The Worlds of J.R.R. Tolkien

This was a beautiful and interesting look into the the Lord of the Rings, and any Tolkein fan would definitely love this.

This is a beautifully written and informative piece of work about the places that inspired locations in Middle- Earth. With its gorgeous illustrations this is definitely a book for those who love Tolkien's work.

This was a detailed informative book about J. R. R. Tolkien and his works. It included beautiful illustrations but also some historical information.

This is an absolutely gorgeous book. Even though Quarto Publishing Group was kind enough to gift an ebook copy through NetGalley, I will definitely be purchasing this as a physical copy in the future. I just don’t think ebook does this book the justice it deserves.

So, this book is all about the places that inspired the fictional locations in Middle-Earth (the fantasy world of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings fame). Since the great success of the recent films, the locations of Hobbiton and Middle Earth have in recent years become synonymous with the landscapes of New Zealand. But this book explores the locations that actually inspired Tolkien himself.

As someone who has only partially read Tolkien’s works, and not a diehard Tolkien fan, this book was a pleasure as I got to learn more about Tolkien’s life from the very first chapter. If you are at all interested in the process of writing or understanding how authors draw from reality to create the fantastic, this will also be an extremely enlightening read. As for me, I found it absolutely fascinating seeing the inspiration behind what has, at this point, become an absolute legend in the fantasy genre.

All in all, this is the perfect coffee table book: gorgeous illustrations and photographs for when you just want to flick through at a glance, while also offering erudite yet extremely readable text to delve deeper into Tolkien’s expansive world. Many illustrations included in the book are by Tolkien himself and are breathtaking. We also get a glimpse into rare archival images - a real treat. This is amazing for both the overly-informed and the ignorant when it comes to Tolkien, I will definitely be returning to this book every now and then.

A look at the real-world locations which inspired those in Tolkien's work, the main focus obviously being on Middle-Earth – where on one level it really shouldn't be surprising, but it still feels jarring that none of those New Zealand vistas which looked so right get a mention. I suspect that to the real hardcore fans who've read a full biography, let alone the mammoth History Of Middle Earth, a lot of this might be familiar material seen again from a slightly different angle - the idyllic Shire-like Sarehole of Tolkien's childhood, the Dead Marshes of the Somme, the walking tour in the Alps which inspired the Misty Mountains. Elsewhere, Garth moves further from consensus, for instance in suggesting that while Birmingham's industry and spread might have been transmuted into Mordor and Isengard, that doesn't preclude its craftsmen from also inspiring the toymakers of Dale. Along the way are little oddments of information which interest even beyond their relevance or otherwise to one 20th century writer: isn't it perfectly perverse that the man who brought the mass manufacture of automobiles to Oxford should have been another, entirely different William Morris? At times, as when rotating or expanding maps to see how closely one could map the Shire to the Britain it recalls and would become, or picking line by line through texual variants, the exercise can resemble the most entirely pointless recesses of theology – albeit obviously with oceans less blood on its hands, and directed at a considerably more deserving text. Besides, it does my vengeful heart good to see this kind of hardcore, footnoted scholarship being applied to a fantasy epic, when once the glossy mainstream publication of such a thing would have been considered the exclusive province of more 'literary' work. And it is, at least in so far as one can tell from a Netgalley ARC, a beautiful book. Part of the appeal was simply that, locked down as we all are, I wanted to be able to look at some gorgeous landscapes, and on that count it definitely delivers. Though even more than any of the sweeping views, I think the loveliest to see wasn't the grand mountains or castles, but the little glade where Edith Tolkien danced for JRR when he returned, damaged, from the War, and their transfiguration into Beren and Lúthien was sealed.

FTC disclosure: I would like to thank Quarto Publishing Group – White Lion for providing me with an advance reader copy via access to the galley for free through the NetGalley program.

This book was awesome.

From gorgeous illustrations to the impressive amount of research, it’s a must have book for any Tolkien collector out there. It will make a beautiful coffee table book in my home and one I’d also recommend as a companion piece to anyone reading one of his pieces or for those just being introduced to the world of Tolkien.

I loved the organization, the range and amount of photos and illustrations, and the amount of detailed discussion of the origin and inspiration that Tolkien depicted in his writing style and world-building mega feat of what I think is the epitome of writing genius.

This book packed so much punch, I admired every bit of information covering the incredibly detailed influences of his work such as geographical processes, ancient architecture, even his recurring nightmares of a wave engulfing the land, bereavements to shipwrecks, and the Elvish language creation which ranged from onomatopoeic words and his studies of Latin.

His imagination was incredible. Some of which also being rooted in a multi-cultural, Gothic atmosphere incorporating unusual caricature from backgrounds of Celtic, Welsh, English, South Africa, and Icelandic tradition, folklore, and wartime events. This book covered it all.

I’ve been a fan of Tolkien since first picking up my first read, The Hobbit, in the 5th grade, and this gave me an even greater appreciation for the creativity that went into his writing.

It was also compelling in the way it made me want to visit all the glorious places, exhilarating locations as some of the foundations for settings in his books, a Tolkien tour.

This is a beautiful book with oodles of information for fans of Tolkien to browse and adore with stunning photos, maps and illustrations. It gives an insight into the man and the places that may have inspired his work. I have been lucky enough to read a digital arc to look at and am eagerly waiting to have a physical copy on my bookshelf.

Beautiful book and really adds to the understanding of Tolkien’s world for readers.
Loved the format (layout) of the book and clearly it was well researched.

I came to this thinking I'd get a gazzetteer – a mapping of Middle-earth over our world, or vice versa, that showed where each point Tolkien borrowed ended up, and where we might travel to today to see a scene from his sagas. But no. This volume, also shooting down the fact I still associate the imprint with junior non-fiction, is much more of an academic essay, which you can tell from how the introduction tells us what it'll be doing next. What comes next begins with a general survey of how Tolkien's different life experiences and habitats might have shown him where d' Hobbits at. We then receive the birthing of his mythology, of course in the northern countries of Scandinavia, old Germany and so on, but also elsewhere, and all this is fine and dandy but at an academic level the high picture content of this volume did not lead me to expect. This was an author, of course, who was remixing Finnish as a teenager to make it a language with some of the same beats and instrumentation, and scholars like our author have been chasing his coattails since.

The third chapter, regarding Tolkien's life and works in relation to the sea, shows just how the scope of this book leaves The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings far behind, for obscure poems and suchlike – but it was quite eye-opening to see connections laid out between the polar explorers of the 1910s and Tolkien's early works. We then see other sections, gathered together by geographical type (waterways, arboreal areas, etc), and the whole is a picture of how (a) Tolkien's mythos provided for the ultimate 'deep cuts' in obscure yet telling cross-references and in-jokes, and (b) how this author has provided a grasp on the whole shebang others would not have thought possible.

In the end the book doesn't quite get to the 'here's how to look down on Tolkien's invented world and what bus to take in order to do so', but in showing so many iterations of our world at play in his imagination and early, formative works, it is the next best thing, and is actually a lot more erudite and scholarly in being so.

This is an amazing book for any Lord of the Rings enthusiast. John Garth book explores the life of Tolkien with his book. Packed with fantastic pictures and drawings from the writer as well as other artists, as well as details of the landscapes and geography, history and folklore that influenced the creation of Middle Earth as well as points in his life which have found their way into his books.
I first read the Hobbit when I was only 8 years old and have recently listened to it on Audible. I have also read LOTR three times over the years, so it was a pleasure to read Garth's book and see where the influences come from. There were things I had not heard before about Tolkien and some I knew.
Even though I received this from Netgalley and the publisher I will be buying this book as it is one I want sitting on my bookshelf when I pick up the Hobbit and LOTR to read again or even to listen to BBC dramatisations or audiobooks.
An excellent companion to the classic books.

One of the things I always particularly loved in Tolkien's epic was his ability to bring the landscape to life. How much inspiration he took from the real world around him - places, rivers, literature and history - all that is explored expertly by John Garth in this wonderfully illustrated book. The author shows deep insight into Tolkien's creative process, points out possible connections that might have inspired Tolkien, but never insists on one thing being the ultimate basis for any feature in Tolkien's work. John Garth provides the reader with the material (including wonderful artwork and photographs) and offers interpretations but ultimately leaves it to the reader to decide how much of what surrounded Tolkien actually made it into his creative work.
For readers who love the world of Middle-Earth this book is a beautiful addition to their collection.

The Worlds of J.R.R Tolkien by John Garth is a full of stunning pictures and knowledge about the various settings featured in works of Tolkien. Including The Lord of the Rings.

This book was a real in depth insight in to the fictional locations that inspired Tolkien's work especially Middle Earth. The addition of extra sketches, maps, paintings, photo's and postcards enhanced the detail making it interesting and informative. I spent longer than I would reading a normal book as I dipped in and out of it taking time to really study the imagery.
Certainly a book that would benefit from been a print edition than read on a Kindle as I did to appreciate it in it's full glorious entirety.
A perfect gift for any fan.
My thanks go to the publisher, author and Netgalley in providing this arc in return for a honest review.

In The Worlds of JRR Tolkien, John Garth brings us the most incredible and most stunning images of scenery that inspired Middle Earth.

This is a mind bending beautiful work of art, Garth takes the stunning scenery and wraps us up in the world of Tolkien, it’s w phenomenon of a book and I would highly, highly recommend this to any fans of Tolkien or fans of beautiful places.

If you haven’t seen the films and struggle to picture the scenery from The Hobbit & The Lord Of The Rings this book aids you with an abundance of imagery that once again takes you off to Middle Earth and give you insight into where the locations Tolkien drew his inspiration from.

Highly recommend this book, perfect for people who like to collect material influenced by Tolkien.

This is an incredibly well-researched book that just so happens to also be absolutely stunning to look at.
It provides a background on all of the places that inspired Tolkien to create Middle Earth. People usually associate LoTR with New Zealand, as it is obviously the location for the film adaptations, but it was lovely to hear that it was actually inspired by a lot of UK places.
I am obviously a huge Tolkien fan, and I have been since a child, so this book would have a very welcome place on my shelves. The illustrations are stunning, everything has been researched and written with care, and it was exceptionally readable.
A great addition to any Tolkien fans collection!

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for sending me a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

My thanks to Quarto Publishing Group - White Lion for a temporary digital edition via NetGalley of ‘The Worlds of J.R.R. Tolkien: The Places that Inspired Middle-Earth’ by John Garth in exchange for an honest review.

John Garth is the author of the highly acclaimed ‘Tolkien and the Great War’ as well as a number of papers and articles relating to Tolkien and Middle Earth. His scholarship shines.

The book is organised by eleven themes, including trees and woods, mountains, the sea and shore, and others. The entire book is lavishly illustrated with paintings, maps, and photographs.

Garth presents a fascinating account of the ‘tale that grew in the telling’ and provides a sense of how Tolkien’s work was influenced by his travels and experiences as he crafted his ‘mythology for England’.

There is a sense of Tolkien’s legendarium evolving over decades before the publication of ‘The Lord of the Rings’ finally fixed it in print. Still, he continued to tinker with the wider mythos until his death in 1973. Garth also clears up popular misconceptions and also offers his own new claims.

This was a fascinating work that provided me with a great deal of food for thought. I hope to add its hardback edition to my collection of Tolkien-related books in due course.

Highly recommended.

A fascinating book, informative and full of great illustrations. Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

This is a wonderful and meticulously researched book, in which John Garth traces the connections between places that inspired JRR Tolkien and where they turned up in his writing.

Tolkien was born in South Africa and came to England as a small child, living near Birmingham. Place was important to him throughout his life, as was a love of language and mythology.

England, in Tolkien's opinion, lacked the rich stories that were found in other nations’ mythologies and so he set out to create his own. He wove his personal life into his mythology.

In creating his own mythology, Tolkien also drew on many sources, all of which are discussed at length, with detailed annotations, drawings and paintings, photographs, and quotations to support the text.

I took my time with this book. It is not to be glossed over in one or two sittings but should be used as a point of reference to complement and illuminate Tolkien's writings.

As an avid fan of both film trilogies of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, I know that place matters. The films were shot in New Zealand because of its stunning landscapes. They look, and are, spectacular, and suit the panorama and narrative of the films perfectly. But are they what Tolkien himself envisaged?

The answer is perhaps a surprising one, as Tolkien only travelled once among mountains, on a trip to Switzerland in 1911. Yet they clearly left a deep impression on him. His landscapes are so descriptive, and reading about his childhood you can begin to appreciate the breadth of his imagination. He never really left his childhood behind, you sense, but took the joy of remembered places and experiences with him throughout his life.

Tolkien was influenced by England and its countryside and appalled by industrialisation. He also admired the Arts and Crafts movement and believed in preserving the British rural landscape, creating Middle-earth ‘to reflect what he most loved and detested in his own world’.

If you buy one book this year to grace your coffee table, then you need look no further. This beautifully presented and illustrated book is one that I shall personally be adding to my collection.

I was sent an advance review copy of this book by White Lion (Quarto Publishing Group), in return for an honest appraisal.

An absolutely delightful book comparing the fiction of Tolkien with real life settings. It contains many photographs, postcards and drawings alongside detailed explanations.

A definite book for any fan of Tolkien and his works and something I would buy my husband in the future.

I received this book from Netgalley in return for a honest review.

I am a total Tolkien geek who has read the books every year for 45 years, who chose her university based on where Tolkien taught, (specializing like him in Old Norse and Anglo Saxon), who achieved an ambition to interview Alan Lee (renowned Tolkien illustrator) in front of an audience of 100, went to the Tolkien exhibition at Oxford a few years ago , and has a bookcase full of many different editions of Tolkien. This book is for people like me ! lnteresting new ideas about comparisons between landscapes Tolkien knew and places in Middle Earth ( through all its ages) are made.

It starts with a biography of Tolkien, sketching in the main facts of his life. Interesting new facts for me included the hobbit holes maybe drawing inspiration from Icelandic turf houses, although in a later chapter they are also compared to officer "holes" in the First World War trenches.
Four Winds, the next chapter, traces some of the sources of inspiration for Tolkien ranging from the well known homage to the North, but also classical roots , Africa and ideas from further afield.

The chapter Land of Luthien has really interesting "overlay" maps comparing Britain to Middle Earth (in different Ages) which was something really new for me. It traces how Tolkien was trying to write a mythology/epic for England.

The Shore and Sea explores how the sea was significant in Tolkien's life . Again new information for me on Tolkien's trips to Cornwall and the inspiration he drew from that. We always think of Tolkien as "an inland animal" as CS Lewis' brother Warnie said (Oxford etc) ,but in this chapter Garth takes another look. Where does Lord of the Rings end but at the sea? There is Numenor and the Great Wave that troubled Tolkien's dreams (transposed into the film version as Eowyn's Dream)

Roots of the Mountains talks about the important trip Tolkien made to the Alps in 1911. Like many Romantic predecessors Tolkien was deeply impressed by the majesty of the landscape and Rivendell , Garth suggests, is possibly inspired by the valley of Lauterbrunnen in Switzerland. The geological wonders of volcanoes and caves are likewise examined in this chapter.
Rivers, Lakes and Waterlands focuses mainly on stories from The Silmarillion but also looks at The Hobbit, Tom Bombadil etc.

Tolkien is renowned for his love of trees and Tree-woven lands looks in more detail at the forests of all ages of Middle Earth and links them to Yorkshire and other places . There is some information on Woodwoses and Ents (but the Ents feature later in the book too).

Ancient imprints looks at the concept of euhemerism " the school of thought that explains mythological traditions as the distorted remnant of some plainer actuality" . It examines where Tolkien diverges from this concept. Ancient monuments are referred to that Tolkien knew well.

Watch and Ward looks at significant buildings e.g. which towers inspired Tolkien. New information here again for me.

Places of War is probably presents less new revelations as the comparison between the Dead Marshes and the no man's land of world War 1 has often been made.

Craft and industry looks at factories etc and is similar in feeling to The Scouring of the Shire.

We end with Tolkien and his wish to create a mythology for England/ Britain

The Appendix about a geographical inspiration for the Ring seems somewhat oddly placed to me, but that is a minor quibble. after all Tolkien himself put important information that didn't fit the narrative flow of LOTR in the appendices. I think this book itself is trying to follow the there and back again structure of LOTR or The Hobbit.

This is a seriously scholarly book so there are footnotes, a bibliography etc. Throughout Garth refers to the works of other Tolkien scholars e.g Tom Shippey (incidentally a lecturer of mine at Leeds University) However it is not too scholarly as to be unreadable for the lay reader. It straddles the two worlds of the general reader and academia.

The illustrations add substantially to the book because we see the places themselves that are being referred to and there are even illustrations by Tolkien himself that I have never seen before (e.g. page 163 London to Oxford through Berkshire)

I have recommended this book to all our Tolkien- interested customers as it makes a really good addition to works on Tolkien's world.