Como o J.R.R. Tolkien aprende sobre os eventos de seus livros? (No universo)

• O Silmarillion (através de Traduções de Bilbo do Élfico )
• O Hobbit , que é a conta de Bilbo da aventura
• O Senhor dos Anéis
• Os apêndices

Tolkien descobriu uma cópia que havia sido feita em Minas Tirith no início da Quarta Era (ênfase minha):

This account of the end of the Third Age is drawn mainly from the Red Book of Westmarch. That most important source for the history of the War of the Ring was so called because it was long preserved at Undertowers, the home of the Fairbairns, Wardens of the Westmarch. It was in origin Bilbo's private diary, which he took with him to Rivendell. Frodo brought it back to the Shire, together with many loose leaves of notes, and during S.R. 1420-1 he nearly filled its pages with his account of the War. But annexed to it and preserved with it, probably in a single red case, were the three large volumes, bound in red leather, that Bilbo gave to him as a parting gift. To these four volumes there was added in Westmarch a fifth containing commentaries, genealogies, and various other matter concerning the hobbit members of the Fellowship.

The original Red Book has not been preserved, but many copies were made, especially of the first volume, for the use of the descendants of the children of Master Samwise. The most important copy, however, has a different history. It was kept at Great Smials, but it was written in Gondor, probably at the request of the great-grandson of Peregrin, and completed in S.R. 1592 (F.A. 172). Its southern scribe appended this note: Findegil, King's Writer, finished this work in IV 172. It is an exact copy in all details of the Thain's Book in Minas Tirith. That book was a copy, made at the request of King Elessar, of the Red Book of the Periannath, and was brought to him by the Thain Peregrin when he retired to Gondor in IV 64.

The Thain's Book was thus the first copy made of the Red Book and contained much that was later omitted or lost. In Minas Tirith it received much annotation, and many corrections, especially of names, words, and quotations in the Elvish languages; and there was added to it an abbreviated version of those parts of The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen which lie outside the account of the War. The full tale is stated to have been written by Barahir, grandson of the Steward Faramir, some time after the passing of the King. But the chief importance of Findegil's copy is that it alone contains the whole of Bilbo's 'Translations from the Elvish'. These three volumes were found to be a work of great skill and learning in which, between 1403 and 1418, he had used all the sources available to him in Rivendell, both living and written. But since they were little used by Frodo, being almost entirely concerned with the Elder Days, no more is said of them here.

^{_{Fellowship of the Ring Prologue 5: Note on the Shire Records}}

Isso é revelado em uma mensagem impressa em caracteres élficos na capa interna dos livros The Lord of the Rings ; como eu discutido em outra resposta , esse script pode ser traduzido como:

The Lord of the Rings translated from the Red Book of Westmarch by John Ronald Reuel Tolkien. Herein is set forth the history of the War of the Ring and the Return of the King as seen by the Hobbits.

Há uma versão abreviada disso no Prefácio de Tolkien para a primeira edição do livro; enquanto ele mudou o prefácio para as edições posteriores (porque ele achava que era confuso; eu acho que algumas pessoas achavam que ele estava falando sério?), uma parte do prefácio original está impressa em Os Povos da Terra Média e a coisa toda está incluída em Hammond & Companheiro do Leitor de Scull :

This tale is drawn in large part from the memoirs of Bilbo and Frodo Baggins, preserved for the most part in the Great Red Book of Samwise. It has been written during many years for those who were interested in the account of the great Adventure of Bilbo, and especially for my friends the Inklings (in whose veins, I suspect, a good deal of hobbit blood still runs), and for my sons and daughter.

^{_{History of Middle-earth XII The Peoples of Middle-earth Chapter 2: "The Appendix on Languages"}}

Curiosamente, Tolkien inicialmente teve uma origem diferente em mente para O Silmarillion . Durante grande parte de sua vida, ele pensou que o trabalho fora compilado por Ælfwine, um inglês do século 10 que acidentalmente chegou a Tol Eressëa e ouviu a história diretamente dos Eldar. O papel de Ælfwine é discutido extensivamente em toda a série História da Terra Média , mas Christopher Tolkien editou-o fora do Silmarillion publicado.

Fontes adicionais

Além do Livro Vermelho, que contribuiu com a maior parte da narrativa, Tolkien revela no prefácio da primeira edição (reimpresso em Os Povos da Terra Média ) que ele também extraiu de alguns registros sobreviventes de Gondor:

I have supplemented the account of the Red Book, in places, with information derived from the surviving records of Gondor, notably the Book of the Kings.

^{History of Middle-earth XII The Peoples of Middle-earth Chapter 2: "The Appendix on Languages"}

Esses registros foram presumivelmente a fonte de grande parte do Apêndice A e, possivelmente, do Apêndice B.

This account of the end of the Third Age is drawn mainly from the Red Book of Westmarch. That most important source for the history of the War of the Ring was so called because it was long preserved at Undertowers, the home of the Fairbairns, Wardens of the Westmarch. Blockquote

Assim, dentro do universo fictício O Senhor dos Anéis é MAIORMENTE baseado em A FONTE MAIS IMPORTANTE O Livro Vermelho de Westmarch < mas uma minoria dele é baseada em uma ou mais fontes de menor importância. Já que Tolkien menciona que os hobbits modernos dizem que seus ancestrais costumavam ser mais altos, talvez as outras fontes sejam histórias orais de história entre os hobbits e mais tarde escritos hobbits baseados no The Red Book of Westmarch . nos casos em que essas fontes discordassem, O Livro Vermelho de Westmarch , sendo a fonte mais antiga, e uma conta em primeira mão escrita por dois dos cinco principais hobbits, obviamente seria a fonte preferida.