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Welcome to The Encyclopedia of ArdaThe Encyclopedia of Arda is a personal project - a tribute to and a celebration of the works of J.R.R. Tolkien. The site is evolving into an illustrated hypertext encyclopedia of Tolkien's realms and peoples. It already contains about four thousand entries, and we're constantly adding new entries and expanding existing ones. Inside the encyclopediaThe Encyclopedia of Arda contains thousands of articles covering topics from J.R.R. Tolkien's world, some brief, some lengthy and some containing detailed essays and discussions. You'll also find a selection of interactive tools, including a chronicle to help you explore Tolkien's fictional history, and calendar to translate dates and events, a lexicon of names, a glossary of old and rare words, and much more. Context and approachThe content of the Encyclopedia is written in the same context as Tolkien himself used; he presented himself simply as a translator, rather than originator of the tales. Hence, we try to describe his world from a 'historical' rather than a literary perspective, though sometimes it's useful to explore ideas in their wider context. Where relevant, therefore, you'll also find a few references to Tolkien's life or opinions, or to real historical or mythological parallels to events in his universe. About the name ArdaArda was the name given by the Elves to their world and all it contained, and so 'Encyclopedia of Arda' seemed a peculiarly apt title for this project. Special thanksThanks to all those who've e-mailed us over the years with their suggestions, corrections, ideas and just general support. But the real Special Thanks, though, belong to the memory of J.R.R. Tolkien for his extraordinary and unparalleled creation. For acknowledgements and references, see the Disclaimer & Bibliography page. Original content © copyright Mark Fisher 1997-2025. All rights reserved. For conditions of reuse, see the Site FAQ. Website services kindly sponsored by Discus from Axiom Software Ltd.Discus is a powerful, flexible DISC profile solution - find out much more in our free guide. |
Latest entries and updatesFeatured EntryCrickhollowA village of northern BucklandA village in the northern parts of Buckland. It lay some two-and-a-half miles to the north and east of Bucklebury, and a similar distance to the south of the village of Newbury. It was also notable as being close to the great Hedge that the Bucklanders had built to protect themselves from the strange trees of the Old Forest. Crickhollow's closeness to the eastern edge of the Hobbit-lands was part of the reason that Frodo Baggins bought a house there, to cover his secret departure from the Shire. Though Frodo and his friends only stayed in his new house overnight, Fredegar Bolger remained behind in disguise to hide Frodo's departure. This subterfuge almost worked too well: five days after Frodo's departure, three Black Riders raided the house, but Fredegar was able to raise the alarm and they were driven away. Later that same day, Gandalf arrived at Crickhollow in search of Frodo, but found that the new house had been abandoned. |
