The Lord of the Rings (1954-1955) is a high-fantasy novel written by English author J. R. R. Tolkien. The story is mostly set in the Third Age, covering the years 3018-3019. In Letter 211 (1958), Tolkien estimated the time between the destruction of the ring at the end of the Third age and the present day to be about 6000 years. That is the time distance between 4042 BC and AD 1958.