A Hobbit's Tale

:: Tolkien's books ::

Below are little summaries of Tolkien's books.

1. The Lord of the Rings

"The Lord of the Rings" is divided into three parts :

The Fellowship of the Ring

The Two Towers

The Return Of The King

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2. The Hobbit

In "The Hobbit", Tolkien tells us the story of Bilbo Baggins.

Bilbo lives peacefully in Bag End when thirteen Dwarves come and visit him. The Dwarves ask Bilbo to help them to kill a terrible dragon called Smaug and to get back their treasure.

Here begins the biggest adventures in Bilbo's life.

3. The Silmarillion

The "Silmarillion" tells the story of the Elder Days, the First Age of Tolkien's world. The book tells the story of the ancient drama to which the characters in "The Lord of the Rings" look back and in whose events some of them (as for example Galadriel and Elrond) took part.

In the First Age Morgoth, the High Elves fought against the first Dark Lord, dwelt in Middle Earth, to get back the Silmarils, which are the jewels containing the pure light of Valinor.

Included in the book are several shorter works. The "Ainulindale" tells the myth of the creation of the world, and in the "Valaquenta" the nature and powers of all the gods are described. The "Akallabeth" tells about the downfalll of the great kingdom of Númenor at the end of the Second Age. And in "Of the Rings of Power", there are told the events in the Third Age.

4. The Book of Lost Tales Part 1 & 2

These two books contain the myths and legends which led to the writing of the "Silmarillion".

The first book tells the story of a great westward voyage over the ocean by a mariner named Eriol to the Isle, where the Elves dwelt. From the Elves, he learned their true history and he learned about the Lost Tales of Elfinesse. These tales told about the earliest accounts of Gods, Elves, Dwarves, Balrogs and Orcs and of the Silmarils and the Two Trees of Valinor.

The second part contains the tales of Beren and Luthien, Turin and the Dragon, the Fall of Gondolin and many more.

Each tale is followed by a commentary together with texts of associated poems, extensive informations on names and vocabulary of the Elvish languages.

5. The Unfinished Tales

A collection of narratives ranging in time of the Elder Days of Middle-Earth to the end of the War of the Ring.

The tales were collected and edited by Tolkien's son, Christopher, who wrote a short commentary to each story.

6. The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien

A collection of letters from Tolkien. Tolkien did not only write his books, but he also wrote many letters to his publisher, his friends and his family. The letters present a detailed portrait of Tolkien and show his creativity and grand design for the creation of Middle-Earth.

7. Letters from Father Christmas

Each December, an envelope with a stamp from the North Pole arrived for Tolkien's children. Inside the envelope was a letter from Father Christmas. The letters told tales of the life at the North Pole.

8. Roverandom

Tolkien wrote this story for his son.

The story tells about a dog who is called Rover. He is turned into a toy by a wizard and then is transported to the moon. There, the Man in the Moon gives him his new name, Roverandom, and he also gives him wings.

The dogs now lives many adventures.

9. Farmer Giles of Ham

Farmer Giles doesn't look like a hero. He is fat, he has a big beard and he enjoys his slow, comfortable life. But one day, a deaf and short-sighted giant blundered on to his land. More by luck than skills, Farmer Giles manages to scare the giant away and from that day on he is a hero for the people of the village.

Some years later, the terrible dragon Chrysophylax appears and it is Farmer Giles who is expected to fight with him.