J.R.R. Tolkien published The Fellowship of the Ring in 1954.
The book was the first volume of The Lord of the Rings, which Tolkien presented as a single long narrative but which was published in separate parts for practical and financial reasons. George Allen & Unwin released The Fellowship of the Ring in London on 29 July 1954. The Two Towers followed later that year, and The Return of the King appeared in 1955.
The volume introduces the One Ring’s danger, Frodo Baggins’s mission, and the formation of the Fellowship. Its title refers to the company assembled at Rivendell to help Frodo reach Mordor.
Readers sometimes date the whole trilogy to 1954, but its publication was staggered across two years. The first volume appeared in 1954, while the complete three-volume publication was not finished until 1955. The book’s title is also sometimes shortened informally to Fellowship.