Fictional book in J.R.R. Tolkien's legendarium. The Red Book of Westmarch (sometimes Red Book of the Periannath, and The Downfall of the Lord of the Rings, also known as the Thain's Book after its principal version) is the book in which the events of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings were written. It is bound in red leather. J. R. R. Tolkien in 1916. ... A legendarium is a book or series of books consisting of a collection of legends. ... In J. R. R. Tolkiens legendarium, a Hobbit is an individual member of one of the races that inhabit the lands of Arda. ... This article or section contains a plot summary that is overly long or excessively detailed. ... The Lord of the Rings is an epic high fantasy novel written by the English academic J. R. R. Tolkien. ... Modern leather-working tools Leather is a material created through the tanning of hides and skins of animals, primarily cattlehide. ...

The Red Book was written by the Hobbit Bilbo Baggins and his heir Frodo Baggins, and contained both their adventures, as well as a lot of background information which the Bagginses collected. The Book was started by Bilbo Baggins, and recounted his quest of Erebor, which he called There and Back Again. He gave the Book to Frodo at Rivendell after completing it, and Frodo organized Bilbo's manuscript and used it to write down his own quest during the War of the Ring. The title page was inscribed with various titles that had been subsequently crossed out: In J. R. R. Tolkiens legendarium, a Hobbit is an individual member of one of the races that inhabit the lands of Arda. ... Bilbo Baggins (2890 Third Age - ? Fourth Age) is an important character in J. R. R. Tolkiens legendarium. ... Frodo Baggins is one of the most significant characters in J. R. R. Tolkiens legendarium. ... This article or section contains a plot summary that is overly long or excessively detailed. ... There and Back Again was the first album by Vertical Horizon, released independently in 1992, and later re-released by RCA Records. ... Location of Rivendell in Middle-earth marked in red Rivendell (Sindarin: Imladris) is an Elven outpost in Middle-earth, a fictional realm created by J. R. R. Tolkien. ... Combatants Free peoples: Gondor, Rohan, Dale, Esgaroth, Erebor, The Shire, Lothlórien, the Woodland Realm and the Fangorn forest Evil forces: Under Sauron: Mordor, Rhûn, Morgul, Harad, Umbar, Khand Under Saruman: Isengard, Dunland Commanders Gandalf (died but later resurrected) Aragorn Théoden† Éomer Denethor† Dáin II† Brand† Galadriel...

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The original version did not include Bilbo's translations of legends from the Elder Days (Translations from the Elvish, by B.B.) or the extensive background information on the realms of Arnor, Gondor and Rohan: these were introduced in later copies. The original Red Book was a single volume, kept in a red case. In the same case were added Bilbo's three-volume Elvish Translations and a fifth volume containing genealogical tables and commentaries. Image File history File links Arda. ... In the fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien, the Elder Days are the first Ages of Middle-earth. ... In the fiction of J.R.R. Tolkien, Arnor, or the Northern Kingdom, was a kingdom of the Dúnedain in the land of Eriador in Middle-earth. ... Gondor is a fictional kingdom in J. R. R. Tolkiens Middle-earth. ... The banner of Rohan, as rendered in Peter Jacksons movies; the sun is an embellishment on the books description of a white horse upon green. Rohan (from Sindarin Rochand), is a fictional realm in J. R. R. Tolkiens fantasy era of Middle-earth. ...

After Bilbo and Frodo left for Valinor, the Red Book passed into the keeping of Samwise Gamgee, mayor of the Shire. The book was left in the possession of Sam Gamgee's eldest daughter, Elanor Fairbairn, and her descendants (the Fairbairns of the Towers or Wardens of Westmarch). Valinor (meaning Land of the Valar) is a fictional location from J. R. R. Tolkiens legendarium, the realm of the Valar in Aman. ... In J. R. R. Tolkiens legendarium, Samwise Gamgee, later known as Samwise Gardner[2] or Samwise the Brave and commonly known as Sam, is a fictional character who is Frodo Bagginss servant and companion on the journey to Mordor. ... The fields of the Shire in the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy The Shire is a region of J. R. R. Tolkiens fictional Middle-earth, described in The Lord of the Rings and other works. ...

Although the original Red Book was not preserved, several copies, with various notes and later additions, were made. One of these was brought to Gondor in F.A. 64 by Thain Peregrin I. The scribe Findegil made a copy of the Red Book at the behest of King Elessar, and it is in this version that the Elvish translations and much of the background material was finally added to the Red Book. Also added was an abbreviated version of The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen by Faramir's grandson Barahir. A copy of this work was returned to the Shire, and become known as the Thain's Book. This book was kept at the Took residence in Great Smials. It is copies of this version which are presumed to have survived until Tolkien's time: in the first edition of The Fellowship of the Ring, Tolkien's foreword claimed he had translated the Red Book from the original Westron into English. This article also concerns the later Ages of Middle-earth, after the Third Age The Fourth Age and the later ages that followed it, are fictional time periods from J. R. R. Tolkiens universe of Middle-earth. ... Peregrin Took (T.A. 2990–?), better known to his friends as Pippin, is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkiens universe of Middle-earth; a Hobbit, and one of Frodo Bagginss youngest but dearest friends. ... Aragorn II, son of Arathorn II, is an important character from J. R. R Tolkiens legendarium. ... Faramir is also the name of Ondohers son. ... In J. R. R. Tolkiens Middle-earth legendarium, the Took clan was the most famous Hobbit family. ... The Fellowship of the Ring is the first of three volumes of the epic novel The Lord of the Rings by the English author J. R. R. Tolkien. ... In J. R. R. Tolkiens fantasy world of Middle-earth, the Westron or Common Speech is the closest thing to a universal language, at least at the time during which The Lord of the Rings is set. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ...

As a memoir and history, the contents of the Red Book probably correspond to Tolkien's work as follows:

• Bilbo's journey: The Hobbit
• Frodo's journey: The Lord of the Rings
• Background information: the Appendices to The Lord of the Rings, as well as essays such as published in the Unfinished Tales
• Hobbit poetry and legends: The Adventures of Tom Bombadil (in the Red Book, scattered throughout the margins of the text of Bilbo and Frodo's journeys)
• Bilbo's translation of Elven histories and legends: The Silmarillion

The original version of the Red Book contained the story of Bilbo's journey as it originally stood in the first edition of the Hobbit: thus, Gollum willingly gives the One Ring to Bilbo, and there is no trace of the Ring's hold over Gollum. Beginning with the Thain's Book, later copies of the Red Book contained, as an alternative, also the true account (in notes from Frodo and Sam), where Bilbo comes across the Ring by accident (the story as it stands in the current edition of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings). Neither hobbit seemed willing "to delete anything actually written by the old hobbit himself." This article or section contains a plot summary that is overly long or excessively detailed. ... The Lord of the Rings is an epic high fantasy novel written by the English academic J. R. R. Tolkien. ... Look up appendix in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Unfinished Tales (full title Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth) is a collection of stories by J. R. R. Tolkien that were never completed during his lifetime, but were edited by his son Christopher Tolkien and published in 1980. ... The Adventures of Tom Bombadil is a collection of poetry by J. R. R. Tolkien, published in 1962. ... Celeborn (portrayed by Marton Csokas), an Elf in Peter Jacksons adaptation of The Fellowship of the Ring. ... The Silmarillion is a collection of J. R. R. Tolkiens works, edited and published posthumously by his son Christopher Tolkien, with assistance from Guy Gavriel Kay, who would later become a noted fantasy fiction writer. ... Gollum is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkiens legendarium. ... The One Ring, also known as the Ruling Ring, The Doom of Man, the Great Ring of Power, The Ring, or Isildurs Bane, is an artifact from J. R. R. Tolkiens fictional Middle-earth universe. ...

In Peter Jackson's movie trilogy, the Red Book appears at the end of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, where Frodo entrusts the book to Samwise just before he leaves Middle-earth. It is also seen in the The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, where Frodo is talking about Bilbo's adventure. In the film's extended version, Bilbo is seen writing in it in Bag End. Peter Jackson CNZM (born October 31, 1961) is a New Zealand filmmaker best known as the director of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, which he, along with Fran Walsh, his long time partner, and Philippa Boyens, adapted from the novels by J. R. R. Tolkien. ... Bag End, as it is represented in a Lord of the Rings computer game. ...

Tolkien's inspiration for this repository of lore was the real Red Book of Hergest, the early 15th century compilation of Welsh history and poetry that contains the manuscript of the Mabinogion. Bound (and rebound) in red leather, in the Bodleian Library, Oxford, the manuscript was well known to Tolkien. The Red book of Hergest (Welsh: Llyfr coch Hergest) is one of the most important medieval Welsh manuscripts. ... The Mabinogion is a collection of prose stories from medieval Welsh manuscripts. ... Entrance to the Library, with the coats-of-arms of several Oxford colleges The Bodleian Library, the main research library of the University of Oxford, is one of the oldest libraries in Europe, and in England is second in size only to the British Library. ...

See also

• Calendar of Imladris
• Third Age
• Westmarch
• Story within a story

The Calendar of Imladris is a calendar used in J.R.R. Tolkiens fictional Middle-earth by the Elves of Rivendell. ... For other uses, see The Third Age. ... In J.R.R. Tolkiens Middle-earth legendarium, the Shire is subdivided into several regions. ... A story within a story is a literary device or conceit in which one story is told during the action of another story. ...

External links

• Reproduction of the Red Book of Westmarch movie prop
• The Chroniclers of Middle-earth describing the fictional origins and history of the Red Book