The Tolkien Companion

Between 1932 and 1953, Professor John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, of Oxford, England, translated four volumes compiled by the renowned Hobbits Bilbo and Frodo Baggins, written during the Third Age of Middle-earth, long before the Celtic, Germanic, and Icelandic manuscripts Tolkien was used to deciphering. The result was The Hobbit, and readers have never been the same since.

In 1954, seventeen years after The Hobbit first appeared, its sequel, The Lord of the Rings was published, and it became the centerpiece of Tolkien's work. The Ring Epic covers approximately ten thousand years, and contains a vast amount of information, as well as a huge variety of words and names which Tolkien translated from the Elvish and Mannish tongues. The Tolkien Companion is an impressive guide to the world of Middle-earth, compiling every fact, name, word, and date from all the works into one comprehensive and accessible volume.

Here, in one source, is the high history of the Elven peoples. The origins of Morgoth the Enemy are clarified, as is his fall, and the subsequent rise to power of Sauron the Great, Lord of the Rings. The heroic epic of how the free peoples—Elves, Men, Ents, Dwarves, and Hobbits—survived against the peril of the ancient world is meticulously detailed. It also includes a guide to Elvish writing systems, along with explanatory maps, charts, and genealogical tables, bringing Tolkien’s remarkable genius and the wonderful world of Middle-earth to life with focus and accuracy. Presented in alphabetical order for quick and easy reference, The Tolkien Companion is an indispensable guide for anyone embarking on the journey into Tolkien’s Middle-earth.