The Shaping of Middle-earth
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| Editor | Christopher Tolkien |
|---|---|
| Author | J. R. R. Tolkien |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre |
High fantasy Literary analysis |
| Publisher | George Allen & Unwin (UK) |
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Publication date
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1986 |
| Media type | Print (hardback and paperback) |
| Pages | 400 (paperback) |
| ISBN | |
| Preceded by | The Lays of Beleriand |
| Followed by | The Lost Road and Other Writings |
The Shaping of Middle-earth (1986) is the fourth volume of Christopher Tolkien's 12-volume series The History of Middle-earth in which he analyses the unpublished manuscripts of his father J. R. R. Tolkien.
In it the gradual transition from the "primitive" legendaria of The Book of Lost Tales to what would become The Silmarillion is described, and it contains a text which could be seen as the first "Silmarillion": the "Sketch of the Mythology".
Three other parts are the Ambarkanta or "Shape of the World", a collection of maps and diagrams of the world described by Tolkien; and the Annals of Valinor and Beleriand, chronological works which started out as timelines but gradually turned into full narrative.
The Annals of Valinor and Annals of Beleriand show the earliest outline of the chronology of the First Age as envisaged in the early 1930s. The fifth volume of the series published the following year (1987) with "The Later Annals of Valinor" and "The Later Annals of Beleriand" outlines revisions to both texts made c. 1937.
There is an inscription in the Fëanorian characters (Tengwar, an alphabet Tolkien has devised for High-Elves) in the first pages of every History of Middle-earth volume, written by Christopher Tolkien and describing the contents of the book. The inscription in Book IV reads: "Herein are the Quenta Noldorinwa, the History of the Gnomes, the Ambarkanta or Shape of the World by Rúmil, the Annals of Valinor and the Annals of Beleriand by Pengolod, the Wise of Gondolin with maps of the world in the Elder Days and translations made by Ælfwine the Mariner of England into the tongue of his own land.".
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