Red Book of Westmarch - Relationship To Real Works

Relationship To Real Works

As a memoir and history, the contents of the Red Book probably correspond to Tolkien's work as follows:

• Bilbo's journey: The Hobbit
• Frodo's journey: The Lord of the Rings
• Background information: the Appendices to The Lord of the Rings, as well as essays such as published in Unfinished Tales and The History of Middle-earth
• Hobbit poetry and legends: The Adventures of Tom Bombadil (in the Red Book, scattered throughout the margins of the text of Bilbo and Frodo's journeys)
• Bilbo's translation of Elven histories and legends: The Silmarillion

Some events and details concerning Gollum and the magic ring in the first edition of The Hobbit were rewritten for The Lord of the Rings. The Hobbit was later revised for consistency. Tolkien explains the discrepancies as Bilbo's lies (influenced by the ring, now the sinister One Ring).

Tolkien also said the original version of the Red Book contained the story of Bilbo's journey from the first edition of the Hobbit. Beginning with the Thain's Book, later copies of the Red Book contained, as an alternative, the true account (from notes from Frodo and Sam). Tolkien says neither hobbit seemed willing "to delete anything actually written by the old hobbit himself."