Tolkien Studies: Conventions and Abbreviations
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| Because there are so many editions of The Hobbit and The
Lord of the Rings, citations will be by book and chapter as well
as by page-number (referenced to the editions listed below). Thus a citation
from The Fellowship of the Ring, book two, chapter four, page
318 is written (FR, II, iv, 318). The “Silmarillion”
indicates the body of stories and poems developed over many years by Tolkien;
The Silmarillion indicates the volume first published in 1977. |
Abbreviation |
Text |
B&C |
Beowulf and the Critics. Michael D. C. Drout, ed. Medieval and Renaissance Texts and Studies 248. Tempe, AZ: Arizona Medieval and Renaissance Texts and Studies, 2002 |
| Bombadil | The Adventures of Tom Bombadil. London: George Allen & Unwin, 1962; Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1963. |
| FR | The Fellowship of the Ring. London: George Allen & Unwin, 1954; Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1954. Second edition, revised impression, Boston: Houghton Mifflin,1987. |
| H | The Hobbit. London: George Allen & Unwin, 1937. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1938. The Annotated Hobbit, ed. Douglas A. Anderson. Second edition, revised. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2002. |
| Jewels | The War of the Jewels. Christopher Tolkien, ed. London: HarperCollins; Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1994. |
| Lays | The Lays of Beleriand. Christopher Tolkien, ed. London: George Allen & Unwin; Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1985. |
| Letters | The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien. Humphrey Carpenter, ed. with the assistance of Christopher Tolkien. London: George Allen & Unwin; Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1981. |
| Lost Road | The Lost Road and Other Writings Christopher Tolkien, ed. London: Unwin Hyman; Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1987. |
| Lost Tales I | The Book of Lost Tales, Part One. Christopher Tolkien, ed. London: George Allen & Unwin, 1983; Boston: HoughtonMifflin, 1984. |
| Lost Tales II | The Book of Lost Tales, Part Two. Christopher Tolkien, ed. London: George Allen & Unwin; Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1984. |
| LotR | The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien; the work itself irrespective of edition. |
| MC | The Monsters and the Critics and Other Essays. London: George Allen & Unwin, 1983; Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1984. |
| Morgoth | Morgoth’s Ring. Edited by Christopher Tolkien. London: HarperCollins; Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1993. |
| PS | Poems and Stories. London: George Allen & Unwin, 1980; Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1994. |
| Peoples | The Peoples of Middle-earth. Christopher Tolkien, ed.London: HarperCollins; Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1996. |
| RK | The Return of the King. London: George Allen & Unwin 1955; Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1956. Second edition, revised impression, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1987. |
| S | The Silmarillion. Christopher Tolkien, ed. London: George Allen & Unwin, 1977. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1977. Second edition. London:HarperCollins, 1999; Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2001. |
| Sauron | Sauron Defeated. Christopher Tolkien, ed. London: HarperCollins; Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1992 |
| Shadow | The Return of the Shadow. Christopher Tolkien, ed. London: Unwin Hyman; Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1988. |
| Shaping | The Shaping of Middle-earth. Christopher Tolkien, ed. London: George Allen & Unwin; Boston Houghton Mifflin, 1986. |
| TL | Tree and Leaf. London: Unwin Books, 1964; Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1965. Expanded as Tree and Leaf, including the Poem Mythpoeia [and] The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth Beorhthelm's Son London: HarperCollins, 2001. |
| TT | The Two Towers. London: George Allen & Unwin, 1954; Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1955. Second edition, revised impression, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1987. |
| Treason | The Treason of Isengard. Christopher Tolkien, ed. London: Unwin Hyman; Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1989. |
| UT | Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth. Christopher Tolkien, ed. London: George Allen & Unwin; Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1980. |
| War | The War of the Ring. Christopher Tolkien, ed. London: Unwin Hyman; Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1990. |
This page last updated on January 30, 2005.