J.R.R. Tolkien’s first published Middle-earth book, released in 1937, was The Hobbit.
The novel introduced readers to Bilbo Baggins, Gandalf, Thorin Oakenshield, Smaug, and many other figures who later became central to Tolkien’s mythology. Its setting includes the Shire, Rivendell, Mirkwood, Lake-town, and the Lonely Mountain.
Tolkien had been developing stories, languages, and histories connected with Middle-earth for years before The Hobbit appeared in print. However, many of those earlier materials were unpublished during his lifetime. The Hobbit was the first major published work to bring that imaginative world to a broad readership.
The book’s success prompted Tolkien’s publisher to ask for a sequel. Tolkien initially worked on a continuation that gradually became darker and more connected to his mythology. That project eventually grew into The Lord of the Rings, published in three volumes from 1954 to 1955.