''The Complete Guide to Middle-earth: from ''The Hobbit'' to ''The Silmarillion is a reference book for the
fictional universe
A fictional universe, or fictional world, is a self-consistent setting with events, and often other elements, that differ from the real world. It may also be called an imagined, constructed, or fictional realm (or world). Fictional universes may ...
called
Middle-earth
Middle-earth is the fictional setting of much of the English writer J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy. The term is equivalent to the ''Miðgarðr'' of Norse mythology and ''Middangeard'' in Old English works, including ''Beowulf''. Middle-earth is t ...
of
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philology, philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''.
From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was ...
's
legendarium
Tolkien's legendarium is the body of J. R. R. Tolkien's mythopoeic writing, unpublished in his lifetime, that forms the background to his ''The Lord of the Rings'', and which his son Christopher summarized in his compilation of ''The Silmarill ...
, compiled and edited by Robert Foster. It was first published in 1971 under the title ''A Guide to Middle-earth''. A revised and enlarged edition under the title ''The Complete Guide to Middle-earth'' was published in 1978. It received a third edition in 2001.
Author
Robert Foster (b. 1949,
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
) earned a Ph.D. in English and Medieval Studies at the
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
, and taught subsequently in the English Department at
Rutgers University
Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...
.
Foster begun work on this in the late sixties, consulting Tolkien works and letters.
''A Guide to Middle-earth''
The 1971 ''A Guide to Middle-earth'' was the first published
encyclopedic
An encyclopedia (American English) or encyclopædia (British English) is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge either general or special to a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into articles ...
reference book for the
fictional universe
A fictional universe, or fictional world, is a self-consistent setting with events, and often other elements, that differ from the real world. It may also be called an imagined, constructed, or fictional realm (or world). Fictional universes may ...
of
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philology, philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''.
From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was ...
's
Middle-earth
Middle-earth is the fictional setting of much of the English writer J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy. The term is equivalent to the ''Miðgarðr'' of Norse mythology and ''Middangeard'' in Old English works, including ''Beowulf''. Middle-earth is t ...
, compiled and edited by Robert Foster.
The book was published in 1971 by
Mirage Press
Jack Laurence Chalker (December 17, 1944 – February 11, 2005) was an American science fiction author. Chalker was also a Baltimore City Schools history teacher in Maryland for 12 years, retiring during 1978 to write full-time. He also was a ...
, a specialist
science fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...
and
fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...
publisher, in a limited edition
of 2000 copies (750 numbered hardcovers and 1250 unnumbered paperbacks). A paperback edition was issued by
Ballantine Books
Ballantine Books is a major book publisher located in the United States, founded in 1952 by Ian Ballantine with his wife, Betty Ballantine. It was acquired by Random House in 1973, which in turn was acquired by Bertelsmann in 1998 and remains ...
in 1974.
The author profile in the first edition describes Robert Foster as the then-"Tengwar Consultant" to the
Tolkien Society of America. The book incorporates material previously published in the
science fiction fanzine
A science-fiction fanzine is an amateur or semi-professional magazine published by members of science-fiction fandom, from the 1930s to the present day. They were one of the earliest forms of fanzine, within one of which the term "''fanzine''" was ...
''
Niekas
''Niekas'' (from Lithuanian: ''nothing'' or ''nobody'') was a science fiction fanzine published from 1962–1998 by Ed Meskys – also spelled ''Meškys'' – of New Hampshire. It won the 1967 Hugo Award for Best Fanzine, and was nominat ...
''.
''The Complete Guide to Middle-earth''
''The Complete Guide to Middle-earth'', published in 1978 was a major expansion of ''A Guide to Middle-earth'', at almost twice its length, with coverage of ''
The Silmarillion
''The Silmarillion'' () is a collection of myths and stories in varying styles by the English writer J. R. R. Tolkien. It was edited and published posthumously by his son Christopher Tolkien in 1977, assisted by the fantasy author Guy Gavriel ...
'', which came out in 1977. However, as it does not include information on post-''Silmarillion'' material (i.e. ''
Unfinished Tales
''Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth'' is a collection of stories and essays by J. R. R. Tolkien that were never completed during his lifetime, but were edited by his son Christopher Tolkien and published in 1980. Many of the tale ...
'' and the history of composition series ''
The History of Middle-earth
''The History of Middle-earth'' is a 12-volume series of books published between 1983 and 1996 that collect and analyse much of Tolkien's legendarium, compiled and edited by his son, Christopher Tolkien. The series shows the development over ti ...
''), the 1978 edition contains some assertions supported by later publications, and some that are contradicted. For example, the Star of
Elendil
Elendil is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium. He is mentioned in ''The Lord of the Rings'', ''The Silmarillion'' and ''Unfinished Tales''. He was the father of Isildur and Anárion, last lord of Andúnië on the island of ...
jewel (the Elendilmir) is identified with the Star of the
Dúnedain
In J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth writings, the Dúnedain (; singular: Dúnadan, "Man of the West") were a race of Men, also known as the Númenóreans or ''Men of Westernesse'' (translated from the Sindarin term). Those who survived the s ...
given to
Samwise Gamgee
Samwise Gamgee (, usually called Sam) is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth. A hobbit, Samwise is the chief supporting character of ''The Lord of the Rings'', serving as the sidekick of the protagonist Frodo Baggins. Sam ...
, something refuted by
Christopher Tolkien
Christopher John Reuel Tolkien (21 November 1924 – 16 January 2020) was an English academic editor, becoming a French citizen in later life. The son of author and academic J. R. R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien edited much of his father' ...
. On the other hand, Foster proposes that
Gandalf
Gandalf is a protagonist in J. R. R. Tolkien's novels ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. He is a Wizards (Middle-earth), wizard, one of the ''Istari'' order, and the leader of the Fellowship of the Ring (characters), Fellowship of t ...
and
Olórin
Gandalf is a protagonist in J. R. R. Tolkien's novels ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. He is a Wizards (Middle-earth), wizard, one of the ''Istari'' order, and the leader of the Fellowship of the Ring (characters), Fellowship of t ...
are one and the same – confirmed in ''
Unfinished Tales
''Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth'' is a collection of stories and essays by J. R. R. Tolkien that were never completed during his lifetime, but were edited by his son Christopher Tolkien and published in 1980. Many of the tale ...
''.
A revised edition () was published in 2001, in time for
Peter Jackson
Sir Peter Robert Jackson (born 31 October 1961) is a New Zealand film director, screenwriter and producer. He is best known as the director, writer and producer of the ''Lord of the Rings'' trilogy (2001–2003) and the ''Hobbit'' trilogy ( ...
's
''The Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy.
A new hardback edition illustrated by
Ted Nasmith
Ted Nasmith (born 1956) is a Canadians, Canadian artist, illustrator and architectural rendering, architectural renderer. He is best known as an illustrator of J. R. R. Tolkien's works ''The Hobbit'', ''The Lord of the Rings'' and ''The Silmaril ...
, including standard and slipcased versions, was released in September 2022.
Reception
''The Complete Guide to Middle-earth'' is widely recognised as an excellent reference book on Middle-earth.
Christopher Tolkien
Christopher John Reuel Tolkien (21 November 1924 – 16 January 2020) was an English academic editor, becoming a French citizen in later life. The son of author and academic J. R. R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien edited much of his father' ...
has commended it himself as an "admirable work of reference".
Lester del Rey
Lester del Rey (June 2, 1915 – May 10, 1993) was an American science fiction author and editor. He was the author of many books in the juvenile Winston Science Fiction series, and the editor at Del Rey Books, the fantasy and science ...
praised the 1971 version for covering "literally everything you wanted to know about Middle Earth and were unable to discover before." Three decades later, in 2002, Charles W. Nelson wrote that all the revisions of the guides were helpful for Tolkien students and enthusiasts, each new edition being a noticeable improvement over the older ones in terms of comprehensiveness. While noting that the work still suffers from minor inconsistencies, he praised most entries for being comprehensive, and the structure for being well organized, with useful indexes and appendices.
Adam Roberts, writing in ''
The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
'', calls the revised edition disappointing and "woefully outdated" in the face of the wealth of information on Tolkien now available on the Internet.
Translations
A Polish edition, ''Encyklopedia Śródziemia'', was published in 1998, and reprinted in 2002, 2003 and 2012.
A German edition, ''Das Große Mittelerde-Lexikon'', revised and translated by
Helmut W. Pesch, was published in 2002.
References
Sources
*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Complete Guide To Middle-Earth
1978 books
2001 books
Books about Middle-earth
Middle-Earth, The Complete Guide To
Ballantine Books books