The History of Middle-earth
Index
by Christopher Tolkien, J.R.R. Tolkien · first published 2002
23% recommend70% neutral7% critical
Why HN recommends it
Shows how Tolkien's drafts and ideas for Middle-earth developed, such as Aragorn starting as a hobbit named Trotter; suits fans and writers interested in the creative process.
Common criticism: Repetitive and too dense for casual readers
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
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The History of Middle Earth gives an almost unprecedented insight into how an author works. Which is fortunate, since Tolkien himself is an unprecedented writer. He had a singular way of revising, almost pathologically, holding…
on “Oldest and Fatherless: The Terrible Secret of Tom Bombadil (2011)” ↗…settings doesn’t mean it applies here. Tolkien thought about this kind of stuff a lot, and wrote extensively on it. If you’re interested in reading more about this kinda thing, I highly recommend the History of Middle Earth series of books, especially Morgoth’s Ring, which deals a lot with the nature of existence (both physical matter and things like souls) in the Legendarium.
on “Amazon putting a three-day pause on reviews for Rings of Power” ↗I'm currently reading The Silmarillion! Highly recommend for those who would like to know more about the 'history' of Middle-earth.
on “Ask HN: What books are you reading currently?” ↗The latter part of the History of Middle-Earth series goes through drafts of The Lord of the Rings -- e.g. Aragorn started as a hobbit named Trotter. You don't often get to see this much of the work going into a really successful novel. If you're…
on “JRR Tolkien book Beren and Lúthien published after 100 years” ↗…England) -- in other words, if you enjoyed the Appendices as much as LoTR itself -- you will definitely find the right reading material in the HoMR books. More details: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_History_of_Middle-earth
on “Third Tolkien Trilogy, THE FALL OF GONDOLIN to Publish on August 30” ↗For anyone interested in the development of LotR over time, I really recommend listening to the Signum University online lectures going through the History of Middle-Earth series. Dr Corey Olson is going through each of the volumes in turn and offering great analysis of how the story began to emerge, just as you describe. The lecture playlists (so far) can be found at…
on “How Tolkien created Middle-earth” ↗Between the letters and the History of Middle-earth, we have an incredible insight into the creative process. I don't know of any other author whose work is so profoundly documented -- and it happens to be an author whose process is so radical. Not just…
on “The Letters of JRR Tolkien Is Getting an Expanded Edition” ↗Currently taking a brief break from the History of Middle-earth series (The Lays of Beleriand is astonishingly beautiful) to read a fascinating book called Fascist Yoga, about how the wellness movement has some surprising links with white supremacism.
on “Ask HN: What are you reading?” ↗> But uh, prehistoric biomass, raises a bit of an issue. We have the entire history of Middle Earth written down and I… didn’t notice the part where Tolkien mentioned dinosaurs? Misconception. Coal doesn't come from dinosaurs; primarily it comes from plants (algae, trees) and plankton. It was formed…
on “Why hasn't Middle Earth had an Industrial Revolution?” ↗…distinction between Orcs and Goblins in later fantasy series that derive from Tolkien's work. In his books, Orc and Goblin are simply two words for the same thing. [2] If you dig even deeper into Tolkien's history of Middle Earth, you'll find that the Orc species or 'race' is actually derived from Elvish predecessors who were 'corrupted' and transformed by Morgoth (fka Melkor)[3] and so we have a literal statement that their 'evilness'…
on “The Anti-Tolkien” ↗…who visited Numenor (the land of Aragorn's sires) before it drowned in a fate similar to Atlantis. Lewis completed his, but Tolkien did not although much of the material was published in a volume on the history of Middle Earth by his son, Christopher. (Lewis referred to his friend as "that great but dilatory and unmethodical man".) Tolkien's experiment did result in the development of the idea of the Fall of Numenor which did…
on “The Scientists Take Over: George Orwell Reviews “That Hideous Strength” (1945)” ↗> THoME is a real slog after books 1-3. The History of Middle-Earth was never really meant to be read cover to cover. It's a collection of the elder Tolkien's unpublished works and rough drafts, some of which was later adapted into The Silmarillion, The Children of Hurin,…
on “New Tolkien book, The Fall of Númenor, to be published” ↗…depends how much language evolves. LoTR is interesting here because it explicitly contains examples of language change. In fact language change was one of Tolkien's original motivations for developing the history of Middle Earth - to provide a historical context for the evolution of Elvish. E.g. Elves being sundered during the First Age and then developing independent languages. Even Frodo is aware of 'high' Elvish. The language…
on “Oldest and Fatherless: The Terrible Secret of Tom Bombadil (2011)” ↗…the Silmarillion as you would read the Bible. The styles are intentionally similar and both evolve throughout the works. There are narrative diversions throughout Tolkien's work, but it's ultimately a history of Middle Earth rather than a narrative story.
on “Amazon putting a three-day pause on reviews for Rings of Power” ↗…asked for "a new Hobbit book". The earliest drafts are about a second adventure for Bilbo -- he had run out of money and needed a new treasure fetch-quest. You can read the early drafts in book 6 of the History of Middle-earth, and watch as "the tale grew in the telling". They start with Bilbo, then the protagonist changes name and identity as the concept fills out. He made it as far as Bree in a very Hobbit-esque style before…
on “The Hobbit: Riddles in the Dark – The Lost Version” ↗