【正确答案】正确答案：The Lord of the Rings is a high fantasy epic written by philologist and Professor J. R. R. Tolkien. Tolkien is a true scholar, and he understands that a story, historical or fictional, needs a context to give it meaning, so he provides this by constructing a complete Middle-Earth, with well-defined races and cultures, history, folklore, values, politics and even several created languages that can actually be learned and spoken. As far as I"m concerned, this novel is a trilogy about a journey, and this large journey consists of many smaller journeys, in which individuals and groups are constantly setting off for some places, to pursue a goal of their own, to rescue or escape someone. Merry and Pippin engage themselves in an unintentional journey when they join forces with Frodo and Sam early in The Fellowship of the Ring. Aragorn takes many dramatic journeys across Middle-Earth on his horse, taking the brave and necessary steps to save his people. Gollum journeys with Frodo and Sam with a conflicted soul. The elves journey to their land of immortality. Arwen elects to remain behind—her own journey will be the one that leads her to Aragorn and a mortal life. The last time we see Frodo in The Return of the King, he is embarking on yet another journey, this time with the elves, to pursue his next adventure. With the elements of journey, temptation, life, death, love and myth, The Lord of the Rings shares many similarities with the Greek epic Odyssey, so this novel could be a modem epic.

【答案解析】解析： 约翰·罗纳德·瑞尔·托尔金，1892～1973，牛津大学教授，古英语专家。他童年时家境窘迫，12岁时成了孤儿。1911年到牛津大学的埃克塞学院学习古英语、日耳曼语系、威尔士语与哥特语，显示出令人瞩目的语言学才华。托尔金的著作不多，1937年出版《霍比特人》，其后又耗时16年完成了魔幻小说巨著《魔戒》，《魔戒》的开头类似儿童作品，但之后写作风格迅速变得严肃和黑暗。托尔金对文学的重要影响在于，在《魔戒》成功之后，奇幻小说这一文学体裁迅速发展起来。