J. R. R. Tolkien: Chronological Bibliography
Published During Tolkien’s Lifetime (1892–1973)
1937 – The Hobbit
- Children’s fantasy novel
- Introduced Middle-earth
- Tolkien’s first major literary success
1949 – Farmer Giles of Ham
- Comic medieval-style novella
- Published independently of Middle-earth
1954 – The Fellowship of the Ring
- Volume I of The Lord of the Rings
1954 – The Two Towers
- Volume II of The Lord of the Rings
1955 – The Return of the King
- Volume III of The Lord of the Rings
Note: Although often sold as three volumes, The Lord of the Rings was conceived and written as a single work.
1962 – The Adventures of Tom Bombadil
- Poetry collection
- Includes poems set in Middle-earth
1964 – Tree and Leaf
- Essays and fiction
- Includes “On Fairy-Stories” and Leaf by Niggle
1967 – Smith of Wootton Major
- Short fantasy novella
- Published with Farmer Giles of Ham in later editions
Posthumously Published Works (After 1973)
(All edited and prepared by Christopher Tolkien unless otherwise noted)
1977 – The Silmarillion
- Mythological history of Middle-earth
- Tolkien worked on it for decades but never finalized it
1980 – Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth
- Narrative fragments and essays
- Expands on The Silmarillion and The Lord of the Rings
1981 – The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien
- Edited by Humphrey Carpenter with Christopher Tolkien
- Essential for understanding Tolkien’s thought and intentions
The History of Middle-earth Series (1983–1996)
A 12-volume scholarly series documenting the evolution of Tolkien’s legendarium
- 1983 – The Book of Lost Tales, Part One
- 1984 – The Book of Lost Tales, Part Two
- 1985 – The Lays of Beleriand
- 1986 – The Shaping of Middle-earth
- 1987 – The Lost Road and Other Writings
- 1988 – The Return of the Shadow
- 1989 – The Treason of Isengard
- 1990 – The War of the Ring
- 1992 – Sauron Defeated
- 1993 – Morgoth’s Ring
- 1994 – The War of the Jewels
- 1996 – The Peoples of Middle-earth
Later Posthumous Stand-Alone Volumes
1998 – Roverandom
- Children’s story written in the 1920s
2007 – The Children of Húrin
- Full narrative assembled from multiple drafts
- Closest to a “novel” form of a First Age story
2009 – The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún
- Narrative poems based on Norse legend
2013 – The Fall of Arthur
- Alliterative poem on Arthurian legend
2014 – Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary
- Tolkien’s prose translation and lectures
2015 – The Story of Kullervo
- Early mythological prose work
2018 – A Secret Vice
- Essays on invented languages
2022 – The Fall of Númenor
- Chronological narrative of the Second Age
- Edited by Brian Sibley from previously published texts
Summary Table
| Period | Key Works |
|---|---|
| Lifetime | The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, Tree and Leaf, Smith of Wootton Major |
| Early Posthumous | The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales |
| Scholarly Legacy | The History of Middle-earth (12 vols.) |
| Later Reconstructions | The Children of Húrin, The Fall of Númenor |
Conclusion
During his lifetime, Tolkien published relatively little fiction, but what he did publish reshaped modern fantasy. The majority of his legendarium became available only after his death, thanks primarily to the editorial work of Christopher Tolkien, whose role in shaping Tolkien’s posthumous reputation cannot be overstated.
Tolkien’s bibliography is therefore unusual: a small lifetime corpus paired with an expansive posthumous one, revealing a lifetime of myth-making that extended far beyond what he ever saw in print.
