The New Tolkien Companion

by J.E.A. Tyler

A comprehensive guide to the history, legends, languages, and peoples of Middle Earth, compiling every known fact, name, word, date, etymological allusion, and event and providing explanatory maps, charts, and genealogical tables

Genres: Fantasy, Reference, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy

651 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1979

Reviews

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

my concordance while growing through high school.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great encyclopedic companion for academic Tolkien research

[Aleina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was sooo lost when I started this and well...I guess it's not exactly a book you just randomly decide to read. It's built like a dictionary and it's supposed to help you understand things in Tolkien's books that you didn't understand or had forgotten. It was really really good in that way, and after I had made it through the B's I had figured out/remembered most of the Lord of the Rings series and was quite pleased to have finished it.
Good to have if you ever wanted to totally understand the enitrety of the series! ^_^

[Michael Joosten · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written in 1976 and revised after the publication of The Silmarillion, Tyler's work is basically just a Middle-earth encyclopaedia, a fairly comprehensive one, and a better in terms of accuracy than contemporary work by David Day. Nonetheless, the book has been rendered dated by the release of Unfinished Tales (and everything since), and is less authoritative than Hammond and Scull's Reader's Guide to the Lord of the Rings.

[Baron Greystone · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's dry. It's a huge index. Is it comprehensive? I suppose so. Is it inspiring? Not so much. I don't think it compares well to the various appendices to Return of the King, though, which I enjoyed very much. All in all, a handy reference, I suppose, but there may be better out there.

[Rochelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have seen and used many guides to Tolkien's worlds and works but this remains my favourite.

THE NEW TOLKIEN COMPANION (as well as it's latest incarnation: THE COMPLETE TOLKIEN COMPANION) is by far the best and most thorough, detail-wise, that I have found.

A+++ and highly recommended.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as comprehensive as Robert Foster's Complete Guide to Middle Earth but still a handy reference volume