The term Middle-earth canon, also called Tolkien's canon, is used for the published writings of J. R. R. Tolkien regarding Middle-earth as a whole. The term is also used in Tolkien fandom to promote, discuss and debate the idea of a consistent fictional canon within a given subset of Tolkien's writings.
The terms have been used by reviewers, publishers, scholars, authors and critics such as John Garth,[1]Tom Shippey,[2]Jane Chance[3] and others to describe the published writings of J. R. R. Tolkien on Middle-earth as a whole.[4] Other writers look to the entire body of work of the author as a "Tolkien canon", rather than a subset defined by the fictional "Middle-earth" setting.[5]
^Telegraph UK, 25 Apr. 2007, Children of Húrin Book review, by John Garth, "Only now, for the first time since 1977, has any cohesive and complete narrative appeared to join the other three major books in the Middle Earth canon."
^Tom Shippey, J.R.R. Tolkien: Author of the Century, Publisher's comments: "Other chapters examine The Hobbit, explaining the hobbits' anachronistic relationship to the heroic world of Middle-earth; the fundamental importance of The Silmarillion to Tolkien's canon". Chicago Sun-Times, Book review, April 22, 2007, Dan Miller, The Children of Hurin: "A superb addition to the Tolkien canon". Times of India, Book Review, 29 Apr. 2007, Hurin Therapy: "The story is not new. There's a condensed version in The Silmarillion, the epic tale of elves and men published in 1977. This shows that the story of Hurin and the curse that blights his family was central to the conception of the Elder Days, Tolkien's Ancient Age when the elves returned to Middle-earth to battle Morgoth, the first Dark Lord. The version we get in Hurin is both alike and different from other works in the canon. Seasoned readers will flag familiar Tolkien markers—an awe-inspiring landscape, courage in the face of hardship, heroism and its fall.
^Jane Chance, The Lord of the Rings p. 17: "The publication of the Silmarillion (1977) had disclosed Tolkien's role as a philosopher of language and demanded that the reader attend to the Middle-earth chronology of his canon - The Silmarillion first, The Hobbit second and then LotR". The University Press of Kentucky, 2001, ISBN0-8131-9017-7.
^Ents, Elves, and Eriador, by Matthew T. Dickerson, Jonathan Duane Evans, John Elder, University of Kentucky Press, 2006, ISBN0-8131-2418-2, p. 133, Many passages in the Middle-earth canon comment on specific characteristics of trees and forests"; p. 101, "In the total oeuvre of Tolkien's Middle-earth canon, a number of elvish communities are described"; p. 110, "it draws on an aesthetic system running through the whole of the Middle-earth canon"; p. 164, although they are not part of the Middle-earth canon"; p. 170 "Middle-earth canon". Harper Collins Australia: The Silmarillion: Illustrated Edition, Publisher's notes: "J R R Tolkien′s SILMARILLION is the core work of the Middle−earth canon.".
^Understanding the Lord of the Rings, by Rose A. Zimbardo, Neil D. Isaacs: "All this is in Tolkien's canon." Houghton Mifflin, 2004, p. 17; C. S. Lewis, by Michael White,"Christopher, who now lives in France, has written a vast canon of books that fill in the history of Middle-earth." p. 250. I Am in Fact a Hobbit, by Perry C. Bramlett, Joe R. Christopher; p. 91, "... it is part of Tolkien's canon of "juvenile writings".