The trilogy, filmed in New Zealand, is expected to gross more than £1.87 billion by the end of 2004.
When JRR Tolkien wrote The Lord of the Rings, all the names of people, creatures and places were inspired by Old Norse, Old English and Finnish, as well as several made up Elvish and Orcish languages.
Director Peter Jackson took 18 months to film all three adaptations of The Lord of the Rings.
No fewer than 1,600 pairs of rubber ears and feet were used and 5,000 cubic metres of vegetables and flowers were grown a year before filming started to make The Shire - where the Hobbits live.
In total 250 horses were used - 70 of them specially trained, including five miniature horses used for the hobbits.
Many of the sets were carved out of polystyrene, to make them look like wood that had aged over thousands of years.
Gollum was completely computer-generated apart from a few scenes in the final film. l More than £50,000 of coffee was drunk by the crew and cast during the 18 months of filming.
The actors who were in 'The Fellowship' had a tattoo done of the word 'Nine' in Elvish to mark the close bonds they built up during 18 months filming together.
Sarehole Mill, which Tolkien could see from his room in Birmingham as a child, inspired him to create the mill near Bilbo Baggins' home at Bag End.
His trilogy, first printed between 1954 and 1956, has sold more than 100 million copies worldwide in 25 languages.
JRR Tolkien's great-grandson, Royd Tolkien, 34, appears in the Return of the King as a Gondorian Ranger.
