Customer Reviews

Compl Gde To Middle Earth Illus Ed C

5 star:		(47)
4 star:		(11)
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2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This guide is extremely helpful for first time readers and absolutely essential for fans who intend to embark on the Silmarillion and other works by Tolkien. It is basically an encyclopedia of every thing, person, and place in Middle Earth. And Foster cross-references where needed.

The only thing that this guide does NOT encompass are the literary changes in the legends that occured as Tolkien developed them throughout his life. For example, in the Silmarillion it is Gwindor who guides Turin to Nargothrond after Beleg dies, but in the Lays of Beleriand, written much earlier, his name is Flinding (Tolkien changed the names of people and places a lot during his writings). Foster's encylopedia only has Gwindor and not Flinding. This is in keeping with Foster's goal to stick to the published and official accounts of Tolkien's work: the Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and the Silmarillion proper (along with some other reputable sources). This is probably a good thing though, otherwise the guide would need to encompass the entirety of the 12 volume HoME series, causing its sheer size to become unwieldy.

If you are anything more than a causal one-time reader of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, this book definitely belongs in your collection.

This is without a doubt the best companion that you can buy to Professor Tolkien's writings. Everything is referenced and professionally cited. Steer clear of JE Taylors guide books. They have lots of unverifiable made-up information with horrible references that are located at the back of the book which makes it even harder to verify the "fiction" he mixes with Tolkien "fact".

I also recommend Christopher Tolkien's "Index to the History of Middle Earth". You can use this to cross-reference all 12 volumes of the History of Middle Earth. This can be purchased through Amazon UK.

Wonderful.....It explains Tolkien perfectly. A big help from The Silmarillion To The Return Of The King !!!! Worth the money.

This is the best guide to Tolkien's world published in encyclopedia format. It has even been cited by Christopher Tolkien as an excellent resource. It has detailed explanations of every character, place, etc from the Lord of the Rings, the Hobbit, and the Silmarillion. If you are constantly forgetting who Gamling is, or what year Odo and Primula Baggins died in the boating accident, this is the book for you. The best feature is the page references in each entry. These help in checking the facts for yourself and finding pesky quotes.

Although it has not been updated to take into account the material published in Unfinished Tales or the History of Middle-earth series, it is your best buy for Tolkien reference materiel. Most of what you need will be at your finger tips.

Once you get past the initial reading of the Hobbit and LOtR and you're ready to go further into the world of Tolkein, this book is a necessity. I couldn't have gotten through the Silmarillion without it. Very in-depth and easy to read, there wasn't a name or place I was confused about that wasn't listed. Very helpful--I recommend it to all those who think that they might have a hard time keeping names or places straight or who are just interested in the more in-depth stories of characters or events.

For any serious Tolkien fan, this book is a must-have. Robert Foster provides concise, accurate descriptions of almost everything having to do with Middle Earth. The guide is very easy to use and includes page references and helpful appendices.

Author J.R.R. Tolkien worked on his incredibly complex, vivid invented world his entire life. Now, with the epic movie trilogy hitting theaters, the books are getting the royal treatment. But even if you're a longtime fan, this book is an invaluable tool if you can't remember what the heck Angmar was or who Elendil was.

From A to Z ("Abyss" to "Zirakzigil"), Foster carefully includes entries from the LOTR trilogy, the Silmarillion, the Hobbit, and lots of other books by Tolkien. He carefully includes dates, when people were born and died, translated names (Legolas's is "Greenleaf," Tom Bombadil's is "Old--without father"), and what language those names are in. For the sake of clarity, he also includes a timeline up until Elrond was born, and then several of Tolkien's created family trees. (Who was Elrond's great-grandpa?)

If you simply can't remember something -- like Aragorn's many and varied names, what Gandalf is, what the Elvish name for hobbits is -- then this can refresh your memory. While there are a few inevitable errors, Foster is exceedingly careful and faithful to Tolkien's work. If it's set down in here, you can bet that it's correct. The one slightly distracting aspect of this book is that the characters with two names are listed by their given name, not family name. So Frodo Baggins is listed under F, not B; Sam Gamgee is under S, not G.

So if you're a fan of the books, just getting into them, or even have only seen the movies and want to understand Middle-Earth a little better, you should definitely check out "Complete Guide to Middle-Earth." For anyone who enjoys Tolkien's work, it's a keeper.

When reading Tolkien even veterans can't remember every single family tree, every remote hobbit, and every elven knife. Unlike some resources like the atlas, the guide is quite easy to use while reading any of Tolkien's works. It works just like a dictionary and provides clear, concise information regarding the subject at hand. If the description isn't sufficient, at the end of each entry is a listing of where the name appears in all of Tolkien. Simply the most comprehensive, trusted, and necessary resource for any Tolkien readers...

don't worry Tolkien veterans, even you are excused a few lapses. After all, who really knows what "Cermie" is ( the seventh month of the Kings' and Stewards' Reckonings and the fourth of the New Reckoning, corresponding roughly to July) (pg. 86)

This book is very useful when reading any of Tolkien's books. Whenever I come to a passage where I want to learn more about a certain character, I just look it up in this book. It's a great reference tool for any Tolkien fan!

This detailed guide was compiled to assist readers of The Lord Of The Rings, The Hobbit and The Silmarillion by placing historical events, characters and places in the context of Tolkien's vast cosmology. As such it is an indispensable concordance for the serious fan of Tolkien's world. The history of Middle Earth and Aman was woven together with great attention to detail so that all the stories fit together in perfect cohesion. The main body of the work has alphabetical entries from "Abyss" to "Zirak-Zigil", while Appendix A is a chronology of the First Age from the creation of Eä to the birth of Elrond and Elros, and Appendix B contains genealogical tables like that of the first house of the Edain, the lines of Isildur and Anarion, the descent of the Peredhil, the house of Hurin and the Rohirrim. Many of the Elvish entries have translations of their meaning, e.g. Aragorn = "Royal Tree". The treatment of languages, like variations and different shades of meaning, is quite detailed and interesting. Important races, places and characters have extensive commentary devoted to them but there are also many single line entries. This comprehensive reference work makes one appreciate Tolkien's achievement all the more. I recommend it to all who are seriously interested in his brilliant creation that has come to life again at the beginning of our third millennium with the release of the excellent Lord Of The Rings movie trilogy. I would also like to recommend David Day's book "A Tolkien Bestiary" which contains maps, chronologies and wonderful illustrations. These two titles together are all you need to have a complete reference to Aman and Middle Earth.