J.R.R. Tolkien Books In Order

The Lord of the Rings Books In Publication Order

  1. The Hobbit (1937)
  2. The Fellowship of the Ring (1954)
  3. The Two Towers (1954)
  4. The Return of the King (1955)

Middle-Earth Universe Books In Publication Order

  1. Tolkien’s World: Paintings of Middle-Earth (1992)
  2. Poems From The Hobbit (1999)

The History of Middle-Earth Books In Publication Order

  1. The Book of Lost Tales, Part One (1983)
  2. The Book of Lost Tales, Part Two (1984)
  3. The Lays of Beleriand (1985)
  4. The Shaping of Middle-earth (1986)
  5. The Lost Road and Other Writings (1987)
  6. The War of the Jewels (1994)
  7. The History of Middle Earth Index (2002)
  8. The Great Tales of Middle-Earth (2018)

History Of The Lord Of The Rings Collections In Publication Order

  1. The Return of the Shadow (1988)
  2. The Treason of Isengard (1989)
  3. The War of the Ring (1990)
  4. Sauron Defeated (1992)

Later Silmarillion Collections In Publication Order

  1. Morgoth’s Ring: The Legends of Aman (1993)

Standalone Novels In Publication Order

  1. The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun (1945)
  2. Farmer Giles of Ham (1949)
  3. Drawings by Tolkien (1976)
  4. Roverandom (1998)
  5. The Children of Húrin (2007)
  6. The Legend of Sigurd & Gudrún (2009)
  7. The Story of Kullervo (2015)
  8. The Lost Manuscript (2016)
  9. Beren and Lúthien (2017)

Short Stories/Novellas In Publication Order

  1. Smith of Wootton Major (1967)

Short Story Collections In Publication Order

  1. Tales from the Perilous Realm (1949)
  2. The Adventures of Tom Bombadil (1962)
  3. Tree and Leaf (1964)
  4. The Tolkien Reader (1966)
  5. Poems and Stories (1971)
  6. Letters from Father Christmas (1976)
  7. The Silmarillion (1977)
  8. Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-Earth (1980)
  9. The Peoples of Middle-earth (1996)
  10. A Tolkien Miscellany (2002)
  11. The Fall of Arthur (2013)
  12. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Pearl, and Sir Orfeo (With: ) (2021)

Picture Books In Publication Order

  1. Bilbo’s Last Song (1974)
  2. Mr Bliss (1982)
  3. Oliphaunt (1989)

Non-Fiction Books In Publication Order

  1. A Middle English Reader and Vocabulary (1921)
  2. Beowulf and the Critics (1936)
  3. Tolkien on Fairy-stories (1939)
  4. The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien (1981)
  5. Finn and Hengest: The Fragment and the Episode (1982)
  6. The Monsters and the Critics: The Essays of J.R.R. Tolkien (1983)
  7. Father Christmas Letters (1994)

Anthologies In Publication Order

  1. The Random House Book of Fantasy Stories (1997)

The Lord of the Rings Book Covers

Middle-Earth Universe Book Covers

The History of Middle-Earth Book Covers

History Of The Lord Of The Rings Collections Book Covers

Later Silmarillion Collections Book Covers

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Short Stories/Novellas Book Covers

Short Story Collections Book Covers

Picture Book Covers

Non-Fiction Book Covers

Anthologies Book Covers

J.R.R. Tolkien Books Overview

The Hobbit

This deluxe collector’s edition of Tolkien’s modern classic is boxed and bound in green leatherette with gold and red foil rune stamping on the spine and cover. The text pages are printed in black with green accents. It includes five full page illustrations in full color and many more in two color in addition to Thror’s map all prepared by the author. J.R.R. Tolkien’s own description for the original edition: ‘If you care for journeys there and back, out of the comfortable Western world, over the edge of the Wild, and home again, and can take an interest in a humble hero blessed with a little wisdom and a little courage and considerable good luck, here is a record of such a journey and such a traveler. The period is the ancient time between the age of Faerie and the dominion of men, when the famous forest of Mirkwood was still standing, and the mountains were full of danger. In following the path of this humble adventurer, you will learn by the way as he did if you do not already know all about these things much about trolls, goblins, dwarves, and elves, and get some glimpses into the history and politics of a neglected but important period. For Mr. Bilbo Baggins visited various notable persons; conversed with the dragon, Smaug the Magnificent; and was present, rather unwillingly, at the Battle of the Five Armies. This is all the more remarkable, since he was a hobbit. Hobbits have hitherto been passed over in history and legend, perhaps because they as a rule preferred comfort to excitement. But this account, based on his personal memoirs, of the one exciting year in the otherwise quiet life of Mr. Baggins will give you a fair idea of the estimable people now it is said becoming rather rare. They do not like noise.’

The Fellowship of the Ring

The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien’s three volume epic, is set in the imaginary world of Middle earth home to many strange beings, and most notably hobbits, a peace loving ‘little people,’ cheerful and shy. Since its original British publication in 1954 55, the saga has entranced readers of all ages. It is at once a classic myth and a modern fairy tale. Critic Michael Straight has hailed it as one of the ‘very few works of genius in recent literature.’ Middle earth is a world receptive to poets, scholars, children, and all other people of good will. Donald Barr has described it as ‘a scrubbed morning world, and a ringing nightmare world…
especially sunlit, and shadowed by perils very fundamental, of a peculiarly uncompounded darkness.’ The story of ths world is one of high and heroic adventure. Barr compared it to Beowulf, C.S. Lewis to Orlando Furioso, W.H. Auden to The Thirty nine Steps. In fact the saga is sui generis a triumph of imagination which springs to life within its own framework and on its own terms.

The Two Towers

The second volume in J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic adventure The Lord of the Rings’Here are beauties which pierce like swords or burn like cold iron.’ C. S. Lewis’Among the greatest works of imaginative fiction of the twentieth century. The book presents us with the richest profusion of new lands and new creatures, from the beauty of Lothlorien to the horror of Mordor, adventures to hold us spell bound, and words of beauty and evocation to bring all vividly before us.’ Sunday TelegraphOne Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkeness bind themFrodo and his Companions of the Ring have been beset by danger during their quest to prevent the Ruling Ring from falling into the hands of the Dark Lord by destroying it in the Cracks of Doom. They have lost the wizard, Gandalf, in a battle in the Mines of Moria. And Boromir, seduced by the power of the Ring, tried to seize it by force. While Frodo and Sam made their escape the rest of the company were attacked by Orcs. Now they continue the journey alone down the great River Anduin alone, that is, save for the mysterious creeping figure that follows wherever they go.

The Return of the King

Part three of J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic adventure The Lord of the Rings, now featuring film art on the cover.’An extraordinary work pure excitement.’ New York Times Book Review’A triumphant close…
a grand piece of work, grand in both conception and execution. An astonishing imaginative tour de force.’ Daily TelegraphOne Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkeness bind themAs the Shadow of Mordor grows across the land, the Companions of the Ring have become involved in separate adventures. Aragorn, revealed as the hidden heir of the ancient Kings of the West, has joined with the Riders of Rohan against the forces of Isengard, and took part in the desperate victory of the Hornburg. Merry and Pippin, captured by Orcs, escaped into Fangorn Forest and there encountered the Ents. Gandalf has miraculously returned and defeated the evil wizard, Saruman. Sam has left his master for dead after a battle with the giant spider, Shelob; but Frodo is still alive now in the foul hands of the Orcs. And all the while the armies of the Dark Lord are massing as the One Ring draws ever nearer to the Cracks of Doom.

Tolkien’s World: Paintings of Middle-Earth

Middle earth, the world created by J.R.R. Tolkien in ‘The Hobbit’, ‘The Lord of the Rings’ and ‘The Silmarillion’, has been an inspiration for generations of artists. This book includes paintings by artists from all over the world, both famous and unknown, including Alan Lee, John Howe, Ted Nasmith, Inger Edelfeldt, Michael Hague and Roger Garland. Each of the pictures is accompanied by a page of text from the relevant passage in Tolkien’s fiction.

Poems From The Hobbit

J.R.R. Tolkien’s THE HOBBIT is an epic tale of magical adventure that has captivated children and adults for more than sixty years. Its success comes from its combination of flawless storytelling and enchanting writing, including these twelve delightful poems. This miniature book, illustrated with thirty of Tolkien’s own paintings and drawings, contains all the poems, plus Gollum’s eight famous riddles, and will be a perfect keepsake for lovers of THE HOBBIT and Tolkien’s Middle earth.

The Book of Lost Tales, Part One

The Book of Lost Tales was the first major work of imagination by J.R.R. Tolkien, begun in 1916 1917 when he was twenty five years old and left incomplete several years later. It stands at the beginning of the entire conception of Middle earth and Valinor, for the Lost Tales were the first form of the myths and legends that came to be called The Silmarillion. Embedded in English legend and English association, they are set in the narrative frame of a great westward voyage over the Ocean by a mariner named Eriel or AElfwine to Tol Eressea, the Lonely Isle, where Elves dwelt; from them he learned their true history, the Lost Tales of Elfinesse. In the Tales are found the earliest accounts and original ideas of Gods and Elves, Dwarves, Balrogs, and Orcs; of the Silmarils and the Two Trees of Valinor; of Nargothrond and Gondolin; of the geography and cosmography of the invented world. The Book of Lost Tales will be published in two volumes; this first part contains the Tales of Valinor; and the second will include Beren and Luthien, Turin and the Dragon, and the only full narratives of the Necklace of the Dwarves and the Fall of Gondolin. Each tale is followed by a commentary in the form of a short essay; together with the texts of associated poems; and each volume contains extensive information on names and vocabulary in the earliest Elvish languages. Further books in this series are planned to extend the history of Middle earth as it was refined and enlarged in later years, and will include the Long Lays of Beleriand, the Ambarkanta or Shape of the World, the Lhammas or Account of Tongues, annals, maps, and many other unpublished writings of J.R.R. Tolkien.

The Book of Lost Tales, Part Two

The Book of Lost Tales was the first major work of imagination by J.R.R. Tolkien, begun in 1916 1917 when he was twenty five years old and left incomplete several years later. It stands at the beginning of the entire conception of Middle earth and Valinor, for the Lost Tales were the first form of the myths and legends that came to be called The Silmarillion. Embedded in English legend and English association, they are set in the narrative frame of a great westward voyage over the Ocean by a mariner named Eriel or AElfwine to Tol Eressea, the Lonely Isle, where Elves dwelt; from them he learned their true history, the Lost Tales of Elfinesse. In the Tales are found the earliest accounts and original ideas of Gods and Elves, Dwarves, Balrogs, and Orcs; of the Silmarils and the Two Trees of Valinor; of Nargothrond and Gondolin; of the geography and cosmography of the invented world. The Book of Lost Tales will be published in two volumes; this first part contains the Tales of Valinor; and the second will include Beren and Luthien, Turin and the Dragon, and the only full narratives of the Necklace of the Dwarves and the Fall of Gondolin. Each tale is followed by a commentary in the form of a short essay; together with the texts of associated poems; and each volume contains extensive information on names and vocabulary in the earliest Elvish languages. Further books in this series are planned to extend the history of Middle earth as it was refined and enlarged in later years, and will include the Long Lays of Beleriand, the Ambarkanta or Shape of the World, the Lhammas or Account of Tongues, annals, maps, and many other unpublished writings of J.R.R. Tolkien.

The Lays of Beleriand

This is the third volume of the History of Middle earth, which comprises here tofore unpublished manuscripts that were written over a period of many years before Tolkien’s Simlarillion was published. Volumes 1 and 2 were the Book of Lost Tales, Part One and The Book of Lost Tales, Part Two. Together, these volumes encompass an extraordinarily extensive body of material ornamenting and buttressing what must be the most fully realized world ever to spring from a single author’s imagination.’I write alliterative verse with pleasure,’ wrote J.R.R. Tolkien in 1955, ‘though I have published little beyond the fragments in The Lord of the Rings, except The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth.’ The first of the poems in The Lays of Beleriand is the previously unpublished Lay of the Children of Hurin, his early but most sustained work in the ancient English meter, intended to narrate on a grand scale the tragedy of Turin Turambar. It was account of the killing by Turin of his friend Beleg, as well as a unique description of the great redoubt of Nargothrond. The Lay of the Children of Hurin was supplanted by the Lay of Leithian, ‘Release from Bondage’, in which another major legend of the Elder Days received poetic form, in this case in rhyme. The chief source of the short prose tale of Beren and Luthien is The Silmarillion. This, too, was not completed, but the whole Quest of the Silmaril is told, and the poem breaks off only after the encounter with Morgoth in his subterranean fortress. Many years later, when The Lord of the rings was finished, J.R.R. Tolkien returned to the Lay of Leithian and started on a new version, which is also given in this book. Accompanying the poems are commentaries on the evolution of the history of the Elder Days, which was much developed during the years of the composition of the two Lays. Also included is the notable criticism in detail of the Lay of Lethian by C.S. Lewis, Tolkien’s friend and colleague, who read the poem in 1929. By assuming that this poem is actually a fragment from a past lost in history, Lewis underlined the remarkable power of its author’s imaginative talents and academic competence.

The Shaping of Middle-earth

This is the fourth volume of The History of Middle earth, edited by Christopher Tolkien, the first two comprising The Book of Lost Tales Parts One and Two, and the third The Lays of Beleriand. It has been given the title The Shaping of Middle earth because the writings it includes display a great advance in the chronological and geographical structure of the legends of Middle earth and Valinor. The hitherto wholly unknown ‘Ambarkanta,’ or Shape of the World, is the only account ever given of the nature of the imagined Universe, and it is accompanied by diagrams and maps of the world before and after the cataclysms of the War of the Gods and the Downfall of Numenor. The first map of Beleriand, in the North west of Middle earth, is also reproduced and discussed. In the ‘Annals of Valinor’ and the ‘Annals of Beleriand’ the chronology of the First Age is given shape; and with these are given the fragments of the translations into Anglo Saxon made by Aelfwine, the Englishman who voyaged into the True West and came to Tol Eressea, the Lonely Isle, where he learned the ancient history of Elves and Men. Also included are the original ‘Silmarillion,’ written in 1926, from which all the later development proceeded, and the ‘Quenta Noldorinwa’ of 1930, the only version of the myths and legends of the First Age that J.R.R. Tolkien completed to their end. As Christopher Tolkien continues editing the unpublished papers that form the bedrock from which The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion were quarried, the vastness of his father’s accomplishment becomes even more extraordinary.

The Lost Road and Other Writings

At the end of the 1937 J.R.R. Tolkien reluctantly set aside his now greatly elaborated work on the myths and heroic legends of Valinor and Middle earth and began The Lord of the Rings. This fifth volume of The History of Middle earth, edited by Christopher Tolkien, completes the presentation of the whole compass of his writing on those themes up to that time. Later forms of the Annuals of Valinor and the Annals of Berleriand had been composed, The Silmarillion was nearing completion in a greatly amplified version, and a new map had been made; the myth of the Music of the Ainur had become a separate work; and the legend of the Downfall of Numenor had already entered in a primitive form, introducing the cardinal ideas of the World Made Round and the Straight Path into the vanished West. Closely associated with this was the abandoned time travel story, The Lost Road, which was to link the world of Numenor and Middle earth with the legends of many other times and peoples. A long essay, The Lhammas, had been written on the ever more complex relations of the languages and dialects of Middle earth; and an etymological dictionary had been undertaken, in which a great number of words and names in the Elvish languages were registered and their formation explained thus providing by far the most extensive account of their vocabularies that has appeared.

The War of the Jewels

In volumes ten and eleven of The History of Middle earth, Christopher Tolkien recounts from the original texts the evolution of his father’s work on The Silmarillion, the legendary history of the Elder Days or First Age, from the completion of the Lord of the Rings in 1949 until J.R.R. Tolkien’s death. In volume ten, Morgoth’s Ring, the narrative was taken only as far as the natural dividing point in the work, when Morgoth destroyed the Trees of Light and fled from Valinor bearing the stolen Silmarils. In The War of the Jewels, the story returns to Middle earth and the ruinous conflict of the High Elves and the Men who were their allies with the power of the Dark Lord. With the publication in this book of all of J.R.R. Tolkien’s later narrative writing concerned with the last centuries of the First Age, the long history of The Silmarillion, from its beginnings in The Book of Lost Tales, is completed; the enigmatic state of the work at his death can now be understood. A chief element in The War of the Jewels is a major story of Middle earth, now published for the first time a continuation of the great ‘saga’ of Turin Turambar and his sister Nienor, the children of Hurin the Steadfast. This is the tale of the disaster that overtook the forest people of Brethil when Hurin came among them after his release from long years of captivity in Angband, the fortress of Morgoth. The uncompleted text of the Grey Annals, the primary record of The War of the Jewels, is given in full; the geography of Beleriand is studied in detail, with redrawings of the final state of the map; and a long essay on the names and relations of all the peoples of Middle earth shows more clearly than any writing yet published the close connection between the language and history in Tolkien’s world. The text also provides new information, including some knowledge of the divine powers, the Valar.

The Return of the Shadow

In this sixth volume of The History of Middle earth the story reaches The Lord of the Rings. In The Return of the Shadow an abandoned title for the first volume Christopher Tolkien describes, with full citation of the earliest notes, outline plans, and narrative drafts, the intricate evolution of The Fellowship of the Ring and the gradual emergence of the conceptions that transformed what J.R.R. Tolkien for long believed would be a far shorter book, ‘a sequel to The Hobbit’. The enlargement of Bilbo’s ‘magic ring’ into the supremely potent and dangerous Ruling Ring of the Dark Lord is traced and the precise moment is seen when, in an astonishing and unforeseen leap in the earliest narrative, a Black Rider first rode into the Shire, his significance still unknown. The character of the hobbit called Trotter afterwards Strider or Aragorn is developed while his indentity remains an absolute puzzle, and the suspicion only very slowly becomes certainty that he must after all be a Man. The hobbits, Frodo’s companions, undergo intricate permutations of name and personality, and other major figures appear in strange modes: a sinister Treebeard, in league with the Enemy, a ferocious and malevolent Farmer Maggot. The story in this book ends at the point where J.R.R. Tolkien halted in the story for a long time, as the Company of the Ring, still lacking Legolas and Gimli, stood before the tomb of Balin in the Mines of Moria. The Return of the Shadow is illustrated with reproductions of the first maps and notable pages from the earliest manuscripts.

The Treason of Isengard

The Treason of Isengard is the seventh volume in Christopher Tolkien’s History of Middle earth and the second in his account of the evolution of The Lord of the Rings. In this book, following the long halt in the darkness of the Mines of Moria with which The Return of the Shadow ended, is traced the great expansion of the tale into new lands and new peoples south and east of the Misty Mountains; the emergence of Lothlorien, of Ents, of the Riders of Rohan, and of Saruman the White in the fortress of Isengard. In brief outlines and pencilled drafts dashed down on scraps of paper are seen the first entry of Galadriel, the earliest ideas of the history of Gondor, the original meeting of Aragorn and Eowyn, its significance destined to be wholly transformed. Conceptions of what lay ahead are seen dissolving as the story took its own paths, as in the account of the capture of Frodo and his rescue by Sam Gmgee from Minas Morgul, written long before J.R.R. Tolkien actually came to that point in the writing of The Lord of the Rings. A chief feature of the book is a full account of the original Map, with re drawings of successive phases, which was long the basis and accompaniment of the emerging geography of Middle earth. An appendix to the book describes the Runic alphabets as they were at that time, with illustrations of the forms and an analysis of the Runes used in the Book of Mazarbul found beside Balin’s Tomb in Moria.

The War of the Ring

In The War of the Ring Christopher Tolkien takes up the story of the writing of The Lord of the Rings with the Battle of Helm’s Deep and the drowning of Isengard by the Ents. This is followed by an account of how Frodo, Sam and Gollum were finally brought to the Pass of Kirith Ungol, at which point J.R.R. Tolkien wrote at the time: ‘I have got the hero into such a fix that not even an author will be able to extricate him without labour and difficulty’. Then comes the war in Gondor, and the book ends with the parley between Gandalf and the ambassador of the Dark Lord before the Black Gate of Mordor. In describing his intentions for The Return of the King J.R.R. Tolkien said that ‘It will probably work out very differently from this plan when it really gets written, as the thing seems to write itself once it gets going’; and in The War of the Ring totally unforeseen developmenst that would become central to the narrative are seen at the moment of their emergence: the palantir bursting into fragments on the stairs of Orthanc, its nature as unknown to the author as to those who saw it fall, or the entry of Faramir into the story ‘I am sure I did not invent him, though I like him, but there he came walking into the woods of Ithilien’. The book is illustrated with plans and drawings of the changing conceptions of Orthanc, Dunharrow, Minas Tirith and the tunnels of Shelob’s Lair.

Sauron Defeated

In the first part of Sauron Defeated, Christopher Tolkien completes his account of the writing of The Lord of the Rings, beginning with Sam’s rescue of Frodo from the Tower of Kirith Ungol, and giving a very different account of the Scouring of the Shire. This part ends with versions of the previously unpublished Epilogue, an alternate ending to the masterpiece in which Sam attempts to answer his children’s questions years after the departure of Bilbo and Frodo from the Grey Havens. The second part introduces The Notion Club Papers, now published for the first time. Written by J.R.R. Tolkien in the interval between The Two Towers and The Return of the King 1945 1946, these mysterious Papers, discovered in the early years of the twenty first century, report the discussions of a literary club in Oxford in the years 1986 1987. Those familiar with the Inklings will see a parallel with the group whose members included J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. After a discussion of the possiblities of travel through space and time through the medium of ‘true dream,’ the story turns to the legend of Atlantis, the strange communications received by members of the club out of remote past, and the violent irruption of the legend into northwestern Europe. Closely associated with the Papers is a new version of the Numenorean legend, The Drowning of Anadune, which constitutes the third part of the book. At this time the language of the Men of the West, Adunaic, was first devised Tolkien’s fifteenth invented language. The book concludes with an elaborate account of the structure of this language by Arundel Lowdham, a member of the Notion Club, who learned it in his dreams. Sauron Defeated is illustrated with the changing conceptions of the fortress of Kirith Ungol and Mount Doom, previously unpublished drawings of Orthanc and Dunharrow, and fragments of manuscript written in Numenorean script.

Morgoth’s Ring: The Legends of Aman

In Morgoth’s Ring, the tenth volume of The History of Middle earth and the first of two companion volumes, Christopher Tolkien describes and documents the legends of the Elder Days, as they were evolved and transformed by his father in the years before he completed The Lord of the Rings. The text of the Annals of Aman, the ‘Blessed Land’ in the far West, is given in full. And in writings never before published, we can see the nature of the problems that J.R.R. Tolkien explored in his later years as new and radical ideas, portending upheaval in the heart of the mythology. At this time Tokien sought to redefine the old legends, and wrote of the nature and destiny of Elves, the idea of Elvish rebirth, the origins of the Orcs, and the Fall of Men. His meditation of mortality and immortality as represented in the lives of Men and Elves led to another major writing at this time, the ‘Debate of Finrod and Andreth,’ which is reproduced here in full. ‘Above all,’ Christopher Tolkien writes in his foreward, ‘the power and significance of Melkor Morgoth…
was enlarged to become the ground and source of the corruption of Arda.’ This book indeed is all about Morgoth. Incomparably greater than the power of Sauron, concentrated in the One Ring, Morgoth’s power Tolkien wrote was dispersed into the very matter of Arda: ‘The whole of Middle earth was Morgoth’s Ring.’

Farmer Giles of Ham

A Collection of short stories: Farmer Giles of Ham Smith Of Wootton Major Leaf by Niggle. Available for the first time on CD! Farmer Giles of Ham is one of Tolkien’s most popular stories, full of wit and humour, set in the days when giants and dragons walked the earth. He did not look like a hero. He was fat and red bearded and enjoyed a slow, comfortable life. Then one day a rather deaf and short sighted giant blundered on to his land. More by luck than skill, Farmer Giles managed to scare him away. The people of the village cheered: Farmer Giles was a hero. His reputation spread far and wide across the kingdom. So it was natural that when the dragon Chrysophylax visited the area it was Farmer Giles who was expected to do battle with it! Two further stories in this collections are Smith of Wooton Major which tells of the preparation of the Great Cake to mark the Feast of Good Children, and the strange events which follow, and Leaf by Niggle, which recounts the strange adventures of the painter, Niggle.

Roverandom

In 1925, while on vacation with his family on the Yorkshire coast, four year old Michael Tolkien lost his favorite toy, a little lead dog he was reluctant to put down even to dig in the sand. To console and distract him, his father, J. R. R. Tolkien, improvised a story the story of Rover, a real dog magically transformed into a toy, who, after many fantastic adventures in search of the wizard who wronged him, at last wins back his life. This charming tale, peopled by a wise old whale and a terrible dragon, by the king of the sea and the Man in the Moon, was a Tolkien family favorite, going through several typewritten drafts over many years. In 1936, Tolkien submitted it to his British publishers as a possible follow up to The Hobbit. What his publishers really wanted, however, was another story about Middle earth, and so he set aside this little book to begin his masterwork, The Lord of the Rings.

The Children of Húrin

Painstakingly restored from Tolkien’s manuscripts and presented for the first time as a fully continuous and standalone story, the epic tale of The Children of Hurin will reunite fans of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings with Elves and Men, dragons and Dwarves, eagles and Orcs, and the rich landscape and characters unique to Tolkien. There are tales of Middle earth from times long before The Lord of the Rings, and the story told in this book is set in the great country that lay beyond the Grey Havens in the West: lands where Treebeard once walked, but which were drowned in the great cataclysm that ended the First Age of the World. In that remote time Morgoth, the first Dark Lord, dwelt in the vast fortress of Angband, the Hells of Iron, in the North; and the tragedy of Turin and his sister Nienor unfolded within the shadow of the fear of Angband and the war waged by Morgoth against the lands and secret cities of the Elves. Their brief and passionate lives were dominated by the elemental hatred that Morgoth bore them as the children of Hurin, the man who had dared to defy and to scorn him to his face. Against them he sent his most formidable servant, Glaurung, a powerful spirit in the form of a huge wingless dragon of fire. Into this story of brutal conquest and flight, of forest hiding places and pursuit, of resistance with lessening hope, the Dark Lord and the Dragon enter in direly articulate form. Sardonic and mocking, Glaurung manipulated the fates of Turin and Nienor by lies of diabolic cunning and guile, and the curse of Morgoth was fulfilled. The earliest versions of this story by J.R.R. Tolkien go back to the end of the First World War and the years that followed; but long afterwards, when The Lord of the Rings was finished, he wrote it anew and greatly enlarged it in complexities of motive and character: it became the dominant story in his later work on Middle earth. But he could not bring it to a final and finished form. In this book Christopher Tolkien has constructed, after long study of the manuscripts, a coherent narrative without any editorial invention. /Content /EditorialReview EditorialReview Source Amazon. com Review /Source Content The first complete book by J.R.R. Tolkien in three decades since the publication of The Silmarillion in 1977 The Children of H rin reunites fans of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings with Elves and Men, dragons and Dwarves, Eagles and Orcs. Presented for the first time as a complete, standalone story, this stirring narrative will appeal to casual fans and expert readers alike, returning them to the rich landscape and characters unique to Tolkien.

Adam Tolkien on The Children of H rin

How did a lifetime of stories become The Children of H rin? In an essay on the making of the book, Adam Tolkien, grandson of J.R.R. Tolkien and French translator of his History of Middle earth, explains that the H rin legends made up the third ‘Great Tale’ of his grandfather’s Middle earth writing, and he describes how his father, Christopher Tolkien, painstakingly collected the pieces of the legend into a complete story told only in the words of J.R.R. Tolkien. ‘For anyone who has read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings,’ he writes, The Children of H rin ‘allows them to take a step back into a larger world, an ancient land of heroes and vagabonds, honour and jeopardy, hope and tragedy.’

A Look Inside the Book

This first edition of The Children of H rin is illustrated by Alan Lee, who was already well known for his Tolkien illustrations in previous editions see our Tolkien Store for more as well as his classic collaboration with Brian Froud, Faeries, and his Kate Greenaway Medal winning Black Ships Before Troy, before his Oscar winning work as conceptual designer for Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings film trilogy brought him even greater acclaim.

Questions for Alan Lee

We had the chance to ask Alan Lee a few questions about his illustrative collaboration with the world imagined by J.R.R. Tolkien:

Amazon. com: How much of a treat was it to get first crack at depicting entirely new characters rather than ones who had been interpreted many times before? Was there one who particularly captured your imagination?

Lee: Although it was a great honor to illustrate The Children of H rin, the characters and the main elements of the story line are familiar to those who have read The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales, and these narratives have inspired quite a few illustrators. Ted Nasmith has illustrated The Silmarillion and touched on some of the same characters and landscapes. This was the first time that I ventured into the First Age; while working on The Lord of the Rings books and films and The Hobbit I’ve had to refer back to events in Middle earth history but not really depict them.

I’m drawn to characters who bear similarities to the protagonists in myths and legends; these correspondences add layers and shades of meaning, and most of the characters in this story have those archetypal qualities. However, I prefer not to get too close to the characters because the author is delineating them much more carefully than I can, and I’m wary of interfering with the pictures that the text is creating in the reader’s mind.

Amazon. com: The H rin story has been described as darker than some of Tolkien’s other work. What mood did you try to set with your illustrations?

Lee: It is a tragic story, but the darkness is offset by the light and beauty of Tolkien’s elegiac writing. In the illustrations I tried to show some of the fragile beauty of the landscapes and create an atmosphere that would enhance the sense of foreboding and impending loss. I try to get the setting to tell its part in the story, as evidence of what happened there in the past and as a hint at what is going to occur. My usual scarred and broken trees came in handy.

Amazon. com: You were a conceptual designer and won an Oscar for Peter Jackson’s film trilogy of The Lord of the Rings, which I think we can safely say had a bit of success. How does designing for the screen compare to designing for the page?

Lee: They both have their share of joys and frustrations. It was great to be part of a huge film collaboration and play a small part in something quite magical and monumental; I will always treasure that experience. Film is attractive because I enjoy sketching and coming up with ideas more than producing highly finished artwork, and it’s great having several hundred other people lending a hand! But books as long as they don’t get moldy from being left in an empty studio for six years have their own special quality. I hope that I can continue doing both.

Amazon. com: Of all fiction genres, fantasy seems to have the strongest tradition of illustration. Why do you think that is? Who are some of your favorite illustrators?

Lee: A lot of excellent illustrators are working at the moment especially in fantasy and children’s books. It is exciting also to see graphic artists such as Dave McKean, in his film Mirrormask, moving between different media. I also greatly admire the more traditional work of Gennady Spirin and Roberto Innocenti. Kinuko Craft, John Jude Palencar, John Howe, Charles Vess, Brian Froud…
I’ll stop there, as the list would get too long. But in a fit of pride and justified nepotism I’ll add my daughter, Virginia Lee, to the list. Her first illustrated children’s book, The Frog Bride coming out in the U.K. in September , will be lovely.

The Legend of Sigurd & Gudrún

Many years ago, J. R. R. Tolkien composed his own version now published for the first time of the great legend of Northern antiquity in two closely related poems to which he gave the titles ‘The New Lay of the V lsungs’ and ‘The New Lay of Gudr n.’ In the ‘Lay of the V lsungs’ is told the ancestry of the great hero Sigurd, the slayer of F fnir most celebrated of dragons, whose treasure he took for his own; of his awakening of the Valkyrie Brynhild who slept surrounded by a wall of fire, and of their betrothal; and of his coming to the court of the great princes who were named the Niflungs or Nibelungs, with whom he entered into blood brotherhood. In that court there sprang great love but also great hate, brought about by the power of the enchantress, mother of the Niflungs, skilled in the arts of magic, of shape changing, and potions of forgetfulness. In scenes of dramatic intensity, of confusion of identity, thwarted passion, jealousy, and bitter strife, the tragedy of Sigurd and Brynhild, of Gunnar the Niflung, and of Gudr n his sister, mounts to its end in the murder of Sigurd at the hands of his blood brothers, the suicide of Brynhild, and the despair of Gudr n. In the ‘Lay of Gudr n’ her fate after the death of Sigurd is told, her marriage against her will to the mighty Atli, ruler of the Huns the Attila of history, his murder of her brothers the Niflung lords, and her hideous revenge. Deriving his version primarily from his close study of the ancient poetry of Norway and Iceland known as the Poetic Edda and where no old poetry exists, from the later prose work the V lsunga Saga, J. R. R. Tolkien employed a verse form of short stanzas whose lines embody in English the exacting alliterative rhythms and the concentrated energy of the poems of the Edda. Christopher Tolkien

Smith of Wootton Major

A new, expanded edition of one of Tolkien’s major pieces of short fiction, and his only finished work dating from after publication of The Lord of the Rings; it contains many previously unpublished texts. In 1964 J.R.R. Tolkien was invited to write the preface to a new edition of ‘The Golden Key’ by George MacDonald. Accepting the invitation, Tolkien proposed the preface would explain the meaning of Fairy through a brief story about a cook and a cake. But the story grew, and took on a life of its own, and the preface was abandoned. Tolkien eventually gave it the title, ‘Smith of Wootton Major‘, to suggest an early work by P.G. Wodehouse or a story in the Boy’s Own paper. It was published in 1967 as a small hardback, complete with charming black and white illustrations by Pauline Baynes. Now, almost 40 years on, a facsimile of this early illustrated edition is being republished, but in addition to this enchanting story the new edition includes: / Tolkien’s own account of the genesis of the story / Tolkien’s Time Scheme and Characters / Tolkien’s discussion of the shadowy but important figure of ‘Grandfather Rider’ and a lengthy, 10,000 word essay on the nature of Faery / Early draft versions and alternative endings / Foreword by the editor, containing a brief history of the story’s composition and publication, and its connection to Tolkien’s other published stories Contained within ‘Smith of Wootton Major‘ are many intriguing links to the world of Middle earth, as well as Tolkien’s other tales, and in this ‘extended edition’ the reader will finally discover the full story behind this major piece of short fiction.

Tales from the Perilous Realm

Available for the first time in one volume, this is the definitive collection of Tolkien’s five acclaimed modern classic ‘fairie’ tales in the vein of ‘The Hobbit’. The five tales are written with the same skill, quality and charm that made The Hobbit a classic. Largely overlooked because of their short lengths, they are finally together in a volume which reaffirms Tolkien’s place as a master storyteller for readers young and old. / Roverandom is a toy dog who, enchanted by a sand sorcerer, gets to explore the world and encounter strange and fabulous creatures. / Farmer Giles of Ham is fat and unheroic, but having unwittingly managed to scare off a short sighted giant is called upon to do battle when a dragon comes to town; / The Adventures of Tom Bombadil tells in verse of Tom’s many adventures with hobbits, princesses, dwarves and trolls; / Leaf by Niggle recounts the strange adventures of the painter Niggle who sets out to paint the perfect tree; / Smith of Wootton Major journeys to the Land of Faery thanks to the magical ingredients of the Great Cake of the Feast of Good Children. This new collection is fully illustrated throughout by Oscar winning artist, Alan Lee, who provides a wealth of pencil drawings to bring the stories to life as he did so memorably for The Hobbit and The Children of Hurin. Alan also provides an Afterword, in which he opens the door into illustrating Tolkien’s world. World renowned Tolkien author and expert, Tom Shippey, takes the reader through the hidden links in the tales to Tolkien’s Middle earth in his Introduction, and recounts their history and themes. Lastly, included as an appendix is Tolkien’s most famous essay, ‘On Fairy stories’, in which he brilliantly discusses fairy stories and their relationship to fantasy. Taken together, this rich collection of new and unknown work from the author of The Children of Hurin will provide the reader with a fascinating journey into lands as wild and strange as Middle earth.

The Adventures of Tom Bombadil

The Adventures of Tom Bombadil and other verses from The Red Book, consist of 16 poems, three about Tom Bombadil himself, one about a hobbit and a troll, two about the Man in the Moon, six which represent simply ‘adventures’, and four which are in the nature of a bestiary, familiar places to instill the feel of a Middle Earth setting

Tree and Leaf

Repackaged to feature Tolkien’s own painting of the Tree of Amalion, this collection includes his famous essay, ‘On Fairy stories’ and the story that exemplifies this, ‘Leaf by Niggle’, together with the poem ‘Mythopoeia’ and the verse drama, ‘The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth’, which tells of the events following the disastrous Battle of Maldon. Fairy stories are not just for children, as anyone who has read Tolkien will know. In his essay On Fairy Stories, Tolkien discusses the nature of fairy tales and fantasy and rescues the genre from those who would relegate it to juvenilia. The haunting short story, Leaf by Niggle, recounts the story of the artist, Niggle, who has ‘a long journey to make’ and is seen as an allegory of Tolkien’s life. The poem Mythopoeia relates an argument between two unforgettable characters as they discuss the making of myths. Lastly, and published for the very first time, we are treated to the translation of Tolkien’s account of the Battle of Maldon, known as The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth. Tree and Leaf is an eclectic, amusing, provocative and entertaining collection of works which reveals the diversity of J.R.R. Tolkien’s imagination, the depth of his knowledge of English history, and the breadth of his talent as a creator of fantastic fiction.

The Tolkien Reader

Stories, poems, and commentaries by the author of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings FARMER GILES OF HAM An imaginative history of the distant and marvelous past that introduces the rather unheroic Farmer Giles, whose efforts to capture a somewhat untrustworthy dragon will delight readers everywhere. THE ADVENTURES OF TOM BOMBADIL A collection of verse in praise of Tom Bombadil, that staunch friend of the Hobbits in The Lord of the Rings. TREE AND LEAF Contains On Fairy stories, Professor Tolkien’s now famous essay on the form of the fairy story and the treatment of fantasy…
. and other dazzling works, including an introduction by Peter S. Beagle

Poems and Stories

This collection of Poems and Stories features some of Tolkien’s most popular children’s stories including ‘Farmer Giles of Ham’, ‘The Adventures of Tom Bombadil’ and ‘Smith of Wootton Major’ as well as his essay ‘On Fairy Stories’ which discusses the nature of fantasy.

Letters from Father Christmas

This revised edition of Tolkien’s famous illustrated letters from ‘Father Christmas’ includes extracts and pictures not included in the original publication 25 years ago. Every December an envelope bearing a stamp from the North Pole would arrive for J.R.R. Tolkien’s children. Inside would be a letter in strange spidery handwriting and a beautiful coloured drawing or some sketches. The letters were from Father Christmas. They told wonderful tales of life at the North Pole: how all the reindeer got loose and scattered presents all over the place; how the accident prone Polar Bear climbed the North Pole and fell through the roof of Father Christmas’s house into the dining room; how he broke the Moon into four pieces and made the Man in it fall into the back garden; how there were wars with the troublesome horde of goblins who lived in the caves beneath the house! Sometimes the Polar Bear would scrawl a note, and sometimes Ilbereth the Elf would write in his elegant flowing script, adding yet more life and humour to the stories. No reader, young or old, can fail to be charmed by the inventiveness and ‘authenticity’ of Tolkien’s Letters from Father Christmas. To coincide with the 25th anniversary of its first publication, Letters from Father Christmas has been reformatted into an attractive and affordable new format, with the inclusion of every one of the delightful letters and pictures that Tolkien sent to his children.

The Silmarillion

A number one New York Times bestseller when it was originally published, The Silmarillion is the core of J.R.R. Tolkien’s imaginative writing, a work that he could not publish in his lifetime because it grew with him. Its origins stretch back to a time long before THE HOBBIT. But THE HOBBIT was caught up in what Tolkien called ‘the branching acquisitive theme’ he began in The Silmarillion, and eventually THE LORD OF THE RINGS emerged from this as well. Tolkien considered The Silmarillion his most important work, and, though it was published last and posthumously, this great collection of tales and legends clearly sets the stage for all his other works. This is the story of the creation of the world and the happenings of the First Age, the ancient drama to which the characters in THE LORD OF THE RINGS look back and in whose events some of them, such as Elrond and Galadriel, took part. The three Silmarils were jewels created by Feanor, the most gifted of the Elves. Within them was imprisoned the Light of the Two Trees of Valinor before the Trees themselves were destroyed by Morgoth, the first Dark Lord. Thereafter, the unsullied Light of Valinor lived on only in the Silmarils, but they were seized by Morgoth and set in his crown, which was guarded in the impenetrable fortress of Angband in the north of Middle earth. The Silmarillion is the history of the rebellion of Feanor and his kindred against the gods, their exile from Valinor and return to Middle earth, and their war, hopeless despite all their heroism, against the great Enemy. The book includes several other, shorter works in addition to The Silmarillion. Preceding it are ‘The Ainulindale,’ a myth of the Creation, and ‘The Valaquenta,’ in which the nature and power of the gods is set forth. After The Silmarillion comes ‘The Akallabeth,’ a tale of the downfall of the kingdom of Numeno, and finally ‘Of the Rings of Power,’ the connecting link to THE LORD OF THE RINGS. This second edition features a number of minor textual corrections along with a letter written by J.R.R. Tolkien describing his intentions for the work, written more than twenty five years before its eventual publication. As described by Christopher Tolkien in the preface, it serves as a brilliant exposition of his conception of the earlier Ages of Middle earth.

Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-Earth

Classic hardback edition of this fascinating collection of stories, featuring Tolkien’s own painting of the dragon Glaurung on the cover, which continues the tales of The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion and contains an alternative version of The Children of Hurin. Unfinished Tales is a collection of narratives ranging in time from the Elder Days of Middle earth to the end of the War of the Ring, and provides those who have read The Lord of the Rings with a whole collection of background and new stories from the twentieth century’s most acclaimed popular author. The book concentrates on the realm of Middle earth and comprises such elements as Gandalf’s lively account of how it was that he came to send the Dwarves to the celebrated party at Bag End, the emergence of the sea god Ulmo before the eyes of Tuor on the coast of Beleriand, and an exact description of the military organization of the Riders of Rohan. Unfinished Tales also contains the only story about the long ages of Numenor before its downfall, and all that is known about such matters as the Five Wizards, the Palantiri and the legend of Amroth. The tales were collated and edited by JRR Tolkien’s son and literary heir, Christopher Tolkien, who provides a short commentary on each story, helping the reader to fill in the gaps and put each story into the context of the rest of his father’s writings.

The Peoples of Middle-earth

Throughout this vast and intricate mythology, says Publishers Weekly, ‘one marvels anew at the depth, breadth, and persistence of J.R.R. Tolkien’s labor. No one sympathetic to his aims, the invention of a secondary universe, will want to miss this chance to be present at the creation.’ In this capstone to that creation, we find the chronology of Middle earth’s later Ages, the Hobbit genealogies, and the Western language or Common Speech. These early essays show that Tolkien’s fertile imagination was at work on Middle earth’s Second and Third Ages long before he explored them in the Appendices to The Lord of the Rings . Here too are valuable writings from Tolkien’s last years: ‘ The New Shadow,’ in Gondor of the Fourth Age, and’ Tal elmar,’ the tale of the coming of the Nsmen rean ships.

A Tolkien Miscellany

This book, with illustrations, gathers some of J.R.R. Tolkien’s least known and hardest to find works in one volume. These include ‘Smith of Wootton Major story of a magical gift concealed in the most amazing cake, ‘Farmer Giles of Ham’ a dragon terrorizing the English village of Ham and the townspeople only hope is a local farmer with an inflated reputation of chasing away giants, ‘Tree and Leaf’ a work consisting of Tolkien’s groundbreaking essay ‘On Fairy stores’ a most readable examination of the meaning of fantasy, ‘The Adventures of Tom Bombadil’ sixten poems from the Red Book and ‘Sir Gawain and teh Green Knight’ Tolkien’s first career translation of medieval poetry.

Bilbo’s Last Song

This final poem of Bilbo the Hobbit is a special treat for hobbit fans and a delightful introduction to Middle Earth for new readers. Composed just before he sailed to the West, Bilbo’s Last Song mingles the regret of farewells with the expectation of a new adventure. 32 pages of color illustrations.

Oliphaunt

A poem in which an elephant describes himself and his way of life. On board pages.

A Middle English Reader and Vocabulary

This highly respected anthology of medieval English literature features numerous well chosen extracts of poetry and prose, including popular tales from Arthurian legend and classical mythology, as well as the allegorical poem Piers Plowman and John Wycliffe’s translation of the Bible. Includes notes on each extract, appendices, and an extensive glossary by J. R. R. Tolkien.

Beowulf and the Critics

Tolkien’s famous essay was originally a Gollancz Lecture at the British Academy.

Tolkien on Fairy-stories

A new expanded edition of Tolkien’s most famous, and most important essay, which defined his conception of fantasy as a literary form, and which led to the writing of The Lord of the Rings. Accompanied by a critical study of the history and writing of the text. J.R.R. Tolkien’s ‘On Fairy stories’ is his most studied and most quoted essay, an exemplary personal statement of his views on the role of imagination in literature, and an intellectual tour de force vital for understanding Tolkien’s achievement in the writing of The Lord of the Rings. ‘On Fairy stories’ comprises about 18,000 words. What is little known is that when Tolkien expanded the essay in 1943, he wrote many more pages of his views that were originally condensed into or cut from the published version. An estimate is difficult, but these unpublished passages perhaps amount to half again as much writing as the essay itself. These passages contain important elaborations of his views on other writers, and their publication represents a significant addition to Tolkien studies. Included in this new critical study of the work are: / An introductory essay setting the stage for Tolkien’s 1939 lecture the origin of the essay and placing it within a historical context. / A history of the writing of ‘On Fairy stories’, beginning with coverage of the original lecture as delivered, and continuing through to first publication in 1947. / The essay proper as published in corrected form in Tree and Leaf 1964. / Commentary on the allusions in the text, and notes about the revisions Tolkien made to the text as published in Tree and Leaf. / Important material not included in the essay as published, with commentary by the editors. Contained within ‘On Fairy stories’ are the roots of the tree of tales that bore such glittering fruit in Tolkien’s published and unpublished work. Here, at last, Flieger and Anderson reveal through literary archaeology the extraordinary genesis of this seminal work and discuss, in their engaging commentary, how what Tolkien discovered during the writing of the essay would shape his writing for the rest of his life.

The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien

‘…
If you wanted to go on from the end of The Hobbit I think the ring would be your inevitable choice as the link. If then you wanted a large tale, the Ring would at once acquire a capital letter; and the Dark Lord would immediately appear. As he did, unasked, on the hearth at Bag End as soon as I came to that point. So the essential Quest started at once. But I met a lot of things along the way that astonished me. Tom Bombadil I knew already; but I had never been to Bree. Strider sitting in the corner of the inn was a shock, and I had no more idea who he was than Frodo did. The Mines of Moria had been a mere name; and of Lothlorien no word had reached my mortal ears till I came there.’ J.R.R. Tolkien to W.H. Auden, June 7, 1955J.R.R. Tolkien, cherished author of The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion, was one of the twentieth century’s most prolific letter writers. Over the years he wrote a mass of letters to his publishers, his family, to friends, and to fans of his books which record the history and composition of his works and his reaction to subsequent events. By turns thoughtful, impish, scholarly, impassioned, playful, vigorous, and gentle, Tolkien poured his heart and mind into a great stream of correspondence to intimate friends and unknown admirers all over the world. From this collection one sees a mind of immense complexity and many layers artistic, religious, charmingly eccentric, sentimental, and ultimately brilliant. Now newly expanded with a detailed index, this collection provides an invaluable record that sheds much light on Tolkien’s creative genius, his thoughts and feelings about his own work, and the evolution of his grand design for the creation of a whole new world Middle earth.

Finn and Hengest: The Fragment and the Episode

Tolkien’s famous translations and lectures on the story of two fifth century heroes in northern Europe

The Monsters and the Critics: The Essays of J.R.R. Tolkien

The seven ‘essays’ by J.R.R. Tolkien assembled in this new paperback edition were with one exception delivered as general lectures on particular occasions; and while they mostly arose out of Tolkien’s work in medieval literature, they are accessible to all. Two of them are concerned with Beowulf, including the well known lecture whose title is taken for this book, and one with Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, given in the University of Glasgow in 1953. Also included in this volume is the lecture English and Welsh; the Valedictory Address to the University of Oxford in 1959; and a paper on Invented Languages delivered in 1931, with exemplification from poems in the Elvish tongues. Most famous of all is On Fairy Stories, a discussion of the nature of fairy tales and fantasy, which gives insight into Tolkien’s approach to the whole genre. The pieces in this collection cover a period of nearly thirty years, beginning six years before the publication of The Hobbit, with a unique ‘academic’ lecture on his invention calling it A Secret Vice and concluding with his farewell to professorship, five years after the publication of The Lord of the Rings.

Father Christmas Letters

This revised edition of Tolkien’s famous illustrated letters from ‘Father Christmas’ includes extracts and pictures not included in the original publication 25 years ago. Every December an envelope bearing a stamp from the North Pole would arrive for J.R.R. Tolkien’s children. Inside would be a letter in strange spidery handwriting and a beautiful coloured drawing or some sketches. The letters were from Father Christmas. They told wonderful tales of life at the North Pole: how all the reindeer got loose and scattered presents all over the place; how the accident prone Polar Bear climbed the North Pole and fell through the roof of Father Christmas’s house into the dining room; how he broke the Moon into four pieces and made the Man in it fall into the back garden; how there were wars with the troublesome horde of goblins who lived in the caves beneath the house! Sometimes the Polar Bear would scrawl a note, and sometimes Ilbereth the Elf would write in his elegant flowing script, adding yet more life and humour to the stories. No reader, young or old, can fail to be charmed by the inventiveness and ‘authenticity’ of Tolkien’s Letters from Father Christmas. To coincide with the 25th anniversary of its first publication, Letters from Father Christmas has been reformatted into an attractive and affordable new format, with the inclusion of every one of the delightful letters and pictures that Tolkien sent to his children.

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