1937
The Hobbit
J.R.R. Tolkien
Bilbo Baggins, a home-loving hobbit, sets out with thirteen dwarves and the wizard Gandalf to win back the treasure of the Lonely Mountain from the dragon Smaug. On the way, he finds a ring.
The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings
J.R.R. Tolkien, 1937–1962
1954
The Fellowship of the Ring
J.R.R. Tolkien
Bilbo’s ring is Sauron’s One Ring. His nephew Frodo leaves the Shire to destroy it, with eight companions.
1954
The Two Towers
J.R.R. Tolkien
The Fellowship is broken: Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli fight in Rohan, while Frodo and Sam walk towards Mordor, guided by Gollum.
1955
The Return of the King
J.R.R. Tolkien
The War of the Ring reaches Minas Tirith, and Frodo arrives at Mount Doom. With the appendices, which tell the history and languages of Middle-earth.
1962
The Adventures of Tom Bombadil
J.R.R. Tolkien
Sixteen poems presented as taken from the Red Book of Westmarch, including those of Tom Bombadil, met in The Fellowship of the Ring.
The tales of the Elder Days
Edited by Christopher Tolkien and Brian Sibley, since 1977
1977
The Silmarillion
J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Christopher Tolkien
The work of a lifetime, completed by his son: the making of the world, Melkor’s revolt, the stolen Silmarils and the long war of the Elves in the First Age, up to the downfall of Númenor.
1980
Unfinished Tales
J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Christopher Tolkien
Complete and fragmentary tales of all three Ages: Tuor in Gondolin, Túrin, the history of Númenor, Galadriel, the Istari, the quest of Erebor as told by Gandalf.
2007
The Children of Húrin
J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Christopher Tolkien
The tragedy of Túrin Turambar and his sister Niënor, cursed by Morgoth, rebuilt as a single narrative.
2017
Beren and Lúthien
J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Christopher Tolkien
The mortal man and the elven princess who steal a Silmaril from Morgoth’s crown. The book follows the story through its successive versions, from 1917 to the 1930s.
2018
The Fall of Gondolin
J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Christopher Tolkien
The hidden city of the Elves, betrayed and destroyed. The first tale Tolkien wrote, in 1917, in all its versions.
2022
The Fall of Númenor
J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Brian Sibley
Brian Sibley gathers the writings on the Second Age: the island of Men, the forging of the Rings of Power and the drowning of Númenor.
The History of Middle-earth
The drafts, edited by Christopher Tolkien, 1983–1996
2021
The Nature of Middle-earth
J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Carl F. Hostetter
Late writings on time, the lives of the Elves, geography and the philosophy of his world, edited by the linguist Carl F. Hostetter.
1983
The Book of Lost Tales, Part One
J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Christopher Tolkien
The first form of the mythology, written during and after the Great War: a mariner hears the tales of the creation and of the Valar.
1984
The Book of Lost Tales, Part Two
J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Christopher Tolkien
The first versions of Beren and Tinúviel, of Turambar and of the fall of Gondolin.
1985
The Lays of Beleriand
J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Christopher Tolkien
The long unfinished poems of the 1920s: the Lay of the Children of Húrin and the Lay of Leithian.
1986
The Shaping of Middle-earth
J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Christopher Tolkien
The first prose “Silmarillion”, the annals and the first maps.
1987
The Lost Road and Other Writings
J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Christopher Tolkien
An abandoned time-travel novel, the first Fall of Númenor and the Quenta Silmarillion of the 1930s.
1988
The Return of the Shadow
J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Christopher Tolkien
The drafts of The Lord of the Rings, when the hero was still called Bingo and Strider was a hobbit.
1989
The Treason of Isengard
J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Christopher Tolkien
More drafts, from Moria to Rohan.
1990
The War of the Ring
J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Christopher Tolkien
The drafts of the war: Helm’s Deep, Minas Tirith, the road to Mordor.
1992
Sauron Defeated
J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Christopher Tolkien
The end of The Lord of the Rings, the unpublished epilogue and “The Notion Club Papers”.
1993
Morgoth’s Ring
J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Christopher Tolkien
The rewritings of the Silmarillion after The Lord of the Rings, and the philosophical essays on Elves, death and evil.
1994
The War of the Jewels
J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Christopher Tolkien
The last writings on Beleriand: the Grey Annals, the Quest of the Jewels and the history of the Elves.
1996
The Peoples of Middle-earth
J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Christopher Tolkien
The prologues and appendices of The Lord of the Rings, the family trees and the last texts, including “The New Shadow”.
Stories, essays and letters
Beyond Middle-earth
1949
Farmer Giles of Ham
J.R.R. Tolkien
A grumpy farmer becomes a hero in spite of himself by chasing off a dragon. A medieval comedy full of learned puns.
1964
Tree and Leaf
J.R.R. Tolkien
The essay “On Fairy-Stories”, which defends fantasy as “sub-creation”, and the story “Leaf by Niggle”, about a painter who never finishes his tree.
1967
Smith of Wootton Major
J.R.R. Tolkien
The last story published in his lifetime: a smith receives a magic star that opens the gates of Faërie.
1976
The Father Christmas Letters
J.R.R. Tolkien
The illustrated letters Tolkien wrote to his children every Christmas, as Father Christmas and the Polar Bear.
1981
The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien
J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Humphrey Carpenter and Christopher Tolkien
His correspondence, in which he explains his world, his languages and his faith to readers, publishers and his sons. Expanded edition in 2023.
1982
Mr. Bliss
J.R.R. Tolkien
A picture book written and drawn for his children: the motoring misadventures of a gentleman in a tall hat.
1998
Roverandom
J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Christina Scull and Wayne G. Hammond
A little dog turned into a toy travels to the Moon and to the bottom of the sea. A story made up in 1925 to comfort his son.
Translations and medieval poems
The Oxford philologist
1975
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Pearl and Sir Orfeo
J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Christopher Tolkien
His translations of three fourteenth-century English poems, including the famous challenge of the Green Knight.
2009
The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún
J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Christopher Tolkien
Two long poems in the manner of the Edda, telling of Sigurd, slayer of the dragon Fáfnir, and of the Niflungs.
2013
The Fall of Arthur
J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Christopher Tolkien
An unfinished alliterative poem on the end of King Arthur, written in the 1930s.
2014
Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary
J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Christopher Tolkien
His prose translation of the Old English poem, completed in 1926, with his lectures and the tale “Sellic Spell”.
2015
The Story of Kullervo
J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Verlyn Flieger
His unfinished retelling of an episode of the Finnish Kalevala, written as a student. The ancestor of Túrin’s story.
Films and TV series
Adaptations, since 1977
1977
The Hobbit
Jules Bass and Arthur Rankin Jr.
Rankin and Bass’s animated TV film, drawn by the Japanese studio Topcraft, which would become Ghibli.
1978
The Lord of the Rings
Ralph Bakshi
Ralph Bakshi adapts the first half of the novel in animation and rotoscoping. The sequel was never made.
1980
The Return of the King
Jules Bass and Arthur Rankin Jr.
Rankin and Bass pick up the story where Bakshi left it, in the style of their Hobbit.
2001
The Fellowship of the Ring
Peter Jackson
The first film of Peter Jackson’s trilogy, shot in one go in New Zealand.
2002
The Two Towers
Peter Jackson
Helm’s Deep and Gollum, the first great motion-capture character, played by Andy Serkis.
2003
The Return of the King
Peter Jackson
The end of the trilogy and eleven Oscars, including Best Picture.
2012
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Peter Jackson
Peter Jackson returns to Middle-earth and stretches The Hobbit over three films, with material from the appendices.
2013
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Peter Jackson
Mirkwood, Lake-town and the dragon Smaug, voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch.
2014
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Peter Jackson
The fall of Smaug and the battle before the Lonely Mountain.
2022
The Rings of Power
J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay
Amazon’s series on the Second Age: the forging of the Rings, Númenor and the rise of Sauron, based on the appendices of The Lord of the Rings.
2024
The War of the Rohirrim
Kenji Kamiyama
A Japanese-style animated film about Helm Hammerhand, king of Rohan two centuries before the War of the Ring, drawn from the appendices.