It all started with The Hobbit. J.R.R. Tolkien wrote this fantastical children’s story as a stand-alone book. In it, the story’s unassuming hero, Bilbo Baggins, finds a magical ring. This ring was only meant to be a plot device, a way for Bilbo to escape a dangerous situation. But all that changed when Tolkien’s publisher requested a sequel following The Hobbit‘s tremendous success. Rather than make a direct sequel, the author took a different route. Tolkien expanded upon that scarcely mentioned ring to create a trilogy of adult books known as The Lord of the Rings.