Happy 60th Birthday to the LORD OF THE RINGS

Amongst other things going on today, it seemed to slip under the radar that it's also the 60th anniversary of the publication of The Lord of the Rings.

The Return of the King, being the third part of the novel, was released on 20 October 1955, completing the publication of the tome that had begun on 29 July 1954 with the publication of The Fellowship of the Ring. The Return of the King had originally been planned for release much earlier in the year, but Tolkien delayed it due to working on the book's appendices, to the annoyance of readers (yet another epic fantasy trend begun by the Tolkmeister).

All being well, the novel should be able to apply for its own bus pass in another seven years or so.