A few tips that may be of use to you:

  • To print this list, click the print icon in the upper right to get a clean page without the header image.
  • Please read my article on how to do research first.
  • Keep in mind that although your library may not carry any or all of these items, they should be able to get them for you within a week or two through Inter-library Loan.
  • This is by no means a complete list — it’s just something to get you started. If you know of any books that should be added, please feel free to contact me (Rivka) and let me know.

Works by Tolkien

Series

The Lord of the Rings

    The Fellowship of the Ring (1954)

    The Two Towers (1954)

    The Return of the King (1955)

    The History of Middle Earth

    The Book of Lost Tales 1 (1983) with Christopher Tolkien

    The Book of Lost Tales 2 (1984) with Christopher Tolkien

    The Lays of Beleriand (1985) with Christopher Tolkien

    The Shaping of Middle-Earth (1986) with Christopher Tolkien

    The Lost Road and Other Writings (1987) with Christopher Tolkien

    The History of the Lord of the Rings

    The Return of the Shadow (1988) with Christopher Tolkien

    The Treason of Isengard (1989) with Christopher Tolkien

    The War of the Ring (1990) with Christopher Tolkien

    Sauron Defeated (1992) with Christopher Tolkien

    Later Silmarillion

    Morgoth’s Ring (1993) with Christopher Tolkien

    The War of the Jewels (1994) with Christopher Tolkien

Novels

    The Hobbit, or There and Back Again (1937)

    Farmer Giles of Ham (1949)

    Smith of Wootton Major (1967)

    Bilbo’s Last Song (1974)

    The Silmarillion (1977) with Christopher Tolkien

    Mr. Bliss (1982)

    The Annotated Hobbit (1988)

    The Hobbit: Book Three (1990)

    The Illustrated Hobbit (1992)

    Roverandom (1998)

Collections

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

    Tree and Leaf (1964)

    The Tolkien Reader (1966)

    The Road Goes Ever On: A Song Cycle (1967)

    The Father Christmas Letters (1976)

    Poems and Other Stories (1980)

    Unfinished Tales of Numenor and Middle-Earth (1980)

    Unfinished Tales (1980) with Christopher Tolkien

    The Book of Lost Tales (1984)

Short Fiction

    Farmer Giles of Ham (unknown)

The Homecoming of Beorthnoth (1953)

    The Trolls (Excerpt from The Hobbit) (1937)

    Leaf by Niggle (1945)

    Roverandom (1998)

Poems

    The Dragon’s Visit (1937)

    Once Upon a Time (1965)

Essays/Articles

    Ofermod (unknown)

    On Fairy Stories (unknown)

Letters

    The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien

About Tolkien’s Work

Agoy, Nils Ivar. Between Faith and Fiction: Tolkien and the Powers of His World. Arda Special 1, Arthedain, Upsala, 1998.

Bloom, Harold. J.R.R. Tolkien’s The lord of the rings. Chelsea House, 2000.

Bruner, Kurt. Finding God in the Lord of the Rings. Tyndale House, 2001.

Carpenter, Humphrey. Tolkien: A Biography. Allen and Unwin, 1977.

Chance, Jane. The Lord of the Rings: The Mythology of Power. Twayne, 1992.

Clark, George and Danniel Timmons. Tolkien and his Literary Resonances: Views of Middle-earth. Greenwood Press, 2000.

Collins, David R. J.R.R. Tolkien, Master of Fantasy. Lerner Publications Company, 1992.

Crawford, Edward. Some Light on Middle-earth. The Tolkien Society, 1985.

Curry, Patrick. Defending Middle-earth. Floris Books, 1997 and St. Martin’s Press, 1997. Reprinted with revisions: HarperCollins, 1998.

Day, David. The Tolkien Companion. Mandarin, 1993.

Day, David. Tolkien: The Illustrated Encyclopedia. Mitchell Beazley, 1991.

Day, David. Tolkien’s Ring. HarperCollins, London, 1994.

De Koster, Katie. Readings on J. R. R. Tolkien (The Greenhaven Press Literary Companion to British Authors). Greenhaven Press.

Duriez, Colin. The Inklings Handbook : A Comprehensive Guide to the Lives, Thought and Writings of C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Charles Williams, Owen Barfield. Chalice Press, 2001.

Duriez, Colin. Tolkien and the Lord of the Rings. Hidden Spring, 2001.

Flieger, Verlyn. A Question of Time: J.R.R. Tolkien’s Road to Faerie. Kent State University Press, Kent, Ohio, 1997.

Flieger, Verlyn. Splintered Light: Logos and Language in Tolkien’s World. Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1983.

Flieger, Verlyn and Carl F. Hostetter. Tolkien’s Legendarium: Essays on The History of Middle-earth. Greenwood Press, Westport, CN, 2000.

Fonstad, Karen Wynn. The Atlas of Middle-earth. Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 1981; revised edition, Houghton Mifflin, 1992; HarperCollins, London, 1992.

Green, William H. The Hobbit: A Journey into Maturity. Twayne Publishers, New York, 1995.

Grotta, Daniel. The Biography of J.R.R. Tolkien: Architect of Middle-earth. Running Press, Philadelphia, 1978; Warner Books, New York, 1979.

Hammond, Wayne G. J.R.R. Tolkien: A Descriptive Bibliography. St. Paul’s Bibliographies, Winchester, 1993.

Hammond, Wayne G. and Christina Scull. J.R.R. Tolkien: Artist & Illustrator. HarperCollins, London, 1995.

Harvey, David. The Song of Middle-earth: J.R.R. Tolkien’s Themes, Symbols and Myths. Allen and Unwin, London, 1981.

Hein, Rolland. Christian Mythmakers: Lewis, L’Engle, Tolkien and Others. Cornerstone Press, Chicago, 1998.

Helms, Randel. Tolkien and the Silmarils. Thames and Hudson, London, 1981.

Helms, Randel. Tolkien’s World. Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 1974; Panther paperback (Myth, Magic and Meaning in Tolkien’s World), 1976.

Helms, Philip et al. Peace and Conflict Studies in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth, Volume One. American Tolkien Society, Flint, Michigan, [?1994.]

Helms, Philip et al. Peace and Conflict Studies in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth, Volume Two. American Tolkien Society, Flint, Michigan, 1999.

Isaacs, Neil D. and Rose A Zimbardo, ed. Tolkien: New Critical Perspectives. The University Press of Kentucky, 1981.

Johnson, Judith. J.R.R. Tolkien: Six Decades of Criticism. Bibliographies and Indexes in World Literature, Number 6, Greenwood Press, Westport, Connecticut; London, England, 1986.

Jonsson, Ake. A Tolkien Bibliography 1911-1980: Writings by and about J.R.R. Tolkien. Tredje Upplagen, 1986.

Kilby, Clyde. Tolkien and The Silmarillion. Wheaton, Illinois, 1976. Lion Publishing, Berkhamstead, Herts, 1977.

Knight, Gareth. The Magical World of the Inklings: J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, Owen Barfield. Element Books, Longmead, 1990.

Kocher, Paul H. A Reader’s Guide to The Silmarillion. Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 1980; Thames and Hudson, London, 1981.

Miller, Stephen O. Middle Earth: A World in Conflict. Miller. T-K Graphics, Baltimore, 1975.

Morrison, Louise D. J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring: A Critical Commentary. Monarch Press, Simon & Schuster, New York, 1976.

Mosely, Charles. J.R.R. Tolkien. Writers and their Work. Northcote House Publishers, Plymouth, 1996.

Neimark, Anne E. Myth Maker: J.R.R. Tolkien. Harcourt Brace, San Diego, 1996.

Nitzsche, Jane. Tolkien’s Art: “A Mythology for England”. Macmillan, London, 1979.

Noad, Charles E. The Trees, the Jewels, and the Rings: A discursive enquiry into things little known on Middle-earth. The Tolkien Society, 1977.

Noel, Ruth S. The Languages of Tolkien’s Middle-earth. Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 1980. (Revised edition of The Languages of Middle-earth, 1974.)

Noel, Ruth S. The Mythology of Middle-earth. Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 1977; Thames and Hudson, London, 1977. (Also reprinted as The Mythology of Tolkien’s Middle-earth in Panther paperback, 1979.)

Palmer, Bruce. Of Orc-Rags, Phials & A Far Shore: Visions of Paradise in The Lord of the Rings. T-K Graphics, Baltimore, 1976.

Pearce, Joseph. Tolkien: A Celebration: Collected Writings on a Literary Legacy. Fount, London, 1999.

Pearce, Joseph. Tolkien: Man and Myth. HarperCollins, London, 1998.

Petty, Anne C. One Ring to Bind Them All: Tolkien’s Mythology. University of Alabama Press, 1979.

Purtill, Richard L. J.R.R. Tolkien: Myth, Morality and Religion. Harper & Row, San Francisco, 1984.

Rockow, Karen. Funeral Customs in Tolkien’s Trilogy. T-K Graphics, Baltimore, 1973.

Rosebury, Brian. Tolkien: A Critical Assessment. Macmillan/St. Martin’s Press, London, 1992.

Rossi, Lee D. The Politics of Fantasy: C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. UMI Research Press, Ann Arbor, 1984.

Ryan, J. S. The Shaping of Middle-earth’s Maker. American Tolkien Society, 1992.

Shorto, Russell. J.R.R. Tolkien: Man of Fantasy. The Kipling Press, New York, 1988.

Shippey, T.A. J.R.R. Tolkien: author of the century. Houghton Mifflin, 2001.

Smith, Mark. Tolkien’s Ordinary Virtues : Discovering the Spiritual Themes of the Lord of the Rings. InterVarsity Press, 2002.

Stanton, Michael N. Hobbits, elves, and wizards: exploring the wonders and worlds of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The lord of the rings. Palgrave, 2001.

Tolkien, J.R.R. Tolkien’s World : Paintings of Middle-Earth. MJF Books, 1998.

Veldman, Meredith. Fantasy, the Bomb, and the Greening of Britain: Romantic protest, 1945-1980. Cambridge University Press, 1994.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email