Third Age, 2941
The Hobbit
Released September 1937
Bilbo Baggins lives a quiet life in the Shire until the wizard Gandalf arrives with thirteen dwarves, led by Thorin Oakenshield
MIDDLE-EARTH TIMELINE
The ultimate chronological timeline for all Lord of the Rings related media
Third Age, 2941
Released September 1937
Bilbo Baggins lives a quiet life in the Shire until the wizard Gandalf arrives with thirteen dwarves, led by Thorin Oakenshield
Third Age, 2941
Released December 2012
A reluctant Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins, sets out to the Lonely Mountain with a spirited group of dwarves to reclaim their mountain home and the gold within it from the dragon Smaug.
Third Age, 2941
Released November 2003
Play as Bilbo Baggins and follow Thorin's company from Bag End to the Lonely Mountain in this adaptation of Tolkien's novel.
Third Age, 2941
Released September 1968 - November 1968
The 1968 BBC radio adaptation follows Bilbo Baggins and Thorin's company on their quest to reclaim the Lonely Mountain from the dragon Smaug.
Third Age, 2941
Released January 1989 - January 1990
Tolkien's The Hobbit retold in comic form, with David Wenzel's watercolour paintings bringing Bilbo, the dwarves and Smaug to life.
Third Age, 2941
Released December 1982
Type your way from Bag End to Smaug's lair in the classic 1982 text adventure, where Gandalf, Thorin and the goblins live their own lives.
Third Age, 2941
Released January 1979
Bilbo Baggins joins Thorin's company of dwarves on the road to the Lonely Mountain in this 1979 American radio dramatization.
Third Age, 2941
Released December 2013
The dwarves, along with Bilbo Baggins and Gandalf the Grey, continue their quest to reclaim the Lonely Mountain, their homeland, from the dragon Smaug.
Third Age, 2941
Released April 2014
Bilbo and the dwarves of Thorin's Company set out for the Lonely Mountain in this Lego adaptation of An Unexpected Journey and The Desolation of Smaug.
Third Age, 2941
Released December 2014
Bilbo Baggins and company are forced to engage in a war against an array of combatants and keep the Lonely Mountain from falling into the hands of a rising darkness.
Every Middle-earth story on one timeline: Tolkien's books, Peter Jackson's films, The Rings of Power, the animated films, the video games, the BBC radio drama and the stage musical. Sort them by in-universe date, by release date or alphabetically, and filter by media type.
Not every adaptation tells the same story, so the works are split into three timelines. The Tolkien timeline holds his own books and the adaptations that follow them closely, like the BBC radio drama. The cinematic timeline is the world of the Peter Jackson films and of the games made from them. Everything else, from The Rings of Power to Ralph Bakshi's animated film, sits on the standalone timeline.
The Age buttons narrow the list to one part of the history of Arda: the days before the First Age, the First Age and the wars against Morgoth, the Second Age and the fall of Númenor, the Third Age of the Hobbit and the War of the Ring, and the Fourth Age that follows. A work that spans several Ages shows up under each of them.
Each work has its own page with a synopsis, its release date and its place in the chronology, with links to the stories that come just before and after it.
Looking for something specific? See the Lord of the Rings watch order, the Tolkien books reading order, the games in chronological order, or where The Hunt for Gollum fits. You can also try to draw Frodo's road to Mordor.
The First Age tales (The Silmarillion, The Children of Húrin, Beren and Lúthien, The Fall of Gondolin) come first, then the Second Age (The Fall of Númenor, The Rings of Power). The Third Age follows with The War of the Rohirrim, The Hobbit and finally The Lord of the Rings.
The Hobbit takes place in the year 2941 of the Third Age. Frodo leaves Bag End in 3018, 77 years later.
Both. Each entry is placed at the in-universe date of its own story, and the films, series and games that do not follow Tolkien closely are grouped on a separate standalone timeline.