What books has J.R.R. Tolkien written besides the Lord of the Rings series?

Answer 1

JRR Tolkien has written many books besides The Hobbit or There and Back Again (1937), The Lord of the Rings (6 books originally published in 3 volumes, 1954-5), and The Silmarillion (1977), and collections such as Tales From the Perilous Realm.

In addition to the three novels you may be familiar with, J.R.R. Tolkien also wrote many other pieces in many forms. Many people do not know that Tolkien was also an artist who illustrated many of his own writings, and much of what he wrote was published posthumously. Tolkien died in 1973.

Letters (some of them have been collected and published)

Poetry (very many besides those published within The Lord of the Rings)

Scholarly works (books and essays on Philology (the study of words), translations and criticism of old English texts, etc.)

Leaf by Niggle (short story) (1945) Now often included with an essay titled, 'On Fairy Stories'

Farmer Giles of Ham (mediaeval fable) (1949)

The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth Beorhthelm's Son (a play written in alliterative verse), published with the accompanying essays Beorhtnoth's Death and Ofermod (1953)

Smith of Wootton Major (short story) (1967)

Titles for children:

The Father Christmas Letters (1976) (Originally written as letters from Father Christmas to Tolkien's own children from 1920 until 1942)

Mr. Bliss (1982) The story of Mr. Bliss and his first motor-car.

Roverandom (1998) About a dog named Rover and a wizard who turns him into a toy.

The remaining titles should be of interest to Middle-earth fans.

The Adventures of Tom Bombadil and Other Verses from the Red Book (1962)

Guide to the Names in The Lord of the Rings (1967)

Unfinished Tales of Númenor and of Middle-earth (1980)

Bilbo's Last Song (1990)

The following 12 volumes are known collectively as 'The History of Middle-Earth,' and they are edited and heavily annotated by Christopher Tolkien. They contain much background information for the immense mythology that Tolkien created. Volumes 6 thru 11 contain early drafts of their more famous final novels.

1. The Book of Lost Tales 1 (1983)

2. The Book of Lost Tales 2 (1984)

3. The Lays of Beleriand (1985)

4. The Shaping of Middle-earth (1986)

5. The Lost Road and Other Writings (1987)

6. The Return of the Shadow (The History of The Lord of the Rings v.1) (1988)

7. The Treason of Isengard (The History of The Lord of the Rings v.2) (1989)

8. The War of the Ring (The History of The Lord of the Rings v.3) (1990)

9. Sauron Defeated (includes The History of The Lord of the Rings v.4) (1992)

10. Morgoth's Ring (The Later Silmarillion v. 1) (1993)

11. The War of the Jewels (The Later Silmarillion v.2) (1994)

12. The Peoples of Middle-earth (1996)

The History of The Hobbit (2007) (edited by John D. Rateliff) Basically 'The History of Middle-Earth (volume 13).'

The Children of Hurin (2007)