A new book featuring essays by JRR Tolkien written after The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings will be published next year.

The Nature of Middle-earth is a collection of Tolkien’s work that publisher HarperCollins promises will “transport readers back to the world of The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales and The Lord of the Rings.”

The book has been authorised by the Tolkien estate.

The publishers added that the new book is “a veritable treasure trove offering readers a chance to peer over Professor Tolkien’s shoulder at the very moment of discovery: and on every page, Middle-earth is once again brought to extraordinary life.”

Topics include Elvish immortality and reincarnation; the nature of the Valar, the god-like spirits of Middle-earth; the lands and beasts of Númenor; the geography of the kingdom of Gondor; and whether dwarven women could grow beards!

The book will be published in June 2021.