9 Middle Earth Books that Only Truly Obsessed Tolkienologists Will Appreciate
It’s been 85 years since readers of the world were introduced to J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth with the first printing of The Hobbit. While Tolkien’s body of published fiction remained relatively limited in his own lifetime, there have since been numerous posthumous publications of his works by his estate as well as an ever expanding realm of commentaries, guides, ephemera, and other bits of Tolkienology spanning nine decades of fandom and nine feature film adaptations.
With the new TV series, “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” currently mid-run, Tolkien fandom is on the rise again, turning the reading world towards copies of the original trilogy and the notoriously denser Silmarillion which provides the basis for much of the new show. Part of what makes Tolkien's canon so captivating is the depth of his Middle Earth's mythos and fictional history (or “legendarium” as Tolkien termed it). It’s a world that invites deep digging into its foundations, like an industrious dwarf mining deeper and deeper into the Mines of Moria (or Khazad-dûm if you prefer).
But if you already have the core Tolkien books on your shelf, and maybe even some of the posthumous stories and collections, there’s still a huge range of additional material you can uncover. Some of it is obscure and tangential, and some of it’s downright strange, but whatever the case, the books we’ve collected below—none of which were authored by J.R.R. Tolkien or his son Christopher—all have something to offer for Tolkien fans on their own quest through Middle Earth. All of these copies are currently for sale on PangoBooks as of the time of publication—click on the images to learn more.
Tales Before Tolkien
by Douglas A. Anderson
For those interested in diving into Tolkien’s influences as a mythologist and storyteller, this volume, Tales Before Tolkien compiled by Douglas A. Anderson, is a great starting point. In this book, Anderson brings together a variety of earlier epics and fantasy tales with commentaries tying them to The Lord of the Rings. While there’s not always specific evidence demonstrating that Tolkien actually read all of these works, the collection still does an admirable job illustrating the deep tradition from which Tolkien’s work sprang.
Master of Middle Earth
by Paul H. Kocher
The Master of Middle Earth by Tolkien scholar Paul H. Kocher was an early critical analysis of Tolkien’s work which was initially published a few years before The Silmarillion. For that reason, it could be construed as a bit out of date, but that certainly does not invalidate many of Kocher’s observations and commentaries on topics like Tolkien’s conception of good and evil and Aragon’s place in Middle Earth. This book is something of a cult classic among Tolkienists, taking an academic yet accessible approach to the subject.
The Complete Guide to Middle-earth
by Robert Foster
There have been quite a few Middle Earth reference books published over the years including a variety of dictionaries, encyclopedias, and atlases. First published back in the 1970s, The Complete Guide to Middle Earth by Robert Foster remains the standard bearer in many ways, offering fans an easy to use and comprehensive guide to the major names, places, and historical events of Middle Earth. Fans of this book also appreciate that Foster includes citations to the original Tolkien texts for easy cross-referencing.
An Atlas of Middle Earth
by Karen Wynn Fonstad
If Foster’s Guide mentioned above is a useful encyclopedia, An Atlas of Middle Earth from Karen Wynn Fonstad is the equivalent on a visual, geographic level. This is an excellent book to keep handy if you are reading any of Tolkien’s books or maybe watching the movies or new TV show and want to follow the characters as they traverse Rohan or Mirkwood. It’s also a great book to have around if you want to pretend you're Gandalf paging through ancient scrolls in the library of Minas Tirith.
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The Origins of Tolkien's Middle-Earth for Dummies
by Greg Harvey
The Origins of Tolkien's Middle-Earth for Dummies is another reference book compiling information about Middle Earth but targeted at folks who maybe consider themselves more Orc than Elf when it comes to Tolkien lore. While clearly this is not a book intended for more hardcore Tolkienists it’s still a useful and accessible reference, and perhaps more than that, an interesting artifact for collectors to have nestle within their shelves of more stately volumes.
The People's Guide to J. R. R. Tolkien
by the OneRing.net Staff
Internet native Tolkienologists may be familiar with TheOneRing.net, a long-standing fansite managed by a fellowship of fans that was initially devoted to sharing information on the then in production Peter Jackson film trilogy. This intriguingly titled volume—The People's Guide to J. R. R. Tolkien—includes a collection of essays about Toilken’s work taken from the site. This collection stands out from other critical analysis by decidedly embracing the nerdier side of Toilken culture and by having plenty of material about the film series.
The Hobbit: A Dramatization
by Patrica Gray
If you’re reading this blog post, you’ve likely seen the Peter Jackson trilogy of Hobbit films. Perhaps you even hold a place in your heart for the Rankin/Bass animated Hobbit adaption from the ‘70s. But before that, there was this stage adaptation of The Hobbit penned by playwright Patria Gray and evidently authorized by Tolkien himself. There’s actually a whole history of stage adaptations of Middle Earth stories including a notorious flop of a Lord of the Rings musical which ran in London’s West End and attempted to ride the coattails of the film trilogy. The humble Hobbit adaptation is nothing quite so ambitious, but still makes for an interesting entry in any Middle Earth collection.
Aragorn, J. R. R. Tolkien's Undervalued Hero
by Angela P. Nicholas
For those of us who have a thing for Aragorn (and frankly, who doesn’t?), Aragorn, J. R. R. Tolkien's Undervalued Hero by Angela P. Nicholas offers a truly deep dive into basically everything one can know about Isildur's heir. Functioning as a biography and reference book about one of the main characters from the original trilogy, Nicholas synthesizes information from the entire Middle Earth canon to cover background about Aragorn’s ancestors and explorations of his relationships to other characters.
There And Back Again: An Actor’s Tale
by Sean Astin with Joe Layden
For LoTR fans who come from a movie-first perspective (and there’s nothing wrong with that), perhaps take a look at this autobiography of everyone’s favorite utterer of the word “potatoes”, Sean Astin. A child of Hollywood and a veteran of fan favorite films like The Goonies and Rudy, Astin’s books recollects his experiences as a child actor and as part of the cast of the film trilogy. While not the most critically acclaimed volume on the list, it’s still a useful source for anyone who wants this specific perspective on the making of the films.