Middle-earth was created by British writer J. R. R. Tolkien.
J. R. R. Tolkien . Harlow : Longman , ISBN 0-582-05383-8 3 January 1892 -- 2 September 1973 ) was an English writer , poet , philologist , and university professor who is best known as the author of the classic high-fantasy works The Hobbit , The Lord of the Rings , and The Silmarillion . Middle-earth is the fictional setting of much of British writer J. R. R. Tolkien 's legendarium .