What books about Middle-earth are considered “canonical”?
[I have written an essay on this topic, including general observations and my own approach. It is on the web at: http://tolkien.slimy.com/essays/TolkParish.html.] As the term is used on the Tolkien newsgroups, a “canonical” text is one which is believed to provide authoritative information about Middle-earth. This concept is more subtle than it may appear at first glance, in part because most of Tolkien’s mythology remained incomplete when he died. Books or even individual chapters or essays may be regarded as more or less “trustworthy” than others, and many people reject the idea that there is a single “true” Middle-earth entirely. Among those who accept the concept of “canon” to at least some degree, almost all agree that /The Lord of the Rings/ is a canonical text and most assign equal or near equal weight to /The Hobbit/ (the other books about Middle-earth published in Tolkien’s lifetime are treated similarly). However, due to heavy and unmarked posthumous editing, /The Silmarillio
