Middle-earth is the main fictional realm where J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings take place.
In Tolkien’s mythology, Middle-earth is a region of Arda, the larger world created for his legendarium. It is home to places such as the Shire, Gondor, Mordor, Rohan, and the Misty Mountains. The setting contains many peoples and cultures, including Hobbits, Men, Elves, Dwarves, and Orcs.
The name does not mean a separate planet in Tolkien’s original conception. It corresponds broadly to the inhabited lands of the world during the stories’ ages and derives from older Germanic and English expressions related to the human world. Valinor, by contrast, is a blessed realm far to the west and is not the principal setting of the two novels.