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The Tolkien Society Abbreviations

Use the following Tolkien Society conventions when short references are demanded by a format which would otherwise cause undesired layout problems (such as in tables and listings). For ease of reading, the following exceptions to the "Conventions and Abbreviations" section below, apply:

  • number major divisions (book, part, and chapter numbers) using Arabic numerals, regardless of how they appear in the original text
  • use the following abbreviation for divisions in text:
    • bk. - book (bk. 1)
    • pt. - part (pt. 2)
    • ch. - chapter (ch. 2)
    • § - section (§14, §§17–19, no spacing)
    • () - subsection (i)
  • do not include page numbers as digital editions lack them

Listing and commentary as it appears in Tolkien Studies: Volume 19 Supplement (2022):

Conventions and Abbreviations

Because there are so many editions of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, citations will be by book and chapter as well as by page-number (referenced to the editions listed below). Thus a citation from The Fellowship of the Ring, book two, chapter four, page 318 is written (FR, II, iv, 318). References to the Appendices of The Lord of the Rings are abbreviated by Appendix, Section and subsection, so subsection iii of section I of Appendix A is written (RK, Appendix A, I, iii, 321). The Silmarillion indicates the body of stories and poems developed over many years by Tolkien; The Silmarillion indicates the volume first published in 1977.

Abbreviations

Works by Tolkien

Aotrou
The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun together with the Corrigan Poems. (Poem first published 1945.) Ed. Verlyn Flieger. London: HarperCollins, 2016.
ATB
The Adventures of Tom Bombadil. (First published: London: Allen & Unwin, 1962; Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1963.) [50the anniversary edition.] Ed. Christina Scull and Wayne G. Hammond. London: HarperCollins, 2014.
B&C
Beowulf and the Critics. Ed. Michael D.C. Drout. Rev. 2nd ed. Medieval and Renaissance Texts and Studies 402. Tempe, AZ: Arizona Medieval and Renaissance Texts and Studies, 2011.
B&L
Beren and Lúthien. Ed. Christopher Tolkien. London: HarperCollins; Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2017.
Beowulf T&C
Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary together with Sellic Spell. Ed. Christopher Tolkien. London: HarperCollins; Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2014.
Children
The Children of Húrin [title as on title page:] Narn i Chîn Húrin: The Tale of the Children of Húrin. Ed. Christopher Tolkien. London: HarperCollins; Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2007.
FA
The Fall of Arthur. Ed. Christopher Tolkien. London: HarperCollins; Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013.
FG
The Fall of Gondolin. Ed. Christopher Tolkien. London: HarperCollins; Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2018.
FGH
Farmer Giles of Ham. (First published: London: Allen & Unwin, 1949; Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1950.) [50th anniversary edition.] Ed. Christina Scull and Wayne G. Hammond. London: HarperCollins; Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1999.
FR
The Fellowship of the Ring. (First published: London: Allen & Unwin; Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1954.) Second edition, revised impression, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1987.
H
The Hobbit. (First published: London: Allen & Unwin, 1937; Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1938.) The Annotated Hobbit. Ed. Douglas A. Anderson. Second edition, revised. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2002.
Kullervo
The Story of Kullervo. Ed. Verlyn Flieger. London: HarperCollins, 2015; Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016.
Lays
The Lays of Beleriand. Ed. Christopher Tolkien. London: Allen & Unwin; Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1985.
Letters
The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien. Ed. Humphrey Carpenter, with the assistance of Christopher Tolkien. London: Allen & Unwin; Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1981.
Lost Road
The Lost Road and Other Writings. Ed. Christopher Tolkien. London: Unwin Hyman; Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1987.
LT I
The Book of Lost Tales, Part One. Ed. Christopher Tolkien. London: Allen & Unwin, 1983; Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1984.
LT II
The Book of Lost Tales, Part Two. Ed. Christopher Tolkien. London: Allen & Unwin; Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1984.
M&C
The Monsters and the Critics and Other Essays. London: Allen & Unwin, 1983; Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1984.
Morgoth
Morgoth’s Ring. Edited by Christopher Tolkien. London: HarperCollins; Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1993.
Nature
The Nature of Middle-earth: Late Writings on the Lands, Inhabitants, and the Metaphysics of Middle-earth. Ed. Carl F. Hostetter. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcoourt, 2021.
OFS
Tolkien On Fairy-stories. (Essay first published 1947.) Extended edition, ed. Verlyn Flieger and Douglas A. Anderson. London: HarperCollins, 2008.
Peoples
The Peoples of Middle-earth. Ed. Christopher Tolkien. London: HarperCollins; Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1996.
RK
The Return of the King. (First published: London: Allen & Unwin, 1955; Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1956.) Second edition, revised impression, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1987.
S
The Silmarillion. Ed. Christopher Tolkien. (First published: London: Allen & Unwin; Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1977.) Second edition. London: HarperCollins, 1999; Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2001.
Sauron
Sauron Defeated. Ed. Christopher Tolkien. London: HarperCollins; Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1992.
S&G
The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún. Ed. Christopher Tolkien. London: HarperCollins; Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2009.
Shadow
The Return of the Shadow. Ed. Christopher Tolkien. London: Unwin Hyman; Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1988.
Shaping
The Shaping of Middle-earth. Ed. Christopher Tolkien. London: Allen & Unwin; Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1986.
Smith
Smith of Wootton Major: (First published: London: Allen & Unwin; Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1967.) Extended Edition. Ed. Verlyn Flieger. London: HarperCollins, 2005.
T&L
Tree and Leaf. (First published: London: Unwin Books, 1964; Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1965.) Expanded as Tree and Leaf, including the Poem Mythpoeia [sic] [and] The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth Beorhthelm’s Son. London: HarperCollins, 2001.
TT
The Two Towers. (First published: London: Allen & Unwin, 1954; Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1955.) Second edition, revised impression, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1987.
Treason
The Treason of Isengard. Ed. Christopher Tolkien. London: Unwin Hyman; Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1989.
UT
Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth. Ed. Christopher Tolkien. London: Allen & Unwin; Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1980.
Vice
A Secret Vice: Tolkien on Invented Languages. Ed. Dimitra Fimi and Andrew Higgins. London: HarperCollins, 2016.
WJ
The War of the Jewels. Ed. Christopher Tolkien. London: HarperCollins; Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1994.
WR
The War of the Ring. Ed. Christopher Tolkien. London: Unwin Hyman; Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1990.

Reference Works

Artist
Hammond, Wayne G., and Christina Scull. J.R.R. Tolkien: Artist & Illustrator. London: HarperCollins; Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1995.
Bio
Carpenter, Humphrey. J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography. London: Allen & Unwin, 1977. As Tolkien: A Biography. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1977.
C&G
Scull, Christina, and Wayne G. Hammond. The J.R.R. Tolkien Companion & Guide. Rev. and expanded ed. 3 vols. London: HarperCollins, 2017.
RC
Hammond, Wayne G., and Christina Scull. The Lord of the Rings: A Reader’s Companion. London: HarperCollins; Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2005.