Legendarium

//lɛd͡ʒ.(ə)nˈdɛəɹ.i.əm// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A literary collection of legends, particularly those detailing the life of a saint.

    "The same society [the Swedish Old-text Society] has begun a continuation of the Old-Swedish Legendarium (in 2 volumes), edited for the society by Professor Stephens."

  2. 2
    The collected high fantasy writings of J. R. R. Tolkien relating to the fictional realm of Middle-earth and the universe in which it is set.

    "“In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.” So began the legendarium that dominated a genre, changed Western literature and the field of linguistics, created a tapestry of characters and mythology that endured four generations, built an anti-war ethos that endured a World War and a Cold War, and spawned a multibillion-dollar media franchise."

Example

More examples

"The same society [the Swedish Old-text Society] has begun a continuation of the Old-Swedish Legendarium (in 2 volumes), edited for the society by Professor Stephens."

Etymology

Neuter form of Medieval Latin legendarius, from Latin legendus.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.