Bingo Baggins, Frodo Took and a Hobbit in Wooden Shoes
For the first time, the sequel is referred to by a title: 'The Lord of the Ring'. Singular - 'Ring'. The tale of Celebrimbor's forging of the Rings of Power under the tutelage of Sauron, referenced in the familiar rhyme which begins "Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky..." still had not been applied to the on-going story of Bilbo's ring nor had the rhyme yet been written. That would come later. Even so, this title would indicate that the Ring has its own rightful master which, by inference, is the Dark Lord, Sauron. This, in turn, would intimate that the tale has thus become something grander than simply 'There and Back Again, part II'.
This discussion of Tolkien's travails in authoring his master-piece must needs be cursory. Indeed, there are four full volumes concerning this matter, "The History of the Lord of the Rings", in which Christopher Tolkien provides extensive details of the story's evolution and his father's impassioned and protracted effort to produce this timeless work of wonder, truth and hope.
Professor Tolkien dedicated the greater part of his eighty-one years to the creation of a world which would not only capture the attention and imagination of millions by its invention but also remain fascinating, instructive and inspirational by the detail and depth of its construction and its own self-referencing chronicles. To think the fulfillment of his quest was pre-ordained and predestined, to prefer the delusional spell of Art's enchantment to the truth of his strife, strain and struggle is to demean his effort and devalue his gift to us. The 'Lord of the Rings' did not flow from his pen like the River Anduin. It flowed like the blood through his body, the sweat on his brow and the tears from his eyes. Its writing was his quest and he was its hero.
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