The Complete Guide to Middle-earth

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The Complete Guide to Middle-earth
Cover of The Complete Guide to Middle-earth
AuthorRobert Foster
PublisherRandom House Publishing Group
ReleasedSeptember 2003
FormatHardcover
Pages569
ISBN0345465296

The Complete Guide to Middle-earth is a reference book for the fictional universe of J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth, compiled and edited by Robert Foster.

Originally published before the publication of The Silmarillion the first edition contained only Lord of the Rings-only information. In 1977, a new edition containing Silmarillion material was published soon after.

A revised edition was published in 2001 in time for Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings (ISBN 0345449762).

It is generally recognised as excellent reference book on the subject but as it still does not include info on post-Silmarillion material (i.e. Unfinished Tales and The History of Middle-earth series), in points it is outdated or in error.

For example, the entry for Tar-Aldarion speculates that the tragic relations with his father and wife were because he left no male heirs. The later published text Aldarion and Erendis elaborated this situation.