Reception of J. R. R. Tolkien legendarium which includes "The Hobbit", "The Lord of the Rings", and "The Silmarillion". Tolkien's "The Hobbit", a children's book, was first published in 1937, and it proved popular. However, "The Lord of the Rings", first published in 1954 through 1955, would give rise to the fandom as a cultural phenomenon. Bootleg paperbacks published by Ace Books eventually found their way into colleges in the US in the 1960s. In response, a revised, authorized edition was published by Ballantine Books. The "hippie" following latched onto the book, giving its own spin to the work's interpretation, such as the Dark Lord Sauron
Christopher Tolkien "Beren and Lúthien " is an editorial work and was published as a stand-alone book in 2017. The next year, "The Fall of Gondolin " was published also as an editorial work. The Children of Húrin, Beren and Lúthien, and The Fall of Gondolin make up the three "Great Tales" of the Elder Days which J.R.R. Tolkien considered to be the biggest stories of the First Age. HarperCollins published other J. R. R. Tolkien work edited by Christopher Tolkien which is not connected to the Middle-earth legendarium. "The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún" appeared in May 2009, a verse retelling