The History of The Lord of the Rings is a four-volume work by Christopher Tolkien that documents the process of J.R.R. Tolkien's writing of The Lord of the Rings. It makes volumes VI to IX of The History of Middle-earth. Some information concerning the appendices and a soon-abandoned sequel to the novel can also be found in volume twelve, The Peoples of Middle-earth. Mariner Books release all four volumes combined into an omnibus paperback edition on September 1, 2000.
Volumes[]
- (THOME VI) The Return of the Shadow (1988) begins with the initial composition, and goes through to the passage of the Mines of Moria.
- (THOME VII) The Treason of Isengard (1989) continues to the meeting with Théoden, King of Rohan.
- (THOME VIII) Christopher Tolkien (1990) continues to the opening of the Black Gate.
- (THOME IX) Sauron Defeated (1992) finishes the story, which only takes about 1/3 of the volume. The remainder consists of The Notion Club Papers, and another draft of the "Drowning of Anadûnê".
Content[]
In general, the books are organized as chapters corresponding to the chapters in the final The Lord of the Rings, with additional chapters describing the "First Map", the "Second Map", and other matters. Each chapter begins with some context, then the text of a first or second draft, possibly some alternate drafts if there were especially large changes, and interspersed with extended discussion of confusing or contradictory situations. The end of each chapter includes a set of notes about points of interest, such as words that were used originally and then partially erased or struck out.
While much of the plot of early drafts is familiar, the characters are often quite different. For instance, Aragorn in his "Strider" guise is called "Trotter" instead - and he's a hobbit instead of a man - and he has wooden feet - because he had once been to Mordor and been tortured there. The hobbits travel east initially because that was the part of the world that had been mapped out in The Hobbit and that the areas to the south were literally being mapped out only a few miles ahead of the Fellowship.
Of particular interest to fans is the dropped Epilogue to The Lord of the Rings, in which a middle-aged Samwise Gamgee is reading the story to his children.
Three of the titles of the volumes of The History of The Lord of the Rings were also also used as book titles for the seven-volume edition of The Lord of the Rings - The Return of the Shadow for Book I, The Treason of Isengard for Book III and The War of the Ring for Book V.
Translations[]
| Foreign Language | Translated name |
| Afrikaans | Die geskiedenis van die Here van die Rings |
| Amharic | የቀኝቶቹ ጌታ ታሪክ |
| Albanian | Historia e Zotit të unazave |
| Arabic | تاريخ سيد الخواتم |
| Armenian | Մատանիների տիրակալը պատմությունը |
| Azerbaijani | Üzüklərin Rəbbinin tarixi |
| Basque | Eraztunen Jauna historia |
| Belarusian Cyrillic | Гісторыя Уладара Кольцаў |
| Bengali | রিং লর্ড এর ইতিহাস |
| Bosnian | Istorija Gospodara Prstenova |
| Bulgarian Cyrillic | Историята на Властелинът на пръстените |
| Cambodian | ប្រវត្តិសាស្រ្តនៃព្រះអម្ចាស់នៃចិញ្ចៀនអាពាហ៍ពិពាហ៍នេះ |
| Catalan | La història del Senyor dels Anells |
| Chinese | 指环王的历史 |
| Croatian | Povijest Gospodara prstenova |
| Czech | Historie Pána prstenů |
| Danish | Ringenes Herres historie |
| Dutch | De geschiedenis van In de ban van de Ring |
| Esperanto | La Historio de La Sinjoro de la Ringoj |
| Estonian | Sõrmuste Isanda ajalugu |
| Faroese | Ringanna Harri sřga |
| Filipino | Ang kasaysayan ng Ang Panginoon ng Singsing |
| Finnish | Taru sormusten herrasta-historia |
| French | L'histoire du seigneur des anneaux |
| Frisian | De Skiednis fan Master fan alle Ringen |
| Galician | A Historia de O Señor dos Aneis |
| Georgian | ბეჭდების მბრძანებლის ისტორია |
| German | Die Geschichte Mittelerdes |
| Greek | Η Ιστορία του Κυρίου των Δαχτυλιδιών |
| Gujarati | ધી રિંગ્સ ભગવાન ઓફ ઇતિહાસ |
| Hausa | Ubangijin zobba tarihi |
| Hebrew | ההיסטוריה של שר הטבעות |
| Hindi | द लॉर्ड ऑफ द रिंग्स का इतिहास |
| Hungarian | A Gyűrűk Ura históriája |
| Icelandic | Hringadróttinssaga saga |
| Indonesian | Raja Segala Cincin sejarah |
| Irish Gaelic | Stair an Tiarna na bhFáinní |
| Italian | La storia de Il Signore degli Anelli |
| Japanese | 指輪物語歴史 |
| Javanese | Pangeran saka cincin sejarah |
| Kannada | ದಿ ಲಾರ್ಡ್ ಆಫ್ ದಿ ರಿಂಗ್ಸ್ ಇತಿಹಾಸ |
| Kazakh | Сақиналар әміршісі Тарих (Cyrillic) Saqïnalar ämirşisi Tarïx (Latin) |
| Korean | 반지의 제왕 역사 |
| Kurdish | شای ئەنگوستیلەکان مێژوو (Central Kurdish) Begê Gustîlan dîrok (Kurmanji Kurdish) |
| Kyrgyz Cyrillic | Теңир шакеги тарых |
| Laotian | ປະຫວັດສາດພຣະຜູ້ເປັນເຈົ້າຂອງແຫວນໄດ້ |
| Latin | De historia Dominus Anulorum |
| Latvian | Gredzenu pavēlnieks vēsture |
| Lithuanian | Žiedų Viešpaties istorija |
| Luxembourgish | D 'Geschicht vu Den Här vun de Réng |
| Macedonian Cyrillic | Историјата на Господарот на прстените |
| Malagasy | Ny tantaran'ny Tompon'ireo Peratra |
| Malaysian | Raja Segala Cincin sejarah |
| Maltese | L-Istorja Il-Ħakkiem ta 'l-anelli |
| Marathi | द लॉर्ड ऑफ द रिंग्जचा इतिहास |
| Mongolian Cyrillic | Бөгжний эзэн түүх |
| Nepalese | द लर्ड अफ द रिङ्ग्स इतिहास |
| Norwegian | Ringenes Herre historie |
| Pashto | د کړۍ_ګانې رب تاریخ |
| Persian | تاریخ پروردگار حلقه ها |
| Polish | Władca Pierścieni historia |
| Portuguese | A história do senhor dos anéis |
| Punjabi | ਰਿੰਗ ਦੇ ਮਾਲਕ ਦਾ ਇਤਿਹਾਸ |
| Norwegian | Ringenes Herre Historie |
| Romanian | Istoria Domnului Inelelor |
| Russian | История Властелина колец |
| Scottish Gaelic | Eachdraidh an Tha Tighearna nam Fàinnean |
| Serbian | Историја Господара Прстенова (Cyrillic) Istorija Gospodara Prstenova (Latin) |
| Slovak | História Pána prsteňov |
| Slovenian | Zgodovina Gospodarja prstanov |
| Spanish | La historia del señor de los anillos |
| Sundanese | Gusti tina Cingcin sajarah |
| Swahili | Historia ya Bwana wa pete |
| Swedish | Sagan om Ringen historien |
| Tajik Cyrillic | Парвардигори зиреҳҳои таърих |
| Tamil | த லோட் ஒவ் த ரிங்ஸ்
வரலாறு |
| Telugu | ది హిస్టరీ ఆఫ్ ది లార్డ్ ఆఫ్ ది రింగ్స్ |
| Thai | ประวัติศาสตร์ลอร์ดออฟเดอะริงส์ |
| Turkish | Yüzüklerin Efendisi Tarihi |
| Turkmen | Ýüzükleriň Padşasy taryh |
| Ukrainian Cyrillic | Історія Володаря перснів |
| Uzbek | Узуклар Ҳукмдори тарих (Cyrillic) Uzuklar Hukmdori tarix (Latin) |
| Urdu | حلقوں کے رب کی تاریخ |
| Vietnamese | Lịch sử của Chúa tể những chiếc nhẫn |
| Welsh | Hanes yr Arglwydd y Cylchoedd |
| Yiddish | די געשיכטע פון די האר פון די רינגס |
| Yucatec Maya | Le k'ajláayo' le máako' le anillos |