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The one ring animated
Middle earth map showing prominent locations
Map of the Western part of Middle-earth at the end of the Third Age
Middle-earth-film
Map of Middle-earth from the films
Middleearth
Map of Middle-earth
"Middle-earth", or Endor in Quenya (Ennor in Sindarin) - and in The Book of Lost
Tales the Great Lands - are the names used for the habitable parts of Arda after
the final ruin of Beleriand, east across the Belegaer from Aman.
This continent is north of the Hither Lands shown in the Ambarkanta, and west of
the East Sea; and throughout the First and Second Ages it went through many
colossal geographical changes, caused by Iluvatar.

Contents[show]
Name Edit
The term "Middle-earth" was not invented by Tolkien. Rather, it comes from Middle
English middel-erde, itself a folk-etymology for the Old English word middangeard
(geard not meaning Earth, but rather enclosure or place, thus yard, with the Old
Norse word migarr being cognate). It is Germanic for what the Greeks called
the ???????? (oikoumene) or "the abiding place of men", the physical world as
opposed to the unseen worlds (The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien, 151). The word
Mediterranean comes from two Latin stems, medi- , amidst, and terra, (earth/land),
meaning "the sea placed at the middle of the Earth / amidst the lands".
Middangeard occurs six times in Beowulf, which Tolkien translated and on which he
was arguably the world's foremost authority. (See also J. R. R. Tolkien for
discussion of his inspirations and sources). See Midgard and Norse mythology for
the older use. Tolkien made middle earth based on the world today (Geography).

Tolkien was also inspired by this fragment:

Eala earendel engla beorhtast / ofer middangeard monnum sended.

Hail Earendel, brightest of angels / above the middle-earth sent unto men.
in the Crist poem of Cynewulf. The name earendel (which may mean the 'morning-star'
but in some contexts was a name for Christ) was the inspiration for Tolkien's
mariner Erendil.
The name was consciously used by Tolkien to place The Hobbit, The Lord of the
Rings, The Silmarillion, and related writings.

Tolkien began to use the term "Middle-earth" in the early 1930s in place of the
earlier terms "Great Lands", "Outer Lands", and "Hither Lands" to describe the same
region in his stories. "Middle-earth" is specifically intended to describe the
lands east of the Great Sea (Belegaer), thus excluding Aman, but including Harad
and other mortal lands not visited in Tolkien's stories. Many people apply the name
to the entirety of Tolkien's world or exclusively to the lands described in The
Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.

In ancient Germanic and mythology, the universe was believed to consist of multiple
interconnected physical worlds (in Nordic mythology 9, in West Germanic and English
mythology, 8). The world of Men, the Middle-earth, lay in the centre of this
universe. The lands of Elves, Gods, and Giants lay across an encircling sea. The
land of the Dead lay beneath the Middle-earth. A rainbow bridge, Bifrost Bridge,
extended from Middle-earth to Asgard across the sea. An outer sea encircled the
seven other worlds (Vanaheim, Asgard, Alfheim, SvartAlfheim, Muspellheim,
Nidavellir, and Jotunheim). In this conception, a "world" was more equivalent to a
racial homeland than a physically separate world.

The world Edit

Main article: Arda
Arda
A speculative map of Arda before the end of the First Age, courtesy of the
Encyclopedia of Arda.
Tolkien stated that the geography of Middle-earth was intended to align with that
of our real Earth in several particulars. (Letters #294) Expanding upon this idea
some suggest that if the map of Middle-earth is projected on our real Earth, and
some of the most obvious climatological, botanical, and zoological similarities are
aligned, the Hobbits' Shire might lie in the temperate climate of England, Gondor
might lie in the Mediterranean Italy and Greece, Mordor in Sicily, South Gondor and
Near Harad in the deserts of Northern Africa, Rhovanion in the forests of Germany
and the steppes of Western and Southern Russia, and the Ice Bay of Forochel in the
fjords of Norway. Far Harad may have corresponded with Southern Africa, and Rhn
corresponded with the whole of Asia. The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings are
presented as Tolkien's retelling of events depicted in the Red Book of Westmarch,
which was written by Bilbo Baggins, Frodo Baggins, and other Hobbits, and corrected
and annotated by one or more Gondorian scholars. Years after publication, Tolkien
'postulated' in a letter that the action of the books takes place roughly 6,000
years ago, though he was not certain.
Tolkien wrote extensively about the linguistics, mythology and history of the
world, which provide back-story for these stories. Many of these writings were
edited and published posthumously by his son Christopher.

Notable among them is The Silmarillion, which provides a creation story and
description of the cosmology which includes Middle-earth. The Silmarillion is the
primary source of information about Valinor, Nmenor, and other lands. Also notable
are Unfinished Tales and the multiple volumes of The History of Middle-earth, which
includes many incomplete stories and essays as well as numerous drafts of Tolkien's
Middle-earth mythology, from the earliest forms down through the last writings of
his life.

CosmologyEdit
Main article: Ainulindal
The supreme deity is called Eru Ilvatar. In the beginning, Ilvatar created
spirits named the Ainur and he taught them to make music. After the Ainur had
become proficient in their skills, Ilvatar commanded them to make a great music
based on a theme of his own design. The most powerful Ainu, Melkor (later called
Morgoth or "Dark Enemy" by the elves), Tolkien's equivalent of Satan, disrupted the
theme, and in response Ilvatar introduced new themes that enhanced the music
beyond the comprehension of the Ainur. The movements of their song laid the seeds
of much of the history of the as yet unmade universe and the people who were to
dwell therein.
Then Ilvatar stopped the music and he revealed its meaning to the Ainur through a
Vision. Moved by the Vision, many of the Ainur felt a compelling urge to experience
its events directly. Ilvatar therefore created E, the universe itself, and some
of the Ainur went down into the universe to share in its experience. But upon
arriving in E, the Ainur found it was shapeless because they had entered at the
beginning of Time. The Ainur undertook great labours in these unnamed "ages of the
stars", in which they shaped the universe and filled it with many things far beyond
the reach of Men. In time, however, the Ainur formed Arda, the abiding place of the
Children of Ilvatar, Elves and Men. The fifteen most powerful Ainur are called the
Valar, of whom Melkor was the most powerful, but Manw was the leader. The Valar
settled in Arda to watch over it and help prepare it for the awakening of the
Children.

Arda began as a single flat world, which the Valar gave light to through two
immense lamps. Melkor destroyed the lamps and brought darkness to the world. The
Valar retreated to the extreme western regions of Arda, where they created the Two
Trees to give light to their new homeland. After many ages, the Valar imprisoned
Melkor to punish and rehabilitate him, and to protect the awakening Children. But
when Melkor was released he poisoned the Two Trees. The Valar took the last two
living fruit of the Two Trees and used them to create the Moon and Sun, which
remained a part of Arda but were separate from Ambar (the world).

Before the end of the Second Age, when the Men of Nmenor rebelled against the
Valar, Ilvatar destroyed Nmenor, separated Valinor from the rest of Arda, and
formed new lands, making the world round. Only Endor remained of the original
world, and Endor had now become Eurasia.

GeographyEdit
Middle-earth
A political representation of the lands of Middle-earth
J.R.R. Tolkien never finalized the geography for the entire world associated with
The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. In The Shaping of Middle-earth, volume IV of
The History of Middle-earth, Christopher Tolkien published several remarkable maps,
of both the original flat earth and round world, which his father had created in
the latter part of the 1930s. Karen Wynn Fonstad drew from these maps to develop
detailed, but non-canonical, "whole world maps" reflecting a world consistent with
the historical ages depicted in The Silmarillion, The Hobbit, and The Lord of the
Rings.
Maps prepared by Christopher Tolkien and/or J.R.R. Tolkien for the world
encompassing The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings were published as foldouts or
illustrations in The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion. Early
conceptions of the maps provided in The Silmarillion and The Lord of the Rings were
included in several volumes, including "The First Silmarillion Map" in The Shaping
of Middle-earth, "The First Map of the Lord of the Rings" in The Treason of
Isengard, "The Second Map (West)" and "The Second Map (East)" in the War of the
Ring, and "The Second Map of Middle-earth west of the Blue Mountains" (also known
as "The Second Silmarillion Map") in The War of the Jewels.

Endor, the Quenya term for Middle-earth, was originally conceived of as conforming
to a largely symmetrical scheme which was marred by Melkor. The symmetry was
defined by two large sub-continents, one in the north and one in the south, with
each of them boasting two long chains of mountains in the eastward and westward
regions. The mountain chains were given names based on colours (White Mountains,
Blue Mountains, Grey Mountains, and Red Mountains).
Middle Earth map - FOTR

The various conflicts with Melkor resulted in the shapes of the lands being
distorted. Originally, there was a single inland body of water, in the midst of
which was set the island of Almaren where the Valar lived. When Melkor destroyed
the lamps of the Valar which gave light to the world, two vast seas were created,
but Almaren and its lake were destroyed. The northern sea became the Sea of Helcar
(Helkar). The lands west of the Blue Mountains became Beleriand (meaning, "the land
of Balar"). Melkor raised the Misty Mountains to impede the progress of the Vala
Orome as he hunted Melkor's beasts during the period of darkness prior to the
awakening of the Elves.
Additional changes have occurred when Valar have assaulted Utumno. The North-west
of the Middle-earth, where Melkor met the Valar host, was "much broken". The sea
between the Middle-earth and Aman widened, with many bays created, including one
which was the confluence of Sirion. The highland of Dorthonion and the mountains
about Hithlum were also a result of the battles. Since the changes mentioned
include both the beginning and the ending points of Sirion, it is possible the
river itself was created at the same time.
The violent struggles during the War of Wrath between the Host of the Valar and the
armies of Melkor at the end of the First Age brought about the destruction of
Beleriand. It is also possible that during this time the inland sea of Helcar was
drained.

The world, not including associated celestial bodies, was identified by Tolkien as
"Ambar" in several texts, but also identified as "Imbar", the Habitation, in later
post-LoTR texts. From the time of the destruction of the two lamps until the time
of the Downfall of Nmenor, Ambar was supposed to be a "flat world", in that its
habitable land-masses were all arranged on one side of the world. His sketches show
a disk-like face for the world which looked up to the stars. A western continent,
Aman, was the home of the Valar (and the Eldar). The middle lands, Endor, were
called "Middle-earth" and the site of most of Tolkien's stories. The eastern
continent was not inhabited.

When Melkor poisoned the Two Trees of the Valar and fled from Aman back to Endor,
the Valar created the Sun and the Moon, which were separate bodies (from Ambar) but
still parts of Arda (the Realm of the Children of Ilvatar). A few years after
publishing The Lord of the Rings, in a note associated with the unique narrative
story "Athrabeth Finrod ah Andreth" (which is said to occur in Beleriand during the
War of the Jewels), Tolkien equated Arda with the Solar System; because Arda by
this point consisted of more than one heavenly body.

According to the accounts in both The Silmarillion and The Lord of the Rings, when
Ar-Pharazn invaded Aman to seize immortality from the Valar, they laid down their
guardianship of the world and Ilvatar intervened, destroying Nmenor, removing
Aman "from the circles of the world", and reshaping Ambar into the round world of
today. Akallabth says that the Nmenreans who survived the Downfall sailed as far
west as they could in search of their ancient home, but their travels only brought
them around the world back to their starting points. Hence, before the end of the
Second Age, the transition from "flat Earth" to "round Earth" had been completed.

The Endor continent became approximately equivalent to the Eurasian land-mass, but
Tolkien's geography does not provide any exact correlations between the narrative
of The Lord of the Rings and Europe or near-by lands. It is therefore assumed that
the reader understands the world underwent a subsequent undocumented transformation
(which some people speculate Tolkien would have equated with the Biblical deluge)
sometime after the end of the Third Age, or possibly at the fall of Sauron itself
at the end of the Third Age. Another explanation is that many places shifted
location, the Misty Mountains moving North to Scandinavia, the White Mountains
rotating to become the Alps and the mountains of the west Balkans, Near Harad
moving south and west to become the Sahara, Eriador flooding to become northern
France and the British Isles, and so on. This would not be the first time that this
had happened, as it seems that a consequence from the Siege of Utumno was that
Endor rotated eastward, its axis the north pole.

The main Realms in middle earth are Gondor, Rohan, Mordor, Lindon, Eriador, Rhun ,
and Rhovanion .

People Edit
Main article: People and Races of Arda, see also: List of Middle-earth people
Middle-earth is home to several distinct intelligent species. First are the Ainur,
angelic beings created by Ilvatar. The Ainur sing for Ilvatar, who creates E to
give existence to their music in the cosmological myth called the Ainulindal, or
"Music of the Ainur". Some of the Ainur then enter E, and the greatest of these
are called the Valar. Melkor (later called Morgoth), the chief personification of
evil in E, is initially one of the Valar.
The other Ainur who enter E are called the Maiar. In the First Age the most active
Maia is Melian, wife of the Elven King Thingol; in the Third Age, during the War of
the Ring, five of the Maiar have been embodied and sent to Endor to help the free
people to overthrow Sauron. Those are the Istari (or Wise Ones) (called Wizards by
Men), including Gandalf, Saruman, Radagast, Alatar and Pallando. There were also
evil Maiar, called Umaiar, including the Balrogs and the second Dark Lord, Sauron.

Later come the Children of Ilvatar: Elves and Men (men awoke in the first year of
the sun), intelligent beings created by Ilvatar alone. The Silmarillion tells how
Elves and Men awaken and spread through the world. The Dwarves are said to have
been made by the Vala Aul, who offered to destroy them when Ilvatar confronted
him. Ilvatar forgives Aul's transgression and adopts the Dwarves. Three tribes of
Men who ally themselves with the Elves of Beleriand in the First Age are called the
Edain.

As a reward for their loyalty and suffering in the Wars of Beleriand, the
descendants of the Edain are given the island of Nmenor to be their home. But as
described in the section on Middle-earth's history, Nmenor is eventually destroyed
and a remnant of the Nmenreans establish realms in the northern lands of Endor.
Those who remained faithful to the Valar found the kingdoms of Arnor and Gondor.
They are then known as the Dnedain, whereas other Nmenrean survivors, still
devoted to evil but living far to the south, become known as the Black Nmenreans.

Tolkien identified Hobbits as an offshoot of the race of Men. Although their

origins and ancient history are not known, Tolkien implied that they settled in the
Vales of Anduin early in the Third Age, but after a thousand years the Hobbits
began migrating west over the Misty Mountains into Eriador. Eventually, many
Hobbits settled in the Shire.

After they are granted true life by Ilvatar, the Dwarves' creator Aul lays them
to sleep in hidden mountain locations. Ilvatar awakens the Dwarves only after the
Elves have awakened. The Dwarves spread throughout northern Endor and eventually
found seven kingdoms. Two of these kingdoms, Nogrod and Belegost, befriend the
Elves of Beleriand against Morgoth in the First Age. The greatest Dwarf kingdom is
Khazad-dum, later known as Moria.

The Ents, shepherds of the trees, are created by Ilvatar at the Vala Yavanna's
request to protect trees from the deprivations of Elves, Dwarves, and Men.
Orcs and Trolls are evil creatures bred by Morgoth. They are not original creations
but rather "mockeries" of the Children of Ilvatar and Ents, since only Ilvatar
has the ability to give being to things. The detailed origins of Orcs and Trolls
are unclear (Tolkien considered many possibilities and frequently changed his
mind). It seems most likely that the Orcs were bred largely from corrupted Elves or
Men or both. Late in the Third Age, the Uruks or Uruk-hai appear: a race of Orcs of
great size and strength. (Some claim that by the end of the Third Age, the only
Uruks properly called Uruk-hai are those serving Saruman). Saruman breeds Orcs and
Men together to produce "Men-orcs" and "Orc-men"; at times, some of these are
called "half-orcs" or "goblin-men". (There is no consensus as to whether Saruman's
Uruk-hai were among these. The books contain no hint of the "pod grown" Uruk-hai
portrayed in Peter Jackson's recent movie trilogy.)

Seemingly sapient animals also appear, such as the Eagles, Huan the Great Hound
from Valinor, and the Wargs. The Eagles are created by Ilvatar along with the
Ents, but in general these animals' origins and nature are unclear. Some of them
might be Maiar in animal form, or perhaps even the offspring of Maiar and normal
animals.

Tom Bombadil is an enigma; it is unknown to which of the peoples of Middle-earth he

belongs. He is clearly sentient and humanoid, though. As to the nature of Bombadil,
Tolkien himself said that some things should remain mysterious in any mythology,
hidden even to its inventor.

LanguagesEdit
Main article: Languages of Middle-earth
Tolkien devised two main Elven languages which would later become known to us as
Quenya, spoken by the Vanyar, Noldor, and some Teleri, and Sindarin, spoken by the
Elves who stayed in Beleriand (see below). These languages were related, and a
Common Eldarin form ancestral to them both is postulated.
Other languages of the world include

Adnaic spoken by the Nmenreans

Black Speech devised by Sauron for his slaves to speak
Khuzdl spoken by the Dwarves
Rohirric spoken by the Rohirrim represented in the Lord of the Rings by Old
English
Westron the 'Common Speech' represented by English
Valarin the language of the Ainur.
History of Middle-earth Edit
Main article: History of Arda
The history of Middle-earth is divided into three time periods, known as the Years
of the Lamps, Years of the Trees and Years of the Sun; the latter is typically sub-
divided further into four Ages, of which three are relevant to the printed works of
the legendarium.
The Years of the Lamps began shortly after the Valar finished their labours in
shaping Arda. The Valar created two lamps to illuminate the world, and the Vala
Aul forged great towers, one in the furthest north, Helcar with the lamp Illuin,
and another in the deepest south, Ringol with the lamp Ormal. The Valar lived in
the middle, at the island of Almaren. Melkor's destruction of the two Lamps marked
the end of the Years of the Lamps.

Aman Valinor
A speculative map of Aman during the Second Age.
Then Yavanna made the Two Trees named Telperion and Laurelin in the land of Aman.
The Trees illuminated Aman, leaving the rest of Arda in darkness, illuminated only
by the stars. At the start of the First Age the Elves awoke beside Lake Cuivinen
in the east of Endor, and were soon approached by the Valar. Many of the elves were
persuaded to undertake the Great Journey westwards towards Aman, but not all of
them completed the journey (see Sundering of the Elves). The Valar had imprisoned
Melkor but he appeared to repent and was released on parole. He sowed great discord
among the Elves and stirred up rivalry between the Elven princes Fanor and
Fingolfin. He then slew their father, king Finw and stole the Silmarils, three
gems crafted by Fanor that contained light of the Two Trees, from his vault, and
destroyed the Trees themselves.
Fanor persuaded most of his people, the Noldor, to leave Aman in pursuit of Melkor
to Beleriand, cursing him with the name Morgoth. Fanor led the first of two groups
of Noldor. The larger group was led by Fingolfin. The Noldor stopped at the
Teleri's port-city, Alqualond, but the Teleri refused to give them ships to get to
Middle-earth. The first Kinslaying thus ensued; Fanor and many of his followers
attacked the Teleri and stole their ships. Fanor's host sailed on the stolen
ships, leaving Fingolfin's behind to cross over to Middle-earth through the deadly
Helcarax (or Grinding Ice) in the far north. Subsequently Fanor was slain, but
most of his sons survived and founded realms, as did Fingolfin and his heirs.

The Years of the Sun began when the Valar made the Sun and it rose over the world,
Imbar. After several great battles, a Long Peace ensued for four hundred years,
during which time the first Men entered Beleriand by crossing over the Blue
Mountains. When Morgoth broke the siege of Angband, one by one the Elven kingdoms
fell, even the hidden city of Gondolin. The only measurable success achieved by
Elves and Men came when Beren of the Edain and Luthien, daughter of Thingol and
Melian, retrieved a Silmaril from the crown of Morgoth. Afterward, Beren and
Luthien died, and were restored to life by the Valar with the understanding that
Luthien was to become mortal and Beren should never be seen by Men again.

Thingol quarrelled with the Dwarves of Nogrod and they slew him, stealing the
Silmaril. With the help of Ents, Beren waylaid the Dwarves and recovered the
Silmaril, which he gave to Luthien. Soon afterwards, both Beren and Luthien died
again. The Silmaril was given to their son Dior Half-Elven, who had restored the
Kingdom of Doriath. The sons of Fanor demanded that Dior surrender the Silmaril to
them, and he refused. The Fanorians destroyed Doriath and killed Dior in the
second Kinslaying, but Dior's young daughter Elwing escaped with the jewel. Three
sons of Fanor Celegorm, Curufin, and Caranthir died trying to retake the
jewel.

By the end of the age, all that remained of the free Elves and Men in Beleriand was
a settlement at the mouth of the River Sirion. Among them was Erendil, who married
Elwing. But the Fanorians again demanded the Silmaril be returned to them, and
after their demand was rejected they resolved to take the jewel by force, leading
to the third Kinslaying. Erendil and Elwing took the Silmaril across the Great
Sea, to beg the Valar for pardon and aid. The Valar responded. Melkor was captured,
most of his works were destroyed, and he was banished beyond the confines of the
world into the Door of Night.

The Silmarils were recovered at a terrible cost, as Beleriand itself was broken and
began to sink under the sea. Feanor's last remaining sons, Maedhros and Maglor,
were ordered to return to Valinor. They proceeded to steal the Silmarils from the
victorious Valar. But, as with Melkor, the Silmarils burned their hands and they
then realized they were not meant to possess them and that the oath was null. Each
of the brothers met his fate: Maedhros threw himself with the Silmaril into a chasm
of fire, and Maglor threw his Silmaril into the sea. Thus the three Silmarils ended
in the sky with Erendil, in the earth, and in the sea respectively.

Thus began the Second Age. The Edain were given the island of Nmenor toward the
west of the Great Sea as their home, while many elves were welcomed into the West.
The Nmenreans became great seafarers, but also became increasingly jealous of the
elves for their immortality. But after a few centuries, Sauron, Morgoth's chief
servant, began to organize evil creatures in the eastern lands. He persuaded Elven
smiths in Eregion to create Rings of Power, and secretly forged the One Ring to
control the other rings. But the elves became aware of Sauron's plan as soon as he
put the One Ring on his hand, and they removed their own Rings before he could
master their wills.

Numenor
A map of Nmenor during the Second Age, courtesy of the Encyclopedia of Arda.
The last Nmenrean king Ar-Pharazn, by the strength of his army, humbled even
Sauron and brought him to Nmenor as a hostage. But with the help of the One Ring,
Sauron deceived Ar-Pharazn and convinced the king to invade Aman, promising
immortality for all those who set foot on the Undying Lands. Amandil, chief of
those still faithful to the Valar, tried to sail west to seek their aid. His son
Elendil and grandsons Isildur and Anrion prepared to flee east to Middle-earth.
When the King's forces landed on Aman, the Valar called for Ilvatar to intervene.
The world was changed, and Aman was removed from Imbar. From that time onward, Men
could no longer find Aman, but Elves seeking passage in specially hallowed ships
received the grace of using the Straight Road, which led from Middle-earth's seas
to the seas of Aman. Nmenor was utterly destroyed, and with it the fair body of
Sauron, but his spirit endured and fled back to Middle-earth. Elendil and his sons
escaped to Endor and founded the realms of Gondor and Arnor. Sauron soon rose
again, but the elves allied with the men to form the Last Alliance and defeated
him. His One Ring was taken from him by Isildur, but not destroyed.
Third Age
Middle-earth during the Third Age
The Third Age saw the rise in power of the realms of Arnor and Gondor, and their
decline. By the time of The Lord of the Rings, Sauron had recovered much of his
former strength, and was seeking the One Ring. He discovered that it was in the
possession of a Hobbit and sent out the nine Ringwraiths to retrieve it. The Ring-
bearer, Frodo Baggins, travelled to Rivendell, where it was decided that the Ring
had to be destroyed in the only way possible: casting it into the fires of Mount
Doom. Frodo set out on the quest with eight companionsthe Fellowship of the Ring.
At the last moment he failed, but with the intervention of the creature Gollumwho
was saved by the pity of Frodo and Bilbo Bagginsthe Ring was nevertheless
destroyed. Frodo with his companion Sam Gamgee were hailed as heroes. Sauron was
destroyed forever and his spirit dissipated.
The end of the Third Age marked the end of the dominion of the elves and the
beginning of the dominion of men. As the Fourth Age began, many of the elves who
had lingered in Middle-earth left for Valinor, never to return; those who remained
behind would "fade" and diminish. The dwarves eventually dwindled away as well. The
dwarves eventually returned in large numbers and resettled Moria. Peace was
restored between Gondor and the lands to the south and east. Eventually, the tales
of the earlier Ages became legends, the truth behind them forgotten.

BooksEdit
Works by TolkienEdit
1937 The Hobbit
The Hobbit Bilbo Baggins joins a company of Dwarves and the Wizard Gandalf in a
quest to reclaim an old Dwarvish kingdom from the dragon Smaug.
1954 The Fellowship of the Ring, part 1 of The Lord of the Rings
Bilbo's cousin and heir Frodo Baggins sets out on a quest to rid Middle-earth of
the One Ring, joined by the Fellowship of the Ring.
1954 The Two Towers, part 2 of The Lord of the Rings
The Fellowship is split apart: while Frodo and his servant Sam continue their
quest, Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas fight to rescue the hobbits Peregrin Took
(Pippin) and Meriadoc Brandybuck (Merry) from Orcs and to save the Kingdom of
Rohan.
1955 The Return of the King, part 3 of The Lord of the Rings
Frodo and Sam reach Mordor, while Aragorn arrives in Gondor and reclaims his
heritage.
1962 The Adventures of Tom Bombadil and Other Verses from the Red Book
An assortment of poems, only loosely related to The Lord of the Rings
1967 The Road Goes Ever On
A song cycle with the composer Donald Swann (long out of print but reprinted in
2002)
Tolkien passed away in 1973. All further works were edited by Christopher Tolkien.
Only The Silmarillion portrays itself as a finished work the others are
collections of notes and draft versions.
1977 The Silmarillion
The history of the Elder Days, before the Lord of the Rings, including the Downfall
of Nmenor
1980 Unfinished Tales of Nmenor and Middle-earth
Stories and essays related to the Silmarillion and Lord of the Rings, but many were
never completed.
The History of Middle-earth series:
1983 The Book of Lost Tales 1
1984 The Book of Lost Tales 2
The earliest versions of the mythology, from start to finish
1985 The Lays of Beleriand
Two long poems (the Lay of Leithian about Beren and Lthien, and the Trin saga)
1986 The Shaping of Middle-earth
Start of rewriting the mythology from the beginning
1987 The Lost Road and Other Writings
Introduction of Numenor to the mythology and continuation of rewriting
1988 The Return of the Shadow (The History of The Lord of the Rings v.1)
1989 The Treason of Isengard (The History of The Lord of the Rings v.2)
1990 The War of the Ring (The History of The Lord of the Rings v.3)
1992 Sauron Defeated (The History of The Lord of the Rings v.4)
The development of the Lord of the Rings, from 'The Hobbit 2' to what would become
more a sequel for 'The Silmarillion'. Sauron Defeated also includes another version
of the Numenor connection
1993 Morgoth's Ring (The Later Silmarillion, part one)
1994 The War of the Jewels (The Later Silmarillion, part two)
Post Lord of the Rings efforts to revise the mythology for publication. Includes
the controversial 'Myths Transformed' section, which documents how Tolkien's
thoughts changed radically in the last years of his life.
1996 The Peoples of Middle-earth
Source material for the appendices in The Lord of the Rings and some more late
writings related to The Silmarillion and The Lord of the Rings.
2002 History of Middle-earth: Index
This book has completely integrated all of the indices from the previous twelve
volumes into one large index.
2007 The Children of Hrin
In the prefatory information to the 2007 edition of Fellowship ('Notes on the
Text'), Douglas A. Anderson explains that, since the Rings books were published
almost fifty years ago, numerous emendations and corrections to grammar, word-
choice, and punctuation (and repairs to their internal consistency) have been made
through the various editions; while many such corrections were by Tolkien's own
request (such as specific and intentional word choices made by Tolkien in his
original manuscript, but omitted or 'corrected' in later editions by overly-zealous
editors), revisions that would have required rewriting portions of the narrative
(instead of simple corrections) were left unmade to preserve the integrity of the
text.
Works by othersEdit
A small selection of the dozens of books about Tolkien and his worlds:
1978 The Complete Guide to Middle-earth (ISBN 0345449762, Robert Foster, generally
recognised as the best reference book on The Lord of the Rings. This guide does not
include information from Unfinished Tales or the History of Middle-earth series,
which leads to some errors by our choice of "canon" above.)
2004 The Annotated Hobbit, Douglas Anderson, a comprehensive study of the
publication history of The Hobbit.
1981 The Atlas of Middle-earth (Karen Wynn Fonstad an atlas of The Lord of the
Rings, The Hobbit, The Silmarillion, and The Unfinished Tales; revised 1991)
1981 Journeys of Frodo (Barbara Strachey an atlas of The Lord of the Rings)
1983 The Road to Middle-earth (Tom Shippey literary analysis of Tolkien's stories
from the perspective of a fellow philologist; last revised 2003)
2002 The Complete Tolkien Companion (ISBN 0330411659, J. E. A. Tyler a reference,
covers The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, The Silmarillion, and Unfinished Tales;
substantially improved over the two earlier editions.)
Portrayal in AdaptationsEdit
FilmsEdit
In letter #202 to Christopher Tolkien, J. R. R. Tolkien set out his policy
regarding film adaptations of his works: "Art or Cash". He sold the film rights for
The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings to United Artists in 1969 after being faced
with a sudden tax bill. They are currently in the hands of Tolkien Enterprises,
which has no relation to the Tolkien Estate, which retains film rights to The
Silmarillion and other works.
The first adaptation to be shown was The Hobbit in 1977, made by Rankin-Bass
studios. This was initially shown on United States television.

The following year (1978), a movie entitled The Lord of the Rings was released,
produced and directed by Ralph Bakshi; it was an adaptation of the first half of
the story, using rotoscope animation. Although relatively faithful to the story, it
was only a minor commercial success but not entirely well received by critics.

In 1980, Rankin-Bass produced a TV special covering roughly the last half of The
Lord of the Rings, called The Return of the King. However, this did not follow on
directly from the end of the Bakshi film.

Middle Earth map - FOTR

Map of Middle-earth in Peter Jackson's films
Plans for a live-action version would wait until the late 1990s to be realised.
These were directed by Peter Jackson and funded by New Line Cinema with backing
from the New Zealand government and banking system.
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 films were a huge box office and critical success and together won seventeen
Oscars (at least one in each applicable category for a fictional, English language,
live-action feature film, except in the acting categories). However, in adapting
the works to film, changes in the storyline and characters were made, which upset
some fans of the books.
The Hobbit film series, a live-action adaptation of The Hobbit was also made as a
prequel to The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, produced in New Zealand under the
direction of Peter Jackson. Although Tolkien's novel The Hobbit is a single book
unlike The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit film series is a trilogy like The Lord of
the Rings film series. The first and second films were released in December 2012
and 2013 respectively while the third film was released in 2014.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013)
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014)
A film was also announced in November 2016 which will be titled "Middle Earth" that
is based off the life of J.R.R Tolkien.
GamesEdit
The works of Tolkien have been a major influence on role-playing games along with
others such as Robert E. Howard, Fritz Leiber, H. P. Lovecraft, and Michael
Moorcock. Although the most famous game to be inspired partially by the setting was
Dungeons & Dragons, there have been two specifically Middle-earth based and
licensed games. These are the Lord of the Rings Roleplaying Game from Decipher Inc.
and the Middle-earth Role Playing game (MERP) from Iron Crown Enterprises. A
Middle-earth play-by-mail game was originally run by Game Systems Inc. and is now
produced by Middle-earth Games; this game was inducted into the Academy of
Adventure Gaming Arts & Design's Hall of Fame in 1997.
Simulations Publications created three war games based on Tolkien's work. War of
the Ring covered most of the events in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Gondor
focused on the battle of Pelennor Fields, and Sauron covered the Second Age battle
before the gates of Mordor. A war game based on the Lord of the Rings movies is
currently being produced by Games Workshop. A board game also called War of the
Ring is currently published by Fantasy Flight Games.

The computer game Angband is a free roguelike D&D-style game that features many
characters from Tolkien's works. The most complete list of Tolkien-inspired
computer games can be found at http://www.lysator.liu.se/tolkien-games/

EA Games has released games for the gaming consoles and the PC platform. These
include The Two Towers, The Return of the King, The Battle for Middle-earth, and
The Third Age. Vivendi released The Fellowship of the Ring while Sierra created The
War of the Ring, both games that proved highly unsuccessful.

Apart from this game, many commercial computer games have been released. Some of
these derived their rights from the Estate, such as The Hobbit others from the
movie and merchandising rights.

Other Edit
The University of California, Irvine has an undergraduate housing village called
Middle Earth, containing dormitory halls named Hobbiton, Rohan, Isengard, and
Mirkwood, among many others.
The University of California, San Diego also has an area known as Middle-earth,
named so because it is between the other levels at one of UCSD's many colleges.

Translations around the WorldEdit

Foreign Language Translated name
Afrikaans Midde-aarde
Albanian Toka e mesme
Amharic ?????-???
Arabic ????? ??????
Armenian ????????
Azerbaijani Orta yer
Basque Erdialdeko Lurraldea
Belarusian Cyrillic ??????'?
Bengali ???? ??????
Bosnian Srednja zemlja
Bulgarian Cyrillic ?????? ????
Cambodian ???????????????????
Catalan Terra Mitjana
Cebuano Tunga-tunga-yuta
Chichewa Pakati-lapansi
Chinese ????
Chinese (Hong Kong) ????
Corsican Mediu-terra
Croatian Meduzemlje
Czech Stredozem / Stredozeme
Danish Midgrd
Dutch Midden-Aarde
Esperanto Mez-Tero
Estonian Keskmaa
Finnish Keski-Maa
French Terre du Milieu
Galician Terra Media
Georgian ??????????
German Mittelerde
Greek ??s? G?
Gujarati ????? ??????
Hausa Tsakiyar-?asa
Hawaiian Waena-honua
Hebrew ???? ???????
Hindi ???? ??????
Hungarian Kzpflde
Icelandic Migarur
Indonesian Dunia Tengah
Irish Gaelic An Men-domhan
Italian Terra di Mezzo
Japanese ???
Javanese Tengah-bumi
Kannada ????? ?????
Korean ????
Kurdish ???????-?????? (Arabic script) Chana Navn (Latin)
Kyrgyz Cyrillic ??????-????h
Latin Terra Media
Latvian Viduszeme
Lao ??????, ??????????
Lithuanian Viduremis
Luxembourgish Mtt-erd
Macedonian Cyrillic ???????? ???????
Malagasy Afovoany-tany
Malay Bumi Tengah
Marathi ???? ??????
Mongolian Cyrillic ??????-????h
Nepalese ????-????????
Norwegian Midgard
Occitan Trra Mejana
Pashto ? ????? ????
Persian ?????? ?????
Polish Srdziemie
Portuguese (Brazil) Terra-mdia
Portuguese (Portugal) Terra Mdia or Terra-Mdia
Punjabi ???-????
Romanian Pamntul de Mijloc
Russian ??????????
Samoan Ogatotonu-lalolagi
Sanskrit ????????-??????
Scottish Gaelic Middle-yird
Serbian ?????? ????? (Cyrillic) Srednja Zemlja (Latin)
Serbo-Croatian Srednja Zemlja
Sesotho Bohareng lefateng
Sindhi ??-????
Sindalese ????????-??????
Slovak Stredozem
Slovenian Srednji svet
Spanish (Spain and Latin America) Tierra Media
Swedish Midgrd
Tajik Cyrillic ?????-?????
Tamil ?????? ????
Telugu ????????-?????
Thai ?????????????
Tigrinya ????????
Turkish Orta Dnya
Turkmen Orta-toprak ?
Ukrainian Cyrillic ????????'?
Urdu ???? ????
Uyghur ??????-?????
Uzbek ??????-????? (Cyrillic) Yaqin-yer (Latin)
Vietnamese Trung-tri d?t
Welsh Canol-y ddaear
Xhosa Umhlaba ophakathi
Yiddish ????-???
Yoruba Arin-ay
Zazaki Cihano Miyann
The one ring animated Lord of the Rings Wiki Featured articles The one ring
animated
People: Faramir Sauron Witch-king of Angmar Gollum Elrond Frodo Baggins
Samwise Gamgee Meriadoc Brandybuck Peregrin Took Gandalf Aragorn II Elessar
Legolas Gimli Boromir Galadriel Elves Hobbits
Locations: Middle-earth Gondor Mordor Rohan
Other: Mithril The Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game The Fellowship of the
Ring (novel) Works inspired by J. R. R. Tolkien The Lord of the Rings The
Lord of the Rings (1978 film) Ainulindal Tolkien vs. Jackson Tengwar
Quenya
J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium
Works published during his lifetime
The Hobbit | The Lord of the Rings | The Adventures of Tom Bombadil | The Road Goes
Ever On
Posthumous publications
The Silmarillion | Unfinished Tales | The History of Middle-earth (12 volumes) |
Bilbo's Last Song | The Children of Hrin

Lists of LOTR Wiki articles about Middle-earth

by category | name | writings | characters | peoples | rivers | realms | ages

External linksEdit
Encyclopedia of Arda a large online source for the names from Tolkien's works.
Many of the entries are incomplete, as it is constantly being updated, and some are
incorrect. It has been used as a source here at times.
Ardalambion This is a great site for anyone who wants to delve into the languages
of Middle-earth; recommended especially for anyone who wants to learn Quenya.
The Tolkien Meta-FAQ Summaries of common discussions about Tolkien and Middle-
earth, from basic questions to expert debates.
The One Ring.net A site with multiple examples of Tolkien Fanart, Fanwriting, and
a little bit of facts.
The Lord of the Rings official movie site the official movie website. It contains
information on the movie and the books.
Mordor joke article at real-world travel site Wikitravel.org.
Categories:
Continents Middle-earth Arda Add category
Languages:
Deutsch Espaol ??????? Polski Franais Italiano ????? ??? Nederlands
Portugus do Brasil
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