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36th out of 63 books
—
26 voters
The Complete Guide to Middle-Earth
Now in a gorgeous new hardcover format with a four-color map of Middle-earth, this is the completely revised guide to every creature, place, and event fromthe great fantasy epic.
Hardcover, 592 pages
Published
September 30th 2003
by Del Rey
(first published July 12th 1974)
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This is certainly an indispensable companion when reading The Lord of the Rings. It is an alphabetically arranged reference guide to pretty much all of the characters, place names, and general subjects in Tolkien's Middle-Earth based books. It even has page number cross references to some of the more popular editions of the books. I reread The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit every year or two, and I find that I always get more enjoyment out of reading the books if I have this guide close by whi...more
From the First Era of Tolkien Rediscovery. Very comprehensive discussions of people, places and things. A bonus are the genealogical tables and Chronology of the First Age. Maps provide little detail beyond what Tolkien drew.
No speculation is both a virtue (straight Tolkien) and a loss (no attempt to draw on secondary sources). Highly useful whether reading the original works or reviewing Peter Jackson's efforts
No speculation is both a virtue (straight Tolkien) and a loss (no attempt to draw on secondary sources). Highly useful whether reading the original works or reviewing Peter Jackson's efforts
Sep 02, 2012
Water
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Fans of Lord of the Rings
Shelves:
hard-core-fantasy
I absolutely adore this book. It's fantastic to have around whenever anyone happens to ask me something about Lord of the Rings that I don't actually know. I love having it on hand as reference material. Speaking as someone who has had great difficulty when trying to read The Silmarillion, it really helps explain how events which took place outside of The Lord of the Rings came to pass.
I've checked this book out of my local library so many times, and I was thrilled when I finally got my own pers...more
I've checked this book out of my local library so many times, and I was thrilled when I finally got my own pers...more
This little book was indispensable to my thorough digestion of Tolkien's famous books. While it isn't completely exhaustive, it does provide a comprehensive alphabetical dictionary-like reference to the many names, places and historical references Tolkien scatters throughout his works. A must-have for any big Tolkien fan.
Wow! I was not quite sure what to expect from this, but picked it up while waiting for a copy of The Hobbit from the library. Not doing me much good without one of the novels (or all). It needs to be returned before that, so I will have to reacquire later. Looks very helpful.
This is how I got through LotR. Seriously. I'll go back and re-read LotR one day, but at the time, I had trouble keeping track of the characters. Besides being a useful reference while reading the books, it was fun to read on its own!
My whole family loves Lord of the Rings so this book was something that appealed to us all. I have to admit I used it more or less to look up things that interested me whereas my boys have read it cover to cover several times. lol
I know it might seem strange but my wife and I used this as a "baby name book". all three of our kids can be found in this book. My original copy is falling apart at the seams, but I won't be getting rid of it any time soon.
I've read this book after completely reading The Hobbit and the entire Trilogy. Came in handy when it came to recalling certain characters and places that were not stressed that much in the books. Very helpful book.
Anything you could possibly need to reference about Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, The Silmarilian, and any other book set in Middle-Earth is in this book.
Indispensable. Marry it with online resources such as the Encyclopedia of Arda and you'll be well-equipped to plunge into Tolkien full bore.
This is a reference guide. It isn't really a cover-to-cover read, though, I suppose you could do it. I really enjoyed the thoroughness of this book. Mr. Foster covers his bases through the Hobbit to the Silmarilion (sp?) and beyond. I couldn't think of anything that was missing, and I learned a little about some people, places, and things that I was shocked I didn't already know. This is a handy guide to have when reading Tolkien's works.
Contains everything you need to know about Tolkiens universe. A must have companion to any Lord of the Rings fan.
Feb 29, 2012
Jacquelyn
marked it as to-read
Old Ballantine Books paperback edition. Different cover. White with oval showing a hobbit on a boat.
It truly is set up as a dictionary! You can look up any word from LOTR, Hobbit, or Silmarillion, and it’s almost certain to be in here! I haven’t found any yet that aren’t, so. Names, locations, battles, objects, all categorized alphabetically. Page numbers for each item are also included, but even though my books are DelRey, same as this guide, the numbers don’t work – my books came out rather later, so. I have found it to be quite helpful, thought I still love the Atlas more – it would take an...more
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The Complete Guide to Middle-Earth: From the Hobbit to the Silmarillion by Robert Foster (1978)
I picked this up from the library for research purposes. It's a great book for fans of Middle-Earth. I highly recommend!
A great companion to Tolkien's works. Very thorough and easy to navigate.
Provides some interesting facts and background to the Middle Earth lore.
A truly indispensable encyclopaedia for any reader of Tolkien.
The Complete Guide to Middle-Earth by Robert Foster (2001)
The Complete Guide to Middle-Earth by Robert Foster (2001)
Great source of information about all things Middle Earth.
a MUST read along your travels thru middle-earth!!
A good basic reference work of the Lord of the Rings world.
Very Interesting and Helpful! Good Guide!
Great Guide to all things middle earth.
Very nice reference on Tolkein's Middle Earth.
Must have for the true Tolkien fan !
I love love love this book. It is so interesting so read about all the carachters who were in the books. It´s more a coffeetable book then somthing you read all at once. best money ever spend.
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Robert Foster has worked as an Assistant Professor of English at Rutgers College, New Brunswick, New Jersey. Born in Brooklyn, New York, he received his M.A. and Ph.D. in English and Medieval Studies from the University of Pennsylvania. He was a consultant to he Tolkien Society of America and his Guide to Middle-Earth, published in 1971, resulted from his work of tracing the etymology of names use...more
More about Robert Foster...
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