The Complete Guide to Middle-earth: fromThe HobbittoThe Silmarillion is a reference book for the fictional universe of J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, compiled and edited by Robert Foster. The Complete Guide to Middle-earth is a major expansion of Foster's 'A Guide to Middle-earth, which was published in a limited edition by Mirage Press in 1971. Almost twice the length of the original, the 1978 version incorporates extensive entries related to The Silmarillion. A further revised edition was published in 2001 in time for The Lord of the Rings film trilogy. The Complete Guide to Middle-earth is generally recognised as an excellent reference book on Middle-earth. Christopher Tolkien has commended it himself as an "admirable work of reference". However, as it does not include information on post-Silmarillion material, the 1978 edition contains some assertions contradicted by later publications. For example, the Star of Elendil jewel is identified with the Star of the Dúnedain given to Samwise Gamgee, but Christopher Tolkien refutes this. It also includes speculation on matters later confirmed in subsequent works. For example, Foster proposes Gandalf and Olórin are one and the same - confirmed in Unfinished Tales. A German edition, Das Große Mittelerde-Lexikon, revised and translated by Helmut W. Pesch, was published in 2002.
A Guide to Middle-earth
A Guide to Middle-earth was the first published encyclopedic reference book for the fictional universe of J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth, compiled and edited by Robert Foster. The book was published in 1971 by Mirage Press, a specialistscience fiction and fantasy publisher, in a limited edition of 2000 copies. A paperback edition was issued by Ballantine Books in 1974. The author profile on the first edition describes Robert Foster as the then-"Tengwar Consultant" to the Tolkien Society of America, and the book incorporates material previously published in the science fiction fanzineNiekas. Lester del Rey praised the 1971 version for covering "literally everything you wanted to know about Middle Earth and were unable to discover before."
