The Book Blog - Learning Resources at St. Johns River State College

While I have read many fantasy books over the years, J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth contains the best world building in the genre. Tolkien’s command of history and linguistics gives his fantasy works an air of authenticity unseen in later imitators. With these elements, the world Tolkien created for The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings feels lived in and real.

For Middle Earth, Tolkien created real languages that can be spoken by those with the patience to learn them. As a philologist who specialized in Old English (Anglo Saxon), Tolkien incorporated his love of language into his fantasy works. He created many languages spoken by the inhabitants of Middle Earth. These include elvish, dwarvish, and other fictional languages with pronunciation guides that define specific vowels and consonants. The creation of these languages helps give Middle Earth an old-world feel.

Tolkien massively expanded Middle Earth’s history in The Silmarillion, an anthology that describes the creation of the world among other foundational stories. The text of The Silmarillion reads like a civilization’s ancient history from a detached point of view; much like Herodotus’ Histories but without giving first-person impressions of events. Stories found in The Silmarillion include the “Ainulindalë: The Music of the Ainur” which describes the creation of Middle Earth à la The Book of Genesis, and the “Akallabêth” which is an account of the fall of Númenor with similarities to the fall of Atlantis. These homages to real-world foundational stories and mythologies help make Middle Earth feel connected to our collective past.

Tolkien’s mastery of linguistics and history gives Middle Earth a sense of legitimacy that has not been surpassed by other fantasy writers. Writers interested in world building with authenticity need to give J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth a look.

The Silmarillion by J. R. R. Tolkien; Christopher Tolkien (Editor)

ISBN: 0395257301

Publication Date: 1977-09-01

Set in a time far earlier than Tolkien's master works, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, this is the epic history of the elves, and the grand story of the creation of Tolkien's magical world. The Lord of the Rings narrated the great events at the end of the Third Age; but the tales of The Silmarillion are legends deriving from a much deeper past, when Morgoth, the first Dark Lord, dwelt in Middle-earth, and the High Elves made war upon him for the recovery of the Silmarils. Never published in the author's lifetime, The Silmarillion is an essential compendium for all Tolkien fans. It will be published in five consecutive volumes, each completely unabridged. The series contains not only the Quenta Silmarillion, but four other short works: the Ainulindale, Valaquenta, Akallabeth and Of the Rings of Power.

The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien

ISBN: 9780618640157

Publication Date: 2005-10-12

Immerse yourself in Middle-earth with J.R.R. Tolkien's classic masterpieces behind the films... This special 50th anniversary edition includes three volumes of The Lord of the Rings (The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King), along with an extensive new index--a must-own tome for old and new Tolkien readers alike. One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them. In ancient times the Rings of Power were crafted by the Elven-smiths, and Sauron, the Dark Lord, forged the One Ring, filling it with his own power so that he could rule all others. But the One Ring was taken from him, and though he sought it throughout Middle-earth, it remained lost to him. After many ages it fell by chance into the hands of the hobbit Bilbo Baggins. From Sauron's fastness in the Dark Tower of Mordor, his power spread far and wide. Sauron gathered all the Great Rings to him, but always he searched for the One Ring that would complete his dominion. When Bilbo reached his eleventy-first birthday he disappeared, bequeathing to his young cousin Frodo the Ruling Ring and a perilous quest: to journey across Middle-earth, deep into the shadow of the Dark Lord, and destroy the Ring by casting it into the Cracks of Doom. The Lord of the Rings tells of the great quest undertaken by Frodo and the Fellowship of the Ring: Gandalf the Wizard; the hobbits Merry, Pippin, and Sam; Gimli the Dwarf; Legolas the Elf; Boromir of Gondor; and a tall, mysterious stranger called Strider. J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973), beloved throughout the world as the creator of The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion, was a professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford, a fellow of Pembroke College, and a fellow of Merton College until his retirement in 1959. His chief interest was the linguistic aspects of the early English written tradition, but while he studied classic works of the past, he was creating a set of his own.

The Hobbit: Pocket Edition by J. R. R. Tolkien (Illustrator)

ISBN: 9780547928241

Publication Date: 2012-09-18

A great modern classic and the prelude to The Lord of the Rings This charming pocket-sized edition contains the complete unabridged text and features the original cover illustration, painted by J.R.R. Tolkien himself. The perfect gift for little Hobbits everywhere! Bilbo Baggins is a hobbit who enjoys a comfortable, unambitious life, rarely traveling any farther than his pantry or cellar. But his contentment is disturbed when the wizard Gandalf and a company of dwarves arrive on his doorstep one day to whisk him away on an adventure. 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 on his journey to the Lonely Mountain he will encounter both a magic ring and a frightening creature known as Gollum.

The Histories by Herodotus; Robin Waterfield (Translator); Carolyn Dewald (Editor)

ISBN: 9780199535668

Publication Date: 2008-05-15

Herodotus is not only known as the `father of history', as Cicero called him, but also the father of ethnography; as well as charting the historical background to the Persian Wars, his curiosity also prompts frequent digression on the cultures of the peoples he introduces. While much of theinformation he gives has proved to be astonishingly accurate, he also entertains us with delightful tales of one-eyed men and gold-digging ants. This readable new translation is supplemented with expansive notes that provide readers the background that they need to appreciate the book in depth.* Introduction * Textual Note *Bibliography * Chronology * Appendices * Glossary * Maps * Explanatory Notes * Textual Notes * Index of Proper Names

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J.R.R. Tolkien's World Building

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