J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings was first published in three volumes. The volumes were The Fellowship of the Ring in 1954, The Two Towers in 1954, and The Return of the King in 1955.
Although the work is commonly called a trilogy, Tolkien conceived it as one continuous novel rather than three separate stories. Publishing it in parts was connected to practical and production considerations, including paper shortages in the postwar period.
Each volume contains two books, so the complete work is divided internally into six books plus appendices. This structure can cause confusion: the answer is three for the published volumes, not six for the internal books.
The three-volume arrangement also became standard for many later editions and influenced how readers discuss the narrative. The story follows the attempt to destroy the One Ring and the consequences of the War of the Ring.