Books in Order
Home Authors Series Blog About Contact Newsletter

Order of J.R.R. Tolkien Books

J.R.R. Tolkien

J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973) was an English author renowned for his high fantasy works, including The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, among others. In addition to his writing, Tolkien was a poet, a university professor, and a philologist. His Lord of the Rings series revitalized the fantasy genre, particularly high fantasy. Both The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit have been adapted into various forms, with the most notable adaptations being the films directed by Peter Jackson. His influence endures long after his death, as his works continue to inspire fantasy writers and are celebrated through cinematic adaptations. Tolkien's poetry dates back to 1911, but his first novel, The Hobbit, or There and Back Again, was published in 1937. Below is a chronological list of J.R.R. Tolkien’s novels and other published works.

J.R.R. Tolkien became a published novelist in 1921 with the novel A Middle English Reader and Vocabulary. Below is a list of J.R.R. Tolkien's books in order of when they were originally released:

Publication Order of The Lord of the Rings Books

Book Title Year Amazon USA Amazon UK
The Hobbit (1937) Buy on Amazon.com Buy on Amazon.co.uk
The Fellowship of the Ring (1954) Buy on Amazon.com Buy on Amazon.co.uk
The Two Towers (1954) Buy on Amazon.com Buy on Amazon.co.uk
The Return of the King (1955) Buy on Amazon.com Buy on Amazon.co.uk
Bilbo's Last Song (1974) Buy on Amazon.com Buy on Amazon.co.uk

Publication Order of Middle-Earth Universe Books

Book Title Year Amazon USA Amazon UK
Tolkien's World: Paintings of Middle-Earth (1992) Buy on Amazon.com Buy on Amazon.co.uk
Poems From The Hobbit (1999) Buy on Amazon.com Buy on Amazon.co.uk

Publication Order of The History of Middle-Earth Books

Book Title Year Amazon USA Amazon UK
The Book of Lost Tales, Part One (1983) Buy on Amazon.com Buy on Amazon.co.uk
The Book of Lost Tales, Part Two (1983) Buy on Amazon.com Buy on Amazon.co.uk
The Lays of Beleriand (1985) Buy on Amazon.com Buy on Amazon.co.uk
The Shaping of Middle-earth (1986) Buy on Amazon.com Buy on Amazon.co.uk
The Lost Road and Other Writings (1987) Buy on Amazon.com Buy on Amazon.co.uk
The War of the Jewels (1994) Buy on Amazon.com Buy on Amazon.co.uk
The History of Middle Earth Index (2002) Buy on Amazon.com Buy on Amazon.co.uk
The Great Tales of Middle-Earth (2018) Buy on Amazon.com Buy on Amazon.co.uk

Publication Order of History Of The Lord Of The Rings Collections Books

Book Title Year Amazon USA Amazon UK
The Return of the Shadow (1988) Buy on Amazon.com Buy on Amazon.co.uk
The Treason of Isengard (1989) Buy on Amazon.com Buy on Amazon.co.uk
The War of the Ring (1990) Buy on Amazon.com Buy on Amazon.co.uk
Sauron Defeated (1992) Buy on Amazon.com Buy on Amazon.co.uk

Publication Order of Tales of Middle Earth Books

Book Title Year Amazon USA Amazon UK
The Children of H��rin (By: Christopher Tolkien) (2007) Buy on Amazon.com Buy on Amazon.co.uk
The Fall of Gondolin (2018) Buy on Amazon.com Buy on Amazon.co.uk
The Fall of N��menor: and Other Tales from the Second Age of Middle-earth (2022) Buy on Amazon.com Buy on Amazon.co.uk

Publication Order of Later Silmarillion Collections Books

Book Title Year Amazon USA Amazon UK
Morgoth's Ring: The Legends of Aman (1993) Buy on Amazon.com Buy on Amazon.co.uk

Publication Order of Standalone Novels Books

Book Title Year Amazon USA Amazon UK
The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun (1945) Buy on Amazon.com Buy on Amazon.co.uk
Farmer Giles of Ham (1949) Buy on Amazon.com Buy on Amazon.co.uk
Drawings by Tolkien (1976) Buy on Amazon.com Buy on Amazon.co.uk
Roverandom (1998) Buy on Amazon.com Buy on Amazon.co.uk
The Children of H��rin (2007) Buy on Amazon.com Buy on Amazon.co.uk
The Legend of Sigurd & Gudr��n (2009) Buy on Amazon.com Buy on Amazon.co.uk
The Story of Kullervo (2015) Buy on Amazon.com Buy on Amazon.co.uk
The Lost Manuscript (2016) Buy on Amazon.com Buy on Amazon.co.uk
Beren and L��thien (2017) Buy on Amazon.com Buy on Amazon.co.uk

Publication Order of Short Stories/Novellas Books

Book Title Year Amazon USA Amazon UK
Smith of Wootton Major (1967) Buy on Amazon.com Buy on Amazon.co.uk

Publication Order of Short Story Collections Books

Book Title Year Amazon USA Amazon UK
Tales from the Perilous Realm (1949) Buy on Amazon.com Buy on Amazon.co.uk
The Adventures of Tom Bombadil (1962) Buy on Amazon.com Buy on Amazon.co.uk
Tree and Leaf (1964) Buy on Amazon.com Buy on Amazon.co.uk
The Tolkien Reader (1966) Buy on Amazon.com Buy on Amazon.co.uk
Poems and Stories (1971) Buy on Amazon.com Buy on Amazon.co.uk
Letters from Father Christmas (1976) Buy on Amazon.com Buy on Amazon.co.uk
The Silmarillion (1977) Buy on Amazon.com Buy on Amazon.co.uk
Unfinished Tales of N��menor and Middle-Earth (1980) Buy on Amazon.com Buy on Amazon.co.uk
The Peoples of Middle-earth (1996) Buy on Amazon.com Buy on Amazon.co.uk
A Tolkien Miscellany (2002) Buy on Amazon.com Buy on Amazon.co.uk
The Fall of Arthur (2013) Buy on Amazon.com Buy on Amazon.co.uk
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Pearl, and Sir Orfeo (With: Christopher Tolkien) (2021) Buy on Amazon.com Buy on Amazon.co.uk
The Battle of Maldon (With: Peter Grybauskaus) (2023) Buy on Amazon.com Buy on Amazon.co.uk

Publication Order of Collections Books

Book Title Year Amazon USA Amazon UK
Pictures by J.R.R. Tolkien (With: Christopher Tolkien) (1979) Buy on Amazon.com Buy on Amazon.co.uk

Publication Order of Poetry Collections Books

Book Title Year Amazon USA Amazon UK
The Road Goes Ever On (1967) Buy on Amazon.com Buy on Amazon.co.uk

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Book Title Year Amazon USA Amazon UK
A Middle English Reader and Vocabulary (1921) Buy on Amazon.com Buy on Amazon.co.uk
Beowulf and the Critics (1936) Buy on Amazon.com Buy on Amazon.co.uk
Tolkien on Fairy-stories (1939) Buy on Amazon.com Buy on Amazon.co.uk
The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien (1981) Buy on Amazon.com Buy on Amazon.co.uk
Finn and Hengest: The Fragment and the Episode (1982) Buy on Amazon.com Buy on Amazon.co.uk
The Monsters and the Critics: The Essays of J.R.R. Tolkien (1983) Buy on Amazon.com Buy on Amazon.co.uk
Father Christmas Letters (1994) Buy on Amazon.com Buy on Amazon.co.uk
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring - Insiders' Guide (2002) Buy on Amazon.com Buy on Amazon.co.uk
The Nature of Middle-Earth (With: Carl F. Hostetter) (2021) Buy on Amazon.com Buy on Amazon.co.uk

Publication Order of Anthologies Books

Book Title Year Amazon USA Amazon UK
Over the Rainbow (1983) Buy on Amazon.com Buy on Amazon.co.uk
The Random House Book of Fantasy Stories (1997) Buy on Amazon.com Buy on Amazon.co.uk
Tales Before Narnia: The Roots of Modern Fantasy and Science Fiction (2008) Buy on Amazon.com Buy on Amazon.co.uk

If You Like J.R.R. Tolkien Books, You'll Love…

  • C.S. Lewis
  • J.K. Rowling
  • George R.R. Martin