Readability

Lord of the Rings Word Count

Maybe you’re about to indulge yourself in one of the most epic fantasy fiction books ever written? We’re talking about Lord of the Rings of course! This incredible fantasy and adventure book spans 4 books and is more of a series of stories than just one book.

Jonathan Gillham

Maybe you’re about to indulge yourself in one of the most epic fantasy fiction books ever written? We’re talking about Lord of the Rings of course! This incredible fantasy and adventure book spans 4 books and is more of a series of stories than just one book.

Once you get started, it’s hard to put it down so make sure you have plenty of time to wade through the collection.  If you'd rather not wade through the book, you can always listen to it here.

What Are the Books in the Lord of the Ring Series?

Author J. R. R. Tolkien first published this famous book series in three parts, beginning with The Hobbit, published in 1937 and then The Fellowship of the Ring (published in 1954), followed a year later in 1955 by The Two Towers and finally, The Return of the King.

The Lesser-Known Fifth Book of Lord of the Rings

There’s a fifth book, published after Tolkien’s death called the Silmarillion (in 1977) – the latter is the lesser known of the series and why it's generally seen as a 4-book series.

Meet Frodo and Bilbo Baggins

Immerse yourself in Tolkien’s wondrous fantasies and meet fictional characters Frodo Baggins, Bilbo Baggins and a host of other Hobbits, elves, dwarves and men. It’s no wonder that this series of books was translated into 38 different languages and six movies (three Lord of the Rings movies and three Hobbit movies). The book is even studied in schools and colleges too.

The Famous Lord of the Rings Series of Books - Uncover the Total Word Count Amount

As for the official word count of this incredible set of popular books, the total word count for Lord of the Ring is 579,459 (this is not a rought word count, it is exact) but as the series is split into different books, we’ve broken it down for you as follows:

  • The Fellowship of the Ring 187,790 word count.
  • The Two Towers 156,198 word count.
  • The Return of the King 137,115 word count.
  • The Hobbit 98,356 word count.

How Do You Calculate the Lord of the Rings Word Count?

Assessing word count for novels is never easy! After all, you can’t just copy and paste it into an online word counter tool as that would take a lot of time and effort. Even using the very best online word counter tool (such as Originality AI for example) wouldn’t be easy!

You could copy and paste portions of text into Originality AI to check for word count, character counter, character count with spaces (and without), paragraph count, sentence count and more. Originality AI is so advanced that it detects plagiarism (a student might copy some of Tolkien’s story, for example, for a college essay) and it also checks for AI generated content.

Other Notable Authors You Might LIke

If you enjoy a good classic, an adventure or a fantasy then after you read the Lord of the Rings series, we recommend the following famous books and popular novels, soon to become your favorite books to read!

  • Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist (one of the classics of literature, Charles Dickens155,887 word count).
  • Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina (around the 300k-400k mark word count).
  • Bestselling author J K Rowlings' Harry Potter series (including Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows, 198,227 words and the Half-Blood Prince 168,993 word count).
  • Mark Twain's Tom Sawyer series (70,570 word count).
  • William Golding's Lord of the Flies (56,000 word count).
  • Herman Melville's Moby Dick (209,117 word count).
  • Steven Erikson's 355k House of Chains (word count).
  • John Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath (not John Steinback which is the incorrect spelling - 169,881 words).
  • George Eliot's Middlemarch (228,000 words).
  • Anna Sewell's Black Beauty (classics of children's genre, 73,225 words).
  • J. R. R. Tolkien Lord of the Rings fantasy novels' series (579,459 words).
  • Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre (156,000 words).
  • Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights (119,572 word count).
  • Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice (and an American/British movie - see the trailer on YouTube).
  • Lucy Maud Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables (50,000 words).
  • American author Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird (100, 388 word count).
  • Ernest Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls (174,106 words).
  • George R.R, Martin's The Winds of Winter (541,500 words).
  • Robert Jordan's The Eye of the World (approximately a 300,000-word novel).
  • Larry McMurtry's The Lonesome Dove (approximately a 400,000-word novel).
  • Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series (ranging from 40,000-word novels to 80-000-word novel society + in word count).
  • Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere (98,021 word count).
  • Terry Pratchett's Mort (94,240 words).
  • British author George Orwell's 1984 (official count 89,000 words).
  • William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying (50,000-word novel range).
  • Anne Frank's Diary of Anne Frank (the author talks about her true account of hiding from the Nazis).
  • John Green's The Fault in Our Stars (a modern author).
  • Salman Rushdie's Booker-winning Midnight's Children for contribution to literature (official count 208,773 words).
  • Best-selling author Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code (170,000 word count).

All of the above are classic, bestselling award-winning novels to add to your reading list. If you prefer poetry, try beloved author Anna Akhmatova's poetry books.

Final Thoughts on Lord of the Rings Word Count

So there you have it – the exact word count for Lord of the Rings. If you’re wondering how long it takes to read the series, that depends on how quickly you read but on average, at a rate of 250 words per minute, expect approximately 38 hours. Of course, you could save yourself the trouble and watch the awesome movies instead!

Jonathan Gillham

Founder / CEO of Originality.AI I have been involved in the SEO and Content Marketing world for over a decade. My career started with a portfolio of content sites, recently I sold 2 content marketing agencies and I am the Co-Founder of MotionInvest.com, the leading place to buy and sell content websites. Through these experiences I understand what web publishers need when it comes to verifying content is original. I am not For or Against AI content, I think it has a place in everyones content strategy. However, I believe you as the publisher should be the one making the decision on when to use AI content. Our Originality checking tool has been built with serious web publishers in mind!

More From The Blog

AI Content Detector & Plagiarism Checker for Serious Content Publishers

Improve your content quality by accurately detecting duplicate content and artificially generated text.