Only after Rayner’s personal visit did Tolkien settle on the current subtitles. These were later dropped when the publisher desired only one title for each volume. There were originally six, one for each book. The very first subtitles Tolkien suggested after his intention to publish it as a one volume book failed, were more closely related to the Ring and its actual position during the journey. It is certain that the problem of appropriate subtitles for the three volumes of the book was a matter of lengthy discussion between Tolkien and his publisher and friend, Rayner Unwin, that lasted about half a year, as it is briefly mapped out in Carpenter’s collection (2006, pp. But knowing what a pedantic writer Tolkien was, it can be assumed that there must have been some reason why he agreed upon this particular subtitle. So the choice of ‘the fellowship’ may or may not indicate how big a role friendship played in Tolkien’s imaginative world of Middle-earth. ![]() Yet we must keep in mind that a title is usually a result of an argument between the author and his editor or publisher in which the latter one’s word has greater weight, because he knows better what would attract the readers. ![]() The overall importance of friendship in the War of the Ring is hinted at even by the subtitle of the first volume, The Fellowship of the Ring. In some degree, friendship is present in all of Tolkien’s writings, but it is never so vivid and developed as it is in The Lord of the Rings.
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