The Middle-earth seen in The Lord of the Rings doesn't cover half of Tolkien's fantasy world, and here's the creation story of Middle-earth and the continents beyond. The War of the Ring portrayed in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings and Frodo's journey to destroy the One Ring takes viewers across a myriad of places in Middle-earth, beginning in the humble Shire, through the treacherous Mines of Moria and the white city of Gondor, all the way to the dark realm of Mordor where Frodo eventually destroys the ring in Mount Doom.
New places are introduced in The Hobbit movies, such as The Lonely Mountain, the home of Durin's folk at that point in Tolkien's legendarium; and the forests of Mirkwood, where Legolas is raised. Amazon's series, will feature places, such as Númenor, which no longer exists in the Third Age.
Despite there being no shortage of lore in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, one thing that is omitted is how Middle-earth and the world in which it is situated came to be. The creation lore for Middle-earth is described in one of Tolkien's books, The Silmarillion, in an opening chapter called "Ainulindalë," which in other editions of the book is also called "The Music of the Ainur." While The Silmarillion operates less as a novel and more as a detailed of the history of Tolkien's world, it is the main source for The Silmarillion primarily recounts the events of the Second Age.
Arda Explained: How Tolkien's Earth Is Different From Real Life
Tolkien's world is known in his writing as Arda, and Middle-earth is just a continent on Arda. Although Arda is a fantasy world, Tolkien frames his work and the stories of Arda as supposedly taking place "in a period of the actual Old World of this planet," as disclosed in Letter No. 165 of The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien. Tolkien expressed regret that his "beloved country" England did not have adequate stories or legends in comparison to the mythologies of Greek, Celtic, Germanic, and other cultures. As such, Tolkien aimed to create his own.
Naturally, geography and kingdoms of Arda and Middle-earth are somewhat similar, it is also imbued with forces that do not reside in real-life.
Middle-Earth’s God Explained
Tolkien describes in The Silmarillion how Arda was created by an antecedent deity called "Eru, the One, who in Arda is called Ilúvatar." He existed beyond Arda, existing in the Timeless Halls, and he possesses the Flame Imperishable in spirit, which enabled him alone to create things from nothingness. Tolkien was a devout Roman Catholic, and therefore there are obvious similarities between Eru and the Christian god. Despite this, there are little to no examples of worship of Eru in Tolkien's work, and none in The Lord of the Rings or movies. This is because only the elves had any stories of Eru, and his name was generally considered too holy to be spoken. One of the few instances of worship for Eru is by the Númenóreans (a race of men that Aragorn is descended from), who worshiped Eru in The Three Prayers.
How Eru Ilúvatar Created Middle-Earth And The Ainur 
In The Silmarillion, the first thing that Eru Ilúvatar created is the Ainur, the Holy Ones, who were offspring of his thought. The Ainur were divine spirits that sur all things on Middle-earth. However, one Ainur sured all the others as he was given the gifts of all the others. That Ainur was called Melkor, also known as Morgoth, who was the first Dark Lord, and Sauron served Melkor (Morgoth) as a lieutenant under. It has been confirmed that Melkor will appear in Amazon's The Rings of Power as his war on Arda is a precursor to the events of the series and the Second Age.
Eru propounded themes of great music to the Ainur, and together they created the Music of the Ainur. The Music of the Ainur created the universe Tolkien described, Eä, and also Arda. Of all the worlds within Eä, only Arda is mentioned in Tolkien's work. Arda was made as a place for the Children of Ilúvatar, men and elves, to settle. When the Ainur created the music, Melkor attempted to sow discord into the music, introducing his own harmonies because he desired to also be a creator as well as Eru. His desires never waned, and Melkor hoped to destroy Middle-earth, waging wars in Arda. Melkor's wars led to Arda becoming a much different place than it was first intended, and among his exploits was destroying the land of Almaren and raising the Misty Mountains. While Arda was originally flat and symmetrical, the version of Arda seen in The Lord of the Rings is very different.
Other Regions In Lord Of The Rings Besides Middle-Earth
Middle-earth is situated in the north-eastern part of Arda. In Arda's original design, the westernmost continent was called Aman. Separating Aman and Middle-earth was the great ocean of Belegaer. At the end of The Lord of the Rings, Frodo leaves Middle-earth to go to the Undying Lands, which reside in Arda. The Undying Lands are home to elves and the Valar (the Ainur, except for Melkor). The Undying Lands get their name from the fact that both the Valar and elves are immortal. During the events of The Lord of the Rings, there is a third continent known as the Dark Lands. Originally, the Dark Lands were a single landmass with Middle-earth. However, during a war between the Valar and Melkor, the Sea of Ringil grew in size and separated Middle-earth from the Dark Lands. Little is known about this continent, but it is also known as the South Lands due to its geographical location. There's also a final continent known as the Land of the Sun, which is divided from Middle-earth by the East Sea.
Another important location in Arda is Númenor, a kingdom of men on an island that was located in Belegaer during the Second Age. During the second age, Sauron spent a long time on Númenor, and this will be seen in The Rings of Power as Sauron remains the primary antagonist. The Rings of Power will also feature locations previously unseen in Lord in the Rings in Arda, such as Lindon, an elven city at the westernmost point of Middle-earth where many elves made the trip to the Undying Lands.
