
Cover of the Revised & Expanded Edition
The Road to Middle-earth (ISBN 978-0-618-25760-7), by Tom Shippey, is a thorough "diachronic"[1] analysis of J.R.R. Tolkien's stories from the perspective of a fellow philologist; last revised 2003, and first published by Allen & Unwin in 1983.
It preceded J.R.R. Tolkien: Author of the Century, a book by Shippey for a slightly wider readership.

Cover of 1983 release
Overview
Tolkien scholar Tom Shippey shows in great detail how Tolkien's professional background led him in his philological exploits, and to writing The Hobbit. Examining also the philological foundations of The Lord of the Rings, Shippey discusses the contributions of The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales to Tolkien's myth cycle, revealing how his denser works can be fully appreciated.
He goes on to examine the twelve-volume The History of Middle-earth, which Christopher Tolkien wrote and compiled, tracing the creative and technical process by which Middle-earth evolved.
Table of Contents
- Acknowledgements and Abbreviations
- 'Lit. and Lang.'
- Philological Inquiries
- The Bourgeois Burglar
- A Cartographic Plot
- Interlacements and the Ring
- 'When All Our Fathers Worshipped Stocks and Stones'
- Visions and Revisions
- 'On the Cold Hill's Side'
- 'The Course of Actual Composition'
- Afterword
- Appendix A: Tolkien's Sources: The True Tradition
- Appendix B: Four 'Asterisk' Poems
- Notes
- Index
Translations around the world
Foreign Language | Translated name |
Afrikaans | Die Pad na Midde-aarde |
Albanian | Rruga për Mesme-tokë |
Arabic | الطريق إلى الأرض الوسطى |
Armenian | Միջին ճանապարհի ճանապարհը |
Azerbaijani | Orta şərq yoludur |
Basque | Lurraren erdian bidea ? |
Belarusian Cyrillic | Дарога ў Міжзем'е |
Bengali | মধ্যপ্রাচ্যের রোড |
Bosnian | Put do sredine zemlje |
Bulgarian Cyrillic | Пътят към средната земя |
Burmese | အလယျပိုငျး-မြေကြီးသို့အဆိုပါလမ်းမကြီး |
Cambodian | ផ្លូវទៅផែនដីកណ្តាល |
Catalan | El Camí cap a la Terra Mitjana |
Cebuano | Ang Dalan paingon sa Tunga-tunga sa yuta |
Chinese | 通往中土世界的道路 |
Croatian | Put do Međuzemlja |
Czech | Cesta do Středozemě |
Danish | Vejen til Midgård |
Dutch | De Weg naar Midden-aarde |
Estonian | Tee Keskmaa juurde |
Fijian | Na Gaunisala e loma-vuravura |
Filipino | Ang daan patungong Gitnang-lupa |
Finnish | Keski-maan tie |
French | La route vers la terre du milieu |
Galician | O camiño cara á Terra Media |
Georgian | შუა დედამიწის გზა ? |
German | Der Weg nach Mittelerde |
Greek | Ο δρόμος προς τη Μέση Γη |
Gujarati | મધ્ય-પૃથ્વીનો માર્ગ |
Hebrew | הכביש אל הארץ התיכונה |
Hindi | मध्य-पृथ्वी के लिए सड़क |
Hungarian | A Közel-föld felé vezető út |
Icelandic | Vegurinn til Miðjarðarhafsins ? |
Indonesian | Jalan menuju Dunia Tengah |
Irish Gaelic | An Bóthar chun Mheán-domhain |
Italian | La Strada per la Terra di mezzo |
Japanese | ミドルアースへの道 |
Kannada | ಮಧ್ಯಮ ಭೂಮಿಯಿಂದ ರಸ್ತೆ |
Kazakh Cyrillic | Орто-жерге жол |
Korean | 중간 지구에도로 |
Laotian | ຖະຫນົນຫົນທາງກັບກາງໃນທົ່ວໂລກ |
Latvian | Ceļš uz Viduszeme |
Lithuanian | Kelias į Vidurinę žemę |
Macedonian Cyrillic | Патот кон Средна Земја |
Malagasy | Ny lalana Mankany amin' ny Moyen-tany |
Malay | Jalan ke tengah-tengah bumi |
Maltese | It-Triq lejn il-art Nofsani |
Marathi | मध्य-पृथ्वीवरील रस्ता |
Mongolian Cyrillic | Дундад улс руу чиглэсэн зам |
Norwegian | Veien til Midgard |
Pashto | د منځني ځمکی سړک |
Persian | جاده به سرزمین میانه |
Polish | Droga do Śródziemia |
Portuguese | A estrada à Terra média |
Punjabi | ਮੱਧ-ਧਰਤੀ ਦਾ ਸੜਕ |
Romanian | Drumul spre Pământul de mijloc |
Russian | Дорога на середину земли |
Scottish Gaelic | An Rathad chun a 'Mheadhain-thalmhainn |
Serbian | Пут ка средње земље (Cyrillic) Put ka Srednje zemlje (Latin) |
Sindhi | وچين زمين ڏانهن روڊ ? |
Sinhalese | මැද-පොළොව දක්වා මාර්ගය |
Slovak | Cesta do Stredozeme |
Slovenian | Pot do Srednje zemlje |
Somalian | Wadada-dhulka Dhexe |
Spanish | El camino a la Tierra Media |
Sundanese | Nu Jalan mun Tengah-bumi |
Swahili | Barabara ya nchi ya Kati |
Swedish | Vägen till Midgård |
Tajik Cyrillic | Дар роҳ ба Миёна-замин |
Tamil | மத்திய-பூமியின் சாலை |
Telugu | మిడిల్ ఎర్త్కు రోడ్డు |
Thai | ถนนไปยังมิดเดิลเอิร์ธ |
Tongan | Ko e hala ki he vaeua'anga malie 'o mamani |
Turkish | Orta Dünya için yol |
Ukrainian Cyrillic | Дорога до Середзем'я |
Urdu | مڈل-زمین کے لئے سڑک |
Uzbek | Ўрта Тупроқ бўлган йўл (Cyrillic) O'rta Tuproq bo'lgan yo'l (Latin) |
Vietnamese | Con đường đến Trung địa |
Welsh | Y Ffordd i Ganol-ddaear |
Yiddish | די וועג צו מיטל-ערד |
References
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien: Author of the Century, Foreword, xxvii