The Lord of The Rings is a trilogy of books which was later made into a trilogy of films. I love both, though for sheer richness of imagery and depth of wisdom, the book is unbeatable.
The author, Tolkien, was a professor of Anglosaxon and studied ancient languages. His stories were originally concieved as a backdrop for his invented languages, which were
his true passion; an accidental classic, I love it. The stories themselves are an amalgam of mythical motifs such as the Sword that was Broken and so on, blending in his version of elves and goblins (which he calls orcs in his elf-tongue). Orcs have later taken on a life of their own in fantasy literature, but let it be known that ...