Which fictional manuscript is said to contain Bilbo and Frodo Baggins’s account in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings?

The Red Book of Westmarch is the fictional manuscript said to contain Bilbo and Frodo Baggins’s account in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings.

Within Tolkien’s framing device, the Red Book is a record of the events surrounding the War of the Ring. Bilbo begins writing the account, Frodo adds much of the history of the quest, and Samwise Gamgee continues and preserves it after Frodo leaves Middle-earth.

The manuscript is associated with Bag End and later with the Westmarch. Its supposed existence helps present the narrative as a translated historical record rather than simply an invented tale told directly by an outside narrator.

The Red Book is different from the Book of Mazarbul, which appears in Moria and records the doomed expedition led by Balin. It is also not the same as Tolkien’s real-world manuscripts, though the framing reflects his interest in invented histories and translation.