Part 6 Summary and Analysis

Part 6 is titled "1949-1966: Success." Chapter 1, "Slamming the Gates," begins shortly after the completion of "The Lord of the Rings." By then Tolkien was almost 60 years old. Tolkien wasn't sure he wanted his publishers, Allen and Unwin, to publish the book even though they had approved the manuscript. Tolkien found someone who would be willing to publish The Lord of the Rings along with The Silmarillion. Ever since The Silmarillion was rejected in 1937 Tolkien was desperate to have it published. Tolkien met with Milton Waldman, who thought The Silmarillion was brilliant and asked Tolkien to finish it. Waldman was concerned that Tolkien might have a legal, or at least a moral, obligation to his publishers. Tolkien was angry with his publishers for the lack of publicity for one of the recent books and wanted to get out of the promises made...