The Red Book?
 

What the heck is the 'Red Book' that I have heard mentioned several times?

1. A really rather lovely Red leatherbound hardcover edition of LotR, in one volume. Not cheap, collector's edition, great if you go for that sort of thing (I do) and especially because it is supposed to remind you of:

2. "THE RED BOOK OF WESTMARCH"-- The red leather bound volume that Bilbo began, Frodo continued (writing the major part of the history of the War) and Sam finished, and left with Elanor when he went over sea. (He left it with her at Westmarch, where she had moved when she married-- Faramir Took-- I think?)... Tolkien refers to it in his historical analysis of Frodo's story. You'll see it referred to in the appendices of LOTR, for one thing.

Elanor married Fastred of Greenholm. It was her younger sister Goldilocks who married Faramir Took.

The poems in "The Adventures of Tom Bombadil" were also supposed to come out of the Red Book.

The Red Book of Westmarch is the (fictional [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]) history book kept in Middle-earth that Tolkien used to give us the stories in The Lord of the Rings. It started with Bilbo...it took it along with him on his adventures. After the Quest to Mount Doom, Frodo added his adventures. While Bilbo was in Rivendell, he took notes on Elvish that were included in the book also.

In 172 of the Fourth Age, a scribe in Gondor named Findegil completed a copy of it. The actual book that Bilbo and Frodo wrote it did not survived, but many copies were made.

[ October 08, 2002: Message edited by: Legalos ]