This is a list of known Unpublished or partially unpublished material by J.R.R. Tolkien. For a list of Tolkien's published writings, see Writings by J.R.R. Tolkien.
- Note 1: Entries which have no article of their own carry references, otherwise references are found under each article.
- Note 2: Material which is only rumoured (i.e., where no reference has been found in a reliable published source), questionable, disputed, or similiar, are enclosed with parentheses.
Essays, notes, and lectures
- "The Beginnings of English Poetry" (talk to the Oxford High School for Girls)[1]
- "Celts and Teutons"
- "The Chill Barbarians of the North"
- Concerning ... 'The Hoard' (partially published in commentary to The Hoard)[2]
- Critique of "Distressing Tale of Thangobrind the Jeweler"
- Cushing Memorial Library and Archives collection
- Diplomatarium Islandicum manuscripts
- Elvish time (partially published)
- "Francis Thompson" - paper on Francis Thompson, presented to the Exeter College Essay Club. (partially published)[3]
- The Goths
- "The History of the 'Our Father' in English"
- Manuscript notes in Dictionary in Englysshe and Welshe
- Notes in Tolkien's copies of:
- (Cairo Studies in English)
- Der Indogermanische Ablaut
- The New Testament in the Westminster Version of the Sacred Scriptures (Sands & Company Ltd 1947; contains "numerous notes and bibliographical amendments")[4]
- Portugais; phonétique et phonologie, morphologie, textes
- The Prioress's Tale and The Tale of Sir Thopas
- Probleme der Englischen Sprache und Kultur
- Songs for the Philologists (held at the Marquette University; annotations in pencil)[5]
- (Specimens Of Early English)
- Notes on etymology of 'Lydney'
- Notes on James Joyce
- Note on Númenórean religion
- Papers relating to "English and Welsh"
- Review (written ca. 1934-1935) of "the Devonshire volumes published by the English Place-Name Society in 1931 and 1932".[6]
- Review notes for Beowulf: An Introduction to the Study of the Poem
- "The Ulsterior Motive"
- "On the translation of poetry (partially published)
Fiction
- Portrait of a Viking[7]
- The Bloodhound, the Chef, and the Suffragette[8]
- Cherry Farm
- Anaxartaron Onyalië/Anaxartamel (Of the Ents and the Eagles)
- Of Aulë and the Dwarves
- The King of the Green Dozen
- The Orgog
- Prose version of The Lay of Leithian, covering till Dairon's betrayal.[9]
Poetry
- Hláforde Beorge God![10]
- Wástú?[10]
- Bummsdrápa[11]
- Unknown "alliterative poem"
- Full English recording of "Twenty years have flowed away down the long river".
- The Horns of the Host of Doriath[12]
- The Brothers-in-Arms[13]
- The Children of Húrin (rhyming couplets) (Another version in rhyming couplets of The Lay of the Children of Húrin, abandoned early)[14]
- Companions of the Rose[15]
- Only exist/survive allegedly as titles
- Monoceros, the Unicorn[16]
- Reginhardus, the Fox[16]
- Second stanza of Valedictory
- Smakkabagms
Letters
Linguistics (invented languages)
- Note on athelas/asëa etymology (1970s)
- Book of the Foxrook (partially published)
- Common Eldarin pronominal elements (grammatical description; partially published)[17][note 1]
- Discussion of Quenya demonstrative and relative pronouns (partially published; dating from the 1940s)[18]
- “Homophonic stems” (partially published; ca. 1968, typescript text)[19]
- Khuzdul phonology and root modifications[20]
- two papers about Mágol
- Westron phonology and grammar notes from Marquette University's manuscripts[21]. Initially written for the Appendix F of The Lord of the Rings, they include declensions of animate and inanimate nouns and the present tense conjugation of the verb pūt- “to blow”[22].
- 1930s Noldorin Grammar[23]
- Notebook showing how Tolkien “experimented with Esperanto before creating his fictional Elvish languages”[24]
- Pronominal endings (1950s)[25]
- Queen of Heaven, a trilingual prayer to Varda.[26]
- Specimens of Tolkien's invented languages in tengwar-type script from the 1930s (might appear in “future issues of Parma Eldalamberon”)[27]. These were published as Versions A and A′ of The Feanorian Alphabet in Parma Eldalamberon 22, with a note that later Versions B and C are intended to be published "in future volumes of Parma Eldalamberon".[28]
- Taliska historical grammar and dictionary[29]
- Fëanorian Tengwar Mode for Taliska and Gothic[30]
Miscellaneous
- Annotated map of Middle-earth[31]
- The Book of Ishness (partially published)
- Cigar bill (3 March 1972)
- Collection at the University of Leeds (includes letter Letter to Arthur Ransome and transcriptions into Tengwar of parts of this and Ransome's letter)[32][33]
- Collection of Simonne d'Ardenne (includes letters, lecture notes, etc.; only a tengwar inscription from the collection published)[34]
- J.R.R. Tolkien's diaries (partially published)
- English to Anglo-Saxon dictionary
- "A few minor items" related to the Father Christmas letters ("verso inscriptions", "a couple of plainer envelopes ... and a couple of brief notes")[35]
- "Index questions" (Glossary-index) (partially published)
- Oxford University visitor's page
- "The Sword of the Stone manuscript"
Translations and editions
- Beowulf (alliterative translation)[36] (partially published)[37]
- "Clarendon Chaucer" (partially published)
- "Gunnar's End". [Translation of brief passage from the Norse Atlakviða into Old English verse].[38][39]
- Ormulum[40]
- Pwyll Prince of Dyved
- (Die Walküre)
Notes
- ↑ This manuscript appears to be included with the published "Quenya Pronominal Elements" (cf. J.R.R. Tolkien, "Five Late Quenya Volitive Inscriptions" (edited by Carl F. Hostetter), in Vinyar Tengwar, Number 49, June 2007, p. 50).
References
- ↑ Christina Scull and Wayne G. Hammond, "Addenda and Corrigenda to The J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide (2006) Vol. 1: Chronology · Arranged by Date" 23 December 2010, Hammond&Scull.com, accessed 19 May 2012 , note to "p. 257, entry for 1943, l. 1"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien; Christina Scull, Wayne G. Hammond (eds.), The Collected Poems of J.R.R. Tolkien, "69. Iúmonna Gold Galdre Bewunden · The Hoard (?1922-61)"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien; Douglas A. Anderson, (ed.), (2002) The Annotated Hobbit: Revised and Expanded Edition, p. 205
- ↑ Pieter Collier, "#001343 - The New Testament in the Westminster Version of the Sacred Scriptures, Signed By J.R.R. Tolkien", Tolkien Library, accessed 14 December 2013
- ↑ Dimitra Fimi, Post at The Tolkien Society page, dated 17 May 2013 at Facebook (accessed 17 May 2013)
- ↑ Christina Scull and Wayne G. Hammond (2006), The J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide: I. Chronology, p. 172
- ↑ "Portrait of a Viking" 5 February 1952, University of Leeds library, accessed 19 January 2026 , "Prose piece written in pen and ink. The first leaf is an earlier draft of the finished work. The first line reads 'Ǽƌelstan cyning for ƥa ham mid micle siɠe'."
- ↑ Humphrey Carpenter, J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography, p. 67
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Lost Road and Other Writings, "Part Two: Valinor and Middle-earth before The Lord of the Rings, VI. Quenta Silmarillion", p. 295
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Hláforde Beorge God!" 5 February 1952, University of Leeds library, accessed 24 October 2015
- ↑ Christina Scull and Wayne G. Hammond (2017), The J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide (Second Edition): II. Reader's Guide, Part I, Libraries and archives, Other Libraries and Archives: University of Leeds, pp. 515-7
- ↑ Christina Scull and Wayne G. Hammond (2006), The J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide: I. Chronology, p. 848
- ↑ Christina Scull and Wayne G. Hammond (2006), The J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide: I. Chronology, p. 842
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Lays of Beleriand, "I. The Lay of the Children of Húrin", p. 130
- ↑ Christina Scull and Wayne G. Hammond (2006), The J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide: I. Chronology, p. 843
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 Christina Scull and Wayne G. Hammond, "Addenda and Corrigenda to The J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide (2006) Vol. 1: Chronology · Arranged by Date" 10 April 2014, Hammond&Scull.com, accessed 26 September 2025 , note to "1920s (by June 1927)" under "p. 110, add entry:"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, "Words, Phrases and Passages in Various Tongues in The Lord of the Rings", in Parma Eldalamberon XVII (edited by Christopher Gilson), p. 14
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, "Early Elvish Poetry and Pre-Fëanorian Alphabets", in Parma Eldalamberon XVI (edited by Christopher Gilson, Arden R. Smith, Patrick H. Wynne, Carl F. Hostetter and Bill Welden), pp. 96-7
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, "Eldarin Hands, Fingers & Numerals and Related Writings — Part Three" (edited by Patrick H. Wynne), in Vinyar Tengwar, Number 49, June 2007, p. 14
- ↑ Carl Hostetter, "reply to: Khuzdul - mostly to Aelfwine/Carl Hostetter" 26 Nov 2004, The Lord of the Rings Fanatics Plaza: Forum, accessed 17 April 2017
- ↑ Tyalië Tyelelliéva 17, p. 20
- ↑ Tyalië Tyelelliéva 17, pp. 23-26
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, "Words, Phrases and Passages in Various Tongues in The Lord of the Rings", in Parma Eldalamberon XVII (edited by Christopher Gilson), p. 44
- ↑ "Babel: Adventures in Translation", bodleian.ox.ac.uk, accessed 30 January 2019
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, "The 'Túrin Wrapper'" (edited by Carl F. Hostetter), in Vinyar Tengwar, Number 50, March 2013, p. 21
- ↑ "Omentielva Nertea: Programme", Omentielva: The International Conference on J.R.R. Tolkien's Invented Languages, accessed 22 August 2022
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, "The Qenya Alphabet", in Parma Eldalamberon XX (edited by Arden R. Smith), p. 5
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, "The Feanorian Alphabet, Part 1 & Quenya Verb Structure", in Parma Eldalamberon XXII (edited by Christopher Gilson and Arden R. Smith), pp. 7-8
- ↑ Patrick Wynne, "In a Hole in the Ground There Lived a Marbit: A Brief Report on ELFCon III", in Vinyar Tengwar, Number 27, January 1993, pp. 5-6
- ↑ Vinyar Tengwar, Number 35, May 1994, p. 7
- ↑ Alison Flood, "Tolkien's annotated map of Middle-earth discovered inside copy of Lord of the Rings" 23 October 2015, theguardian.com, accessed 24 October 2015
- ↑ Christina Scull and Wayne G. Hammond (2006), The J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide: I. Chronology, pp. 207-8
- ↑ "Tolkien: "Sales are not very great"" 16 October 2012, University of Leeds, accessed 21 October 2012
- ↑ Nathalie Kotowski, "Letter to the Editor", in Vinyar Tengwar 23 (1992), p. 16
- ↑ Wayne G. Hammond, Christina Scull, "The ‘Father Christmas’ Letters (comments section)" 21 November 2012, Hammond&Scull.com, accessed 24 March 2013
- ↑ Michael D.C. Drout, "J.R.R. Tolkien's Beowulf Translation" 26 May 2014, Wormtalk and Slugspeak, accessed 30 May 2014
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien; Christina Scull, Wayne G. Hammond (eds.), The Collected Poems of J.R.R. Tolkien, "88. The Song of Beewolf Son of Echgethew (c. 1925-?40)"
- ↑ Christina Scull and Wayne G. Hammond (2006), The J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide: I. Chronology, p. 847 (entry Gunnar's End)
- ↑ Christina Scull and Wayne G. Hammond (2017), The J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide (Second Edition): II. Reader's Guide, Part I, entry Atlakviða
- ↑ Beregond, Anders Stenström, "Tolkienseminariet 23 oktober 2014" 19 October 2015, tolkienseminariet.wordpress.com, accessed 19 October 2015