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
Reception of J. R. R. Tolkien in Finnish) is a registered society based in Finland. The society was earlier two different Societys that unify in beginning of year 2012. The Finnish Tolkien Society (Suomen Tolkien seura) was founded on January 3, 1992 and Kontu Internet Community (Verkkoyhteisö Kontu ry) was founded on December 19, 2006. The main focus of the society is to improve the knowledge of J. R. R. Tolkien and his works in Finland as well as to maintain the virtual community and thus the website the society originated from. The many parts of the website contain a discussion forum, a wiki and an