What was the publication date of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring?

J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring was published on 29 July 1954.

It was the first volume of The Lord of the Rings, a work Tolkien presented as a single long novel but which his publisher released in three volumes. The book begins in the Shire and follows Frodo Baggins after Bilbo leaves him the One Ring. Gandalf eventually identifies the Ring as the Ruling Ring of Sauron.

The volume’s title refers to the group formed at Rivendell to carry the Ring toward Mordor. The fellowship includes nine companions, intended to oppose the nine Ringwraiths. The story ends after the company reaches Amon Hen and its unity breaks apart.

Readers sometimes confuse this date with the release dates of the other two volumes. The Two Towers followed in November 1954, while The Return of the King appeared in October 1955. The three-volume structure was a publishing decision, not Tolkien’s original conception of three separate novels.