Books by Tolkien

JRR Tolkien was one of the foremost writers of the 20th century. Many books by Tolkien are considered classics, and continue to be extremely influential today.

The release, several years ago, of the three movies in The Lord of the Rings sequence has also helped to bring about a resurgence of interest in Professor Tolkiens books. Many fans of Tolkiens books, however, may not know that he wrote more than simply The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.

JRR Tolkien wrote many stories during his lifetime, some of which were only published posthumously.

The Silmarillion, a collection of Tolkiens early writings, was published posthumously in 1977. It is a beautiful compilation of Tolkiens early mythology of Middle-earth, the elves, men, the Wars of the Silmarils (these predate the events in The Lord of the Rings by many, many years), and the rest of the history of Tolkiens created world.

Tolkiens appeal has been such that his son, Christopher Tolkien, undertook to publish a complete twelve book History of Middle-earth series, consisting primarily of notes, unfinished drafts, false starts, unrevised stories, and editorial commentary. These are not necessarily "books by Tolkien" per se, but collections of his notes and unfinished stories along with editorial commentary.

Some of this will not appeal to the casual fan. But those interested in the true depth of Tolkiens mythologies and early ideas of Middle-earth, the synthesis and difficulties he faced in writing The Lord of the Rings, and some of the source material in which Tolkien was immersed will find it fascinating reading.

Still lesser known are some of the other stories and books by Tolkien, such as Smith of Wootten Major, Farmer Giles of Ham, Leaf by Niggle, Roverandom, and his collections of verse.

For the most part, these writings can be considered entirely separate from the Middle-earth sequence of books by Tolkien. They do not share characters, peoples, or settings with the Middle-earth writings.

Here is a full list of books by Tolkien, by date of publication. I have omitted those minor works which were originally published only in academic journals, as nearly all of those writings were published in book form at a later date.

Fiction and Verse

• 1937 - The Hobbit
• 1949 - Farmer Giles of Ham
• 1954-55 - The Lord of the Rings
  • 1954 - The Fellowship of the Ring - Lord of the Rings, Part One
  • 1954 - The Two Towers - Lord of the Rings, Part Two
  • 1955 - The Return of the King - Lord of the Rings, Part Three
• 1962 - The Adventures of Tom Bombadil
• 1964 - Tree and Leaf - Contains "Leaf by Niggle" and "On Fairy Stories"
• 1966 - The Tolkien Reader
  • Contains The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth Beorhthelms Son, "On Fairy-stories", Farmer Giles of Ham, Leaf by Niggle, and The Adventures of Tom Bombadil
• 1967 - Smith of Wootten Major

Nonfiction and Translations

• 1925 - Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (edited with E.V. Gordon)
• 1937 - Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics
• 1962 - Ancrene Wisse: The English Text of the Ancrene Riwle

• 1975 - Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Pearl, and Sir Orfeo (translations)
• 1976 - The Father Christmas Letters
• 1977 - The Silmarillion (ed. Christopher Tolkien)
• 1980 - Unfinished Tales (ed. Christopher Tolkien)
• 1981 - The Letters of JRR Tolkien (ed. Christopher Tolkien & Humphrey Carpenter)
• 1982 - Finn and Hengist (ed. Alan Bliss) A collection of Tolkiens lectures.
• 1982 - Mr. Bliss
• 1983 - The Monsters and the Critics (a collection of essays)
• 1983-1996 - The History of Middle-earth (Twelve Volumes)
  • Book I - The Book of Lost Tales, Part One (1983)
  • Book II - The Book of Lost Tales, Part Two (1984)
  • Book III - The Lays of Beleriand (1985)
  • Book IV - The Shaping of Middle-earth (1986)
  • Book V - The Lost Road and Other Writings (1987)
  • Book VI - The Return of the Shadow (1988)
  • Book VII - The Treason of Isengard (1989)
  • Book VIII - The War of the Ring (1990)
  • Book IX - Sauron Defeated (1992)
  • Book X - Morgoths Ring (1993)
  • Book XI - The War of the Jewels (1994)
  • Book XII - The Peoples of Middle-earth (1996)
• 1992 - Pictures by JRR Tolkien (text by Christopher Tolkien)
• 1998 - Roverandom
• 2007 - The Children of Hurin
• 2007 - The History of The Hobbit (ed. John D. Rateliff)
  • A collection of Tolkien's early drafts of The Hobbit, with commentary by scholar John D. Rateliff. Similar to books VI-IX of The History of Middle-earth which explored the early drafts and writing of The Lord of the Rings.
• 2008 - Tales from the Perilous Realm
• 2009 - The Legend of Sigurd & Gudrun

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