Tolkien is actually considered the father of what we know of fantasy worlds that have been used in many stories and games. LotR is a story primarily of good vs. evil, but it's not as simple as that. There are lessons of compassion, responsibilty, honor, love, friendship, ect. throughout the story. A lot of people have compared it to the story of the Bible, events during WWII, ect. I've read all the books including the LotR trilogy, the Hobbit, the Simerilian and also play a RPG that is based off of the Tolkien universe for more then 15yrs. now. A real basic description of LotR would be an epic story of Good triumphing over Evil and the passing on of the world to a new era. Oh and to answer James's Q....it'd have to be Legolas....he totally kicks a** and hey, he's an Elf so he's all but immortal....works for me.