The 1988 Houghton Mifflin release, with art by Alan Lee
The Return of the Shadow is the sixth volume of Christopher Tolkien's series The History of Middle-earth, and the initial volume of the sub-series The History of The Lord of the Rings.
Synopsis[]
The book begins with the initial compositions of J.R.R. Tolkien's early The Lord of the Rings drafts, and goes through to the passage of the Mines of Moria.
The opening inscription of the volume reads: "In the Return of the Shadow are traced the first forms of the story of the Lord of the Rings; herein the journey of the Hobbit who bore the Great Ring, at first named Bilbo but afterwards Frodo, is followed from Hobbiton in the Shire through the Old Forest to Weathertop and Rivendell, and ends in this volume before the Tomb of Balin, the Dwarf-lord of Moria."
| The History of Middle-earth (1983 - 2002) |
| The Book of Lost Tales Part One | The Book of Lost Tales Part Two | The Lays of Beleriand | The Shaping of Middle-earth: The Quenta, The Ambarkanta, and The Annals | The Lost Road and Other Writings | The Return of the Shadow: The History of The Lord of the Rings, Part One | The Treason of Isengard: The History of the Lord of the Rings, Part Two | The War of the Ring: The History of the Lord of the Rings, Part Three | Sauron Defeated: The History of the Lord of the Rings, Part Four | Morgoth's Ring: The Later Silmarillion, Part One: The Legends of Aman | The War of the Jewels: The Later Silmarillion, Part Two | The Peoples of Middle-earth |The History of Middle-earth: Index |
Translations[]
| Foreign Language | Translated name |
| Afrikaans | Die Terugkeer van die Skaduwee |
| Albanian | Kthimi i Hijes |
| Amharic | ጥላዎች ተመልሰዋል |
| Arabic | عودة المو ظل |
| Armenian | Ստվերները վերադառնում են |
| Azerbaijani | Kölgələr qayıdır |
| Basque | Itzalak itzulera |
| Belarusian Cyrillic | Вяртанне цень |
| Bengali | শ্যাডো এর রিটার্ন |
| Bosnian | Povratak sjenka |
| Bulgarian Cyrillic | Завръщането на Сянката |
| Cambodian | ត្រឡប់មកវិញស្រមោល |
| Catalan | El retorn de l'Ombra |
| Cebuano | Ang Pagbalik sa Anino |
| Chinese | 阴影的回归 |
| Croatian | Povratak sjene |
| Czech | Návrat stínu |
| Danish | Skyggen vender tilbage |
| Dutch | De terugkeer van de schaduw |
| Esperanto | La Reveno de la Ombro |
| Estonian | Varjud tagasitulek |
| Filipino | Ang pagbabalik ng mga Anino |
| Finnish | Varjot paluu |
| French | Le retour de l'ombre |
| Galician | O retorno do Sombra |
| Georgian | წყვდიადის დაბრუნება |
| German | Die Rückkehr des Schatten |
| Greek | Η Επιστροφή της Σκιάς |
| Gujarati | છાયા ના વળતર |
| Hausa | Da Komawa na Inuwa |
| Hebrew | שובו של הצל |
| Hindi | रिटर्न ऑफ़ द छाया |
| Hungarian | A Árnyék visszatér |
| Icelandic | Skuggi er aftur |
| Igbo | Nloghachi nke onyinyo |
| Indonesian | Kembalinya bayangan |
| Italian | Il ritorno del Ombra |
| Latin | Regressus umbra |
| Latvian | Ēnu atgriešanās |
| Lithuanian | Šešėlio sugrįžimas |
| Japanese | 影の帰還 |
| Kannada | ಶಾಡೋಸ್ ಮರಳುತ್ತದೆ |
| Kazakh | Көлеңкелері оралуы (Cyrillic) Köleñkeleri oralwı (Latin) |
| Kurdish | Şadiyan vegerr (Kurmanji) |
| Kyrgyz Cyrillic | Көлөкөлөр кайра |
| Laotian | ການກັບຄືນຂອງເງົາ |
| Latvian | Ēnas atgriešanās |
| Lithuanian | Šešėlis grįžti |
| Luxembourgish | D'Zréck vun der Schied |
| Macedonian Cyrillic | Враќањето на Сенка |
| Malagasy | Ny Fiverenan' ilay Tandindona |
| Malaysian | Kembalinya bayangan |
| Marathi | सावली परत येतात |
| Maltese | Ir-Ritorn tad-dell |
| Mongolian Cyrillic | Сүүдэрүүд буцаж ирнэ |
| Norwegian | Skyggene retur |
| Occitan | Lo retorn del Ombra |
| Pashto | تیاره بیرته راستنیږي |
| Persian | بازگشت سایه |
| Polish | Powrót cienia |
| Portuguese | O Retorno do Sombra |
| Punjabi | ਸ਼ੈਡੋ ਦੀ ਵਾਪਸੀ |
| Romanian | Întoarcerea umbrei |
| Russian | Возвращение Тени |
| Scottish Gaelic | An Tilleadh de na sgàile |
| Serbian | Повратак сјене (Cyrillic) Povratak sjene (Latin) |
| Sinhalese | සෙවනැල්ල නැවත පැමිණීම |
| Slovak | Návrat tieňa |
| Slovenian | Vrnitev sence |
| Spanish | El retorno del Sombra |
| Swahili | Kurudi ya kivuli |
| Swedish | Skuggor återvänder |
| Tamil | நிழல் மீண்டும் |
| Telugu | నీడ తిరిగి |
| Thai | เงามืดที่หวนคืน |
| Turkish | Gölgenin Dönüşü |
| Ukrainian Cyrillic | Повернення Тіні |
| Urdu | سایہ کی واپسی |
| Uzbek | Соялар қайтади (Cyrillic) Soyalar qaytadi (Latin) |
| Vietnamese | Sự trở lại của các Bóng tối |
| Welsh | Y Dychwelyd y cysgodol |
| Yiddish | דער צוריקקער פון די שאָטן |