Middle-earth

In ancient Germanic mythology, the world of Men is known by several names, such as Midgard, Middenheim, Manaheim, and Middengeard. The Old English middangeard descends from an earlier Germanic word and so has cognates such as the Old Norse Miðgarðr from Norse mythology, transliterated to modern English as Midgard.[1]

The term "Middle-earth" or "middle-world," is found throughout the Modern English period[lower-alpha 1] as a development of the Middle English word middel-erde (cf. modern German Mittelerde), which developed in turn, through a process of folk etymology,[2] from middanġeard (the g being soft, like y in "yard")[3][lower-alpha 2]). By the Middle English period, middangeard was written as middellærd, midden-erde, or middel-erde, indicating that the second element had been reinterpreted, based on its similarity to the word for "earth".[2] The shift in meaning was not great, however: middangeard properly meant "middle enclosure" instead of "middle-earth";[lower-alpha 3] Nevertheless, middangeard has been commonly translated as "middle-earth" and Tolkien followed this course.

Tolkien first encountered the term middangeard in an Old English fragment he studied in 1914:

Éala éarendel engla beorhtast / ofer middangeard monnum sended.

Hail Earendel, brightest of angels / above the middle-earth sent unto men.

This quote is from the second of the fragmentary remnants of the Crist poems by Cynewulf. The name Éarendel was the inspiration for Tolkien's mariner Eärendil,[T 9] who set sail from the lands of Middle-earth to ask for aid from the angelic powers, the Valar. Tolkien's earliest poem about Eärendil, from 1914, the same year he read the Crist poems, refers to "the mid-world's rim".[5]

Tolkien considered the concept of middangeard to be the same as a particular usage of the Greek word οἰκουμένη – oikoumenē, "the abiding place of men";[T 10] by this he means it is the physical world in which Man lives out his life and destiny, as opposed to the unseen worlds above and below it, namely Heaven and Hell. Tolkien wrote:

Middle-earth is ... not my own invention. It is a modernization or alteration ... of an old word for the inhabited world of Men, the oikoumene: middle because thought of vaguely as set amidst the encircling Seas and (in the northern-imagination) between ice of the North and the fire of the South. O. English middan-geard, mediaeval E. midden-erd, middle-erd. Many reviewers seem to assume that Middle-earth is another planet.[T 11]

However, the term "Middle-earth" is not found in Tolkien's earliest writings about the subject, dating from the early 1920s and published in The Book of Lost Tales (1983–84). Nor is the term used in The Hobbit (1937).[5] Tolkien began to use the term "Middle-earth" in the late 1930s, in place of the earlier terms "Great Lands", "Outer Lands", and "Hither Lands".[5] The term "Middle-earth" appears in drafts of The Lord of the Rings, and the first published appearance of the word "Middle-earth" in Tolkien's works is in the Prologue to that work: "Hobbits had, in fact, lived quietly in Middle-earth for many long years before other folk even became aware of them."[T 12]

The term Middle-earth has come to be applied as a short-hand for the entirety of Tolkien's legendarium, instead of the technically more appropriate, but lesser known terms Arda for the physical world and Eä for the physical reality of creation as a whole. This wider use is reflected in book titles such as The Complete Guide to Middle-earth, The Road to Middle-earth, The Atlas of Middle-earth, and the series The History of Middle-earth.

Tolkien prepared several maps of Middle-earth and of the regions of Middle-earth where his stories took place. Some were published in his lifetime. The main maps are those published in The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion, and Unfinished Tales, and appear as foldouts or illustrations. Tolkien's maps have a distinct pictorial style, typically with highlands and forests portrayed realistically, as if viewed obliquely (although not to scale). The actual shapes of important individual mountains are depicted. The maps in The Lord of the Rings were developed by Tolkien in parallel with his development of the narrative. This was one of his efforts to obtain 'inner consistency' in the story; in particular so that the characters achieved realistic travel distances. Although Tolkien admitted that he was not completely successful in this process, he nevertheless insisted that maps be included in the book for the benefit of readers, and despite the additional expense, work and delays involved.[T 14]

The definitive map of Middle-earth was published in The Lord of the Rings. This iconic map incorporates all the chief locations of the main story, and also includes places from some of the background histories. This map was also published (with various additions and embellishment) as a stand-alone poster: "A Map of Middle-earth". The map does not cover all of Middle-earth, but only shows the north-west of the continent. This is made more explicit in the revised version first published in Unfinished Tales, which is titled 'The West of Middle-earth at the end of the Third Age'. Tolkien's sketch-maps of the whole world also confirm that Middle-earth is far vaster than the area depicted on the Lord of the Rings map. Thus the part of the map designated as 'Rhûn' is in fact only the western edge of that vast region; similarly the area inscribed 'Far Harad' is merely the northern extremity of Middle-earth's vast southern region.

The Ered Luin (Blue Mountains) on the upper left of the map are essentially the same range that stands on the extreme right of the map of Beleriand that is published in The Silmarillion.

Tolkien's maps focus on the regions of Middle-earth where the main stories are set. However, in The Shaping of Middle-earth, volume IV of The History of Middle-earth, Christopher Tolkien published several remarkable maps which his father had created in the latter part of the 1930s. These depict the whole world of which Middle-earth was a part: both the original flat Earth and the subsequent round world, and they also show other continents besides Middle-earth. Karen Wynn Fonstad drew from these maps to develop detailed, but non-canonical, "whole world maps" reflecting a world consistent with the historical ages depicted in The Silmarillion, The Hobbit, and The Lord of the Rings. The first maps appearing in Tolkien's published works – those in The Hobbit – were drawn entirely by the author himself. The finished versions of maps appearing in later publications were drawn by Tolkien's son Christopher, based on the detailed base-maps that his father had developed; in the case of The Lord of the Rings Tolkien supervised the process.

The developmental base-maps were later published in the History of Middle-earth series. Tolkien's early conceptions of the map of Beleriand were published as "The First Silmarillion Map" in volume 4 (The Shaping of Middle-earth) and "The Second Map of Middle-earth west of the Blue Mountains" (also known as "The Second Silmarillion Map") in volume 11 (The War of the Jewels). The author's first drafts of the map of Middle-earth in The Lord of the Rings were published as "The First Map of The Lord of the Rings" in volume 7 (The Treason of Isengard); subsequent versions were published as "The Second Map (West)" and "The Second Map (East)" in volume 8 (The War of the Ring).

Arda in the Years of the Lamps

In Tolkien's conception, Arda (the Earth) was created specifically as "the Habitation" (Imbar or Ambar) for the Children of Ilúvatar (Elves and Men). It is envisaged in a flat Earth cosmology, with the stars, and later also the sun and moon, revolving around it. Tolkien's sketches show a disc-like face for the world which looked up to the stars. However, Tolkien's legendarium addresses the spherical Earth paradigm by depicting a catastrophic transition from a flat to a spherical world, in which Aman was removed "from the circles of the world".

Middle-earth or Endor originally conformed to a largely symmetric scheme that was marred by Melkor. The various conflicts with Melkor (as well as by the action of the Valar on one occasion) resulted in the shapes of the lands being distorted. Originally, Arda began as a single flat world and the Valar created two great lamps to illuminate it, Illuin and Ormal. The Vala Aulë forged vast towers, Helcar in the north of Middle-earth, and Ringil in the south. Illuin was set upon Helcar and Ormal upon Ringil. In the middle, where the light of the lamps mingled, the Valar dwelt at the island of Almaren in the midst of a Great Lake. When Melkor destroyed the Lamps of the Valar, two vast inland seas formed at their sites (the Sea of Helcar and Sea of Ringil), but Almaren and its lake were destroyed. Arda's two main oceans, Belegaer and the Eastern Sea, were also created in this primeval epoch.

The Valar left Middle-earth for the newly-formed continent of Aman in the west, where they created Valinor. To discourage Melkor from assailing Aman, they thrust the continent of Middle-earth to the east, thus widening the ocean and raising five major mountain ranges in Middle-earth which adopted a relatively symmetrical distribution, namely the Blue, Red, Grey, Yellow Mountains and the Mountains of the Wind. This act, however, ruined the symmetry of the shape of the continents and their intervening seas.

Many centuries later, Melkor raised the Misty Mountains to impede the progress of the Vala Oromë as he hunted Melkor's beasts during the darkness in Middle-earth before the awakening of the Elves.

Additional changes occurred when the Valar assaulted Utumno, some years after the Awakening of the Elves. The North-west of Middle-earth, notably the regions west of the Blue Mountains (named Beleriand) wherein Melkor met the Valar host, was "much broken". Belegaer, the sea between Middle-earth and Aman widened further, creating among other bays one which was the Bay of Balar, the confluence of Sirion. The highland of Dorthonion and the mountains about Hithlum were also a result of the battles.

In the central region of Middle-earth, a Great Gulf (of Belegaer) was formed (the precursor to the later Bay of Belfalas). To the far south, the Inland Sea of Ringil expanded greatly and separated the southernmost part of the continent from the mainland, in effect forming the Dark Land (Hyarmenor) and the Inner Sea, linking by straits the previously separated Belegaer and Eastern Sea.

As told in The Silmarillion, most of the events of the First Age took place in the large Middle-earth region of Beleriand and its environs. Tolkien placed within the bounds of Beleriand the hidden Elven kingdoms of Doriath, ruled by King Thingol, and Gondolin, founded by Turgon. Also important was the fortress of Nargothrond, founded by the elf Finrod Felagund. In the Blue Mountains to the east were the great dwarf halls of Belegost and Nogrod. Beleriand was split into eastern and western sections by the great river Sirion. In East Beleriand was the river Gelion with its seven tributaries, which defined the Green-elf realm of Ossiriand. To the north of Beleriand lay the regions of Nevrast, Hithlum and Dor-lómin, and the Iron Mountains where Morgoth (Melkor) had his fortress of Angband. The violent struggles during the War of Wrath between the Host of the Valar and the armies of Melkor at the end of the First Age brought about the destruction of Angband, and changed the shape of Middle-earth so that most of Beleriand vanished under the sea.

In the First Age geographical changes also occurred in Aman, the continent to the west of Middle-earth. The Pelóri Mountains were raised, along with the Enchanted Isles, to make Valinor essentially impassable save by the fortified Calacirya.

Following the submergence of Beleriand at the end of the First Age, the natural geography of the continent of Middle-earth reached the form it was to maintain throughout the rest of Tolkien's legendarium, including the times in which the Akallabêth, The Hobbit, and The Lord of the Rings are set. The Changing of the World, which occurred towards the end of the Second Age and destroyed the island of Númenor, had little effect on the geography of Middle-earth itself, except that it now sat on a round Earth rather than a flat Earth.

Broadly speaking, the continent of Middle-earth is divided into the following large regions:-

• the West (or more accurately, the North-West), where most of Tolkien's Middle-earth stories are set. This area is the focus of the map of Middle-earth. It can be broadly divided into:
  • the North: Eriador and Wilderland
  • the South: Gondor, Rohan and Mordor
• Harad: the South
• Rhûn: the East
• Forodwaith: the far North

The West of Middle-earth included the regions of Eriador and Gondor, the Misty Mountains, and the vales of the great river Anduin. Eriador was bordered by the Ered Luin or Blue Mountains to the west, which bordered the sea and the Grey Havens, also called Mithlond. On the east of Eriador stood the Misty Mountains, which ran from the far north to Isengard, home of the wizard Saruman, in the south. The Misty Mountains contained the great Dwarf-halls of Khazad-dûm or Moria.

Within Eriador lay originally the kingdom of Arnor, founded by Men who had fled the destruction of Númenor (an island realm far to the west of Middle-earth). It later split into the kingdoms of Arthedain, Cardolan, and Rhudaur. These kingdoms too had long since passed into history by the time of The Lord of the Rings. Eriador also contained the Shire, homeland of the Hobbits, and the nearby settlement of Bree. Rivendell or Imladris, the home of the Half-elven Elrond also lay in Eriador, close to the western side of the Misty Mountains.

East of the Misty Mountains lay the large region called Wilderland (Rhovanion) and the great river Anduin. On its western side, between Anduin and the Misty Mountains, lay the Elvish kingdom of Lothlórien, home of the elf Galadriel, and the forest of Fangorn, home of the Ents. To the east of the Anduin lay the great forest of Mirkwood, (formerly Greenwood), and further east again were the Lonely Mountain or Erebor (seized from the Dwarves by the dragon Smaug), the town of Dale, Dorwinion, and the Iron Hills. South and east of the Misty Mountains was the kingdom of Rohan, inhabited by the allies of Gondor, and further south the kingdom of Gondor, founded like Arnor by men who escaped the destruction of the island of Númenor. East of Gondor, and surrounded by high mountains was Mordor, home of Sauron in his fortress of Barad-dûr.

South of Gondor lay the far lands of Harad and Khand, and the port of Umbar. In the far East of Middle-earth, beyond Rhovanion, was the Sea of Rhûn, on the eastern side of which dwelt the Easterling peoples. The inhabitants of all these farther lands were traditionally hostile to Gondor, and allied with Sauron at the time of The Lord of the Rings.

Tolkien described the region in which the Hobbits lived as "the North-West of the Old World, east of the Sea",[T 12] and the north-west of the Old World is essentially Europe (including Britain). However, as he noted in private letters, the geographies do not match, and he did not consciously make them match when he was writing (with the exception of a newly discovered annotated map, see below):

As for the shape of the world of the Third Age, I am afraid that was devised 'dramatically' rather than geologically, or paleontologically.[T 15]

I am historically minded. Middle-earth is not an imaginary world. The name is the modern form (appearing in the 13th century) of midden-erd>middel-erd, an ancient name for the oikoumene, the abiding place of Men, the objectively real world, in use specifically opposed to imaginary worlds (as Fairyland) or unseen worlds (as Heaven or Hell). The theatre of my tale is this earth, the one in which we now live, but the historical period is imaginary. The essentials of that abiding place are all there (at any rate for inhabitants of N.W. Europe), so naturally it feels familiar, even if a little glorified by enchantment of distance in time.[T 16]

"...if it were 'history', it would be difficult to fit the lands and events (or 'cultures') into such evidence as we possess, archaeological or geological, concerning the nearer or remoter part of what is now called Europe; though the Shire, for instance, is expressly stated to have been in this region...I hope the, evidently long but undefined gap* in time between the Fall of Barad-dûr and our Days is sufficient for 'literary credibility', even for readers acquainted with what is known as 'pre-history'. I have, I suppose, constructed an imaginary time, but kept my feet on my own mother-earth for place. I prefer that to the contemporary mode of seeking remote globes in 'space'. However curious, they are alien, and not loveable with the love of blood-kin...[T 11]

In another letter, Tolkien made correspondences in latitude (not equations) between Europe and Middle-earth:

The action of the story takes place in the North-west of 'Middle-earth', equivalent in latitude to the coastlands of Europe and the north shores of the Mediterranean. ... If Hobbiton and Rivendell are taken (as intended) to be at about the latitude of Oxford, then Minas Tirith, 600 miles south, is at about the latitude of Florence. The Mouths of Anduin and the ancient city of Pelargir are at about the latitude of ancient Troy.[T 8]

He did confirm, however, that the Shire, the land of his Hobbit heroes, was based on England:

'The Shire' is based on rural England and not any other country in the world...[T 17]

In the Prologue to The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien writes: "Those days, the Third Age of Middle-earth, are now long past, and the shape of all lands has been changed..."

The Appendices make several references in both history and etymology of topics 'now' (in modern English languages) and 'then' (ancient languages);

The year no doubt was of the same length,¹ [the footnote here reads: 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, 46 seconds.] for long ago as those times are now reckoned in years and lives of men, they were not very remote according to the memory of the Earth.[T 18]

Nodded to both in Appendices and The Silmarillion (with supporting information within the History of Middle-earth series) there are constellations and stars that correspond to the astronomy seen in the northern hemisphere of Earth, including references to the Sun, the Moon, Orion (and his belt),[T 19] Ursa Major[T 20][T 21] and other planets (described as "stars"; thus Carnil is "Mars").

A map annotated by Tolkien, discovered in October 2015 in Pauline Baynes's collection, places Hobbiton on the same latitude as Oxford, but also corresponds Minas Tirith with Ravenna, Italy. The author also used Belgrade, Cyprus, and Jerusalem as other reference points.[6] (This map is the source of locations on Baynes's poster map that aren't included on the maps printed in the books, such as Framsburg and Dorwinion.)

In Tolkien's universe, God is called Eru Ilúvatar. Tolkien created a cosmogony in which the genesis of the world was musical: in the beginning, Ilúvatar created spirits named the Ainur and taught them to make music. After the Ainur had become proficient in their skills, Ilúvatar commanded them to make a great music based on a theme of his own design. The most powerful Ainu, Melkor (later called Morgoth or "Dark Enemy" by the Elves), disrupted the theme. In response, Ilúvatar introduced new themes that enhanced the music beyond the comprehension of the Ainur. The foundation of Tolkien's creation is that the movements of their song, and the conflict in themes between Melkor and Ilúvatar, laid the seeds of much of the history of the as-yet-unmade universe and the people who were to dwell therein.[T 22]

Then Ilúvatar stopped the music and revealed its meaning to the Ainur through a vision. Moved, many of the Ainur felt a compelling urge to experience its events directly. Ilúvatar therefore created Eä, the universe itself, and some of the Ainur went into the universe to share in its experience. But upon arriving in Eä, the Ainur found that it was shapeless because they had entered at the beginning of time. The Ainur undertook great labours in these unnamed "ages of the stars", in which they shaped the universe and filled it with many things far beyond the reach of Men.[T 22]

In time, however, the Ainur formed Arda, the future abiding place of the Children of Ilúvatar: Elves and Men. Melkor and his followers entered Eä as well, and they set about ruining and undoing whatever the others did. The fifteen most powerful Ainur are called the Valar; Melkor was the most powerful, but Manwë was the leader. Each of the Valar was attracted to a particular aspect of the world that became the focus of their powers. Melkor was drawn to terrible extremes and violence – bitter cold, scorching heat, earthquakes, rendings, breakings, utter darkness, burning light etc. His power was so great that at first the Valar were unable to restrain him, until the Vala Tulkas entered Eä and tipped the balance. Driven out by Tulkas, Melkor brooded in the darkness at the outer reaches of Arda. The Valar settled in Arda to watch over it and help prepare it for the awakening of the Children.

The Years of the Lamps began shortly after the Valar finished their labours in shaping Arda. Arda began as a single flat world and the Valar created two great Lamps to illuminate it, Illuin and Ormal. Each Lamp was set on an enormous pillar in Middle-earth. In the middle, where the light of the Lamps mingled, the Valar dwelt on the island of Almaren. This period, known as the "Spring of Arda", was a time when the Valar had ordered the World as they wished and rested upon Almaren, and Melkor lurked beyond the Walls of Night. During this time animals first appeared, and forests started to grow. The Spring was interrupted when Melkor returned to Arda, and ended completely when he destroyed the Lamps of the Valar. Melkor's destruction of the two Lamps marked the end of the Years of the Lamps.

The Years of the Trees began after Melkor's destruction of the two Lamps, when the Valar left Middle-earth and retreated to the extreme western regions of Arda. There the Vala Yavanna made the Two Trees named Telperion and Laurelin to give light to their new homeland of Valinor in the land of Aman. The Trees illuminated Aman, leaving the rest of Arda (including Middle-earth) in darkness, illuminated only by the stars.

The First Age in Tolkien's history of Middle-earth began when the Elves awoke beside Lake Cuiviénen in the east of Endor (Middle-earth). The Elves were soon approached by the Valar, who requested that they leave Middle-earth and come to Aman to live beside them. Many of the Elves were persuaded to undertake the Great Journey westwards towards Aman, but not all of them completed the journey (see Sundering of the Elves). The Valar had imprisoned Melkor, but he appeared to repent and was released on parole. He sowed great discord among the Elves and stirred up rivalry between the Elven princes Fëanor and Fingolfin. He then slew their father, King Finwë, destroyed the Two Trees themselves with the aid of Ungoliant the spider, and stole the Silmarils, three extraordinarily precious gems crafted by Fëanor that contained light of the Two Trees, from their maker's vault.

Fëanor persuaded most of his people, the Noldor, to leave Aman in pursuit of Melkor to Beleriand in Middle-earth, cursing him with the name Morgoth, 'Black Enemy'. He and his sons swore an oath to recover the Silmarils at any cost. Fëanor led the first of two groups of the Noldor. The second and larger group was led by Fingolfin. The Noldor stopped at the Teleri port-city, Alqualondë, but the Teleri refused to give them ships to get to Middle-earth. The first Kinslaying ensued when Fëanor and many of his followers attacked the Teleri and stole their ships. Fëanor's host sailed on the stolen ships, leaving Fingolfin's behind. The second group had little choice but to cross over to Middle-earth through the deadly Helcaraxë (or 'Grinding Ice') in the far north. Subsequently, Fëanor was slain, but most of his sons survived and founded realms, as did Fingolfin and his heirs. Meanwhile, the Valar took the last two living fruit of the Two Trees and used them to create the Moon and Sun, which remained a part of Arda, but were separate from Ambar (the earthly world).

The Years of the Sun began when the Valar made the Sun, and it rose over Ambar, and thereafter time in the First Age was counted from the date of its rising. After several great battles, a Long Peace ensued for four hundred years, during which time the first Men, the Edain, entered Beleriand by crossing over the Blue Mountains. When Morgoth broke the siege of Angband, one by one, the Elven kingdoms fell, even the hidden city of Gondolin. The only measurable success achieved by Elves and Men came when Beren of the Edain and Lúthien, daughter of Thingol and Melian, retrieved a Silmaril from the crown of Morgoth. Afterward, Beren and Lúthien died, and were restored to life by the Valar with the understanding that Lúthien was to become mortal and Beren should never be seen by Men again.

Thingol quarrelled with the Dwarves of Nogrod and they slew him, stealing the Silmaril. Beren waylaid the dwarves and recovered the Silmaril, which he gave to Lúthien. Soon afterwards, both Beren and Lúthien died again. The Silmaril was given to their son Dior Half-elven, who had restored the Kingdom of Doriath. The sons of Fëanor demanded that Dior surrender the Silmaril to them, and he refused. The Fëanorians destroyed Doriath and killed Dior in the second Kinslaying, but Dior's young daughter Elwing escaped with the jewel. Three sons of Fëanor—Celegorm, Curufin, and Caranthir—died trying to retake the jewel.

By the end of the age, all that remained of the free Elves and Men in Beleriand was a settlement at the mouth of the River Sirion. Among them was Eärendil, who married Elwing. But the Fëanorians again demanded the Silmaril be returned to them, and after their demand was rejected they resolved to take the jewel by force, leading to the third Kinslaying. Eärendil and Elwing took the Silmaril across the Great Sea, to beg the Valar for pardon and aid. The Valar responded. Melkor was captured, most of his works were destroyed, and he was banished beyond the confines of the world into the Door of Night.

The Silmarils were recovered at a terrible cost, as Beleriand itself was broken and began to sink under the sea. Fëanor's last remaining sons, Maedhros and Maglor, were ordered to return to Valinor. They proceeded to steal the Silmarils from the victorious Valar. But, as with Melkor, the Silmarils burned their hands and they then realized they were not meant to possess them, and that their oath was null. Each of the brothers met his fate: Maedhros threw himself with the Silmaril into a chasm of fire, and Maglor threw his Silmaril into the sea. Thus, one Silmaril ended in the sky, worn by Eärendil, a second in the earth, and the third in the sea.

At the beginning of the Second Age, the Edain and many Elves left Middle-earth. The Edain settled in Númenor, a large island in the Great Sea and far to the west of Middle-earth, while the Elves were welcomed into the Undying Lands, even further west. The Númenóreans became great seafarers, and, in their days of glory, came back to Middle-earth to teach the lesser men great skills. However, as the power of the Númenóreans increased, they ruled over the Men of Middle-earth, instead of helping them.

After a few centuries, Sauron, Morgoth's most powerful servant and chief captain, began to organize evil creatures in the eastern lands. He also persuaded Elven-smiths in Eregion to create Rings of Power, and secretly forged the One Ring to control the other Rings. But the Elves became aware of Sauron's plan as soon as he put the One Ring on his hand, and they removed their own Rings before he could master their wills.

During this time, the Shadow grew over Númenor, as kings no longer laid down their lives when they had lived to the fullest, but rather clung greedily to life. Númenor, ever thankful to Eru Ilúvatar and the Valar in the past, now neglected to pay tribute, growing ever more restless about the Doom of Man, the curse of mortality. The people of Númenor became divided between the King's Men, those who would see the power and dominion of Númenor grow and their gratitude towards the Elves and Valar wane, and the Faithful, who still maintained their ties with the Elves, and still paid heed to the words of Eru.

With his newfound might and growing dominion over Middle-earth, Sauron claimed that he was the King of Men. Ar-Pharazôn, the last king of Númenor, thinking that none but he should have this title, sailed to Middle-earth with an army to challenge Sauron's claim. Sauron, seeing the might of Númenor at its noontide, knew that he could not stand against them. So he allowed himself to be captured and taken back to Númenor as a hostage. Soon, Sauron's deceit and fair-seeming words won him favour with the King. He lied to the King, and told him that Melkor, Lord of Darkness, was the true God and that Eru was but an invention of the Valar. Thus began the persecution of the Faithful, who were sacrificed in the name of Melkor. Finally, as Ar-Pharazôn grew old, Sauron, using the power of the One Ring, convinced the King that none, not even the Valar (the lords of the Undying Lands in the far west), could challenge the might of Númenor, and that the King should assail the Undying Lands, and achieve immortality by setting foot there. Ar-Pharazôn, fearing death, assembled a massive fleet and set sail for the Undying Lands. Elendil and his sons Isildur and Anárion kept the Faithful out of the coming war and made preparations to flee in nine ships.

The Downfall of Númenor and the Changing of the World.[7] The outlines of the continents are purely schematic.

Before the end of the Second Age, when the Men of Númenor rebelled against the Valar due to the deceits of Sauron, Ilúvatar destroyed Númenor, separated the Undying Lands from the rest of Arda, and formed new lands, making the world round. When the King's forces landed in the Undying Lands, the Valar called for Ilúvatar to intervene. The world was changed, so that the Undying Lands were removed from Imbar. From that time onward, Men could no longer find the Undying Lands, but Elves seeking passage in specially hallowed ships received the grace of using the Straight Road, which led from Middle-earth's seas to the seas of the Undying Lands. The mighty fleet of Ar-Pharazôn and the land of Númenor, were utterly destroyed, and with it the fair body of Sauron; but his spirit endured and fled back to Middle-earth. Elendil and his followers also escaped to Middle-earth, and founded the realms of Gondor and Arnor.

Sauron soon rose again, but the Elves allied with the Men to form the Last Alliance and defeated him. In a siege that lasted years, Gil-galad, High King of the Elves; Elendil, the ruler of Gondor and Arnor; and Anárion, son of Elendil; were slain, as was Sauron's body. Elendil's other son Isildur finally cut the One Ring from Sauron's hand with his father's sword, diminishing Sauron's power and making his spirit flee once again, and thus achieving victory and peace for a time. But Isildur refused to destroy the One Ring in the fires of Mount Doom, against all advice, and took it as a weregild for his father and brother. However, the Ring soon betrayed him when it abandoned him during an ambush of Orcs at the Gladden Fields; Isildur was slain and the Ring was lost in the Anduin for over two thousand years.

The Third Age in Middle-earth saw the rise in power of the realms of Arnor and Gondor, and their decline.

Tolkien's most widely-read novels, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, are set towards the end of the Third Age. By the time of The Lord of the Rings, Sauron had recovered much of his former strength, and was seeking the One Ring. He learned that it was in the possession of a Hobbit and sent out the nine Ringwraiths to retrieve it. The Ring-bearer, Frodo Baggins, travelled to Rivendell, where it was decided that the Ring had to be destroyed in the only way possible: casting it into the fires of Mount Doom. Frodo set out on the quest with eight companions—the Fellowship of the Ring. At the last moment, he failed, but with the intervention of the creature Gollum—who had been saved by the pity of Frodo and Bilbo Baggins—the Ring was nevertheless destroyed. Frodo with his companion Sam Gamgee were hailed as heroes. Sauron was destroyed and his spirit forever dissipated.

The end of the Third Age marked the end of the dominion of the Elves and the beginning of the dominion of Men.

As the Fourth Age began, many of the Elves who had lingered in Middle-earth left for Valinor, never to return; those who remained behind would "fade" and diminish. The Dwarves returned in large numbers to Moria and resettled it, though they eventually dwindled away as well. Under King Elessar of Gondor (Aragorn of the Dúnedain), peace was restored between Gondor and the lands to the south and east.

In this age King Elessar bans humans from entering the Shire, allowing the Hobbits to live peaceful and unmolested lives. Elessar and Queen Arwen die at almost the same time, and the kingdom is passed to their son.

Tolkien started a story to be known as The New Shadow set several generations after King Elessar in which a new evil had arisen, men playing at orcs, and which the protagonist follows one of the cultists to learn more about them, before the thirty pages of the draft abruptly stops. Tolkien never finished the story, as he regarded it merely as a "thriller".[T 23]

The Ainur were angelic beings created by Ilúvatar. The cosmological myth called the Ainulindalë, or "Music of the Ainur", describes how the Ainur sang for Ilúvatar, who then created Eä to give material form to their music. Many of the Ainur entered Eä, and the greatest of these were called the Valar. Melkor, the chief agent of evil in Eä, and later called Morgoth, was initially one of the Valar.

With the Valar came lesser spirits of the Ainur, called the Maiar. Melian, the wife of the Elven King Thingol in the First Age, was a Maia. There were also evil Maiar, called Umaiar, including the Balrogs and the second Dark Lord, Sauron. Sauron devised the Black Speech (Burzum) for his slaves (such as Orcs) to speak. In the Third Age, a number of the Maiar were embodied and sent to Middle-earth to help the free peoples to overthrow Sauron. These are the Istari (or Wise Ones, called Wizards by Men), including Gandalf, Saruman, Radagast, Alatar and Pallando.[T 24]

The Elves are known as "the Firstborn" of Ilúvatar: intelligent beings created by Ilúvatar alone. There are many different clans of Elves, but the main distinction is between the Calaquendi or Light Elves and the Moriquendi or Dark Elves. Tolkien's work The Silmarillion tells of how the race of Elves awoke in Cuiviénen in eastern Middle-earth. The Valar came to Middle-earth soon afterwards, and invited the Elves to come and live with them in their home in Aman, the continent to the west of Middle-earth. Those elves who accepted and began the Great Journey to Aman from their birthplace of Cuiviénen were called the Eldar or the Middle-earth Eldar. The elves who completed the journey were sometimes called the Light Elves because they saw the magical Light of the Two Trees, the source of light in Aman. Those elves who refused the offer were called the Avari, and the Eldar who tired of the long journey west and remained behind in Middle-earth were called the Dark Elves because they would never see the Light of the Two Trees. Generally Dark Elves were considered less powerful than Light Elves, but the term 'Dark' did not imply they were in any way evil. In later years some of the Light Elves (chiefly the Noldor clan) returned to Middle-earth, mainly on a quest to retrieve precious jewels called the Silmarils, stolen from them by Morgoth.

Originally Elves all spoke the same Common Eldarin ancestral tongue, but after the long separation of thousands of years it diverged into different languages. The two main Elven languages were Quenya, spoken by the Light Elves, and Sindarin, spoken by the Sindar, the Dark Elves who stayed behind in Beleriand as mentioned above. Tolkien compared the use of Quenya in Middle-earth as like Latin, with Sindarin as the common speech. The Teleri of Valinor spoke Telerin, which was very close to Quenya but generally considered a distinct language and not a dialect.

Physically the Elves resemble humans almost identically; indeed, they are arguably the same species, as they can marry and have children (though this is extremely rare and the Half-elven are very famous as a result). However the Elves have a more ethereal and less visceral nature, and their bodies "fade" into their spirits, to the point that any Elves alive today would be totally ghostlike and invisible to most Humans.

The Elves are very agile and quick footed. They are generally somewhat taller than Men. They are also extremely well coordinated, as is evident in The Fellowship of the Ring, when the elves walk across the tightrope in the woods of Lothlórien. Their eyesight is hawk like and they are also said to glow with light. Another example is when the Fellowship take the pass of Caradhras, where Legolas is able to walk across the deep snow without falling through. Though they can be killed, Elves are immortal, and when they reach maturity they appear to cease ageing (though they do continue to physically age, just at a rate so slow as to be almost imperceptible, such as in Círdan's case). They are also re-embodied in Valinor if they are slain or die in an accident, and in the first and second ages, had the ability to return to Middle Earth exactly as they were previously, though they very seldom opted to do so. Their ears are pointed to a slight extent.

In Tolkien's writings the elves have been divided in several subgroups described in English as high elves, light-elves, fair-elves, deep elves, sea-elves, green-elves, wood-elves (sylvan elves), dark elves, grey-elves, and the special category half-elves. In the languages of the Elves there are additional subgroups under the above categories.

Men were "the Secondborn" of the Children of Ilúvatar: they awoke in Middle-earth later (indeed much later) than the Elves. Men (and Hobbits) were the last humanoid race to appear in Middle-earth: Dwarves, Ents and Orcs also preceded them. The capitalized term "Man" (plural "Men") is used as a gender-neutral racial description, to distinguish humans from the other human-like races of Middle-earth.

In appearance they are much like Elves, but on average less beautiful. Unlike Elves, Men are mortal, ageing and dying quickly, usually living 40–80 years. However the Númenóreans could live several centuries, and their descendants the Dúnedain also tended to live longer than regular humans. Nevertheless, except in a few purer houses, this tendency was weakened both by time and by intermingling with lesser peoples.

The Men involved in Tolkien's stories are mainly the Edain and their descendants. Originally the Edain were three tribes of Men who allied themselves with the Elves of Beleriand in the First Age. As a reward for their loyalty and suffering in the Wars of Beleriand, the Edain were given a new home on Númenor, a large island in the ocean far to the west of Middle-earth. Eventually, near the end of the Second Age, Númenor was destroyed, and a remnant of the Númenóreans established realms in the northern lands of Middle-earth. Those who remained faithful to the Valar founded the kingdoms of Arnor and Gondor. These Men were then known as the Dúnedain. Other Númenórean survivors, still devoted to evil but living far to the south, became known as the Black Númenóreans.

The languages spoken by Men include Adûnaic – spoken by the Númenóreans, Westron – the 'Common Speech' – represented by English, and Rohirric – spoken by the Rohirrim – represented in The Lord of the Rings by Old English.

At the end of the Third Age and the beginning of the Fourth, the King of Gondor is Aragorn. Other notable Men in The Lord of the Rings are Théoden, Éowyn, and Éomer of Rohan, and the brothers Boromir and Faramir of Gondor.

Beorn appears in The Hobbit as a huge man with the ability to transform into a bear. Beorn often left home for days at a time to fight the enemies threatening the forest people. His origins lay in the distant past; Gandalf suspected that he and his people originally came from the mountains. Beorn is the ancestor of the Beornings, who live in the north at the end of the Third Age, allied with the Woodsmen of Mirkwood.

The Dwarves are a race of humanoids shorter than Men, and larger than Hobbits. They are mortal like Men, but live much longer, usually several hundred years. A peculiarity of Dwarves is that both males and females are bearded, and thus appear identical to outsiders. The language spoken by Dwarves is called Khuzdul, and was kept largely as a secret language for their own use. Like Men and Hobbits, Dwarves live exclusively in Middle-earth. They generally reside under mountains, where they are specialists in mining and metalwork.

The Dwarves are said to have been created by the Vala Aulë, who offered to destroy them when Ilúvatar confronted him. The seven Dwarf Fathers had no true life as created by Aulë, but were tied to his power. When Ilúvatar saw that Aulë had created the Dwarves in a desire to see Ilúvatar's vision fulfilled and not out of a desire for power or domination of Aulë's will, Ilúvatar brought true life to the seven Dwarf fathers. He forgave Aulë's transgression and adopted the Dwarves as his own. His only condition was that they were not allowed to awaken before the Elves. Therefore, the Dwarves' creator Aulë laid them to sleep in widely separated hidden mountain locations in northern Middle-earth, and there they remained in suspended animation until after the Elves had awoken. These dwarves were known as the Seven Fathers of the Dwarves, who (along with their mates) went on to found the seven kindreds of Dwarves when they awoke.

The first dwarf to awake was Durin the father of the Longbeards, the oldest and wisest kindred of the Dwarves, and the main focus of Tolkien's stories. Durin founded the greatest Dwarf kingdom called Khazad-dûm, later known as Moria, in the Misty Mountains. The Dwarves spread throughout northern Middle-earth and each kindred founded its own kingdom. Only two other of these kingdoms are mentioned by Tolkien, Nogrod and Belegost in the Blue Mountains. These were the home of the Firebeards and the Broadbeams, who were allies of the Elves of Beleriand against Morgoth in the First Age.

The Silmarillion introduces the Petty-dwarves who were diminutive even by Dwarvish standards. They had been exiled from several of the Dwarf houses. They were hunted by the elves, leading to their eventual extinction. They had other cultural differences including that they were more unsociable, and freely gave out their Khuzdul names to outsiders.

Of the races, Dwarves are the most resistant to corruption and influence of Morgoth and later Sauron. The seven rings of Power of the dwarves did not turn them to evil, but it did amplify their greed and lust for gold. The Dwarves' resistance to corruption is perhaps explained by their origin as the creations of Aulë and not being created by or original children in Ilúvatar's vision. It is said that very few wilfully served the side of darkness. Of those who did very little was written.[8] Of the seven houses few fought on either side during the Last Alliance at the end of the Second Age, and is known that none from the House of Durin ever fought on the side of evil.[T 25]

During the early parts of the Third Age (or at least in legends of the previous), it is known that in some places wicked dwarves had made alliances with Orcs.[T 26] It is suggested by Tolkien in some of his notes that of the dwarves that turned to wickedness they most likely came from the Dwarves of the far eastern mansions (and perhaps some of the nearer ones) came under the Shadow of Morgoth and turned to evil. It is however unclear if these refer to Dwarves beyond Iron Hills (the most eastern known stronghold of the Dwarves).[T 27] Because Dwarves are not evil by nature, few ever served the Enemy of their own free will (though rumours of Men suggest the total was greater).[T 28]

Tolkien identified Hobbits as an offshoot of the race of Men. Another name for Hobbit is 'Halfling', as they were generally only half the size of Men (Men in those times usually grew to six feet (ca. 180 cm) in height, and a Hobbit would be only three or four feet (ca. 90–120 cm) tall). In their lifestyle and habits they closely resemble Men, except for their preference for living in holes underground.

Although their origins and ancient history are not known, Tolkien implied that they settled in the Anduin |Vales of Anduin early in the Third Age, but after a thousand years the Hobbits began migrating west over the Misty Mountains into Eriador. Eventually, many Hobbits settled in the Shire and in nearby Bree. Tolkien says that there were three kinds of Hobbit: the Stoors, Fallohides and Harfoots.

The hobbits who appear most prominently in Tolkien's stories are Bilbo Baggins and his nephew Frodo Baggins, who each have an important role in the quest to destroy the One Ring of Power forged by Sauron; another is Sméagol, who took the One Ring after it was found in the Anduin. Frodo is told by Gandalf that Sméagol was part of a Hobbit-like riverfolk, but long possession of the ring corrupted and deformed him into the creature Gollum.

By the time of The Lord of the Rings Hobbits had long spoken the Mannish tongue Westron, though their dialect of Westron indicates that they formerly spoke a language akin to that of the Men of Rohan.

The Ents were shepherds of trees. They were created by Ilúvatar at the request of Yavanna, to protect trees from the depredations of Elves, Dwarves, and Men. When the Elves first awoke, they "desired to converse with all things", and taught the Ents to speak. The Ents developed their own peculiar "Entish" language, which was impossible for other races to learn due to its long descriptive phrases for even the smallest things. Nevertheless, the Ents could learn other races' languages and were able to communicate with others that way. Huorns were intermediate in form between Ents and trees: Ents that were "falling asleep" or trees that were becoming wildly active; they bore a deep antagonism toward orcs. By the time of The Lord of the Rings the Ents were a dwindling race, as the Entwives had left the Ents and disappeared. In The Lord of the Rings, the Ents, led by Treebeard, the oldest Ent, were instrumental in defeating Saruman by destroying his fortress of Isengard, and the Huorns destroyed his army of orcs.

Orcs and Trolls were evil creatures bred by Morgoth. They were not original creations but rather "mockeries" of the Children of Ilúvatar and Ents, since only Ilúvatar has the ability to give conscious life to things. The precise origins of Orcs and Trolls are unclear, as Tolkien considered various possibilities and sometimes changed his mind, leaving several inconsistent accounts. The Hobbit speaks of Goblins and Hobgoblins, and a note at the beginning of most editions explains that "orc" and "goblin" are synonymous, while "hobgoblin" refers to orcs of larger size. Late in the Third Age, the Uruks or Uruk-hai appeared: a race of Orcs of great size and strength that tolerate sunlight better than ordinary Orcs.

Tolkien also mentions "Men-orcs" and "Orc-men"; or "half-orcs" or "goblin-men". They share some characteristics with Orcs (like "slanty eyes") but are described as looking more like men. Some appear at the battle of Helm's Deep and in The Scouring of the Shire, where it is recalled that similar-looking men were seen earlier causing trouble in Bree.

Trolls were made from stone. The Ent Treebeard describes them in The Lord of the Rings as "mockeries of Ents, they are stupid creatures, foul mouthed and brutal". Daylight turned such "stone trolls" back into stone. In "Roast Mutton" in The Hobbit, three trolls catch Bilbo and his Dwarf companions, and plan on eating them; but they are turned back to stone by the light of dawn before they get the chance. Tolkien also describes a race of trolls bred by Sauron called the 'Olog-hai' who were larger and stronger than ordinary trolls, and who could endure daylight. Other varieties mentioned include cave-trolls, hill-trolls, mountain-trolls (which dwarf all other troll kinds), and snow-trolls. In The Hobbit, Gandalf alludes to trolls that have more than one head: "I am afraid trolls do behave like that, even those with only one head each." Some soldiers from Far Harad are described as Half-trolls or troll-men.

Stone-giants appear in The Hobbit fighting one another in the valleys of the Misty Mountains. No further reference is made to them in any other of Tolkien's writings. In The Hobbit, Bilbo remembers stories of giants and ogres, and thinks of them when trying to solve one of Gollum's riddles.[T 29] Giants are mentioned in passing throughout The Lord of the Rings, sometimes in poetic passages. Frodo mistakes the Argonath for giants before seeing that they are just statues, and both Helm's Deep and Minas Tirith were reputedly built by giants.

Dragons (or "worms") appear in several varieties, distinguished by whether they have wings and whether they breathe fire (cold-drakes versus fire-drakes). The first of the fire-drakes (Urulóki in Quenya)[T 30] was Glaurung the Golden, bred by Morgoth in Angband, and called "The Great Worm", "The Worm of Morgoth", and "The Father of Dragons". Glaurung played a decisive part in the battles of Morgoth against the Elves in the First Age, and directed the defeat of Nargothrond, but was eventually slain by Túrin. Winged dragons first appeared in the Great Battle at the end of the First Age, led by Ancalagon the Black, the mightiest of that host. In that battle he was slain by Eärendil.[T 31] Gandalf avers, however, that even the fire of Ancalagon was not sufficiently hot to destroy Sauron's One Ring.

In the Third Age lived Scatha the Worm,[T 32] "the great dragon of the Ered Mithrin" or Grey Mountains,[T 33] He owned a large hoard of dwarf-treasure, but was killed by Fram of the Éothéod in the North not long after the dwarves were driven from Moria. The dwarves demanded their treasure back, but Fram gave them only a necklace made of Scatha's teeth.[T 33] Subsequently, many dwarves settled in the Grey Mountains; but dragons multiplied there, and a great cold-drake killed Dain I (whereupon his heir Thrór, grandfather of Thorin Oakenshield, returned to re-establish the Kingdom under the Mountain at Erebor).[T 34] After nearly two centuries, that kingdom was destroyed by Smaug, a flying fire-drake, who was later killed by Bard the Bowman in The Hobbit. The Hobbit also refers in passing to "Were-worms in the Last Desert" (in the "East of East"), and to stone dragons.

Sapient animals also appear in Middle-earth, such as the Eagles, Huan the Great Hound from Valinor and the wolf-like Wargs. The Eagles were created by Ilúvatar along with the Ents, and the Wargs were possibly descendants of earlier werewolves, but in general the origins and nature of these animals are unclear. Giant spiders such as Shelob descended from Ungoliant, of unknown origin. Other sapient species include the Crebain, evil crows who become spies for Saruman, and the Ravens of Erebor, who brought news to the Dwarves. Vampires are mentioned briefly in The Silmarillion (possibly equivalent to large bats who aided the Goblins and Wargs in The Hobbit). The horse-line of the Mearas of Rohan also appear to be intelligent and understand human speech. Beorn had a number of animal friends about his house. The Badger-folk are introduced in The Adventures of Tom Bombadil. They are said to live between the Barrow-downs and the Old Forest. In one story they capture Tom Bombadil. In another poem Bombadil speaks with various local birds and other animals.

In a letter to his son Christopher Tolkien, J. R. R. Tolkien set out his policy regarding film adaptations of his works: "Art or Cash".[T 35] He sold the film rights for The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings to United Artists in 1969 after being faced with a sudden tax bill. They are currently in the hands of Middle-earth Enterprises, formerly known as Tolkien Enterprises. The Tolkien Estate retains the film rights to The Silmarillion and other works.

The first adaptation to be shown was The Hobbit in 1977, an animated film made by Rankin-Bass studios. This was initially shown on United States television.

The following year (1978), a movie entitled The Lord of the Rings was released, produced and directed by Ralph Bakshi; it was an adaptation of the first half of the story, using rotoscope animation. Although the film was relatively faithful to the story and a commercial success, its critical response (from critics, readers and non-readers alike) was mixed.

An Air New Zealand Boeing 777-300ER with "The Airline of Middle-earth" livery to promote the film The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, at London Heathrow Airport.

In 1980, Rankin-Bass produced an animated TV movie covering roughly the last half of The Lord of the Rings, called The Return of the King. However, this did not follow on directly from the end of the Bakshi film.

Plans for a live-action version of The Lord of the Rings would wait until the late 1990s to be realized. These were directed by Peter Jackson and funded by New Line Cinema, and produced in New Zealand with backing from the government and banking system.

• The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
• The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
• The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)

The trilogy was a box office and critical success. The three films won seventeen Oscars altogether (at least one in each applicable category for a fictional, English language, live-action feature film, except in the acting categories).

The Hobbit (film series), a live-action adaptation of The Hobbit, was made as a prequel to The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, produced in New Zealand under the direction of Peter Jackson. Although Tolkien's novel The Hobbit is a single book, unlike The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit film series is a trilogy like The Lord of the Rings film series. The films were released in December 2012, December 2013, and December 2014.

• The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)
• The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013)
• The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014)

In 2017, it was announced that a TV series by Amazon will serve as a prequel to the events of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. It was later clarified that this show will take place in the early Second Age, during the Forging of the Great Rings,[9] and will alledgedly be in the same cinematic universe as the live-action films.[10]

The works of Tolkien have been a major influence on role-playing games along with others such as Robert E. Howard, Fritz Leiber, H. P. Lovecraft, and Michael Moorcock. Although the most famous game to be inspired partially by the setting was Dungeons & Dragons, there have been two specifically Middle-earth based and licensed games. These are the Lord of the Rings Roleplaying Game from Decipher Inc. and the Middle-earth Role Playing game (MERP) and Middle Earth the Wizards CCG from Iron Crown Enterprises.

A Middle-Earth Play-By-Mail game was originally created in 1990[11] by Game Systems, Inc. under license by Tolkien Enterprises[12] and is still produced.[13] This play-by-email game was inducted into the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design's Hall of Fame in 1997.

Simulations Publications created three war games based on Tolkien's work. War of the Ring covered most of the events in The Lord of the Rings. Gondor focused on the battle of Pelennor Fields, and Sauron covered the Second Age battle before the gates of Mordor. The three games above were then released together as the Middle Earth game trilogy. Iron Crown Enterprises published The Fellowship of the Ring. A board game also called War of the Ring has been published by Fantasy Flight Games.

EA Games has released games based on the Jackson movies for the gaming consoles and the PC. These include the platformers The Two Towers, The Return of the King, the real-time strategy game The Battle for Middle-earth, its sequel The Battle for Middle-earth II and its expansion The Battle for Middle-earth II: The Rise of the Witch-King—which puts you in control of the warriors of Angmar, the home of the Witch-king, and the role-playing game The Third Age. Also recently, Pandemic Studios, famous creators of the Star Wars: Battlefront series worked with EA to create The Lord of the Rings: Conquest, a game with a similar system to Battlefront. The game has mixed reviews but overall was successfully accepted. Traveller's Tales games developed Lego The Hobbit and before that Lego The Lord of the Rings. The games were based on the films, but their worlds and characters were almost entirely made of LEGO bricks.

Book-based games (officially licensed from Tolkien Enterprises) include Vivendi's own platformer, The Fellowship of the Ring, and Sierra's own real-time strategy game, War of the Ring, and the many games based on The Hobbit.

Some games take place in between Tolkien's two major works (The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings), such as Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor. In this game players take on the role of Talion, a slain Ranger of Gondor, trapped between life and death. He is aided by the wraith of Celebrimbor. Together they must sow chaos throughout the armies and servants of the second Dark Lord, Sauron.

Turbine (now a subsidiary of Warner Bros.) released the first Middle-earth-based graphical massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG): The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar in April 2007. Since then, there have been five major expansions of the game, each adding large portions of the Middle-earth landscape.

• Shadows of Angmar (original game release): Featured The Shire, Rivendell, Bree, and most of the lands of northern Eriador. Evendim and Forochel were added later, but they were not considered a major expansion of the game.
• Mines of Moria: Added Eregion, Moria, and Lothlórien.
• Siege of Mirkwood: Added southern Mirkwood (including Dol Guldur), and Enedwaith.
• Rise of Isengard: Added Dunland, the Gap of Rohan, Isengard, and the Great River area south of Lothlorien.
• Riders of Rohan: Added the area of Rohan east of the Entwash, including the Wold, the East Wall, the Norcrofts, the Sutcrofts, the Entwash Vale, and in a game update the region of Wildermore.
• Helm's Deep: Added the area of Rohan west of the Entwash, linking it to the Gap of Rohan, and including Edoras and the fortress of Helm's Deep.

Aside from officially licensed games, many Tolkien-inspired mods, custom maps and total conversions have been made for many games, such as Warcraft III, Minecraft,[14] Rome: Total War, Medieval II: Total War, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

Moreover, the Middle-Earth DEM Project seeks to create a highly detailed model of middle earth by using various middle-earth maps to map every feasible aspect of the fictional world such as rivers, vegetation and buildings for their dataset compiled for the Outerra game engine.

In addition, there are many text-based MMORPGs (known as MU*s) based on Tolkien's Middle-earth. The oldest of these dates back to 1991, and was known as Middle-Earth MUD, run by using LPMUD.[15] After Middle-Earth MUD ended in 1992, it was followed by Elendor[16] and MUME (Multi Users in Middle-earth).[17]

Climatologists from the University of Bristol actually simulated what the weather would be like in author J.R.R. Tolkien's fictional world of Middle-earth from The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy.[18] Richard Pancost, one of the scientists who worked on the climate model, pointed out in a press release: "Because climate models are based on fundamental scientific processes, they are able not only to simulate the climate of the modern Earth, but can also be easily adapted to simulate any planet, real or imagined, so long as the underlying continental positions and heights, and ocean depths are known."

There are allusions to Middle-earth in other works by Tolkien, and in the work of other writers both before and after him. William Morris's translation of the Volsung Saga calls the world "Midgard".[19] An early usage in modern English is the poem "The Gray Magician" (1918) by Margaret Widdemer:

"I was living very merrily on Middle Earth
As merry as a maid may be
Till the Gray Magician came down along the road
And flung his cobweb cloak on me..."[20]

C. S. Lewis's Space Trilogy, calls the home planet "Middle-earth". Lewis's novels are situated at the approximate time of World War II, with the last novel, That Hideous Strength, set in post-war England, and they specifically refer to Tolkien's legendarium (at that time largely unpublished), treating these references as primary fact within Lewis's fiction. Merlin, of King Arthur fame, is treated as a successor to the Atlantis magic found within "Numinor" (Lewis's unintentional misspelling of Númenor), and similarities can also be found in the Quenya name for Númenor, which is Atalantë, and Lewis specifically references the earth as Middle-earth twice, both in Chapter 13, "They Have Pulled Down Deep Heaven on Their Heads". Lewis's borrowings came directly from Tolkien himself: they were close friends and shared each other's literary creations. Lewis encouraged Tolkien to persevere with his Middle-earth writings.

This list identifies each item's location in Tolkien's writings.