Who was J.R.R. Tolkien’s son and editor of The History of Middle-earth?

Christopher Tolkien was J.R.R. Tolkien’s son and the editor of The History of Middle-earth. The twelve-volume series, published between 1983 and 1996, presents drafts, revisions, and related writings that reveal how Tolkien developed his mythology.

Christopher Tolkien became the principal literary executor of his father’s estate. He edited The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, and many other posthumous publications, working through manuscripts held in the Bodleian Library and Marquette University collections.

The History of Middle-earth is especially valuable because it shows that Tolkien’s legendarium changed repeatedly. Names, genealogies, languages, cosmology, and plot events often differ between early and late versions. Christopher generally provides extensive commentary explaining these changes rather than presenting the texts as one seamless story.

Christopher Tolkien was born in 1924 and died in 2020. He also produced The Children of Húrin, Beren and Lúthien, and The Fall of Gondolin from his father’s surviving writings, making him a major figure in the preservation and publication of Tolkien’s literary legacy.