THE RETURN OF THE KING, which brings to a close the great epic of war and adventure begun in The Fellowship of the Ring and continued in The Two Towers, is the third and final part of J. R. R. Tolkien's masterpiece, "The Lord of the Rings." In these three books, which form one continuous narrative, Tolkien created the saga of the Hobbits of Middle-earth and the great War of the Rings. Praised by such writers and poets as W. H. Auden, Richard Hughes and C. S. Lewis, "The Lord of the Rings" - that special world of beauty and terror and meaning - holds a secure place among the books that will live.