Outline of Middle-earth
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 It covers materials created by Tolkien; the works on his unpublished manuscripts, by his son Christopher Tolkien; and films, games and other media created by other people.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 writer J.R.R. Tolkien, home to hobbits, orcs, ents, dragons, and many other races and creatures.
Media[]
Authors[]
- J. R. R. Tolkien
- Christopher Tolkien
Published works[]
By J. R. R. Tolkien[]
- The Hobbit (1937)
- The Lord of the Rings
- The Fellowship of the Ring (1954)
- The Two Towers (1954)
- The Return of the King (1955)
- The Scouring of the Shire - a "novelistic" chapter
- The Road Goes Ever On, with music by Donald Swann (1967)
- Posthumously published
- The Silmarillion (1977)
- Unfinished Tales (1980)
Edited by John D. Rateliff[]
- The History of The Hobbit (2007) - 2 volumes on the construction of The Hobbit with commentary by the scholar John D. Rateliff
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[]
main article: The History of Middle-earth (12 volumes)
- 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 The Return of the Shadow (History of LOTR v.1) (1988)
- 7 The Treason of Isengard (History of LOTR v.2) (1989)
- 8 The War of the Ring (History of LOTR v.3) (1990)
- 9 Sauron Defeated (History of LOTR v.4) (1992)
- later legendarium
- 10 Morgoth's Ring (The Later Silmarillion v.1) (1993)
- 11 The War of the Jewels (The Later Silmarillion v.2) (1994)
- 12 The Peoples of Middle-earth (1996)
Other stories[]
Additional materials from the legendarium, with Christopher Tolkien's commentary.
- Tales from the Perilous Realm (1997)
- The Children of Húrin (2007)
- The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún (2009)
- The Fall of Arthur (2013)
- The Story of Kullervo (2015)
- Beren and Lúthien (2017)
- The Fall of Gondolin (2018)
Films[]
- 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 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
- The Lord of the Rings film series – the live-action trilogy by Peter Jackson
- The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
- The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
- The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
- The Hobbit film series – Jackson's three-part prequel to his The Lord of the Rings series
- The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)
- The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013)
- The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014)
Games[]
Tabletop games[]
- Middle-earth Role Playing (Iron Crown Enterprises, 1984)
- Lord of the Rings Adventure Game (Iron Crown Enterprises, 1991)
- The Lord of the Rings Roleplaying Game (Decipher, Inc., 2002)
- The One Ring: Adventures over the Edge of the Wild (Cubicle 7, 2011)
- Adventures in Middle-earth (OGL supplement by Cubicle 7, 2016)
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)
- The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age (2004)
- The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth (2004)
- The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age (Game Boy Advance) (2004)
- The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II (2006)
- The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II: The Rise of the Witch-king (2006)
- The Lord of the Rings: The White Council (2007; cancelled)
- The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar (2007)
- The Lord of the Rings: Conquest (2009)
- The Lord of the Rings: Tactics (2009)
- The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn's Quest (2010)
- The Lord of the Rings: War in the North (2011)
- Guardians of Middle-earth (2012)
- Lego The Lord of the Rings (2012)
- Lego The Hobbit (2014)
- Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor (2014)
- Middle-earth: Shadow of War (2017)
Geography[]
Cosmology of Eä[]
Continents of Arda[]
Nations and regions[]
- Beleriand
- Dead Marshes
- Gondor
- Harad
- Lothlórien
- Mirkwood
- Mordor
- The Old Forest
- Rohan
- The Shire
Natural features[]
Cities and other populated places[]
History[]
Artefacts[]
- Mithril
- The Palantíri
- Rings of Power
- The One Ring
- The Three Rings
- The Silmarils
- Weapons and armour
Conflicts[]
- Battle of Helm's Deep
- Battle of the Pelennor Fields
- Battle of the Morannon
- The Scouring of the Shire
Characters[]
First Age[]
House of Finwë
- Finwë
- Fëanor
- Maedhros
- Finrod Felagund
- Galadriel
House of Elwë and Olwë
House of Marach
- Húrin
- Túrin Turambar
- Tuor
- Elrond
- Arwen
Others
- Beren
- Sauron
- Ungoliant
Second Age[]
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
Men
- Aragorn
- Beorn
- Boromir
- Denethor
- Éomer
- Éowyn
- Faramir
- Gríma Wormtongue
- Théoden
Other characters
- Barrow-wight
- Galadriel
- Gollum
- Shelob
- Treebeard
- Tom Bombadil
Culture[]
Races[]
- Valar
- Maiar
- Balrogs
- Wizards
Men
Other
Languages[]
- Common Eldarin
- Quenya
- Sindarin
Other
Scripts
Folklore and poetry[]
- A Elbereth Gilthoniel
- A Walking Song
- Namárië
- Song of Eärendil
- 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 Tale of Aragorn and Arwen
- Beren and Lúthien
Analysis[]
Influences[]
- J. R. R. Tolkien's influences
- Beowulf
Components[]
- Artwork
- Family trees
- Heraldry
- for Tolkien's invented Languages, see above
- Maps
- Poetry
- see above for individual poems
Literary devices[]
- Character pairing
- Impression of depth
- Interlacing
- Prose style
Themes[]
- Themes of The Lord of the Rings
- Addiction to power
- Christianity
- Decline and fall
- England
- Environmentalism
- Magic
- Modernism
- Music
- Named weapons
- Time travel
- Race
- Trees and forests
- Women
See also[]
External links[]
- Tolkien Gateway – wiki about Middle-earth and Tolkien.
- Encyclopedia of Arda – encyclopaedia about Middle-earth.
- The Tolkien Meta-FAQ – answers to commonly asked questions about Tolkien and Middle-earth.
- Michael Martinez Tolkien Essays – a collection of essays on Tolkien and Middle-earth.
- Middle-earth
- Middle-earth lists
- Outlines of culture and arts