The original publication of The Lord of the Rings consisted of three volumes. They are The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King.
Although the story is divided into three books, Tolkien conceived it as a single work rather than a trilogy of unrelated novels. Paper shortages and publishing practicalities helped determine its volume-by-volume release. The first volume appeared in 1954, and the second and third followed in 1954 and 1955.
Each volume contains two internal books, so the complete work has six books plus appendices. This structure can cause confusion: some readers refer to six “books,” while the standard publication format is three volumes. The appendices provide additional history, languages, calendars, and genealogical information.
The three volumes are not the same as the three Peter Jackson film adaptations, even though the films broadly follow the same division. Tolkien’s work was published between 29 July 1954 and 20 October 1955, with The Return of the King completing the narrative.