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It is remarkably difficult to speak of what is "true" in the context of J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium, or what texts should be considered canon; quite a few readers do not believe that any clear canon exists at all. There are various reasons for this:
- Tolkien worked on Middle-earth over the course of decades, making substantial changes. Readers may remember, for example, the differences between The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings with regard to Gandalf and the Elves. Moreover, toward the end of his life the focus of his writing shifted from pure story telling to more philosophical concerns, which led to a considerable shift in tone and content.
- Tolkien's writing is laden with details and hints, which can be contradictory, especially in the posthumously published work. Such information should not take precedence over more explicit statements elsewhere, but it can help to flesh out our understanding of Middle-earth (even if it does at times add confusion). In general, the revised versions of The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings are considered canon, but with The Silmarillion and other posthumous texts the matter is more complex.
- To add to the confusion, in some cases, Tolkien intentionally left some gaps in his works. In one of his letters (#144) he provided both an explanation and an example of this, writing that "even in a mythical Age there must be some enigmas, as there always are. Tom Bombadil is one (intentionally)." Giving an incomplete picture in this way can be frustrating, but it also makes the invented world feel more natural.
- I am doubtful myself about the undertaking. Part of the attraction of the L.R. is, I think, due to the glimpses of a large history in the background: an attraction like that of viewing far off an unvisited island, or seeing the towers of a distant city gleaming in a sunlit mist. To go there is to destroy the magic, unless new unattainable vistas are again revealed. Also many of the older legends are purely 'mythological', and nearly all are grim and tragic: a long account of the disasters that destroyed the beauty of the Ancient World, from the darkening of Valinor to the Downfall of Númenor and the flight of Elendil.
- The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien #247
As essentially only The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings (LotR) and The Adventures of Tom Bombadil were published during Tolkien's lifetime, only those works (in their latest editions) can be considered true canon, and even then questions remain about a few minor deviations from his intent (as can be seen from the drafts of LotR in the History of Middle-earth series). The Silmarillion was heavily edited for consistency with the LotR and internal consistency and therefore is by some considered to be canonical, however Christopher Tolkien himself has stated multiple times after its publication that the book contains many factual errors introduced by this editing. Furthermore, the chapters in the published Silmarillion about the ruin of Doriath and the fall of Gondolin, especially the former, were largely written by Christopher Tolkien and Guy Gavriel Kay, to fill in gaps in the available story, and therefore do not represent Tolkien's original conceptions. Unfinished Tales and the Silmarillion sections of History of Middle-earth (HoMe) have not generally received such editing for consistency, and they therefore are not only at points inconsistent with the published Silmarillion, but also with the LotR or even themselves.
An example of the canon question is the lineage of Gil-galad. In the published Silmarillion he is said to be the son of Fingon, but as disclosed in the HoMe Tolkien considered many arrangements before apparently deciding that he was the son of Orodreth, who would then also be displaced as a son of Finarfin and turned into Finarfin's grandson instead. Also, most people think Finwë had three children, all sons; Fëanor by his first wife Míriel, and Fingolfin and Finarfin by Indis. However, this is incorrect, since he also had two daughters, Findis and Irimë, by his second wife (Findis was in fact Finwë's first child by Indis), thus Finwë had five children. If the published Silmarillion is taken as canon all later material must be discarded, but if the later writings by Tolkien are taken as canon the Silmarillion must be rewritten, a task which Christopher Tolkien has stated he will not do as he is now retired. So we are left with a Quenta Silmarillion which contradicts the original author's intentions, but which is the only consistent narrative in existence for most of the traditions. The latter third of the Quenta Silmarillion in particular was never rewritten by Tolkien as a whole after the early narrative of his youth.
A further problem is reconciling The Hobbit with The Lord of the Rings. The Hobbit was revised by Tolkien to make it more consistent with its sequel, but there are still problems. For example, Bilbo and the Dwarves took far too long to reach Rivendell when a map from LotR is used to gauge the distance, which can only be explained with great difficulty if at all. There are additional problems as well, such as the exact location of the Troll encounter. When writing The Hobbit Tolkien did not yet consider that the world of Hobbits might be the same as his Middle-earth, but he still included several references to his (at the time) unpublished tales to give the story a sense of depth. Thus Gandalf and Thorin Oakenshield wield swords from Gondolin, and Elrond, ruler of Rivendell, is Half-elven.
For the sake of consistency, in this encyclopedia The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings are considered fully canon, but the status of The Silmarillion and other posthumous writings is more complex. In general, The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales are treated as canon, but corrections published in HoMe generally take precedence. Late writings by Tolkien published in HoMe that do not contradict more established texts are also generally treated as canon.
This choice of canon means that this encyclopedia includes a number of corrections to the information in The Silmarillion as published. For example, the article on Gil-galad states that he is the son of Orodreth, the article on Amras mentions his death in the burning of the ships of the Teleri, and Argon, Findis and Irimë have articles of their own. Details of the history of the Nauglamír and the fall of Doriath are treated as uncertain, and the story of the Wanderings of Húrin is accepted as accurate. Information on earlier or alternate versions of the stories is provided when possible.
Canon status of various writings
While readers often differ in their opinions of which writings to treat as canon, this encyclopedia uses the following choices:
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