In his novel The Lord of the Rings' ( The Fellowship of the Ring', The Two Towers' and The Return of the King'), J. R. R. Tolkien uses his unique use of language to tell the story of the One Ring and more importantly; the theme of change, both in the setting and the characters. The novel contains excitement, danger, humour and even romance making it an outstanding example of modern literature.
The Lord of the Rings' began as a sequel to The Hobbit' (which has since become a mere introduction to J. R. R. Tolkien's world of Middle-Earth), it has been likened to Wagner's The Ring of the Nieblung' and has in itself inspired many books, films and even music. The Lord of the Rings' follows Frodo Baggins (Bilbo Baggins' - of The Hobbit' - cousin) as he makes the long and dangerous journey to Mordor to destroy the One Ring in the fires of Mount Doom.
Tolkien tells the story through his unique use of archaic language and descriptive text. I also think that the theme of change in Middle-Earth relates to the changing times that Tolkien himself was experiencing in Britain in the 1940's.
During The Lord of the Rings' Middle-Earth is changing. The Elves who previously watched over the land are leaving and the Men of Middle-Earth are left to take their place. With the destruction of the Ring the world is, in essence, cleansed of evil, causing the end of a dark age and the beginning of new hope and optimism for the inhabitants of Middle-Earth. The old world is left in ruins, allowing the new world to rise from the ashes to take its place. Galadriel (a high elf) sums up what will happen in this elegiac statement;.
" if you succeed, then our power is diminished and Lothlorien will fade we must depart into the west -.
By this she means that if the Ring is destroyed then the Elves power will be spent and they will have no choice but to leave Middle-Earth. This is an example of one of the bad points of change.