The Peoples of Middle-Earth

the long version

When J.R.R.Tolkien laid aside 'The Silmarillion' in 1937 the extension of the original 'mythology' into later Ages of the world had scarcely begun. It was in the Appendices to 'The Lord of the Rings' that there emerged a comprehensive historical structure and chronology of the Second and Third Ages, embracing all the diverse strands that came together in the 'War of the Ring.' The difficulty that he found in providing these Appendices, leading to delay in the publication of The Return of the Kin