Outline of Middle-earth explained

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the real-world history and notable fictional elements of J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy universe. It covers materials created by Tolkien; the works on his unpublished manuscripts, by his son Christopher Tolkien; and films, games and other media created by other people.

Middle-earth – fantasy setting created by Tolkien, home to hobbits, orcs, ents, dragons, and many other races and creatures.

Primary sources

Authors

• J. R. R. Tolkien
• Christopher Tolkien

Published works

By J. R. R. Tolkien

• The Hobbit (1937)
  • 2nd Edition (1951) revised to align with The Lord of the Rings
  • 3rd Edition (1966) revised to assert copyright in US
• The Lord of the Rings
  • The Fellowship of the Ring (1954)
    • The Shadow of the Past
    • The Council of Elrond
  • The Two Towers (1954)
  • The Return of the King (1955)
    • The Scouring of the Shire - a "novelistic" chapter
    • The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen
• The Adventures of Tom Bombadil (1962)
  • Revised edition (2014) with addition of original poems, sources and images, and commentary by Christina Scull and Wayne G. Hammond
• The Road Goes Ever On (1967) – music by Donald Swann, penmanship by Tolkien. See also Audio recordings
  • Revised edition (1978) – including a setting for Bilbo's Last Song

Posthumously published

• Bilbo's Last Song (1974) – Dutch translation published 1973
• Guide to the Names in The Lord of the Rings (1975) – also known as "Nomenclature of The Lord of the Rings"
• The Silmarillion (1977)
  • Ainulindalë
• Pictures by J. R. R. Tolkien (1979) – text by Christopher Tolkien. Most of these pictures had been previously published in calendars by Ballantine Books (1973) and George Allen & Unwin (1974, 1976–1979), some of them coloured by H. E. Riddett.
• Unfinished Tales (1980)
• (1995) – text by Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull
• The Art of The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien (2011) – text by Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull
• The Art of The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien (2015) – text by Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull

Edited by Christopher Tolkien

These works present extended selections of Tolkien's legendarium (the large body of documents relating to The Silmarillion), with extensive notes and posthumous editing by his son Christopher. The separate 4-volume body of his comments on the drafts of The Lord of the Rings is included as volumes 6–9.

The History of Middle-earth

Early legendarium

1 The Book of Lost Tales 1 (1983)

2 The Book of Lost Tales 2 (1984)

3 The Lays of Beleriand (1985)

4 The Shaping of Middle-earth (1986)

5 The Lost Road and Other Writings (1987)

The History of The Lord of the Rings

6 [1] The Return of the Shadow (1988)

7 [2] The Treason of Isengard (1989)

8 [3] The War of the Ring (1990)

9 [4] Sauron Defeated (1992)

The later Silmarillion

10 [1] Morgoth's Ring (1993)

11 [2] The War of the Jewels (1994)

Further details

12 The Peoples of Middle-earth (1996)

Other stories

• The Tolkien Reader and Tales from the Perilous Realm both reprint The Adventures of Tom Bombadil

Additional materials from the legendarium, with Christopher Tolkien's commentary.

• The Children of Húrin (2007)
• Beren and Lúthien (2017)
• The Fall of Gondolin (2018)

Edited by other scholars

• The Annotated Hobbit (1988) – text of The Hobbit, with many related texts by Tolkien, edited and with commentary by Douglas A. Anderson (revised edition 2002)
• The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien (1981) – selected, introduced and edited by Humphrey Carpenter
• The Nature of Middle-earth (2021) – essays and fragments, including on Elvish linguistics, with commentary by the scholar Carl F. Hostetter
• The History of The Hobbit (2007) – 2 volumes on the construction of The Hobbit with commentary by the scholar John D. Rateliff

Audio recordings

• Poems and Songs of Middle Earth (1967) – poems read by Tolkien; songs sung by William Elvin, accompanied by composer Donald Swann (as published in The Road Goes Ever On)
• J. R. R. Tolkien Reads and Sings his The Hobbit & The Lord of the Rings (1975), Caedmon TC 1477, TC 1478 (based on an August, 1952 recording by George Sayer)

Graphical works

• • • • • Tolkien's artwork Tolkien's maps Tolkien's scripts Cirth
  • Sarati
  • Tengwar

Translation

• Translations of The Hobbit
• Translating The Lord of the Rings (issues, challenges, approaches)
  • Translation of The Lord of the Rings into Swedish
  • List of translations of The Lord of the Rings

Adaptations and developments

See also: Works inspired by J. R. R. Tolkien, Adaptations of The Hobbit and Adaptations of The Lord of the Rings.

Maps

See main article: Tolkien's maps.

• A Map of Middle-earth, meaning either of two posters:
  • by Barbara Remington (1965)
  • by Pauline Baynes (1970)
• The Atlas of Middle-earth (1981, revised ed 1991) by Karen Wynn Fonstad
• Journeys of Frodo: An Atlas of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings (1981) by Barbara Strachey

Spoken word

• The Hobbit (1974) – Nicol Williamson recorded an abridged, dramatic version for Decca Records on the Argo label
• The Lord of the Rings (1990) – unabridged recording by Rob Inglis for Recorded Books
• The Hobbit (1991) – unabridged recording by Rob Inglis for Recorded Books
• The Children of Húrin (2007) – Christopher Lee recorded an unabridged audiobook
• The Hobbit (2020) – Andy Serkis live-streamed an unabridged reading to raise money for NHS Charities Together
• The Hobbit (2020) – unabridged recording by Andy Serkis for HarperCollinsUK and Recorded Books
• The Lord of the Rings (2021) – unabridged recording by Andy Serkis for HarperCollinsUK and Recorded Books

Radio

• The Lord of the Rings (1955) – BBC: six 45-minute episodes for The Fellowship of the Ring, then six 30-minute episodes for all of The Two Towers and The Return of the King, adapted by Terence Tiller
• The Hobbit (1968) – BBC: eight half-hour episodes, adapted by Michael Kilgarriff
• The Lord of the Rings (1979) – National Public Radio: totalling over 11 hours, adapted by Bernard Mayes
• The Lord of the Rings (1981) – BBC: 26 half-hour instalments, later re-cut to 13 hour-long instalments, adapted by Brian Sibley and Michael Bakewell
• Der Herr der Ringe (1991) – Südwestrundfunk and Westdeutscher Rundfunk: German adaptation of The Lord of the Rings in 30 half-hour episodes, by

Motion pictures

See main article: Middle-earth in motion pictures.

• The Hobbit (1967) – Gene Deitch's short animated adaptation
• The Hobbit (1977) – an animated musical television special by Rankin/Bass
• The Lord of the Rings (1978) – an animated film of the first half of the book by Ralph Bakshi
• The Hobbit (1979) – children's program Jackanory broadcast ten 15-minute episodes
• The Return of the King (1980) – the animated sequel to 1977's The Hobbit
• Khraniteli (1991) - a "lost" Russian television play, now recovered
• Hobitit (1993) - a Finnish rendering of the Hobbits' journey in The Lord of the Rings
• (2022) – prequel series by Amazon Studios

Peter Jackson

• The Lord of the Rings film series – the live-action trilogy by Peter Jackson
  • Films
    • (2001)
    • (2002)
    • (2003)
  • Production
    • Wētā Workshop
  • Music
    • Recordings
  • Peter Jackson's interpretation
• The Hobbit film series – Jackson's three-part prequel to his The Lord of the Rings series
  • Films
    • (2012)
    • (2013)
    • (2014)
  • Music

Stage

• Rob Inglis wrote and performed one-man adaptations of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings starting in the 1970s
• Lord of the Rings (2006) – Musical staged in Toronto, re-written for London in 2007

Games

Tabletop games

See main article: List of Middle-earth role-playing games.

• Middle-earth Role Playing (1984) – Iron Crown Enterprises
• Lord of the Rings Adventure Game (1991) – Iron Crown Enterprises
• The Lord of the Rings Roleplaying Game (2002) –Decipher, Inc.
• The One Ring: Adventures over the Edge of the Wild (2011) – Cubicle 7
• Adventures in Middle-earth (2016) – OGL supplement by Cubicle 7

Video games

See main article: Middle-earth in video games.

• The Hobbit (1982)
• Elendor (1991)
• The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
• The Hobbit (2003)
• The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
• (2004)
• (2004)
• (2004)
• (2006)
• (2006)
• (2007; cancelled)
• (2007)
• (2009)
• (2009)
• (2010)
• (2011)
• Guardians of Middle-earth (2012)
• Lego The Lord of the Rings (2012)
• Lego The Hobbit (2014)
• (2014)
• (2017)

Parodies

• Bored of the Rings (1969) – Harvard Lampoon novel
• Hordes of the Things (1980) – BBC radio series
• Bored of the Rings (1985) – Delta 4 video game
• (1986) – Delta 4 video game
• Muddle Earth (2003) – children's novel by Paul Stewart
• Fellowship! (2004) – musical

Geography

Cosmology of Eä

See main article: Cosmology of Tolkien's legendarium.

• Two Trees of Valinor

Continents of Arda

• Middle-earth
• Númenor
• Valinor (on Aman)

Nations and regions

See main article: Geography of Middle-earth.

• Beleriand
• Gondor
• Harad
• Lothlórien
• Mordor
• Rohan
• The Shire

Natural features

• The Lonely Mountain
• Mirkwood
• The Old Forest

Cities and other populated places

• Bag End
• Bree
• Esgaroth
• Isengard
• Moria
• Rivendell

History

See also: History of Arda.

Artefacts

• Mithril
• The Palantíri
• Phial of Galadriel
• Rings of Power
  • The One Ring
• The Silmarils
• Weapons and armour

Events

First Age

• Sundering of the Elves

Third Age

• Battle of Helm's Deep
• Battle of the Pelennor Fields
• Battle of the Morannon
• The Scouring of the Shire

Characters

See main article: List of Middle-earth characters.

First Age

House of Finwë

• Finwë
• Fëanor
• Maedhros
• Finrod Felagund
• Galadriel
• Glorfindel

House of Elwë and Olwë

• Thingol
• Lúthien

House of Marach

• Húrin
• Túrin Turambar
• Tuor
• Eärendil and Elwing
• Elrond
• Arwen

Others

• Beren
• Sauron
• Ungoliant

Second Age

• Elendil
• Gil-galad
• Isildur

Third Age

Thorin and Company

• Thorin Oakenshield
• Balin
• Bilbo Baggins
• Gandalf

The Fellowship of the Ring

• Frodo Baggins
• Samwise Gamgee
• Merry Brandybuck
• Pippin Took
• Aragorn
• Boromir
• Gandalf
• Legolas
• Gimli

Wizards

• Gandalf
• Radagast
• Saruman

Elves

• Arwen
• Galadriel
• Glorfindel
• Legolas
• Thranduil

Men

• Aragorn
• Bard
• Boromir
• Denethor
• Éomer
• Éowyn
• Faramir
• Gríma Wormtongue
• Théoden

Other characters

• Barrow-wight
• Beorn
• Goldberry
• Gollum
• Old Man Willow
• Shelob
• Treebeard
• Tom Bombadil
• Watcher in the Water

Culture

Races

See main article: Middle-earth peoples.

Ainur

• Valar
• Maiar
  • Balrogs
  • Wizards

Men

• Drúedain
• Dúnedain

Monsters

• Dragons
• Nazgûl
• Orcs
• Trolls
• Wargs

Other

• Dwarves
• Eagles
• Elves
• Ents
• Hobbits

Languages

See main article: Languages of Middle-earth. Elvish languages

• Quenya
• Sindarin

Other

• Adûnaic
• Khuzdul
• Black Speech

Folklore and poetry

• A Elbereth Gilthoniel
• A Walking Song
• Namárië
• Song of Eärendil
• Errantry
• Fastitocalon
• The Lay of Leithian
• The Lay of the Children of Húrin
• The Man in the Moon Stayed Up Too Late
• The Road Goes Ever On
• The Sea-Bell
• The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen
• Beren and Lúthien

Analysis

Influences

• J. R. R. Tolkien's influences
  • Nodens
  • Ring of Silvianus
  • Sigelwara Land
• Tolkien's impact on fantasy

Components

• Artwork
• Family trees
• Heraldry
• for Tolkien's invented Languages, see above
• Maps
• Non-narrative elements
• Poetry
  • see above for individual poems

Literary devices

• Anachronism
• Character pairing
• Editorial framing
• Frame stories
  • Ælfwine
  • (see also The Lost Road)
  • The Notion Club Papers
  • Red Book of Westmarch
• Impression of depth
• Interlacing
• Narrative structure
• Prose style
  • Ambiguity

Sources

• Antiquarianism
• Beowulf
• Celtic
• Classical world
• Finnish influences
• First World War
• Modern
• Norse
• Philology
• Shakespeare

Themes

See main article: Themes of ''The Lord of the Rings''.

• Addiction to power
• Ancestry as guide to character
• Architecture
• Christianity
• Decline and fall
• England
• Environmentalism
• Heroism
• Languages
• Light
• Luck and fate
• Magic
• Medieval
• Moral dilemma
• Music
• Naming of weapons
• Northern courage
• Old Straight Road
• Paganism
• Plants
• Psychological journeys
• Quests
• Race
• Sexuality
• Sound and language
• Time
• Trees and forests
• Women

Music

• Music of The Lord of the Rings film series
• The Tolkien Ensemble

Scholarship

See main article: Tolkien research.

Institutions

• The Tolkien Society
• The Mythopoeic Society

• Elvish Linguistic Fellowship
• Marion E. Wade Center
• Signum University

Journals

• Journal of Tolkien Research
• Mallorn
• Mythlore
• Tolkien Studies
• Vinyar Tengwar

Scholars

• Douglas A. Anderson
  • Nicholas Birns Stratford Caldecott
• Jane Chance
• Patrick Curry
• Michael D. C. Drout
• Jonathan Evans
  • Jason Fisher Verlyn Flieger
    • John Garth Glen GoodKnight Wayne G. Hammond
    • Stuart D. Lee Jared Lobdell Catherine McIlwaine
    • Gergely Nagy Corey Olsen John D. Rateliff
  • Fleming Rutledge Christina Scull
• Elizabeth Solopova
  • • Sandra Ballif Straubhaar Richard C. West Ralph C. Wood

Biographical works

• (1977) – by Humphrey Carpenter
• Tolkien and the Great War (2003) – by John Garth
• (2006) – by Peter Gilliver, Jeremy Marshall and Edmund Weiner

Works

See also: Tolkien studies.

• (1969) – by Lin Carter (revised 2003 by Adam Roberts)
• The Complete Guide to Middle-earth (1971) – ed. Robert Foster (revised 1978, 2001)
• Master of Middle-Earth (1972) – by Paul H. Kocher
• (1979) – by Jane Chance
• The Road to Middle-Earth (1982) – by Tom Shippey (revised 1993, 2005)
• Splintered Light (1983) – by Verlyn Flieger
• (2000) – by Tom Shippey
• (2000) – eds Verlyn Flieger and Carl F. Hostetter
• (2003) – by Brian Rosebury
• (2005) – by Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull
• The J. R. R. Tolkien Companion and Guide (2006) – by Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull
• The J. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia (2006) – ed. Michael D. C. Drout
• A Companion to J. R. R. Tolkien (2014) – ed. Stuart D. Lee
• (2018) – by Catherine McIlwaine
• The Worlds of J. R. R. Tolkien (2020) – by John Garth

See also

• List of The Hobbit characters
• List of original characters in The Lord of the Rings film series

External links

• Tolkien Gateway – wiki about Middle-earth and Tolkien.
• The Tolkien Meta-FAQ – answers to commonly asked questions about Tolkien and Middle-earth.
• J. R. R. Tolkien Collection at Marquette University – manuscripts of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, and related documents

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