"The Road to Middle-Earth is a fascinating and accessible exploration of J.R.R.Tolkien's creativity and the sources of his inspiration. Tom Shippey shows in detail how Tolkien's professional background led him to write The Hobbit and how he created a work of timeless charm for millions of readers. He discusses the contribution of The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales to Tolkien's great myth-cycle, showing how Tolkien's more 'complex' works can be...

Analyzes Tolkien's "The Hobbit," "The Lord of the Rings," "The Silmarillion," and his lesser works, and explains how his works tie into storytelling tradition dating back to Grimms' fairy tales and "Beowulf."

The comprehensive collection of letters spanning the adult life of one of the world's greatest storytellers, now revised and expanded to include more than 150 previously unseen letters, with revealing new insights into The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion. J.R.R. Tolkien, creator of the languages and history of Middle-earth as recorded in The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion, was one of the most prolific letter-writers...

For all those who journey to J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle Earth, here is the complete guide to its lands, legends, histories, languages, and people. The Complete Tolkien Companion explains, translates, and links every single reference, names, dates, places, facts, famous weapons, even food and drink, to be found in Tolkien's world, which includes not only The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings but also The Simarillion and many other posthumously published...

J. R. R. Tolkien created complex, intertwined mythologies for his fantasy world of Middle Earth. His own early life was similarly complex. Tolkien moved many times and was orphaned at a young age, but he still thrived. His love of learning and the rural English countryside drove his creation of stories, drawings, and made-up languages. As a young adult, he met and married Edit Bratt, graduated from Oxford University, and went to fight in World War...

Introduce a new generation of readers to the man who wrote the phenomenally beloved Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit. J. R. R. Tolkien for Kids takes young readers through the exciting life of the man who created amazing new worlds and helps kids discover how he could see them. Explore the personal experiences and subjects that inspired Tolkien's stories through hands-on activities, and learn how he influenced his contemporaries as well as...

A philologist of world renown, a professor at Oxford, and the author of academic treatises, J.R.R. Tolkien was far more than a fantasy book writer. His lifelong fascination with medieval texts and languages gave him a unique vision and endless inspiration for his tales. His broad interests made possible his creation of faery worlds and entire races of beings, as well as the languages, cultures, and characters that make his books as engaging today...

"Bilbo Baggins is a hobbit who enjoys a comfortable, unambitious life...But his contentment is disturbed when the wizard Gandalf and a company of dwarves arrive on his doorstep...They have launched a plot to raid the treasure hoard guarded by Smaug the Magnificent, a large and very dangerous dragon. Bilbo reluctantly joins their quest, unaware that...he will encounter both a magic ring and a frightening creature known as Gollum"--P. [4] of cover.

The authorized biography of the creator of Middle-earth. In the decades since his death in September 1973, millions have read THE HOBBIT, THE LORD OF THE RINGS, and THE SILMARILLION and become fascinated about the very private man behind the books. Born in South Africa in January 1892, John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was orphaned in childhood and brought up in near-poverty. He served in the first World War, surviving the Battle of the Somme, where...

"A stirring group biography of the Inklings, the Oxford writing club featuring J.R.R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis"-- C. S. Lewis is the twentieth century's most widely read Christian writer and J.R.R. Tolkien its most beloved mythmaker. For three decades, they and their closest associates formed a literary club known as the Inklings, which met every week in Lewis's Oxford rooms and in nearby pubs. They discussed literature, religion, and ideas; read...