A Middle English Vocabulary
Published 1922
Tolkien's very first book: a glossary of Middle English words written for students of Kenneth Sisam's anthology of fourteenth century texts.
MIDDLE-EARTH TIMELINE
Tolkien did not only write about Middle-earth. He was a professor of Old and Middle English at Oxford, he translated medieval poems, and he wrote stories for his children long before The Hobbit. This page lists his other books in order of publication, from his first academic work in 1922 to his collected poems in 2024.
The list follows the Tolkien Society's bibliography of books by Tolkien. His Middle-earth books are on the Tolkien books timeline, and books written about him are listed under books about Tolkien.
Published 1922
Tolkien's very first book: a glossary of Middle English words written for students of Kenneth Sisam's anthology of fourteenth century texts.
Published 1925
Tolkien and E.V. Gordon's edition of the Middle English Arthurian poem, which became the standard student text for decades.
Published 1949
A reluctant farmer, a talkative dog, a sword called Tailbiter and a cunning dragon in Tolkien's comic tale of the Little Kingdom.
Published 1962
Tolkien's edition of the English text of Ancrene Wisse, a thirteenth century guide for anchoresses, from the Cambridge manuscript.
Published 1964
Tolkien's essay On Fairy-Stories and his short story Leaf by Niggle, gathered in one small volume.
Published 1967
Donald Swann sets Tolkien's poems to music, with Tolkien's own notes on the Elvish songs.
Published 1967
A boy swallows a fairy star hidden in a cake and, as the village smith, is allowed to wander in the land of Faery.
Published 1975
Tolkien's verse translations of three Middle English poems: the Arthurian Sir Gawain, the dream vision Pearl and the fairy lay Sir Orfeo.
Published 1976
The illustrated letters Tolkien wrote to his children every Christmas as Father Christmas, telling of life at the North Pole.
Published 1979
A collection of Tolkien's own paintings and drawings, with a foreword and notes by Christopher Tolkien.
Published 1981
Some 350 letters by Tolkien, full of insights into his life, his scholarship and the making of Middle-earth.
Published 1982
Tolkien's study of the Finnsburg fight, an Old English tale of Danes and Frisians, and of the hero Hengest.
Published 1982
Tolkien's text, translation and commentary of the Old English poem about the crossing of the Red Sea, edited from his lecture notes.
Published 1982
A man with tall hats, a new motor car and three bears: Tolkien's own illustrated picture book for children.
Published 1983
Seven lectures and essays by Tolkien, from his famous lecture on Beowulf to On Fairy-Stories and A Secret Vice.
Published 1997
Tolkien's shorter tales of the Perilous Realm, from Farmer Giles of Ham to Smith of Wootton Major, in a single volume.
Published 1998
A dog turned into a toy travels to the Moon and under the sea in the story Tolkien made up for his son Michael.
Published 2008
The expanded edition of Tolkien's essay On Fairy-Stories, with its drafts and a full commentary.
Published 2009
Tolkien's own retelling, in Norse style verse, of the legend of Sigurd the dragon slayer and Gudrún.
Published 2013
Tolkien's unfinished alliterative poem on the last campaign of King Arthur and Mordred's treachery.
Published 2014
Tolkien's own translation of Beowulf, with his lecture commentary and the tale Sellic Spell.
Published 2015
Tolkien's early retelling of a tragic tale from the Finnish Kalevala, the seed of the story of Túrin.
Published 2016
Tolkien's lecture on the art of inventing languages, published with his notes, drafts and an essay on the sounds of words.
Published 2016
A painter fusses over a picture of a single tree while a long journey awaits him: Tolkien's most personal short story.
Published 2016
A Breton lord makes a pact with a Corrigan to have a child, and must pay her price.
Published 2023
Tolkien's translation of the Old English poem on the Battle of Maldon, with his own verse play written as its sequel.
Published 2024
Nearly two hundred poems by Tolkien, many never published before, in a three volume edition.
Yes. Besides The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, he wrote children's stories such as Roverandom and Farmer Giles of Ham, short stories like Leaf by Niggle, long poems on Arthur and Sigurd, and translations of Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.
He was a philologist. He taught at Oxford as Professor of Anglo-Saxon from 1925 to 1945, then as Professor of English Language and Literature until 1959.
No. It takes place in the Little Kingdom, an imaginary corner of old Britain, and has no link with Middle-earth.