This article is about the book series. For the fictional history of the continent, see History of Arda.
The History of Middle-earth is a 12-volume series of books published between 1983 and 1996 that collect and analyse much of Tolkien's legendarium, compiled and edited by his son, Christopher Tolkien. The series shows the development over time of Tolkien's conception of Middle-earth as a fictional place with its own peoples, languages, and history, from his earliest notions of a "mythology for England" through to the development of the stories that make up The Silmarillion and The Lord of the Rings. It is not a "history of Middle-earth" in the sense of being a chronicle of events in Middle-earth written from an in-universe perspective; it is instead an out-of-universe history of Tolkien's creative process. In 2000, the twelve volumes were republished in three limited edition omnibus volumes. Non-deluxe editions of the three volumes were published in 2002.[1]
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. Despite the great amount of material in the twelve volumes, numerous unpublished texts are still known to exist in the Bodleian and Marquette University libraries, and in other papers held by individuals or organizations, such as the Elvish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 focus on material from the Silmarillion that Tolkien worked on after The Lord of the Rings was published, including the Annals of Beleriand and the Annals of Aman. Book twelve discusses the development of the Appendices to The Lord of the Rings and examines assorted writings from the last years of Tolkien's life.
Christopher Tolkien, who edited the books, made the decision not to include any material related to The Hobbit in The History of Middle-earth. His reasons for this were that it had not been intended to form part of the mythology, was a children's story, and had originally not been set in Middle-earth; it was revised during the writing of The Lord of the Rings. The History of The Hobbit was published separately, in two volumes, in 2007 and was edited by John D. Rateliff.
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; this is usually sold as a boxed set along with volumes 6, 7 and 8 as The History of the Lord of the Rings.
Receptionedit
Charles Noad, reviewing The War of the Jewels in Mallorn, comments that the 12-volume History had done something that a putative single-volume edition of The Silmarillion (such as Tolkien had hoped to publish) with embedded commentary could not have achieved: it had changed people's perspective on Tolkien's Middle-earth writings, from being centred on The Lord of the Rings to what it had always been in Tolkien's mind: Silmarillion-centred.[2]
Reviewing The Peoples of Middle-earth, Noad adds that "The whole series of The History of Middle-earth is a tremendous achievement and makes a worthy and enduring testament to one man's creative endeavours and to another's explicatory devotion. It reveals far more about Tolkien's invented world than any of his readers in pre-Silmarillion days could ever have imagined or hoped for." He concludes that thorough study of the twelve volumes would be essential for understanding "Tolkien's imaginative art".[3]
Referencesedit
^"The History of Middle-earth". An Illustrated Tolkien Bibliography. TolkienBooks.net. 2014. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
A detailed list of content in History of Middle-earth volumes and Unfinished Tales
January 01, 1970
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This article is about the book series For the fictional history of the continent see History of Arda The History of Middle earth is a 12 volume series of books published between 1983 and 1996 that collect and analyse much of Tolkien s legendarium compiled and edited by his son Christopher Tolkien The series shows the development over time of Tolkien s conception of Middle earth as a fictional place with its own peoples languages and history from his earliest notions of a mythology for England through to the development of the stories that make up The Silmarillion and The Lord of the Rings It is not a history of Middle earth in the sense of being a chronicle of events in Middle earth written from an in universe perspective it is instead an out of universe history of Tolkien s creative process In 2000 the twelve volumes were republished in three limited edition omnibus volumes Non deluxe editions of the three volumes were published in 2002 1 The History of Middle earthThe front cover of Volume 9EditorChristopher TolkienAuthorJ R R TolkienCountryUnited KingdomLanguageEnglishGenreHigh fantasyPublisherGeorge Allen amp Unwin UK Publication date1983 to 1996Media typePrint hardback and paperback Pages12 volumesPreceded byThe Monsters and the Critics and Other Essays Followed byRoverandom Contents 1 Contents 2 Volumes 3 Reception 4 References 5 Further reading 6 External linksContents editSome 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 Despite the great amount of material in the twelve volumes numerous unpublished texts are still known to exist in the Bodleian and Marquette University libraries and in other papers held by individuals or organizations 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 Numenor story in the form of The Notion Club Papers Books ten and eleven focus on material from the Silmarillion that Tolkien worked on after The Lord of the Rings was published including the Annals of Beleriand and the Annals of Aman Book twelve discusses the development of the Appendices to The Lord of the Rings and examines assorted writings from the last years of Tolkien s life nbsp Navigable diagram of Tolkien s legendarium Most of it is in The History of Middle earth though that includes 4 volumes on The History of The Lord of the Rings Christopher Tolkien who edited the books made the decision not to include any material related to The Hobbit in The History of Middle earth His reasons for this were that it had not been intended to form part of the mythology was a children s story and had originally not been set in Middle earth it was revised during the writing of The Lord of the Rings The History of The Hobbit was published separately in two volumes in 2007 and was edited by John D Rateliff Volumes editFurther information J R R Tolkien bibliography The History of Middle earth The Book of Lost Tales Part I 1983 The Book of Lost Tales Part II 1984 The Lays of Beleriand 1985 The Shaping of Middle earth 1986 The Lost Road and Other Writings 1987 The History of The Lord of the Rings 1 The Return of the Shadow 1988 2 The Treason of Isengard 1989 3 The War of the Ring 1990 4 Sauron Defeated 1992 The Later Silmarillion 1 Morgoth s Ring 1993 2 The War of the Jewels 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 this is usually sold as a boxed set along with volumes 6 7 and 8 as The History of the Lord of the Rings Reception editCharles Noad reviewing The War of the Jewels in Mallorn comments that the 12 volume History had done something that a putative single volume edition of The Silmarillion such as Tolkien had hoped to publish with embedded commentary could not have achieved it had changed people s perspective on Tolkien s Middle earth writings from being centred on The Lord of the Rings to what it had always been in Tolkien s mind Silmarillion centred 2 Reviewing The Peoples of Middle earth Noad adds that The whole series of The History of Middle earth is a tremendous achievement and makes a worthy and enduring testament to one man s creative endeavours and to another s explicatory devotion It reveals far more about Tolkien s invented world than any of his readers in pre Silmarillion days could ever have imagined or hoped for He concludes that thorough study of the twelve volumes would be essential for understanding Tolkien s imaginative art 3 References edit The History of Middle earth An Illustrated Tolkien Bibliography TolkienBooks net 2014 Retrieved 16 July 2014 Noad Charles 1994 Untitled Review of The War of the Jewels Mallorn 31 50 54 JSTOR 45320384 Noad Charles E 1996 Untitled Review Mallorn 34 33 41 JSTOR 45321696 Further reading editBratman David 2000 The Literary Value of The History of Middle earth Contributions to the Study of Science Fiction and Fantasy 86 69 94 Whittingham Elizabeth A 2017 The Evolution of Tolkien s Mythology A Study of the History of Middle earth McFarland ISBN 978 1 4766 1174 7 External links edit nbsp Speculative fiction portal A detailed list of content in History of Middle earth volumes and Unfinished Tales Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The History of Middle earth amp oldid 1200102352, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
