Legendarium

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Legendarium is the term Tolkien used for his written works about the mythology of Eä.

Writings of the legendarium

Here follows a list of all published texts by Tolkien relating to Arda. For a discussion of the "canonical" status of the texts, consult the page Canon.

• Books
  • The Hobbit (see also The History of The Hobbit and The Annotated Hobbit)
  • The Lord of the Rings (see also The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion)
  • The Adventures of Tom Bombadil
  • The Road Goes Ever On
  • Bilbo's Last Song
  • The Silmarillion
  • The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien (many of the letters discusses issues of the legendarium)
  • The Monsters and the Critics and Other Essays (includes Elvish poems and glossary)
  • Unfinished Tales
  • The History of Middle-earth

• Journals and other media
  • Vinyar Tengwar (various issues)
  • Parma Eldalamberon (various issues)

Legendarium: the concept

The term 'legendarium' can be found in several places in The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien:

Letter 131: "This legendarium ends with a vision of the end of the world..."

Letter 153: "...my legendarium, especially the 'Downfall of Númenor' which lies immediately behind The Lord of the Rings, is based on my view..."

Letter 154: "Actually in the imagination of this story we are now living on a physically round Earth. But the whole 'legendarium' contains a transition from a flat world..."

Letter 163: "But the beginning of the legendarium, of which the Trilogy is part (the conclusion), was an attempt to reorganise some of the Kalevala ...."