The History of The Lord of the Rings

2002 boxed set by HarperCollins

The History of The Lord of the Rings is a set of four books by Christopher Tolkien, also published in The History of Middle-earth series. The independent 4-volume set was first published in 1998, and it was republished in 2002, by HarperCollins.

It documents the writing of The Lord of the Rings, except for the Prologue and the Appendices (which came later in The Peoples of Middle-earth). Other early versions, drafts and schemes (including the only complete scheme of the entire book) have been published in The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion.

The idea of separating the four volumes from The History of Middle-earth came first from the Spanish edition in 1993, which was made with consent by Christopher Tolkien.

Volumes and contents

• I. The Return of the Shadow (1988) begins with the initial composition, and goes through to the Mines of Moria.

• II. The Treason of Isengard (1989) continues to the meeting with Théoden.

• III. The War of the Ring (1990) continues to the opening of the Black Gate.

• IV. The End of the Third Age (1998) finishes the story.
  • This is significantly shorter than its The History of Middle-earth counterpart, Sauron Defeated (1992), as it omits The Notion Club Papers and The Drowning of Anadûnê.

In general, the books are organized as chapters corresponding to the chapters in the final The Lord of the Rings, with additional chapters describing the "First Map", the "Second Map", and other matters. Each chapter begins with some context, then the text of a first or second draft, possibly some alternate drafts if there were especially large changes, and interspersed with extended discussion of confusing or contradictory situations. The end of each chapter includes a set of notes about points of interest, such as words that were used originally and then partially erased or struck out.

Book titles

The titles of the volumes derive from discarded titles for the separate books of The Lord of the Rings. J.R.R. Tolkien conceived the work as a single volume comprising six "books" plus extensive appendices, but the original publisher split the work into three, publishing two books per volume with the appendices included in the third.

The titles proposed by Tolkien for the six books were:

• Book 1 — The First Journey or The Ring Sets Out
• Book 2 — The Journey of the Nine Companions or The Ring Goes South
• Book 3 — The Treason of Isengard
• Book 4 — The Journey of the Ring-Bearers or The Ring Goes East
• Book 5 — The War of the Ring
• Book 6 — The End of the Third Age

The title The Return of the Shadow was a discarded title for Volume 1 — The Fellowship of the Ring.

Three of the titles were also used as book titles for the seven-volume edition of The Lord of the Rings: The Treason of Isengard for Book 3, The War of the Ring for Book 5, and The End of the Third Age for Book 6.

Publication history and gallery

UK Editions

1998 boxed set   2002 boxed set

• HarperCollins boxed set (1998), ISBN 0261103709
• HarperCollins boxed set (2002), ISBN 0261103709

See also

• The History of The Hobbit