What is the name of the final volume in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings?

The Return of the King is the final volume of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings.

The book was published in 1955 by George Allen & Unwin, following The Fellowship of the Ring in 1954 and The Two Towers in 1954. Although the work is often sold as a trilogy, Tolkien regarded it as one long novel divided into six internal books plus appendices.

The title refers primarily to Aragorn’s return to Gondor and his restoration as king. The volume also includes the climactic destruction of the One Ring, the defeat of Sauron, the Scouring of the Shire, and the departure of several important characters from Middle-earth.

Some readers expect the title to describe only Aragorn’s story, but the volume has several connected narrative strands. It is also sometimes confused with the film trilogy’s release order; Peter Jackson’s film adaptation of The Return of the King was released in 2003.