The History of Middle-earth
The History of Middle-earth |
Volumes I and II |
Volume III |
Volume IV |
Volume V |
Volumes VI–IX |
Volume X |
Volume XI |
Volume XII |
The History of Middle-earth is a 12-volume series of books published from 1983 through 1996 that collect and analyse material relating to the fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien, compiled and edited by his son, Christopher Tolkien. Some of the content consists of earlier versions of already published works, while other portions are new material. These books are extremely detailed, often analysing a scrap of paper to provide the full evolution of two or even three different versions of a passage that were rewritten over each other. Christopher Tolkien has documented the history of the writing of the Middle-earth stories in as much detail as his father documented the fictional history of Middle-earth itself. However, numerous unpublished texts are still known to exist in the Bodleian and Marquette University libraries and in other papers held by individuals, such as the Elvish Linguistic Fellowship.
The first five books track the early history of The Silmarillion and related texts. Books six to nine discuss the development of The Lord of the Rings; book nine also discusses the Númenor story in the form of The Notion Club Papers. Books ten and eleven return to The Silmarillion material, including the Annals of Beleriand and Annals of Aman. Book twelve discusses the development of the Appendices to The Lord of the Rings and assorted writings from the last years of Tolkien's life.
- The Book of Lost Tales 1 (1983)
- The Book of Lost Tales 2 (1984)
- The Lays of Beleriand (1985)
- The Shaping of Middle-earth (1986)
- The Lost Road and Other Writings (1987)
- The Return of the Shadow (The History of The Lord of the Rings v.1) (1988)
- The Treason of Isengard (The History of The Lord of the Rings v.2) (1989)
- The War of the Ring (The History of The Lord of the Rings v.3) (1990)
- Sauron Defeated (includes The History of The Lord of the Rings v.4) (1992)
- Morgoth's Ring (The Later Silmarillion v.1) (1993)
- The War of the Jewels (The Later Silmarillion v.2) (1994)
- The Peoples of Middle-earth (1996)
A combined index was published six years after the series was completed as The History of Middle-earth: Index (2002).
A shorter version of volume 9 omitting material not related to The Lord of the Rings was published as The End of the Third Age.
External links
Works by J. R. R. Tolkien |
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Fiction |
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Posthumous fiction |
The Father Christmas Letters (1976) · The Silmarillion (1977) · Unfinished Tales (1980) · Mr. Bliss (1982) · Bilbo's Last Song (1990) · The History of Middle-earth (12 Volumes) (1983–1996) · Roverandom (1998) · The Children of Húrin (2007) · The History of The Hobbit (2007)
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Academic |
A Middle English Vocabulary (1922) · Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (Middle English text, 1925) · Some Contributions to Middle-English Lexicography (1925) · The Devil's Coach Horses (1925) · Ancrene Wisse and Hali Meiðhad (1929) · The Name 'Nodens' (1932) · Sigelwara Land parts I and II, in Medium Aevum (1932-34) · Chaucer as a Philologist: The Reeve's Tale (1934) · Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics (1936) · The Reeve's Tale: version prepared for recitation at the 'summer diversions' (1939) · On Fairy-Stories (1939) · Sir Orfeo (1944) · Ofermod and Beorhtnoth's Death (1953) · Middle English "Losenger": Sketch of an etymological and semantic enquiry (1953) · Ancrene Wisse: The English Text of the Ancrene Riwle (1962) · English and Welsh (1963) · Introduction to Tree and Leaf (1964) · Contributions to the Jerusalem Bible (as translator and lexicographer) (1966) · Tolkien on Tolkien (autobiographical) (1966)
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Posthumous academic |
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Pearl, and Sir Orfeo (Modern English translations, 1975) · Finn and Hengest (1982) · The Monsters and the Critics (1983) · Beowulf and the Critics (2002)
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J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium |
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Published during his lifetime: |
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Posthumous publications: |
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Lists of articles: |
By category · By name · Writings · Characters · Peoples · Rivers · Realms · Ages
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The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien |
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Volumes |
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Production and reception |
Themes · Influences · Translations · Reception · Fandom · Study
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Related works |
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Characters |
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Derivative works |
Adaptations · Film trilogy · Soundtrack trilogy · Theatre · Video games
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Radio |
The Lord of the Rings (1955) · The Lord of the Rings (1979) · The Lord of the Rings (1981)
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Film |
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