When were the Tolkien books written?
The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and Academic Career
Summer 1930 | About this time, Tolkien may have written the first sentence of The Hobbit: “In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit“. |
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20 July 1954 | Tolkien is awarded a D.Litt from Dublin University. |
29 July 1954 | Publication of The Fellowship of the Ring. |
When did Tolkien write Middle-earth?

The author started writing it in 1917, before returning to Middle-earth for The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.
When did J.R.R. Tolkien write The Silmarillion?
1926
The first version of The Silmarillion was the “Sketch of the Mythology” written in 1926 (later published in Volume IV of The History of Middle-earth). The “Sketch” was a 28-page synopsis written to explain the background of the story of Túrin to R. W. Reynolds, a friend to whom Tolkien had sent several of the stories.
When did Tolkien’s books become popular?
Between 1951 and 1955, Tolkien applied the term legendarium to the larger part of these writings. While many other authors had published works of fantasy before Tolkien, the great success of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings led directly to a popular resurgence of the genre.

When did Tolkien write The Hobbit?
1937
The Hobbit
Cover of the 1937 first edition, from a drawing by Tolkien | |
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Author | J. R. R. Tolkien |
Set in | Middle-earth |
Publisher | George Allen & Unwin (UK) |
Publication date | 21 September 1937 |
When was Hobbit written?
The Hobbit, fantasy novel by J.R.R. Tolkien, published in 1937.
Was The Silmarillion written first?
Short Description: The Silmarillion is actually tolkien’s first book and also his last.
Was The Silmarillion written before LOTR?
The Silmarillion is actually tolkien’s first book and also his last. In origin it precedes even The Hobbit, and is the story of the First Age of tolkien’s Middle Earth. It shows us the ancient history to which characters in The Lord of the Rings look back, talk, rhyme and sing about.
How long did it take Tolkien to write Lord of the Rings?
12 years
It couldn’t be The Silmarillion as he hoped – there weren’t any hobbits in that – so he began drafting a new story without any idea of what it would be about. By the time it was eventually finished, The Lord of the Rings had taken Tolkien a full 12 years to write and another five to get published.
What year was The Hobbit published?
September 21, 1937The Hobbit, or There and Back Again / Originally published
The Hobbit, fantasy novel by J.R.R. Tolkien, published in 1937. The novel introduced Tolkien’s richly imagined world of Middle Earth in its Third Age and served as a prologue to his The Lord of the Rings.
Was the Silmarillion written before The Hobbit?
Short Description: The Silmarillion is actually tolkien’s first book and also his last. In origin it precedes even The Hobbit, and is the story of the First Age of tolkien’s Middle Earth. It shows us the ancient history to which characters in The Lord of the Rings look back, talk, rhyme and sing about.