Untangling Tolkien
Subtitle: A Chronology and Commentary for The lord of the Rings
By: by Michael W. Perry.
Edition: 1st ed.
Publisher: Inkling Books
Published: 2003
Place of publication: Seattle, WA
Language: eng
Format: Paperback
Number of pages: 251
ISBN-13: 9781587420191
Subjects: Tolkien, J. R. R. 1892-1973.; Fantasy fiction, English -- History and criticism.; Middle Earth (Imaginary place) -- Chronology.; Chronology in literature.
Other titles: Chronology and commentary for The lord of the rings
First sentence: J. R. R. Tolkien’s great tale, The Lord of the Rings, is wonderfully complex. Within its pages, readers meet a marvelous array of creatures from little Hobbits to giant Ents. Its narrative sweeps across a territory roughly the size of western Europe and draws on events spanning thousands of years. But for most readers, however enthralled, making sense of it all is not easy. Fortunately, there are encyclopedias to help us understand the people and places, as well as an atlas to sort out the geography. This book will do the same for the chronology and should become a ‘must have’ for all serious Tolkien fans.
Description: This is a detailed day-by-day chronology for the J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. It describes what every major character is doing on every day in the tale, along with the historical background and later events gleaned from Tolkien's other writings. Each event has a reference to where it is described in The Lord of the Rings, along with additional helpful information such as the phases of the moon.
Notes: Includes over a thousand bibliographical references.
Table of contents: label: Preface; label: 1.
title: Dating and Chronology--Understanding Tolkien's calendar (Includes a universal Shire Calendar); label: 2.
title: A Brief Background--Covers from before the Creation to the Watchful Peace or over 6472 Years (includes "Tolkien's Heroes" and "More about the Inklings"); label: 3.
title: Growing Conflict--Covers from 860 to 1340 or the Watchful Peace ends to the treachery of Sauron, 481 Years (includes "Blending the Northern with the Mediterranean"); label: 4.
title: A Chance Encounter--1341 to 1355 or Gandalf meets Thorin to the Fourth White Council--15 Years; label: 5.
title: A Time of Preparation--1356 to 1416 or Aragorn Meets Gandalf to the search for Gollum--61 Years; label: 6.
title: Searching for the Shire--1417 to Late August 1418 or Gollum's capture by Sauron to the Black Riders searching the Anduin Valley--20 Months (includes "Phases of the Moon"); label: 7.
title: Hiking to Crickhollow--Early September to September 25, 1418 or Aragorn's return to Hobbits at Crickhollow--About 25 Days, Includes Day 1 to 3 of the journey; label: 8.
title: Flight to Bree--September 26 to 29, 1418 or Entering the Old Forest to arrival at Bree--4 Days, Day 4 to 7 (includes "Tolkien's Natural World"); label: 9.
title: Journey to Rivendell--September 30 to October 20, 1418 or Leaving Bree to arrival at Rivendell--21 Days, Day 8 to 28 (Includes "The Significance of the Ring" and "Tolkien and Lewis"); label: 10.
title: Rivendell to Lorien--October 21, 1418 to February 14, 1419 or Treating Frodo to rest at Lorien--116 Days, Day 29 to 144 (includes "No Generation Gap"); label: 11.
title: Lorien to Parting--February 15 to February 26, 1419 or Mirror of Galadriel until the Company separates--12 Days, Day 145 to 156 (includes "The Testing of Hobbits" and "A Different Tale"); label: 12.
title: Captivity and Pursuit--February 27 to March 1, 1419 or Hobbits captive to Entmoot--5 Days, Day 157 to 161 (includes "A Duty to Disobey," "The Humanity of Ancient People," and "Tolkien, War and Cynicism"); label: 13.
title: War with Saruman--March 2 to 5, 1419 or Motivating Thoden to the defeat of Saruman--4 Days, Day 162 to 165 (includes "Tolkien and Technology"); label: 14.
title: Preparing for War--March 6 to 9, 1419 or Fleeing the Nazgul to Rohan receives the Red Arrow--4 Days, Day 166 to 169 (includes "Gondor's Pony Express," "More than Chance," and "Tolkien's Writing Interrupted"); label: 15.
title: Darkness and War--March 10 to 15, 1419 or Dawnless Day to victory at Minas Tirith--6 Days, Day 170 to 175 (includes "Tolkien's Chronology in Shelob's Lair" and "Freedom or Slavery"); label: 16.
title: Marching Against Sauron--March 16 to April 6, 1419 or March on Mordor to the defeat of Sauron--21 Days, Day 176 to 196 (includes "The Ring and Totalitarianism" and "Different Reactions to Sauron"); label: 17.
title: Peace Returns--April 7 to August 22, 1419 or War's aftermath to dividing the Fellowship--139 Days, Day 197 to 335; label: 18.
title: Returning Home--August 23, 1419 to Late 1419 or Departing for Bree to freeing the Shire--Over 71 Days, Day 378 to 407f. (includes "Tolkien and 'Lunatic' Aryan Myths" and "Black and White in Tolkien"); label: 19.
title: Rebuilding and Departing--1420 to 1541 or Wounds of war to the last departure over the Sea--122 Years (includes "Never Absent and Never Named"); label: 20.
title: Tolkien's Great Puzzle--Understanding Tolkien's writing techniques (includes "Tolkien's Outline of the Book" and "A Quick Reference to Important Dates")