What inspired Tolkien to create Hobbits?

In 1929, Tolkien, then a professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford University, visited an archaeological dig at the estate on the site of a Roman temple, known as Dwarf’s Hill. Tolkien is believed to have started writing The Hobbit, about a Halfling who finds a cursed ring, a year later.

What does the complete history of Middle-earth include?

The History of Middle-earth is a 12-volume series of books published between 1983 and 1996 that collect and analyse much of Tolkien’s legendarium, compiled and edited by his son, Christopher Tolkien. In 2000–01, the twelve volumes were republished in three limited edition omnibus volumes.

When did Tolkien start writing the Silmarillion?

He completed the first story, “The Fall of Gondolin”, in late 1916. He called his collection of nascent stories The Book of Lost Tales. This became the name for the first two volumes of The History of Middle-earth, a book series by Christopher Tolkien which include these early texts.

How did Tolkien create races?

Basically, he invented words and needed speakers. He created the 15 different Elvish dialects, along with languages for the Ents, the Orcs, the Dwarves, the men and the Hobbits and more. He thought of everything: The Dwarves even had a separate sign language, because the forges they worked were too loud.

What is Middle earth in The Lord of the Rings?

Middle-earth is the human-inhabited world, that is, the central continent of the Earth, in Tolkien’s imagined mythological past. Tolkien’s most widely read works, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, are set entirely in Middle-earth.

When was Middle-earth first mentioned in Tolkien’s writings?

However, the term “Middle-earth” is not found in Tolkien’s earliest writings about Middle-earth, dating from the early 1920s and published in The Book of Lost Tales (1983-4). Nor is the term used in The Hobbit (1937).

Did Tolkien finalize the geography for The Hobbit?

J.R.R. Tolkien never finalized the geography for the entire world associated with The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.

What are the best books about The Lord of the Rings?

1 The Hobbit 2 The Lord of the Rings (stop here) 3 The Silmarillion (stop here) 4 The Children of Húrin 5 Beren and Lúthien 6 The Fall of Gondolin (stop here) 7 Unfinished Tales 8 The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien (stop here) 9 The History of Middle-earth 10 The Annotated Hobbit (Douglas A. Anderson) 11 The History of the Hobbit (John D. Rateliff)