“The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” became the most watched in the history of Amazon Prime Video. The series, released on Friday, September 2, reached the figure of 25 million viewers worldwide with its first two chapters: a new episode will be broadcast every Friday on the platform until October 14.
“Somehow it made sense that the stories of Tolkien bring us this proud moment, one of the most popular stories of all time and one that many consider to be the true origin of the fantasy genre”, he assured. Jennifer Salekehead of Amazon Studios
And he added: “and they are the tens of millions of fans who are enjoying the Middle Earthclearly with the same excitement as us, who are our true measure of success.”
The success of the adaptations of the novels of J. R. R. Tolkienstarted in 2004 by the New Zealand filmmaker Peter Jackson, revealed a renewed interest in the work of the British writer. Tolkien’s many books have remained, in recent decades, among the most requested by the public. An author who was never considered massive, even cataloged as a cult, took off to massiveness.
Of South African origin, John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, born on January 3, 1892, had a tragic childhood when his father died of rheumatic fever and, a few years later, his mother died of diabetes. This led to the care of the young man and his sister being in charge of Father Francis Xavier Morgan, a Catholic priest from Birmingham, and referent of the local orphanage.
In those years, the future novelist showed a talent for languages, including Latin and even the development of some of his own languages. At school, together with his friends, he formed the Tea Club and Barrovian Society (TCBS), a brotherhood that used to meet at the Barrow department store for tea, chat and recite the classics or their own compositions.
Married at the age of 21 to Edith Mary, he continued to develop his interest in philology, and in creating his own legends that would accommodate the languages he invented. At that time he wrote “Earendel’s Voyage, the Evening Star”considered the foundational poem in the history of the Middle Earth.
Graduate Oxfordwith an honors in English Literature and Language, enlisted in the army to fight in the First World War, serving as communications officer. And on his return from the front, he spent most of his academic life at Oxford: he was Professor of English Language and Literature at Merton College.
He continued working on that set of stories and legends that would end up becoming, many years later, “The Silmarillion”. He thus invented his own mythology, in compensation for the one that England did not possess, since he had lamented that his country did not possess a mythology as rich as that of the Mediterranean countries.
While exercising fatherhood, along with his teaching role, he wrote a children’s story titled “The Hobbit”, whose first lines were written by Tolkien while he was correcting some exams. He doubted that his stories would be of interest to the public, though he was eventually persuaded to publish the tale.
Almost immediately, his publisher asked him to write a sequel, as the public demanded more hobbit stories. And that is how Tolkien began to write what would be his masterpiece and summit of fantastic literature of the 20th century: “The Lord of the rings”.
It took 12 years to write the story of the destruction of the one ring and the end of Sauron, a saga that due to its volume was published in three installments: “The Fellowship of the Ring”, “The two Towers”both published in 1954, and “The return of the King”which was released a year later, in 1955.
A year and a half before he died, Tolkien was named Commander of the Order of the British Empire for the queen Isabel II on March 28, 1972, the year in which the Oxford University named him Honorary Doctor of Letters. Today, the grave of John and Edith in Oxford Cemetery is a place of pilgrimage for the millions of admirers of his work.
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