he takes the form ''of'' a giant red eye.
* RegentForLife: Denethor
** Though he actually has a good precedent for not accepting Aragorn's claim - especially since he has reason to believe Aragorn won't act in Gondor's best interest - and we don't know what he would have actually done had he not been DrivenToSuicide. So it's certainly not a clear-cut example.
* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld
* TheRenfield: Wormtongue
* RoarBeforeBeating (cave troll)
* RobeAndWizardHat: Gandalf
* RoyalBlood
* SamusIsAGirl: Dernhelm aka [[spoiler:Éowyn]]
* SapientSteed: Gandalf's steed Shadowfax.
* SealedArmyInACan: The Oathbreakers from the Paths of the Dead.
* SealedEvilInACan: The Balrog of Moria
* SecondHandStorytelling: Gandalf's escape from Saruman, Treebeard's attack on Isengard, and Aragorn's adventures in southern Gondor. Justified by WordOfGod that the story is mostly seen from a hobbit POV, [[LiteraryAgentHypothesis since it was hobbits that wrote the tome professor Tolkein translated]]
* SecondaryCharacterTitle: ''The Lord of the Rings'' refers to Sauron not Frodo as some believe. The full title of Frodo's book about the war is ''The Downfall of the Lord of the Rings and the Return of the King''.
* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: Almost every modern fantasy copies from it to some extent or another; so much of the genre is aimed at children that by the time a reader gets to the Real Thing, they've seen it before...
* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: Faramir and Boromir.
* SimultaneousArcs: The main continuity splits off into two branches when the Fellowship breaks up near Rauros - one arc following Frodo, Sam and Gollum in the journey to Mordor, the other one following everyone else and the wars in Rohan and Gondor.
* SingleLineOfDescent: Surprisingly, subverted. Aragorn is descended from the northern branch of the kingly line; the Gondor branch of the Numenorean kings [[SuccessionCrisis diversified into several potential claimants, endured a civil war over the question of inheritance, and eventually no viable successor could be found]] ([[AllThereInTheManual All explained in the appendices]]). Also there are other people appearing and mentioned who also descend from the same ancestor as the "main descendant" of that line.
** Further subverted in that although the Gondorian and Arnorian branches claim direct descent from Elros, first king of Numenor, they are ''not'' descendants of the last king, as their ancestor branched off around king 13 or so. Also found AllThereInTheManual.
* SleepingDummy: The hobbits pull this off at the Prancing Pony in Bree.
* SoulJar: The One Ring
* SpannerInTheWorks: Gollum
* SpeakFriendAndEnter
* SplitPersonality: Gollum/Sméagol
* {{Sssssnaketalk}}: Gollum
* StayOnThePath: Averted. Gandalf tells the hobbits to stay ''off'' the roads on their way to Bree.
** Though in ''TheHobbit'' it's played straight, again by Gandalf. The dwarves run off the path anyway, and get captured by wood elves for their trouble.
* StealthPun: Merry is given the name "Holdwine" by Éowyn and Éomer once, and it's never mentioned again. It [[BilingualBonus means]] "loyal friend" in [[TranslationConvention Old English]], but in ''Modern'' English ...
* AStormIsComing: When Gandalf came bearing news of Saruman's plans to the Rohirrim. Wormtongue mocks him by calling him a "stormcrow".
* StormingTheCastle: Subverted
* StoryBreakerPower: Gandalf in both ''The Hobbit'' and ''[=LoTR=]''.
* TheStrategist: Gandalf
* SuccessionCrisis: Gondor had a brutal civil war over who should inherit the throne, a half breed or a pureblood. A generation later, when the last king of Gondor foolishly walked into captivity and (presumed) death, there was no one left willing to take the throne, for fear of a second civil war.
* SuperSoldier: Uruk-hai, Olag-hai. Not really super though, just EliteMooks.
* SupervillainLair: Barad-dûr and Isengard
* SwampsAreEvil: The Dead Marshes and the Midgewater Marshes.
* SweetPollyOliver: Éowyn
* TakeThatCritics: In the Foreword: "Some who have read the book, or at any rate have reviewed it, have found it boring, absurd, or contemptible; and I have no cause to complain, since I have similar opinions of their works."
* TearJerker: Lots
* TheThreeFacesOfAdam
* TheLawOfScarcity: The Ring seems to allure and tempt others partially due to the fact that it's beautiful, rare and powerful. It is "the precious."
* TheMagnificent: Merry
* ThePowerOfFriendship: Especially the friendship between Sam and Frodo.
* ThouShaltNotKill: Frodo and Sam
* TimeAbyss: Tom Bombadil, Treebeard, Elrond; the Ents and Elves overall
* TranslationConvention: Technically, they aren't speaking English. All "real world"-languages are used as a translation/stand-in for a language spoken in-world. The languages are not chosen randomly, but to represent the relation between the languages, or a certain image. Westron is translated with English, while Rohirric, which is supposed to appear vaguely familiar to the Hobbits, is represented by Anglo-Saxon aka Old English, etc. If you read the appendices you also find out that the "original language" version actually has features which influence the plot, but which are not rendered in the English "translation". One of such is the contributing factor to the rumor in Minas Tirith that Pippin was a Prince of high status and power: hobbits do no longer have/use a formal address, so Pippin's informal address to Denethor made the listeners think he would have to be of high status indeed.
* TreacherousAdvisor: Gríma
* TropeMaker: And how! The ISOStandardFantasySetting started here.
* TheUnfavorite: Faramir
* UglyCute: Gollum
* UnfortunateImplications: The pure, noble, European-looking races do battle against the genetically inferior, dark-skinned, AlwaysChaoticEvil races. Awkward, guys.
** YourMileageMayVary. According to WordOfGod, the orcs represent what would happen to ''anyone'' forced to live as they did and serve a tyrant for countless generations- hardly 'genetically inferior'. As for the Haradrim and Easterlings (dark-skinned, or just foreign in the Easterlings' case, humans), its pretty explicitly stated that they're not all evil, just their leadership (and even they were just puppets for Sauron). One of Aragorn's first acts as king was to make peace with all these guys, something most Gondorian rulers had never bothered to try before.
***It is not said that most Gondorian rulers had never bothered to try this and making peace is less easy then it sounds. In fact, in the appendix it is later made clear that Aragorn later had to fight these same peoples quite a bit. What Aragorn did was treat prisoners decently and negotiated an end to that particular war.
*** Since Gondor making peace with Haradrim and/or Easterlings in any event other than as conquerer and subservient state is never shown (in a very detailed fictional history) one can assume it didn't happen in any major way. And neither the Haradrim nor the Easterlings are a unified kingdom- Aragorn made peace with some of them and had to fight others. It's ''still'' rather too nuanced to be straight UnfortunateImplications, though you [[{{Applicability}} can choose to read it that way]]. I also direct you to Gondor's civil war, where the guy for Dunedain blood purity would be a definite CompleteMonster if he ever got fleshed out, while Tolkien's sympathy is clearly with the mixed-blood contender.
** Also, Gondorians descended from the indigenous population are described as having dark ("swarthy") skin, and the Corsairs, some of Sauron's main allies/servants, are "pure," fair-skinned Numenoreans. In the appendices, it's revealed that they rebelled, took over, then split off from Gondor when the son of the previous king and a non-Numenorean woman took the throne. In general, the UnfortunateImplications are lessened the more you get into the backstory, e.g. the Numenoreans also ended up working for Sauron in the Second Age. Of course, you have to get that far without being too put off by the initial UnfortunateImplications.
** This troper is more worried, UnfortunateImplications-wise, about genetic determinism than actual racism. In Tolkien’s world everyone who is kingly, heroic, strong, a good leader etc. is so because it runs on the family. Your “proper” position in the world is dictated by your ancestry, and the “good” characters often remind themselves of their place (e.g. Sam). Even the hobbits are like this — the Baggins and Tooks traits are often evoked to explain the character of Biolbo/Frodo or Pippin. “Good blood” is often said to have been “diluted” resulting in loss of positive traits. The racism in Tolkien is not so bad as the Victorian-style belief in aristocracy.
*** Again, not true on a deeper reading. Frodo was actually more closely related to the Sackville-Bagginses than to Bilbo himself; and Lotho Sackville-Baggins was one of the most prominent servants of Saruman during the Scouring of the Shire espisode. The S-Bs shared an "aristocratic" status equivalent to that of Bilbo and Frodo. The Tooks were the only true aristocracy of the Shire, and are not treated as "above" the other Hobbits; but rather somewhat "outside" them due to the Tookish "oddness" or "wildness".
*** Add to that the Dark Numenoreans, greatest human servants of Sauron, of whom the Witch-King of Angmar came. "Dark" referrs not to dark skin, since they were complexioned l8ike any other Numenorean; but rather their fall into the "darkness" of Sauron. Indeed, the line of the High Kings of Numenor, the same line that spawned Aragorn, also spawned kings who were obsessed with immortality and gratifying their own lusts; and who caused the destruction of the great isle. No biological determinism there.
*** Also, Sam reminding himself of his simple life? Is actually the point of it all. Tolkien himself said that Sam ist probably the most important character, and the one who gets it all in the end. A home, a wife and children, honest work and a good life: that's what they fought ''for''.
* UniverseChronology
* VestigialEmpire: Gondor
* VindicatedByHistory: The book wasn't really popular until the Vietnam war and then the reading public started seeing parallels between Vietnam and the War of the Ring.
* WeCanRuleTogether: Saruman pulls this on Gandalf. He turns down the offer and ends up being a prisoner.
* WellDoneSonGuy: Faramir
* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Previously unpublished materials has a lot of examples of what could have been. Aragorn being a ranger hobbit was one of them.
* WhenTreesAttack: Ents and Old Man Willow
** Huorns in general, which are described as either being "Tree-ish" Ents or "Ent-ish" trees. More mobile and vocal than trees while not being as active as Ents.
* WhereItAllBegan: Mordor ''and'' the Shire count.
* WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue: ''[=LotR=]'' did originally have one, which it was cut for the original publication, but its three versions have since been published in the ''HoMe 10: Sauron Defeated''. The first two versions are almost identical: It shows an evening seventeen years after the Ring's destruction, with Sam just having finished reading the story to his children, and answering their questions about the story and what happened after. The third version skips ahead a bit, and begins with Sam writing down the Q&A session with his children and talking to Elanor, who is allowed to stay up after the other children because she's oldest and it's her birthday. All versions end with a scene of Sam and his wife standing outside at night.
* [[{{ptitle4bqbdjkr}} Where There's A Will There's A Sticky Note]]: Bilbo, after he vanishes in ''The Fellowship of the Ring''.
* WhipItGood: The Balrog, the nonsexual example.
** [[RuleThirtyFour O rly?]]
* TheWisePrince - Faramir
* WizardBeard: Gandalf
* WizardsLiveLonger: Justified with the "wizards" who are explained to be divine beings on the level of Biblical archangels.
** Played with in the Nazgul. Their rings of power enhanced their lifespans far beyond that of ordinary mortals while simulateously giving them [[EvilSorcerer magical powers]], but the ultimate price was the loss of their souls, humanity, and free will to Sauron. In Middle-Earth, unless you're and Elf or PhysicalGod and therefore ''naturally'' immortal, prolonging your life ''always'' comes with a cost.
*** Even the Elves have a choice as demonstrated by some few of their greater heroes. Basically, the sort of death experienced by Man is considered a gift of Eru that has been propagandized as a terrible thing. The Elves immortality comes at the price of having to leave Middle-Earth as the elder days fade. Some say this is because of how Feanor and his Noldor spread their curse so efficiently. Others say this was always intended. My personal thought, those elves that stayed behind after the West closed (probably Legolas's kin) eventually dwindled into a mortal race themselves over time, losing their immortality. In the long run, I expect that Elves, Orcs, Men interbred into one species. It was already happening with Elves and Men, as could be seen in the differentiation of High Men and Half Elves. Saruman probably kickstarted orcs joining into the mix. Trolls being an imperfect imitation of Ents probably didn't fare as well and Dwarves having a different manner of creation might have stayed seperate.
* TheWoobie: Gollum
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: Averted when Bilbo, Frodo and finally Sam take pity on Gollum, ensuring the Ring's destruction.
* WordOfGod: The appendices are only the start; Tolkien's son has edited together and published fifteen volumes from his notes.
* WorldBuilding: The Ur-example
* XanatosGambit: the whole War of the Ring is used to distract from the attempt to destroy the ring
**Also XanatosRoulette declined. The history of the Second and Third Age including the forging of the Great Rings through Sauron's encouragement was a complex attempt to enslave the peoples of Middle-earth.
* YouShallNotPass: Gandalf facing the Balrog, although the films named the trope.
* YouWereTryingTooHard: SpeakFriendAndEnter.
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