The Tolkien Companion
By J.E.A. Tyler (1976)
The Tolkien Companion is one of the earliest attempts to create an encyclopedic guide to J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion. Compiled by J.E.A. Tyler, it provides detailed entries on characters, places, events, and objects from Middle-earth. The book serves as a reference guide for those who wish to delve deeper into the vast world Tolkien created, though it has been subject to heavy criticism over the years for factual inaccuracies and speculative entries.
Book Overview
Tyler’s The Tolkien Companion offers an alphabetized catalog of people, places, objects, battles, and events from Middle-earth, drawing primarily from The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion. It also includes entries on important Elvish languages, such as Quenya and Sindarin, and provides maps, charts, and genealogies to help readers navigate the expansive lore of Middle-earth.
In its early editions, however, the book was filled with speculative content, and factual errors became apparent once The Silmarillion was published in 1977. Tyler had to rewrite much of his book to correct these errors in later editions, but the companion remains a somewhat controversial work among Tolkien enthusiasts.
Editions and Publishing History
First Edition (1976): The Tolkien Companion was initially published by Macmillan in 1976, released before The Silmarillion, and thus missing essential details from Tolkien’s extended legendarium. The original edition contained speculative content and several factual inaccuracies, which drew criticism from Tolkien fans and scholars alike.
Subsequent Editions: Following the publication of The Silmarillion in 1977, J.E.A. Tyler revised the companion, incorporating material from the newly published work and correcting earlier inaccuracies. The revised editions were rebranded as The Complete Tolkien Companion, adding further details from Tolkien’s posthumously published works, though some inaccuracies from the original edition persisted.
In the United Kingdom, these various editions were published by Pan Books, while in the United States, they were handled by St. Martin’s Press. Notably, The Complete Tolkien Companion in the U.S. was issued under St. Martin’s “Thomas Dunne Books” imprint, first appearing without an ISBN. Later editions included ISBNs such as 0-312-57066-X for the “New” edition and 0-312-31545-7 for The Complete Tolkien Companion.
Despite being published after the completion of The History of Middle-earth series, early printings of the Thomas Dunne Books edition (marketed as The Complete Tolkien Companion) still only listed the original 1976 copyright date. This caused some confusion among readers regarding its level of completeness and accuracy.
Latest Edition (2002): The latest edition of The Complete Tolkien Companion still offers an expansive reference to Middle-earth, but it continues to face scrutiny for lingering inaccuracies and outdated information. Many Tolkien scholars and readers often prefer Robert Foster’s The Complete Guide to Middle-earth for its detailed and more reliable reference to Tolkien’s works. Despite this, Tyler’s Companion remains a popular resource for its sheer breadth of coverage on characters, places, and events in Tolkien’s world.
Critical Reception and Reviews
Tyler’s The Tolkien Companion offers an alphabetized catalog of people, places, objects, battles, and events from Middle-earth, drawing primarily from The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion. It also includes entries on important Elvish languages, such as Quenya and Sindarin, and provides maps, charts, and genealogies to help readers navigate the expansive lore of Middle-earth.
In its early editions, however, the book was filled with speculative content, and factual errors became apparent once The Silmarillion was published in 1977. Tyler had to rewrite much of his book to correct these errors in later editions, but the companion remains a somewhat controversial work among Tolkien enthusiasts.
In-Depth Opinion
While Tyler’s The Tolkien Companion is ambitious in scope and may serve as a useful starting point for casual readers, it falls short as a serious reference work for Tolkien scholars. The frequent lack of detail, combined with factual inaccuracies, makes it an unreliable guide. For readers seeking detailed, accurate entries that respect Tolkien’s vision, Robert Foster’s The Complete Guide to Middle-earth remains the preferred alternative.
However, for those who appreciate the more immersive, “in-universe” tone of Tyler’s work—where Middle-earth is treated as a real historical place rather than fiction—this companion still has its charm. It captures the spirit of Tolkien’s world, even if it does so with less precision than later scholarly works.
Why You Should Read It
Readers who enjoy exploring Middle-earth in depth will appreciate The Tolkien Companion for its thorough, alphabetical listing of people, places, and events. Despite its flaws, the book offers a comprehensive look at Tolkien’s legendarium and presents valuable context for his works, especially for those unfamiliar with the more complex lore of The Silmarillion or Unfinished Tales. However, for more serious scholarship, readers are advised to consult additional sources.
The Tolkien Companion
By J.E.A. Tyler (1st Edition 1976)
Macmillan, London
ISBN: 9780333196335
Hardback in dustwrapper
Illustrated by Kevin Reilly
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J.R.R. Tolkien & his works
- A Tolkien COMPASS
- The Tolkien Companion
- J.R.R. Tolkien: a biography
- The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien
- J.R.R. TOLKIEN: The Shores of Middle-earth
- J.R.R. Tolkien - a descriptive bibliography
- TOLKIEN A CELEBRATION
- Author of he Century
- MEDITATIONS ON Middle-Earth
- The Real Middle-Earth
- Tolkien AND THE GREAT WAR: ThE THRESHOLD OF MIDDLE-EARTH
- War and the Works of J.R.R. Tolkien
- Reading The Lord of the Rings
- J.R.R. TOLKIEN (WRITERS UNCOVERED SERIES)
Books about J.R.R.Tolkien - The Tolkien Companion
Short Description:
Between 1932 and 1953, Professor John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, of Oxford, England, translated four volumes compiled by the renowned Hobbits Bilbo and Frodo Baggins, written during the Third Age of Middle Earth, far longer ago than the Celtic, Germanic and Icelandic manuscripts Professor Tolkien was used to deciphering. The result was The Hobbit, and readers have never been the same since.
In 1954, seventeen years after The Hobbit first appeared, its sequel, The Lord of the Rings was published, and it became the centerpiece of tolkien's work. The Ring Epic covers approximately ten thousand years, and contains a vast amount of information as well as a huge variety of words and names which Tolkien translated from the Elvish and Mannish tongues.
THE TOLKIEN COMPANION is an impressive endeavor to guide one through the world of Middle Earth, compiling every fact, name, word, and date from all the works into one comprehensive and accessible volume.
Here, in one source, is the High History of the Elven peoples. The origins of Morgoth the Enemy is clarified, as is his Fall, and the subsequent rise to power of Sauron the Great, Lord of the Rings. The heroic epic of how the Free Peoples--Elves, Men, Ents, Dwarves, and Hobbits--survived against the Peril of the Ancient World is meticulously detailed. And a guide to the various Elvish writing systems, together with explanatory maps, charts, even genealogical tables, bring the remarkable genius of Tolkien and the unforgettable world and wonder of Middle Earth to life with focus and accuracy. Presented in alphabetical order for quick and easy reference,
THE TOLKIEN COMPANION is an indispensable accompaniment for anyone who embarks on the reading journey of a lifetime..
Review:
There are three names Tolkien experts will immediately tell you to avoid: Ruth Noel, David Day, and J.E.A. Tyler. Tyler's original Tolkien Companion was filled with so many errors of fact and blatant wild guesses he had to quickly rewrite almost the entire work after The Silmarillion was published.
From A ("Accursed Years") to Z ("Zirak-Zigil"), this book covers people, places, battles, objects and events from all throughout Middle-Earth's history. Taylor includes information from tolkien's famous "Hobbit" and "Lord of the Rings," as well as the Silmarillion, "Unfinished Tales," and some other books. (Unfortunately, he doesn't include all of the history books)
Is "The Complete Tolkien Companion" worthless as an encyclopedia? No, not at all -- it's useful for some quick glances, and Taylor has a pleasant if clumsy style. But as a serious source, it fails. It doesn't have enough information, and what it does have is unbalanced and weirdly conveyed.
One of the most annoying things is that while Tyler will tell some stuff about various characters, events, and items. But in most entries, he doesn't specify which books they appeared in, what pages, or much else. Where is "Khuzdul" revealed to be a secret language? He doesn't tell you. And his handling of the information is clumsy: readers are told that Arwen Evenstar shares the "Doom of Luthien." What does Luthien have to do with her descendent becoming a mortal? Taylor doesn't say.
What's more, Taylor demonstrates a weird tendency to act like the events of tolkien's books are a 10,000-year-old history. He claims in his preciously-worded foreword that he's going to stop, but he doesn't -- a tendency that crosses the line from fervently geeky to unsettling. What is more, he has a tendency to interject his own opinions into the text: he spends a long time explaining how misunderstood Galadriel is, for example.
Good Tolkien analysts don't reinvent Middle-earth the way Tyler, Noel, and Day are wont to do. Although his style may be pleasant to read his research is highly suspect and he will probably never recover from the embarrassment his original Companion caused him. Fans who want to know more about Middle-earth AS J.R.R. TOLKIEN ENVISIONED IT should stick to the Tolkien books.
Critical analyses which have been well-regarded (if not universally agreed with) come from more traditional commentators such as Carl Hostetter, Verlyn Fleiger, T.A. Shippey, Paul Kocher, Wayne Hammond, and Douglas Anderson. These are well-respected scholars and researchers who may have their own priorities but nonetheless treat Tolkien and his world with greater respect than many others.
Although it doesn't cover anything published after The Silmarillion, Robert Foster's The Complete Guide to Middle-earth remains one of the all-time best Tolkien references.
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