John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, a professor of philology at Oxford, created a cycle of legends about the fictional world of Middle-earth for more than fifty years. He created the languages of the peoples of this world (mainly elves), their myths and history from the creation of the world by the demiurge Eru Ilúvatar. The first volume of selected works included two full-fledged works of art from the “Legendarium of Middle-earth” series published during the author’s lifetime - “The Hobbit, or There and back" and "The Lord of the Rings".