The J. R. R. Tolkien Handbook: A Concise Guide to His Life, Writings, and World of Middle-Earth

colin duriez

J. R. R. Tolkien created an entire fantasy world-complete with its own history, languages, geography, and literature. Readers are quickly caught up in orcs and hobbits, ents, elvin lords, and hundreds of other fascinating and often complex characters who inhabit this magical place. But what are readers to do when they can't remember who Amras was, where in Middle-earth Caras Galadon can be found, or what one might expect to see in the Halls of Mandos? They can open their copy of the J. R. R. Tolkien Handbook. This helpful guide presents all the key characters, places, and things of importance in Tolkien's writings in dictionary format. It also contains details about Tolkien's friends and colleagues, the writers and thinkers who influenced his work, summaries of his beliefs and how they are revealed in his writing, and a handy list of Tolkien's works. Asterisks within articles show other references, allowing readers and students to follow themes that capture their interest and discover more on how Tolkien's life and writing interweave. Tolkien fans, especially those newly introduced to his work by the Lord of the Rings movies, will find this handbook extremely useful for probing the depths of a thoughtful man and his intricate books.

Genres fantasyreferencefiction

316 pages, Paperback

First published January 1,1992

This edition

Format: 316 pages, Paperback
Published: November 1, 2002 by Baker Books
ISBN: 9780801030147
ASIN: 0801030145
Language: English

Characters More characters

J.r.r. Tolkien

J.R.R. Tolkien

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien: writer, artist, scholar, linguist. Known to millions around the world as the author of The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien spent most of his life teaching at the University of Oxford where he was a distinguished academic in the field...

About the author

colin duriez

Colin Duriez is a writer on fantasy and related matters.

He was born in Derbyshire and spent his early life in Long Eaton, Derbyshire , in a couple of new council estates near Portsmouth and six years in a mining village in South Wales, before moving to the West Midlands. After school he studied for two years at the University of Istanbul, Turkey, before completing his studies at the University of Ulster in Coleraine, Northern Ireland where he read English and philosophy. After a career in editing and journalism in London, interspersed with some teaching, he migrated to Leicester in 1983 to work with a small publisher, IVP, as a commissioning editor. In 2002 he started his own business, InWriting, devoted to writing, editorial services, and some book acquisition for publishers.

Duriez won the Clyde S. Kilby Award in 1994 for his research on the Inklings. He has published many articles, books and other written works, and he has spoken to a variety of literary, academic and professional groups. His best-known books include The C. S. Lewis Handbook (Monarch Publications/Baker Book House, 1990), the Tolkien and Middle-earth Handbook (Monarch Publications/Baker Book House/Angus & Robertson, 1992), The C. S. Lewis Encyclopedia (Crossway, 2000/SPCK, 2002), The Inklings Handbook (co-authored with David Porter, Azure/Chalice Books, 2001) and Tolkien and The Lord of the Rings (Azure/Hidden Spring, 2001).