Q: What are the Various Books Named in The Lord of the Rings?
ANSWER: In The Lord of the Rings J.R.R. Tolkien mentions a number of books that were compiled either in the Shire or in Gondor. Most of these books are mentioned in the Prologue to the story, which is said to have been based on The Red Book of Westmarch. It is a common misunderstanding that The Lord of the Rings is a translation of the Red Book, whereas in fact Tolkien only suggests that he wrote The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion after reading and translating the Red Book (and possibly other books). In his private notes and essays Tolkien makes reference to other works which he may not have intended to be included among Bilbo’s Translations from the Elvish.
The Red Book of Westmarch – This is the book begun by Bilbo, continued by Frodo, nearly finished by Sam, and annotated by other Hobbits (possibly only Merry). The first part of the book was named “There And Back Again” but when Bilbo handed the book on to Frodo it had been titled My Diary, My Unexpected Journey, There and Back Again. And What Happened After, Adventures of Five Hobbits, The Tale of the Great Ring, compiled by Bilbo Baggins from his own observations and the accounts of his friends, and What We Did in the War of the Ring. I should note that I may have misinterpreted where the titles break. Bilbo supposedly crossed out most of these and Frodo crossed out the last, replacing it with: The Downfall of the Lord of the Rings and the Return of the King (as seen by the Little People; being the memoirs of Bilbo and Frodo of the Shire, supplemented by the accounts of their friends and the learning of the Wise) Together with extracts from Books of Lore translated by Bilbo in Rivendell.. The Red Book passed from Sam to his descendants, the Wardens of Westmarch (the Fairbairns of Undertowers).
Translations from the Elvish – These three books were compiled by Bilbo in Rivendell. He subsequently gave them to Frodo, who left them with Sam, who passed them on to his descendants, the Fairbairns of Undertowers. It is generally assumed that some of the historical material included in the appendices to The Lord of the Rings as well as the various texts of The Silmarillion are derived from these three fictional books. In the Prologue these three volumes are treated as part of the Red Book.
(unnamed fifth volume) – There was a fifth volume attached to the original Red Book and Translations in Westmarch. According to the Prologue this fifth volume contained “commentaries, genealogies, and various other matter concerning the hobbit members of the Fellowship”. Presumably the four genealogical tables of the “great” families of the Shire are drawn from this volume. The commentaries may have included notes on the histories of Rohan and Durin’s Folk as well as languages but we must be careful about assuming this was Tolkien’s intended connection.
The Thain’s Book – This was the copy of the Red Book of Westmarch (presumably all five volumes) that Pippin presented to Aragorn/Elessar in Gondor in Fourth Age year 64. This copy of the book remained in Minas Tirith.
(Findegil’s copy of) The Thain’s Book – Not explicitly titled so, this was the copy of The Thain’s Book that Findegil made for the Thains of the Shire in Fourth Age year 172. This book was kept by the Tooks at Great Smials. According to the Prologue this copy of the Red Book contained additional material provided in Gondor, including “The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen”. According to the Prologue this is also the only copy of the Red Book that “contains the whole of Bilbo’s ‘Translations from the Elvish'”. It is not easy to reconcile this statement with the statement that Bilbo’s translations were kept at Undertowers, unless it is assumed that there were three complete copies of the translations, of which two were lost (the original at Undertowers and the copy in Minas Tirith).
Herblore of the Shire – This book was written by Merry (Meriadoc Brandybuck, Master of Buckland). This book was kept at Brandy Hall but since this was the work for which Merry was most remembered it may be safe to assume copies were made for other families of the Shire.
Reckoning of Years – Another book written by Merry and kept at Brandy Hall, this book “discussed the relation of the calendars of the Shire and Bree to those of Rivendell, Gondor, and Rohan.” This is not necessarily the source for calendaric information provided in the appendices in The Lord of the Rings. Perhaps it was Tolkien’s thought that Merry would have written this book, and then some of its information included in the commentaries to the Red Book, or else this book followed upon commentaries in the Red Book concerning the calendars.
Old Words and Names in the Shire – A “treatise” rather than a full book written by Merry, this work looked at the relationship between old words and names among the Shire-folk and the language of Rohan.
The Tale of Years – Compiled by or under the auspices of the Tooks of Great Smials, this work compressed much of the material that Pippin and his successors collected from Gondor concerning the history of Numenor and the Second Age. The Prologue suggests that Merry contributed to this book, and it clearly serves as the basis for the “Tale of Years” included in The Lord of the Rings.
The Book of Mazarbul – This book is the historical narrative of Balin’s ill-fated colony in Moria, so-named because the Fellowship of the Ring found it in the Chamber of Mazarbul (Khuzdul: “records”). Various authors contributed to the book’s compilation, although Gimli recognized the hand of Ori in one passage.
(Hobbits of the Battle of Bywater) – Not so-named, this scroll Roll is only briefly described in “The Scouring of the Shire”.
Calendars of the Red Book – This name is used in the appendix on the calendar systems and there is insufficient context to determine if it is intended to be another name for Merry’s Reckoning of Years or if it refers to a wholly separate work. One section of the book is named “Reckoning of Rivendell”.
Yearbook of Tuckborough (Old Yellowskin) – This book was apparently started around Third Age year 2100 and was and annual record of events in the Shire. It was probably supposed to be styled like the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, which served as a model for most if not all of Tolkien’s “annal” documents. The Yearbook is named as a source for many of the “Red Book’s annals and genealogies”.
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I’ve only niggly corrections to offer here I am afraid. Please feel free to correct me right back!
Sam does finish the writing of Volume 1 of the Red Book. As Frodo says, ‘The last pages are for you.’
There aren’t any annotations by Merry to the Red Book, mentioned or implied. The only annotations are those made in Gondor.
Regarding Findegil’s copy, one should understand “the Red Book” primarily to mean the physical original which was kept at Undertowers. It would be comparable to the Red Book of Hergest, from Wales, which was Tolkien’s inspiration for the name. The Hergest book, like other similar ones, consists of various materials copied out by different scribes, all bound together. If anything, the arrangement of the Undertowers book sounds too tidy and well-organised (though there is a possibility of mediaeval muddle in Volume 5). Anyway, it is an original (including Bilbo’s translations) and not a “copy”. We are told that it has not been preserved, and we must assume that the Thain’s Book (the copy Pippin took to Gondor) has also been lost. Given that, I don’t see a contradiction.
It’s important that the hobbits killed in the battle with the ruffians are commemorated in a Roll and not a scroll (though physically it would be something like a scroll). Its full title might be “Roll of Honour of the Battle of Bywater, S.R. 1419.” Such lists of war dead, to be read out at civic occasions and the like, would have been sadly commonplace in the years following the First World War.
The Calendars of the Red Book would appear to be simply a series of calendrical tables included in that work, most certainly including the Calendar of Imladris. It appears these Calendars also in some fashion detailed the differences between Shire and Bree usage.
The Yearbook of Tuckborough is just “Yellowskin”.
I’m going to niggle back. 🙂
For example, the Prologue says that other hobbits contributed to the Red Book so even though it doesn’t say whether any of those contributions were included in the first volume (Bilbo/Frodo’s diary) I think it’s pretty clear from the text that the “Red Book” is the five-volume set.
And the Prologue does specifically state that Merry made contributions to works included in the Red Book. For example, Tolkien writes: “It was probably at Great Smials that The Tale of Years was put together, with the assistance of material collected by Meriadoc.”
I happily concede the correction of “scroll” to Roll. I should have noted Tolkien’s use of a capital letter to denote something special.
I will have to stand by my ambiguity on the calendars.
Not sure how I came up with Old Yellowskin — must have had a dog on my mind.
Thanks for the comments and corrections.