Lord Of The Rings basically created every modern fantasy trope. J.R.R. Tolkien's magnum opus introduced readers to an amazing world, and Tolkien worked hard to populate that world with legends. Supplementary works like The Silmarillion, constructed of notes and story drafts written by Tolkien and edited by his son Christopher, and The Unfinished Tales fleshed out Middle-Earth, giving readers a world with its own creation myths, deities, and unique societies.