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J.R.R. Tolkien Books in Order

Find every J.R.R. Tolkien book in order, including standalone titles and complete series reading orders with publication years.

Updated 2026-07-11 / 58 books / 12 series

British author best known for *The Lord of the Rings* and *The Hobbit* fantasy series. His works have sold over 150 million copies and profoundly shaped modern fantasy literature. This page provides the J.R.R. Tolkien books in order, including both chronological order and series reading order.

All J.R.R. Tolkien Books in Chronological Order

1921 A Middle English Reader and Vocabulary POoNB / 1 Buy
1936 Beowulf and the Critics POoNB / 2 Buy
1937 The Hobbit POoTLotRB / 1 Buy
1939 Tolkien on Fairy-stories POoNB / 3 Buy
1945 Leaf by Niggle POoSS / 1 Buy
1945 The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun POoSN / 1 Buy
1949 Tales from the Perilous Realm POoSSC / 1 Buy
1949 Farmer Giles of Ham POoSN / 2 Buy
1954 The Fellowship of the Ring POoTLotRB / 2 Buy
1954 The Two Towers POoTLotRB / 3 Buy
1955 The Return of the King POoTLotRB / 4 Buy
1962 The Adventures of Tom Bombadil POoSSC / 2 Buy
1964 Tree and Leaf POoSSC / 3 Buy
1966 The Tolkien Reader POoSSC / 4 Buy
1967 The Road Goes Ever On POoPC / 1 Buy
1967 Smith of Wootton Major POoSS / 2 Buy
1971 Poems and Stories POoSSC / 5 Buy
1974 Bilbo's Last Song POoTLotRB / 5 Buy
1976 Drawings by Tolkien POoSN / 3 Buy
1976 Letters from Father Christmas(With: Baillie Tolkien) POoNB / 4 Buy
1977 The Silmarillion POoSSC / 6 Buy
1979 Pictures by J.R.R. Tolkien(With: Christopher Tolkien) POoC / 1 Buy
1980 Unfinished Tales of N’menor and Middle-Earth POoSSC / 7 Buy
1981 The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien POoNB / 5 Buy
1982 Finn and Hengest: The Fragment and the Episode POoNB / 6 Buy
1983 The Book of Lost Tales, Part One POoTHoMB / 1 Buy
1983 The Book of Lost Tales, Part Two POoTHoMB / 2 Buy
1983 The Monsters and the Critics: The Essays of J.R.R. Tolkien POoNB / 7 Buy
1985 The Lays of Beleriand POoTHoMB / 3 Buy
1986 The Shaping of Middle-earth POoTHoMB / 4 Buy
1987 The Lost Road and Other Writings POoTHoMB / 5 Buy
1988 The Return of the Shadow POoHOTLOTRC / 1 Buy
1989 The Treason of Isengard POoHOTLOTRC / 2 Buy
1990 The War of the Ring POoHOTLOTRC / 3 Buy
1992 Tolkien's World: Paintings of Middle-Earth POoMUB / 1 Buy
1992 Sauron Defeated POoHOTLOTRC / 4 Buy
1993 Morgoth's Ring: The Legends of Aman POoLSC / 1 Buy
1994 The War of the Jewels POoTHoMB / 6 Buy
1996 Realms of Tolkien: Images of Middle-Earth POoMUB / 2 Buy
1996 The Peoples of Middle-earth POoSSC / 8 Buy
1998 Roverandom POoSN / 4 Buy
1999 Poems From The Hobbit POoMUB / 3 Buy
2002 The History of Middle Earth Index POoTHoMB / 7 Buy
2002 The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring - Insiders' Guide POoNB / 8 Buy
2002 A Tolkien Miscellany POoSSC / 9 Buy
2007 The Children of H’rin(By: Christopher Tolkien) POoToMEB / 1 Buy
2007 The Children of H’rin POoSN / 5 Buy
2009 The Legend of Sigurd & Gudr’n POoSN / 6 Buy
2013 The Fall of Arthur POoSSC / 10 Buy
2015 The Story of Kullervo POoSN / 7 Buy
2016 The Lost Manuscript POoSN / 8 Buy
2017 Beren and L’thien POoSN / 9 Buy
2018 The Fall of Gondolin POoToMEB / 2 Buy
2018 The Great Tales of Middle-Earth POoTHoMB / 8 Buy
2021 The Nature of Middle-Earth(With: Carl F. Hostetter) POoNB / 9 Buy
2021 Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Pearl, and Sir Orfeo(With: Christopher Tolkien) POoSSC / 11 Buy
2022 The Fall of N’menor: and Other Tales from the Second Age of Middle-earth POoToMEB / 3 Buy
2023 The Battle of Maldon(With: Peter Grybauskaus) POoSSC / 12 Buy

J.R.R. Tolkien Book Series Reading Orders / browse all ->

01 The Book of Lost Tales, Part One 1983 Buy
02 The Book of Lost Tales, Part Two 1983 Buy
03 The Lays of Beleriand 1985 Buy
04 The Shaping of Middle-earth 1986 Buy
05 The Lost Road and Other Writings 1987 Buy
06 The War of the Jewels 1994 Buy
07 The History of Middle Earth Index 2002 Buy
08 The Great Tales of Middle-Earth 2018 Buy
01 The Children of H’rin(By: Christopher Tolkien) 2007 Buy
02 The Fall of Gondolin 2018 Buy
03 The Fall of N’menor: and Other Tales from the Second Age of Middle-earth 2022 Buy
01 The Hobbit 1937 Buy
02 The Fellowship of the Ring 1954 Buy
03 The Two Towers 1954 Buy
04 The Return of the King 1955 Buy
05 Bilbo's Last Song 1974 Buy
01 The Return of the Shadow 1988 Buy
02 The Treason of Isengard 1989 Buy
03 The War of the Ring 1990 Buy
04 Sauron Defeated 1992 Buy
01 Tolkien's World: Paintings of Middle-Earth 1992 Buy
02 Realms of Tolkien: Images of Middle-Earth 1996 Buy
03 Poems From The Hobbit 1999 Buy
01 Morgoth's Ring: The Legends of Aman 1993 Buy
01 Tales from the Perilous Realm 1949 Buy
02 The Adventures of Tom Bombadil 1962 Buy
03 Tree and Leaf 1964 Buy
04 The Tolkien Reader 1966 Buy
05 Poems and Stories 1971 Buy
06 The Silmarillion 1977 Buy
07 Unfinished Tales of N’menor and Middle-Earth 1980 Buy
08 The Peoples of Middle-earth 1996 Buy
09 A Tolkien Miscellany 2002 Buy
10 The Fall of Arthur 2013 Buy
11 Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Pearl, and Sir Orfeo(With: Christopher Tolkien) 2021 Buy
12 The Battle of Maldon(With: Peter Grybauskaus) 2023 Buy
01 A Middle English Reader and Vocabulary 1921 Buy
02 Beowulf and the Critics 1936 Buy
03 Tolkien on Fairy-stories 1939 Buy
04 Letters from Father Christmas(With: Baillie Tolkien) 1976 Buy
05 The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien 1981 Buy
06 Finn and Hengest: The Fragment and the Episode 1982 Buy
07 The Monsters and the Critics: The Essays of J.R.R. Tolkien 1983 Buy
08 The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring - Insiders' Guide 2002 Buy
09 The Nature of Middle-Earth(With: Carl F. Hostetter) 2021 Buy
Standalone Books in Reading Order 9 books / 1945-2017
01 The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun 1945 Buy
02 Farmer Giles of Ham 1949 Buy
03 Drawings by Tolkien 1976 Buy
04 Roverandom 1998 Buy
05 The Children of H’rin 2007 Buy
06 The Legend of Sigurd & Gudr’n 2009 Buy
07 The Story of Kullervo 2015 Buy
08 The Lost Manuscript 2016 Buy
09 Beren and L’thien 2017 Buy
01 The Road Goes Ever On 1967 Buy
01 Leaf by Niggle 1945 Buy
02 Smith of Wootton Major 1967 Buy
01 Pictures by J.R.R. Tolkien(With: Christopher Tolkien) 1979 Buy

Where to start with J.R.R. Tolkien

What is the best order to read J.R.R. Tolkien books?

Publication order is usually the safest place to start. If a book belongs to a series, follow the numbered series reading order shown on this page.

Are standalone books and series both included?

Yes. Standalone titles appear in the full chronological bibliography, and series are broken out separately with reading-order links when catalog data is available.

More authors

Carl Ashmore -> Mhairi McFarlane -> David Lagercrantz -> Laura Wilson ->

Source note: Sequencebooks organizes author, book, and series records from its catalog data. Publication years and series order are shown when available.