Middle-earth is the central landmass where most of J.R.R. Tolkien’s major stories take place. The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings are set largely in regions such as the Shire, Rhovanion, Gondor, Mordor and Rohan, all within Middle-earth.
The term translates the Old English middangeard, meaning the inhabited world between heavenly and earthly realms. In Tolkien’s mythology, Middle-earth is part of Arda, the wider world created by the divine Valar and shaped by the history of Elves, Men, Dwarves and other peoples.
Middle-earth is not the entire planet and is not simply another name for Tolkien’s universe. Aman, including Valinor, lies across the western sea, while Númenor was an island kingdom in the Second Age. These distinctions matter when mapping Tolkien’s chronology and geography.