Read about these titles about the First and Second Ages of Middle-Earth before Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power premieres in the Fall!
The Silmarillion / J.R.R. Tolkien ; edited by Christopher Tolkien
Beginning with the Music of the Ainur, The Silmarillion tells a tale of the Elder Days, when Elves and Men became estranged by the Dark Lord Morgoth’s lust for the Silmarils, pure and powerful magic jewels. Even the love between a human warrior and the daughter of the Elven king cannot defeat Morgoth, but the War of Wrath finally brings down the Dark Lord.
The Shaping of Middle-earth : the Quenta, the Ambarkanta, and the annals / J.R.R. Tolkien
Presents the chronological and geographical structure of the legends of Middle-earth and Valinor.
The Book of Lost Tales/ J.R.R. Tolkien; edited by Christopher Tolkien Part I | Part II
A collection of Tolkien’s early tales offers the original accounts of the characters and world of Middle-earth and is accompanied by extensive commentary by Tolkien’s son.
The Return of the Shadow: The History of The Lord of the Rings, Part One / J.R.R. Tolkien ; [edited by] Christopher Tolkien
Describes the evolution of “The Fellowship of The Ring,” tracing the enlargement of Bilbo’s magic ring and the development of the hobbit called Trotter, and containing original maps and manuscript pages.
The Children of Hurin / J.R.R. Tolkien ; edited by Christopher Tolkien ; illustrated by Alan Lee
A fantasy adventure saga set in the early days of Middle-Earth features humans and elves, dwarves and dragons, orcs and dark sorcerers clashing in an epic battle between good and evil.
Beren and Lúthien / by J.R.R. Tolkien ; edited by Christopher Tolkien ; with illustrations by Alan Lee
An important chapter in the saga of The Silmarillion, first conceived by Tolkien at the end of his service in World War I, follows the romance between an immortal elf and a mortal whose worthiness is put to an impossible test.
The Fall of Gondolin / by J.R.R. Tolkien ; edited by Christopher Tolkien ; with illustrations by Alan Lee
Following his presentation of Beren and Luthien, Christopher Tolkien has used the same ‘history in sequence’ mode in the writing of this edition of The Fall of Gondolin. In the words of J.R.R. Tolkien, it was ‘the first real story of this imaginary world’ and, together with Beren and Luthien and The Children of Hurin, he regarded it as one of the three ‘Great Tales’ of the Elder Days.
Tales from the Perilous Realm / J.R.R. Tolkien ; illustrated [and afterword] by Alan Lee
Four novellas by J.R.R. Tolkien and a book of poems, The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, which features tales of Tom Bombadil, a character first encountered in The Lord of the Rings.
The Hobbit : or, There and Back Again / by J.R.R. Tolkien
Bilbo Baggins, a respectable, well-to-do hobbit, lives comfortably in his hobbit-hole until the day the wandering wizard Gandalf chooses him to take part in an adventure from which he may never return.
The Fellowship of the Rings / by J. R. R.Tolkien
Frodo the hobbit and his companions set out to destroy the Ring of Power before the evil Sauron grasps control.
The Two Towers / by J.R.R. Tolkien
Frodo and his Companions of the Ring have been beset by danger during their quest to prevent the Ruling Ring from falling into the hands of the Dark Lord by destroying it in the Cracks of Doom.
The Return of the King / by J. R. R. Tolkien
The little hobbit and his trusty companion make a terrible journey to the heart of the land of the Shadow in a final reckoning with the power of Sauron.
Between the Lines 