Thanks for this, I been re-reading (listening to audio books while walking every day). That brings me to my question - what are the very best audio recordings for each work?
Highly recommend: read Silmarillion with "The Atlas of Middle Earth" (by Fonstad) open - incredibly helpful to keep locations, travels, and names straight.
I love that Atlas! It´s also very helpfull for writing Fanfictions, because now you actually know where and when to place Characters to have a believable Impact on the Story. Battles can be a bit complicated to sort out on just the Text alone, and Distances are a Nightmare
When I was about 15 I was lucky enough to find a first US edition Silmarillion with its dust jacket (that is a bit messed up around the corners, and i don’t dare try to remove the sale sticker for risk of damaging it more!) and red edging to the pages, and it has a giant four page fold out Atlas. I’ve never fully opened it, because it hadn’t been and I wasn’t about to break that streak! I’ve always just hopped back to photos on my phone or laptop to get reference points. I can’t believe that as a teen, in a normal used book shop, not really looking for anything, I found that. So cool.
@@Enerdhil Thanks. ☺️ I hoped it didn’t come off in a way I didn’t mean for it too; I just am still aghast that I was that lucky! My fiancé and I are definitely going to have any kids exposed to Tolkien when the time is right, so hopefully this will be cherished through the ages. 😊
I have been looking forward to this (I’m the otter). My reading order: The Hobbit The Lord of the Rings The Silmarillion The Great Tales Unfinished Tales History of Middle Earth series The Adventures of Tom Bombadil Bilbos Last Song The Letters of J.R.R Tolkien (I haven’t read The Nature of Middle Earth yet so yeah)
I want to start the lost tales after unfinished tales but i couldnt find them in my library for a long time. Got unfinished tales after moving house for uni to a different country because my country doesnt have it in english which is my preferred language.
Oh my i remember reading this in year 9, and we would read for the first 10 mins in English class. My teacher would sometimes pick random people’s books to read them aloud. He picked silmarillion up, started saying all these elvish names and places and he was so confused. And its kinda older english at times but he was good with that, although he out it down faster coz obviously the elvish stuff were just random words to him without any context as well.
@@Myohomoto i had a heard time with this book to first reading around 1980 I've read and reread it many times since long before the movies or all of these TH-cam videos
Happy Hobbit Day James and Jake, and great job here brothers! It's always an interesting question, both for the first-time read and repeats, because part of me just wants to simultaneously read them all! Cheers guys!
i've only read the silmarillion but it's still one of my favorite books of fiction. then again i've always been more a fan of non-fiction/history/theology/mythology. i think that's why i like the silm so much. it reads like the bible but more interesting.
1) The Silmarillion 2) The Children of Húrin 3) Beren and Lúthien 4) The Fall of Gondolin 5) Unfinished Tales 6) The Hobbit 7) The Adventures of Tom Bombadil 8) The Lord of the Rings 9) Bilbo’s Last Song ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 10) The History of Middle-earth (12 volumes) 11) The Nature of Middle-earth 12) The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien This is my own go-to list (which is made by myself), and it is in chronological order until you come to The History of Middle-earth, The Nature of Middle-earth and The Letters of J.R.R, because, in my opinion, you should read them after you have read all the other works. You're welcome ;), and I wish you good luck with your journey, because it is a quite difficult and long read - namárië! ADDITIONAL: 13) Peter Jackson: A Film-Maker's Journey 14) Anything You Can Imagine: Peter Jackson and the Making of Middle-earth
The Simarillion, "difficult to read" is a nice way of putting it. I currently reading it, but I still have to read each page twice just to understand all of the details. Still it's awesome.
This was my personal reading order. I do not recommend how I went about it. 1. The Hobbit 2. The Children of Hurin 3. LOTR - The Fellowship of the Ring 4. LOTR - The Two Towers 5. The Adventures of Tom Bombadil 6. LOTR - The Return of the King 7. The Silmarillion 8. The Fall of Gondolin 9. Beren and Luthien 10. Unfinished Tales
If I could re-read the compilation, I would read 1) Hobbit 2) LOTR 3) Silmarillon TLDR Hobbit as appetizer. LOTR, the chunky main meal. Then end with a memorable dessert, Silmarillon. As mentioned in the vid, The Hobbit is a good intro. It's not as engaging as the other two, but it gives you a good warm-up onto Tolkien's writing style and vocabulary wealth. I made the mistake of reading LOTR first. Contemplated on giving up several times. It took me several years to finish all three books, had to reread many paragraphs to understand it's true sense. Having watched the movie helps make it digestable. I'm glad I left Silmarillon last. Each race is at its most OP version. Battles are EPIC! Despite being the origin book, it suit well to be the 'climax scene' through my readings. Also, as I already know the ending, I don't find the fall of Beleriand all too depressing, rather a mixed sense of dread & hope. I find this book the most engaging. I remember one time staying up until 2AM, so eager to know outcome of The Battle of Unnumbered Tears.
“As long as you are enjoying it, no one can say you are wrong” - profoundly beautiful and important to state. Thank you for such a comprehensive response to that question.
Happy Hobbit day. I thought the silmarillion was a tough read in the beginning but once you get through all the descriptive stuff and then when the elves coming into being it becomes a very great read after that
Im a chronological order type. But i absolutely love the Silmarillion so its hard for me to not turn to it. Im a lore buff though and the Silmarillion is THICC with lore. Happy Hobbit day everyone!
KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK! I always yell 1 of 4 things after your videos 1.) ELENDIL! 2.)ECTHELION! 3.) BARUK KAZHAD, KAZHAD Ai-MENU 4.) BUILD ME AN ARMY WORTHY OF MORDOR!"(While rolling my eyes like the Undertaker)But today I shout "Proud-Feet!" P.S. Happy Hobbitt Day!
Literary geek order: LOTR, Hobbit, Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, Further Writings. Pulling in a bright child reader: Hobbit, LOTR, Silmarillion - and more if they really geek out. Absolute obsessive geek order: every single piece of writing in order of fictional timeline, though this takes the wonder out of it in my view.
Reading Silmarillion was quite easy for me because I read the translated version first (English isn't my mother language). Once I familiar with the story and some characters, then I bought the English version. It helped me a lot not to get confused and lost in translation 😅. It is a difficult book, but it worth the effort.
I do wonder how much of some of Tolkien is lost in translation - one of the things about the Silmarillion and some of the more recently published work such as Beren and Luthien, is not just what it says but how it says it. it is a very lyrical, semi poetic and specifically English form of Epic writing
Cheers for such great introduction to Tolkien's Magnus opus. And yes I do consider all the books surrounding LOTR, as just that. Really apreaciate the work you guys put in for the first time readers.
Love the thoroughness of your lists! 😊I'm currently listening to the audiobook version of the Silmarillion, which is actually helping quite a bit (I first read it about ten years ago, and struggled to make sense of it all). I tried reading The Children of Hurin a few years back and just could not get into it; though seeing the audiobook is narrated by the late Sir Christopher Lee, I will be giving it another go! I did recently listen to Andy Serkis' narration of The Hobbit, which was fantastic, and am looking forward to diving back into Middle Earth with his reading of The Lord of the Rings! I first read The Hobbit and LOTR from ages ten to twelve, and they bring me as much (possibly more) joy now than they did then. #happyhobbitday
whats so hard to understand i first read it as a young kid in early 90's the first thing i ever read by tolkien. its about high elves and ranger men chiefly at times and lots of high elves.
This didn't hit my suggestions until 2 days before Hobbit Day 2022. I think this was a fascinating watch. I've lost count of my rereads of everything up to Unfinished Tales. I was gifted with The Book of Lost Takes 1 & 2 when they were newly released but only read them once each. While I found Tolkien's original vision of his world as a great ship interesting, I just never enjoyed the stories of Kortirion and the Hall of Fire tales as much as the later published works. Due to this I never followed up purchasing the series of books Christopher published of his father's original drafts and oldest writings. I've had a re-spark of my interest in Tolkien and decided to at least get The Children of Hurin, Beren and Luthien, and The Fall of Gondolin for my library. I've got amazon open on my other monitor and am ordering The Children now. I have to complete a sci-fi series I recently started reading first, but I'm really looking forward to 3 Tolkien books that are new to me.
Amazing! Thank you so much for this video. It’s exactly what I was looking for. I started my collection of Tolkien’s works and wanted to take an in-depth dive into the stories. Thank you!
I'm not kidding, just yesterday arrived my new Tolkien's book collection... This is absolute sorcery! Obviously I really apreciate the vid, thank you! :))
I prefer to read in lore order, or in other words the “much less common” way to read these. In fact, I always tend to read this way, rather than in publication order. Comics, books, etc.
Well some things are GREAT to read or watch as a prequel. You have this great moments when you go “oh, That’s what i was asking myself” or you just see some Epic moment that make sense etc. Its great for example to read History of Middle Earth last cause its epic. If you read it first than what can you do with all that knowledge? Nothing. Same is with Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul. Better Call Saul is before Breaking Bad in Cannon BUT it does not have depth if you watch it first and than Breaking Bad. You dont understand how great Masterpiece is Better Call Saul if you start with it before Breaking Bad.
I came to Tolkien with the LOTR first, then I read _The Hobbit, The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales_ and lastly, _The History of Middle-earth_ series. I also have _The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien_ in my collection but never read it cover to cover. i only use it as a reference source yet do consider it essential to complete a Tolkien 'library' if a fan of this author ever wants to own all his writings dealing with Middle-earth. I don't necessarily recommend reading Tolkien's legendarium in that order but I'm so glad I did. Had I read the Hobbit first, I might not have been captivated enough to continue on to the LOTR, etc., knowing myself in my youth. If I read any of the other works instead of the LOTR first, I'd likely never have continued further at that age. Thus, I wouldn't change the order I read these books at all; they forever changed my life.
Happy Belated Hobbit Day! Although I was too busy to watch this yesterday, this is a great look at different reads. I read the Silmarillion first and as a young child in the late 80's. Rereading it, I know a lot went over my head, but there was definitely a lot of captivating stories that took my imagination soaring. After my dad saw me reading it, he had me read The Hobbit followed by The Lord of the Rings. I didn't discover The Unfinished Tales until early 2000's. Then picked up The Children of Hurin, Beren and Luthien, and The Fall of Gondolin as they were published.
Hey Broken Sword, in the last day or so I've found your videos but so far yours is one of the best narrated. All the others are lovely but I've enjoyed yours most thus far. I'm glad for this video as I'm a major fantasy buff. I've read the silmarillion a few times but never the main titles... this video gives me a good guide to everything. Ty.
Thank you for laying out a cannon chronological order. I’ve been scouring the internet for like an hour and you’re the only one who lays out a coherent statement. I’m irritated that many of tolkiens books are incomplete and outside cannon and it’s barely mentioned and I’m really glad I discovered that before I bought all those books. Maybe I’ll be a super fan one day but I just want the complete stories. I’m on the fence about unfinished tales of numanor but everyone says it’s a critical part of the lore even though it’s unfinished.
As a child I read the lord of the rings first and loved it but I don't think I really appreciated the story until I was a adult and saw the movie adoptions for the first time as it prompted me to revisit that old childhood classic with 'grown up eyes'. I knew about the hobbit but had never read it until much much later. I have only recently taken and interest in the silmarillion and unfinished tales so I picked them up a couple weeks ago and will probably read them this year. I loved how you gave various versions of the reading order. If I chose to expand out even more definitely know what to look for now
reading order the hobbit the lord of the rings everything else start with the hobbit because it is the "easiest" and the "most fun" you will fall in love the lord of the rings because it furthers the difficulty a little but keeps you hooked
A lovely video. A read the hobbit as a child and I'm reading the Lord of the Rings for the first time now. I'm typically not much of a reader so I think I need a lighter read next before I attempt the Silmarillion.
I was looking for this video yesterday to see if it had been re-uploaded lol. I'm looking to start the audiobooks, there seems to be multiple versions, but i will give Andy Circus's a try based on this video, Thanks 👍.
I’ve only recently read the Lord of the Rings and am currently working through the Silmarillion. I vaguely know the story from all the videos I’ve watched but want to say I’ve read it myself and carry on with the Unfinished Tales afterwards! Happy Hobbit Day!
My first Tolkien's book was Childern of Húrin. And honestly I am glad that this book was my first. I already knew something about the first age from youtube videos and this story work as some sort of anchor for these informations a helped me put them together.
I think the poems are a definite essential - Tolkien's life was studying poetry! And they are brilliant pieces. Too many scholars and readers look over them! While not exactly middle earth, The Smith of Wooton Major, Roverandom, and Farmer Giles of Ham are all great children's stories.
I recommended a friend of mine to read the Children of Hurin before the Silmarillion, since the story is quite focused on the family and not entire Beleriand. It did not disappoint.
Some great recommendations based on the nature of the reader's interest. I can tell you put a lot of thought into this. In reply to your question at the end, I think I would place Unfinished Tales, The History of Middle-earth, then the Great Tales. My reason is that the unexpected success of Unfinished Tales was the spark that launched the History of Middle-earth but in the writing of the History Christopher Tolkien had time and resources that were not available to him in the pressure to get The Silmarillion into a publishable form. He was able to consider from a broader perspective what The Silmarillion might have been had his father realized his intentions before his death. The Great Tales as they were eventually published are with this perspective in mind and the experience of editing, assembling and (by Christopher's own admission, sometimes of necessity inventing) the Great Tales in the form in which they were originally published in The Silmarillion. I think that having the background of the originally published versions of the Great Tales, then the drafts and explanations of how and why the originally published versions came to have the forms they did, then the realization of each tale between its own covers makes for a richer experience, especially as each tale is presented in a different mode. One other omission that I notice in this and other reading order recommendations has to do with Tolkien's work outside the legendarium. I'd appreciate hearing your ideas on other works like Tolkien's translation of Beowulf, The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun, The Story of Kullervo, The Fall of Arthur, Leaf by Niggle, Smith of Wooton Major, The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, Farmer Giles of Ham. I'd also be interested in how you would integrate some of his more academic projects such as Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics, On Fairy-Stories, A Secret Vice, and other works of that nature.
Listening to the audio books is what makes things supper helpful as it can always be heard for me ton sit down an read. But listening to the audio books before you read i find is even better. I did that with silmarillion makes it even easier to read. At that point
Christopher Tolkien's diligent efforts in his arduous task of compiling and organizing decades of manuscripts, drafts to incomplete ideas or revisions, rewrites, scribbled margin notes to ideas jotted onto scraps of paper (not always decipherable) into the finished works was a monumental effort that in turn spanned decades of diligent attention to a plethora of various ideas, concepts, outlines and threads within stores was exceptional in both efforts and results. That accomplishment was a life's labor of love, respect and dedication to and for his Fathers masterpiece to the point where it could be argued that can be credited as a co-author status of Father's works and always faithful to his Fathers intentions for the body of works, weaving together all of those disparate ideas and selecting which portions and fragments that he'd tie together based on what would have most likely been taken had his Father continued, some of which perhaps JRR would have abandoned or added to for various reasons if time had allowed it.
I always thought that the reason 'The Silmarillion' was not such a good read as 'Lord of the Rings' was because J R R Tolkien didn't actually write it - it was produced by Christopher Tolkien from his father's notes after his death. While it's thanks to Christopher that we have all the subsequent books, he didn't have the same power of storytelling as his father. What 'The Silmarillion' written by J R R Tolkien might have been like, unfortunately we'll never know.
I personally read the following of the Books of Middle of Earth: 1. Hobbit 2. Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring 3. Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers 4. Lord Of The Rings: The Return of the King 5. The Silmarrilion 6. The Unfinished Tales of Middle Earth and Númenor 7. The Adventures of Tom Bombadil 8. The Children of Hurin 9. Béren and Lúthien 10. The Fall of Gondolin Also read other works of Tolkien: 1. Letters of Father Christmas 2. The History of Kullervo 3. The Fall of Arthur 4. The legend of Sigurd and Gudrún
My advice on The Silmarillion is to sip on it. I will often just inhale like a third of a book at once. But for denser reading, sipping on it makes you enjoy and appreciate it more. ☺️ My fiancé and I are reading through Beren and Luthien right now. I’m going to have a few elven inspired details on my wedding dress, and at the very least he’s going to have brass buttons, lol. Maybe not the full on Aragorn sword he WANTS (sigh, we’re going full on Tolkien at our five year; just hints for the real deal!), but hints at hobbitiness here and there. ☺️
I'm reading Silmarillion and honestly the biggest challenge for me is the geography. I read Hobbit and LOTR so I was quite familiar with the geography of ME and didn't need to look up maps anymore. But this started and it gave me two new continents which I've never heard before. I found 3 different maps online and I have to jump through them and weirdly enough I have not found a good map that covers the whole area and is human readable yet.
The Silmarillion can definitely be a tough read with all the history, names and events it covers (kinda inevitable when you write a story about the creation of Middle-Earth and the several busy millennia that follow, and pack it all into a book the length of *one* LotR volume). When I first read the book as a kid there was only so much of it my brain could absorb. Personally I love how dense the content is, though; every few years I come back to it and find something else in it that stands out as really interesting. Will second the recommendation of getting it in audiobook form; been recently listening to it that way here and there, and something about the format just helps the details come more to life for me, if that makes sense.
The way I like to describe reading "The Silmarillion" is that it's a bit like reading the Bible. The story isn't presented in the same way that a traditional novel might do, as The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit would, and that can make it quite challenging to connect with the events and the characters until you shift into a mindset appropriate for this kind of format.
12:53 "The Nature of Middle-Earth" is not "just an index" of History of TLOTR. Yes, it includes excerpts from the History, but includes "unpublished" texts he published in journals (for example how many of you have "La Feuille de la Compagnie vol. 3 in 2014" or "Parma Eldalamberon in 2007" to read three of them?) and unpublished new ones too. I will quote the introduction that explains each part: "Part one, “Time and Ageing”, is almost entirely composed of materials from the collection of the same name described above, though it is here and there supplemented with material from Tolkien’s linguistic papers. Part two, “Body, Mind, and Spirit”, and part three, “The World, Its Lands, and Its Inhabitants”, are composed of materials from three chief sources: a) the bundle of “late philological essays” sent to me in 1997; b) material drawn from Tolkien’s linguistic papers; and c) particularly in part three, material collected by me over the years from the two principal archives of Tolkien manuscripts at the Bodleian in Oxford and at Marquette University in Milwaukee."
I had to read them in the conventional order because many of them weren't published at the various points in time. My reading list was as follows: The Hobbit (read in 1973) LOTR (1980) Silmarillion (1982) Lost Tales 1 and 2 (1988) Children of Hurin (2016) Unfinished Tales (2019) That's all I've read thus far. I've read all of those more than once, The Silmarillion many times over.
Publication order, definitely. The assumptions they make about the readers follow the writing order. The Hobbit is a gentle introduction to his world. Then Lord of the Rings expands on that, with intriguing details the reader is hungry to read more about. This leads into the Silmarillion. The rest I don't care so much about because they are more academic notes.
What is the only authorized biography of J. R. R. Tolkien? (And as far as reading along with the audiobook version, I completely agree. That’s how I was finally able to get into another series that would constantly reference J. R. R. Tolkien’s works. Then I was able to get into the writing on my own. That series, and-of course-the films are what brought me to Tolkien and your channel.)
If by "authorized" you mean one that the author had access to letters and writings, met Tolkien in person and had the Family's blessing, then go for Humphrey Carpenter's book. It's not perfect, it needs some updates here and there, but that's the one.
1 The Hobbit 2 The Lord of the Rings 3 The Silmarillion 4 The Lord of the Rings Appendices 5 Unfinished Tales 6 The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien 7 The History of Middle Earth 8 The Children of Húrin 9 Beren and Luthien 10 The Fall of Gondolin *After the LOTR you can read Bilbo's Last Song and The Adventures of Tom Bombadil or at any time latter *For the other Tolkien books, you can read them at any time as well
Read silmarillion in year 9, got it out the way early lol, took me a long time, a few months. Definitely good read. Definitely one to sometimes get a bit lost, especially places so i had to sometimes just stop and remember where certain things places were. Then, character names were a bit messy because there are similar names, especially amongst the elves, but that was fine as well after just checking back a few pages. Its good and im happy to have read it, its like a must do on the tick list for a fan of Arda, and the legendary feats in silmarillion are just amazing. My favourites: Fingolfin marching up to the gates of Angband by himself and demanding single combat with Morgoth. After Morgoth is forced to accept his challenge, he permanently injures morgoth’s foot and even though he does die, he proves to Morgoth’s servants that he too can be damaged. Its such a great detail by tolkien to mention no orcs talked about this duel, none boasted off Morgoth’s victory which just shows although Fingolfin died, he was successful and he must have fought so good that Morgoth’s servants couldn’t boast of such victory. This scene being made into a film could make one of the greatest scenes in movie history, with the right buildup and the right aftermath as well. It was legendary. Also, feanor’s fall against all those balrogs. Its just such a great way to go. Even Gandalf faces one balrog, but in the books it states there were multiple balrogs against feanor. I know there’s a lot of question on the exact amount of balrogs so i will not go into this and leave it at “multiple”. And i know comparing to Gandalf may not be appropriate because the book of lost tales does say “The early conception of Balrogs makes them less terrible, and certainly more destructible, than they afterwards became”, so i guess it could be argued that durin’s bane was a more powerful balrog than the ones feanor fought, the truth to this is unknown obviously but i doubt durin’s bane would be better than Gothmog king of balrogs.
Don’t forget Smith of Wooton Major, Farmer Giles of Ham, The Father Christmas Letters, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and naturally, The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien.
I read Lotr, wanted more so obviously I read The Hobbit. Now I want even more, so I bought The Silmarillion online. Cannot wait for it to arrive! Most likely will read The Hobbit and LOTR afterwards..
I would say that your order makes sense for someone approaching the works for the first time. However, for those of us who re-visit Arda on a regular basis, maybe a more strict chronological order makes more sense, seeing the entire story unfold in the order in which it happened. All good stuff. Happy Hobbit Day!
That was my intent with listening to the audiobook of The Silmarillion. But once I saw Andy Serkis had narrated LOTR, I won't be able to hold back on listening to those! His narration of The Hobbit was fantastic.
I liked the recommendation by difficulty. It's important for me because english is not my native language and I'm going to read it in the original language. Thanks!
I think it would be very beneficial to re-read LOtR immediately after the Silmarillion. Once you know the plot, you can pay attention to the bazillion references to the greater universe
Personally if I’m sitting down to read a complete series whether it’s something like “The Stainless Steel rat,” The Littles,” The Borrowers” series, I sort the books and read them in order of publication. Pre sequels assume you’ve read the earlier novels. No one I know saw Phantom Menace before a New Hope
The Silmarillion was the first story of Middle Earth started by Tolkien. At the time of his death, it still was not completed. His son, " Christopher ", compiled the parts written by JRR and the notes JRR left behind, to finish the book. Then there were the " Unfinished Tales ", again, never completed by JRR, hence the " Unfinished " part. BTW, The Silmarillion is largely regarded as the Bible of Middle Earth.
Happy Hobbit Day!! This is kind of random, but if anyone wanted to know, my top 3 fav books of Tolkien/Middle Earth (so far, I’m still reading Children of Hurin and Beren & Luthien) are: 1: The Hobbit. A classic. Chef’s kiss. 2: The Silmarillion. Beautiful and... detailed. 3: Return of The King. It’s been a while but I loved seeing Èowyn and Faramir fall in love....I also loved Saruman’s death scene. To be clear I love all of the books, these are just my top 3....so far.
I was unable to choose, and just got a trunk of books gifted me one day which included The Silmarillion, so I read it first. Then I purchased The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings and read them in that order. Other than the accidental encounter of the Silmarillion and enjoying religious texts generally, I would not recommend it as the first trip into middle earth. I would recommend The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, then if you're interested in the lore and legendarium, go for the Silmarillion, realizing first of all it is less a single, straightforward novel and more akin to a religious text in structure and style of storytelling. That doesn't detract from its quality or the quality of the stories to be found within it, but I can understand why it is a bit much for some. It doesn't make you dumb, doesn't make anyone smarter than you to read this book if you can't get into it. It might not be to your taste, doesn't reflect poorly on you in any way. It does really pick up in Quenyasilmarillion and Ankallabeth, after the first two parts.
I started with The Silmarillion after spending quite some time reading internet articles about all things First Age. Then I got into the Unfinished Tales, reread The Silmarillion, next were Beren And Lúthien and The Fall Of Gondolin (I'm WAY too familiar with the story told in The Children Of Húrin, that's why I've skipped this book for now; still gonna read it tho). I'm currently reading The Hobbit, next is LOTR and, hopefully, The Nature Of Middle-earth. The History Of Middle-earth is gonna be the icing on the cake.
Happy Hobbit Day everybody!!
Thanks for this, I been re-reading (listening to audio books while walking every day). That brings me to my question - what are the very best audio recordings for each work?
@@RichardSekmistrz The new Audible versions of The Hobbit and TLOTR with Andy Serkis narrating are probably the best.
@@Anu_Sol I been meaning to check them out, thanks!
thank you
Day 2 on requesting a video on the men of the east
Highly recommend: read Silmarillion with "The Atlas of Middle Earth" (by Fonstad) open - incredibly helpful to keep locations, travels, and names straight.
Great advice. Those maps are so helpful. I photocopied many of the maps and folded copies in all the books. I always referred to them.
I love that Atlas! It´s also very helpfull for writing Fanfictions, because now you actually know where and when to place Characters to have a believable Impact on the Story. Battles can be a bit complicated to sort out on just the Text alone, and Distances are a Nightmare
When I was about 15 I was lucky enough to find a first US edition Silmarillion with its dust jacket (that is a bit messed up around the corners, and i don’t dare try to remove the sale sticker for risk of damaging it more!) and red edging to the pages, and it has a giant four page fold out Atlas. I’ve never fully opened it, because it hadn’t been and I wasn’t about to break that streak! I’ve always just hopped back to photos on my phone or laptop to get reference points. I can’t believe that as a teen, in a normal used book shop, not really looking for anything, I found that. So cool.
@@AmaraJordanMusic
That is a wonderful story. Thanks for sharing it. And take good care of that treasure of yours. It should be a family heirloom.
@@Enerdhil Thanks. ☺️ I hoped it didn’t come off in a way I didn’t mean for it too; I just am still aghast that I was that lucky! My fiancé and I are definitely going to have any kids exposed to Tolkien when the time is right, so hopefully this will be cherished through the ages. 😊
If you start with the silmarilion. You have officially abandoned reason for madness 😭
How so?
I did.. And you're absolutely not wrong but i really really wanted to know about the history 😅
Madness it is
😂🤣I like that
Sorry but ima do just that
I have been looking forward to this (I’m the otter).
My reading order:
The Hobbit
The Lord of the Rings
The Silmarillion
The Great Tales
Unfinished Tales
History of Middle Earth series
The Adventures of Tom Bombadil
Bilbos Last Song
The Letters of J.R.R Tolkien
(I haven’t read The Nature of Middle Earth yet so yeah)
My reading order,
Lotr 3
Hobbit
Silmarillion
Children of Hurin
Unfinished tales (still reading)
I want to start the lost tales after unfinished tales but i couldnt find them in my library for a long time. Got unfinished tales after moving house for uni to a different country because my country doesnt have it in english which is my preferred language.
Although the Silmarillion is a difficult read it's still one of my favourite books ❤️
Its the best work, I think.
Silmarillion > actual Lord of the Rings book
More Magic > practically no Magic
Oh my i remember reading this in year 9, and we would read for the first 10 mins in English class. My teacher would sometimes pick random people’s books to read them aloud. He picked silmarillion up, started saying all these elvish names and places and he was so confused. And its kinda older english at times but he was good with that, although he out it down faster coz obviously the elvish stuff were just random words to him without any context as well.
Meeeeeee too!!!!
@@Myohomoto i had a heard time with this book to first reading around 1980 I've read and reread it many times since long before the movies or all of these TH-cam videos
Happy Hobbit Day James and Jake, and great job here brothers! It's always an interesting question, both for the first-time read and repeats, because part of me just wants to simultaneously read them all! Cheers guys!
The Silmarillion is probably my favorite of all, but there's a catch...it wouldn't be without the knowledge of The Hobbit and LOTR.
i've only read the silmarillion but it's still one of my favorite books of fiction. then again i've always been more a fan of non-fiction/history/theology/mythology. i think that's why i like the silm so much. it reads like the bible but more interesting.
Facts
I’m rereading hobbit and Lotr just because I want to read the silmarrlion and actually understand it. Maybe.
Finally finished Hobbit/LOTR/Silmarillion this year so definitely needed this for further reading, thanks! 👏
1) The Silmarillion
2) The Children of Húrin
3) Beren and Lúthien
4) The Fall of Gondolin
5) Unfinished Tales
6) The Hobbit
7) The Adventures of Tom Bombadil
8) The Lord of the Rings
9) Bilbo’s Last Song
------------------------------------------------------------------------
10) The History of Middle-earth (12 volumes)
11) The Nature of Middle-earth
12) The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien
This is my own go-to list (which is made by myself), and it is in chronological order until you come to The History of Middle-earth, The Nature of Middle-earth and The Letters of J.R.R, because, in my opinion, you should read them after you have read all the other works. You're welcome ;), and I wish you good luck with your journey, because it is a quite difficult and long read - namárië!
ADDITIONAL:
13) Peter Jackson: A Film-Maker's Journey
14) Anything You Can Imagine: Peter Jackson and the Making of Middle-earth
This needs to be updated. I believe more has been released
Children of Hurin does not come before Beren and Luthien
beren and luthiien should come before children of hurin.
The Simarillion, "difficult to read" is a nice way of putting it. I currently reading it, but I still have to read each page twice just to understand all of the details. Still it's awesome.
@@kodaboren7145 did you finish it?
The adventures of Tom Bombadil, such a fun, light-hearted read...I would definitely incorporate it. Happy Hobbit Day!
I'm proud to say I started my book journey with the silmarillian
This was my personal reading order. I do not recommend how I went about it.
1. The Hobbit
2. The Children of Hurin
3. LOTR - The Fellowship of the Ring
4. LOTR - The Two Towers
5. The Adventures of Tom Bombadil
6. LOTR - The Return of the King
7. The Silmarillion
8. The Fall of Gondolin
9. Beren and Luthien
10. Unfinished Tales
LOL reading children of Hurin after the hobbit would be so weird
it was@@i_do_stuff_ig
If I could re-read the compilation, I would read 1) Hobbit 2) LOTR 3) Silmarillon
TLDR
Hobbit as appetizer. LOTR, the chunky main meal. Then end with a memorable dessert, Silmarillon.
As mentioned in the vid, The Hobbit is a good intro. It's not as engaging as the other two, but it gives you a good warm-up onto Tolkien's writing style and vocabulary wealth.
I made the mistake of reading LOTR first. Contemplated on giving up several times. It took me several years to finish all three books, had to reread many paragraphs to understand it's true sense. Having watched the movie helps make it digestable.
I'm glad I left Silmarillon last. Each race is at its most OP version. Battles are EPIC! Despite being the origin book, it suit well to be the 'climax scene' through my readings. Also, as I already know the ending, I don't find the fall of Beleriand all too depressing, rather a mixed sense of dread & hope. I find this book the most engaging. I remember one time staying up until 2AM, so eager to know outcome of The Battle of Unnumbered Tears.
“As long as you are enjoying it, no one can say you are wrong” - profoundly beautiful and important to state. Thank you for such a comprehensive response to that question.
Happy Hobbit day. I thought the silmarillion was a tough read in the beginning but once you get through all the descriptive stuff and then when the elves coming into being it becomes a very great read after that
Im a chronological order type. But i absolutely love the Silmarillion so its hard for me to not turn to it. Im a lore buff though and the Silmarillion is THICC with lore. Happy Hobbit day everyone!
Happy (late) Hobbit Day! I love that you give different options depending on how people want to organize their readings.
History of Middle Earth series is a GRIND!
every year this day makes me smile.
I just started to read The fellowship. I am also re-watching the movies and I can tell the verbal and non verbal references. Its just surreal.
KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK! I always yell 1 of 4 things after your videos 1.) ELENDIL! 2.)ECTHELION! 3.) BARUK KAZHAD, KAZHAD Ai-MENU 4.) BUILD ME AN ARMY WORTHY OF MORDOR!"(While rolling my eyes like the Undertaker)But today I shout "Proud-Feet!"
P.S. Happy Hobbitt Day!
What-if video idea for you to do:
What if Gandalf never fell at the Bridge of Khazad-dum and continued with the fellowship to Lothlorien and forward?
That’s a really good idea !!! I would love to see that
Get this to the top so they could do ig
Literary geek order: LOTR, Hobbit, Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, Further Writings.
Pulling in a bright child reader: Hobbit, LOTR, Silmarillion - and more if they really geek out.
Absolute obsessive geek order: every single piece of writing in order of fictional timeline, though this takes the wonder out of it in my view.
I don't understand for the life of me how this channel doesn't have a million subscribers you guys are awesome
Thanks i've been trying to find this out for a long time
Reading Silmarillion was quite easy for me because I read the translated version first (English isn't my mother language). Once I familiar with the story and some characters, then I bought the English version. It helped me a lot not to get confused and lost in translation 😅. It is a difficult book, but it worth the effort.
I do wonder how much of some of Tolkien is lost in translation - one of the things about the Silmarillion and some of the more recently published work such as Beren and Luthien, is not just what it says but how it says it.
it is a very lyrical, semi poetic and specifically English form of Epic writing
Cheers for such great introduction to Tolkien's Magnus opus. And yes I do consider all the books surrounding LOTR, as just that. Really apreaciate the work you guys put in for the first time readers.
Love the thoroughness of your lists! 😊I'm currently listening to the audiobook version of the Silmarillion, which is actually helping quite a bit (I first read it about ten years ago, and struggled to make sense of it all). I tried reading The Children of Hurin a few years back and just could not get into it; though seeing the audiobook is narrated by the late Sir Christopher Lee, I will be giving it another go! I did recently listen to Andy Serkis' narration of The Hobbit, which was fantastic, and am looking forward to diving back into Middle Earth with his reading of The Lord of the Rings! I first read The Hobbit and LOTR from ages ten to twelve, and they bring me as much (possibly more) joy now than they did then. #happyhobbitday
whats so hard to understand i first read it as a young kid in early 90's the first thing i ever read by tolkien. its about high elves and ranger men chiefly at times and lots of high elves.
This didn't hit my suggestions until 2 days before Hobbit Day 2022. I think this was a fascinating watch. I've lost count of my rereads of everything up to Unfinished Tales. I was gifted with The Book of Lost Takes 1 & 2 when they were newly released but only read them once each. While I found Tolkien's original vision of his world as a great ship interesting, I just never enjoyed the stories of Kortirion and the Hall of Fire tales as much as the later published works. Due to this I never followed up purchasing the series of books Christopher published of his father's original drafts and oldest writings. I've had a re-spark of my interest in Tolkien and decided to at least get The Children of Hurin, Beren and Luthien, and The Fall of Gondolin for my library. I've got amazon open on my other monitor and am ordering The Children now. I have to complete a sci-fi series I recently started reading first, but I'm really looking forward to 3 Tolkien books that are new to me.
Amazing! Thank you so much for this video. It’s exactly what I was looking for. I started my collection of Tolkien’s works and wanted to take an in-depth dive into the stories. Thank you!
I've read everything Tolkien or his son published and I have to say I agree with your reading order.
I'm not kidding, just yesterday arrived my new Tolkien's book collection... This is absolute sorcery! Obviously I really apreciate the vid, thank you! :))
Must be the necromancer of dol guldur
Happy Hobbit Day to all of Arda!!!!!!!!!!!!! Guys another great video, cant wait to start reading all of this again!!!!!!!
Thanks! :D
I prefer to read in lore order, or in other words the “much less common” way to read these. In fact, I always tend to read this way, rather than in publication order. Comics, books, etc.
Well some things are GREAT to read or watch as a prequel.
You have this great moments when you go “oh, That’s what i was asking myself” or you just see some Epic moment that make sense etc.
Its great for example to read History of Middle Earth last cause its epic.
If you read it first than what can you do with all that knowledge?
Nothing.
Same is with Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul.
Better Call Saul is before Breaking Bad in Cannon BUT it does not have depth if you watch it first and than Breaking Bad.
You dont understand how great Masterpiece is Better Call Saul if you start with it before Breaking Bad.
I came to Tolkien with the LOTR first, then I read _The Hobbit, The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales_ and lastly, _The History of Middle-earth_ series. I also have _The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien_ in my collection but never read it cover to cover. i only use it as a reference source yet do consider it essential to complete a Tolkien 'library' if a fan of this author ever wants to own all his writings dealing with Middle-earth.
I don't necessarily recommend reading Tolkien's legendarium in that order but I'm so glad I did. Had I read the Hobbit first, I might not have been captivated enough to continue on to the LOTR, etc., knowing myself in my youth. If I read any of the other works instead of the LOTR first, I'd likely never have continued further at that age. Thus, I wouldn't change the order I read these books at all; they forever changed my life.
Happy Hobbit Day, guys! Thanks for all the work you do to keep us entertained
Yes, the audiobook really helped get me through the Silmarillion!
Happy Belated Hobbit Day! Although I was too busy to watch this yesterday, this is a great look at different reads. I read the Silmarillion first and as a young child in the late 80's. Rereading it, I know a lot went over my head, but there was definitely a lot of captivating stories that took my imagination soaring. After my dad saw me reading it, he had me read The Hobbit followed by The Lord of the Rings. I didn't discover The Unfinished Tales until early 2000's. Then picked up The Children of Hurin, Beren and Luthien, and The Fall of Gondolin as they were published.
Hey Broken Sword, in the last day or so I've found your videos but so far yours is one of the best narrated. All the others are lovely but I've enjoyed yours most thus far.
I'm glad for this video as I'm a major fantasy buff. I've read the silmarillion a few times but never the main titles... this video gives me a good guide to everything.
Ty.
Thank you for laying out a cannon chronological order. I’ve been scouring the internet for like an hour and you’re the only one who lays out a coherent statement. I’m irritated that many of tolkiens books are incomplete and outside cannon and it’s barely mentioned and I’m really glad I discovered that before I bought all those books. Maybe I’ll be a super fan one day but I just want the complete stories. I’m on the fence about unfinished tales of numanor but everyone says it’s a critical part of the lore even though it’s unfinished.
As a child I read the lord of the rings first and loved it but I don't think I really appreciated the story until I was a adult and saw the movie adoptions for the first time as it prompted me to revisit that old childhood classic with 'grown up eyes'. I knew about the hobbit but had never read it until much much later. I have only recently taken and interest in the silmarillion and unfinished tales so I picked them up a couple weeks ago and will probably read them this year. I loved how you gave various versions of the reading order. If I chose to expand out even more definitely know what to look for now
reading order
the hobbit
the lord of the rings
everything else
start with the hobbit because it is the "easiest" and the "most fun" you will fall in love
the lord of the rings because it furthers the difficulty a little but keeps you hooked
A lovely video. A read the hobbit as a child and I'm reading the Lord of the Rings for the first time now. I'm typically not much of a reader so I think I need a lighter read next before I attempt the Silmarillion.
I was looking for this video yesterday to see if it had been re-uploaded lol. I'm looking to start the audiobooks, there seems to be multiple versions, but i will give Andy Circus's a try based on this video, Thanks 👍.
The publication order really makes sense in terms of gradually ramping up in lore with each book.
Already almost at 70k 😂 keeping track of when to stream has to be tough lol
Love this post. There were a few of the later books that I didn't know about.
The Silmarillion as an audiobook is a huge help.
Hobbit, LOTR, Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales. (Children of Huron, Bergen and Luthien, Fall of Gondolin)
I’ve only recently read the Lord of the Rings and am currently working through the Silmarillion. I vaguely know the story from all the videos I’ve watched but want to say I’ve read it myself and carry on with the Unfinished Tales afterwards! Happy Hobbit Day!
Thank you for bringing this back
this is def coming to me a a perfect time, thanks!
i must put, i always prefer old editions of books as opposed to modern printings.
My first Tolkien's book was Childern of Húrin. And honestly I am glad that this book was my first. I already knew something about the first age from youtube videos and this story work as some sort of anchor for these informations a helped me put them together.
Happy Hobbit Day! Currently reading The Silmarillion.
Lord of the Rings is so full of references to Silmarillion and it’s characters, places and events that I would really read the Silmarillion first
i actually started with the silmarillion after watching the movies of course
Awsome video...very very helpful. Happy Hobbit day all🧙👸🧝🏻♂️🧚✨👑
I think the poems are a definite essential - Tolkien's life was studying poetry! And they are brilliant pieces. Too many scholars and readers look over them!
While not exactly middle earth, The Smith of Wooton Major, Roverandom, and Farmer Giles of Ham are all great children's stories.
I recommended a friend of mine to read the Children of Hurin before the Silmarillion, since the story is quite focused on the family and not entire Beleriand. It did not disappoint.
Some great recommendations based on the nature of the reader's interest. I can tell you put a lot of thought into this. In reply to your question at the end, I think I would place Unfinished Tales, The History of Middle-earth, then the Great Tales. My reason is that the unexpected success of Unfinished Tales was the spark that launched the History of Middle-earth but in the writing of the History Christopher Tolkien had time and resources that were not available to him in the pressure to get The Silmarillion into a publishable form. He was able to consider from a broader perspective what The Silmarillion might have been had his father realized his intentions before his death. The Great Tales as they were eventually published are with this perspective in mind and the experience of editing, assembling and (by Christopher's own admission, sometimes of necessity inventing) the Great Tales in the form in which they were originally published in The Silmarillion. I think that having the background of the originally published versions of the Great Tales, then the drafts and explanations of how and why the originally published versions came to have the forms they did, then the realization of each tale between its own covers makes for a richer experience, especially as each tale is presented in a different mode.
One other omission that I notice in this and other reading order recommendations has to do with Tolkien's work outside the legendarium. I'd appreciate hearing your ideas on other works like Tolkien's translation of Beowulf, The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun, The Story of Kullervo, The Fall of Arthur, Leaf by Niggle, Smith of Wooton Major, The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, Farmer Giles of Ham. I'd also be interested in how you would integrate some of his more academic projects such as Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics, On Fairy-Stories, A Secret Vice, and other works of that nature.
I read the Hobbit when I was 8. Then The Lord of the Rings, and then The Silmarillion.
I wish you could doa Yi-Gi-Oh channel haha. So many stories and ideas behind it but keep it up :)
Listening to the audio books is what makes things supper helpful as it can always be heard for me ton sit down an read. But listening to the audio books before you read i find is even better. I did that with silmarillion makes it even easier to read. At that point
Christopher Tolkien's diligent efforts in his arduous task of compiling and organizing decades of manuscripts, drafts to incomplete ideas or revisions, rewrites, scribbled margin notes to ideas jotted onto scraps of paper (not always decipherable) into the finished works was a monumental effort that in turn spanned decades of diligent attention to a plethora of various ideas, concepts, outlines and threads within stores was exceptional in both efforts and results.
That accomplishment was a life's labor of love, respect and dedication to and for his Fathers masterpiece to the point where it could be argued that can be credited as a co-author status of Father's works and always faithful to his Fathers intentions for the body of works, weaving together all of those disparate ideas and selecting which portions and fragments that he'd tie together based on what would have most likely been taken had his Father continued, some of which perhaps JRR would have abandoned or added to for various reasons if time had allowed it.
Brilliant job on the video ❤️
Idk why the 300 thousand subscribers that were on the old channel didn’t come back and subscribe here! It’s growing slowly but surely
I always thought that the reason 'The Silmarillion' was not such a good read as 'Lord of the Rings' was because J R R Tolkien didn't actually write it - it was produced by Christopher Tolkien from his father's notes after his death. While it's thanks to Christopher that we have all the subsequent books, he didn't have the same power of storytelling as his father. What 'The Silmarillion' written by J R R Tolkien might have been like, unfortunately we'll never know.
I always started with Tolkien's biography, then the Silmarillion, the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings. I read them all 20 times.
I personally read the following of the Books of Middle of Earth:
1. Hobbit
2. Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
3. Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers
4. Lord Of The Rings: The Return of the King
5. The Silmarrilion
6. The Unfinished Tales of Middle Earth and Númenor
7. The Adventures of Tom Bombadil
8. The Children of Hurin
9. Béren and Lúthien
10. The Fall of Gondolin
Also read other works of Tolkien:
1. Letters of Father Christmas
2. The History of Kullervo
3. The Fall of Arthur
4. The legend of Sigurd and Gudrún
Loving this channel get some old time!
My advice on The Silmarillion is to sip on it. I will often just inhale like a third of a book at once. But for denser reading, sipping on it makes you enjoy and appreciate it more. ☺️
My fiancé and I are reading through Beren and Luthien right now. I’m going to have a few elven inspired details on my wedding dress, and at the very least he’s going to have brass buttons, lol. Maybe not the full on Aragorn sword he WANTS (sigh, we’re going full on Tolkien at our five year; just hints for the real deal!), but hints at hobbitiness here and there. ☺️
I love this! doing a full reread soon!
I'm reading Silmarillion and honestly the biggest challenge for me is the geography. I read Hobbit and LOTR so I was quite familiar with the geography of ME and didn't need to look up maps anymore. But this started and it gave me two new continents which I've never heard before. I found 3 different maps online and I have to jump through them and weirdly enough I have not found a good map that covers the whole area and is human readable yet.
The Silmarillion can definitely be a tough read with all the history, names and events it covers (kinda inevitable when you write a story about the creation of Middle-Earth and the several busy millennia that follow, and pack it all into a book the length of *one* LotR volume). When I first read the book as a kid there was only so much of it my brain could absorb. Personally I love how dense the content is, though; every few years I come back to it and find something else in it that stands out as really interesting. Will second the recommendation of getting it in audiobook form; been recently listening to it that way here and there, and something about the format just helps the details come more to life for me, if that makes sense.
The way I like to describe reading "The Silmarillion" is that it's a bit like reading the Bible. The story isn't presented in the same way that a traditional novel might do, as The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit would, and that can make it quite challenging to connect with the events and the characters until you shift into a mindset appropriate for this kind of format.
Great video, Gents. Happy Hobbit Day my friends!
It was very considerate of you to consider different options for the books' reading order.
12:53 "The Nature of Middle-Earth" is not "just an index" of History of TLOTR. Yes, it includes excerpts from the History, but includes "unpublished" texts he published in journals (for example how many of you have "La Feuille de la Compagnie vol. 3 in 2014" or "Parma Eldalamberon in 2007" to read three of them?) and unpublished new ones too. I will quote the introduction that explains each part: "Part one, “Time and Ageing”, is almost entirely composed of materials from the collection of the same name described above, though it is here and there supplemented with material from Tolkien’s linguistic papers. Part two, “Body, Mind, and Spirit”, and part three, “The World, Its Lands, and Its Inhabitants”, are composed of materials from three chief sources: a) the bundle of “late philological essays” sent to me in 1997; b) material drawn from Tolkien’s linguistic papers; and c) particularly in part three, material collected by me over the years from the two principal archives of Tolkien manuscripts at the Bodleian in Oxford and at Marquette University in Milwaukee."
I had to read them in the conventional order because many of them weren't published at the various points in time. My reading list was as follows:
The Hobbit (read in 1973)
LOTR (1980)
Silmarillion (1982)
Lost Tales 1 and 2 (1988)
Children of Hurin (2016)
Unfinished Tales (2019)
That's all I've read thus far. I've read all of those more than once, The Silmarillion many times over.
Publication order, definitely. The assumptions they make about the readers follow the writing order. The Hobbit is a gentle introduction to his world. Then Lord of the Rings expands on that, with intriguing details the reader is hungry to read more about. This leads into the Silmarillion. The rest I don't care so much about because they are more academic notes.
What is the only authorized biography of J. R. R. Tolkien? (And as far as reading along with the audiobook version, I completely agree. That’s how I was finally able to get into another series that would constantly reference J. R. R. Tolkien’s works. Then I was able to get into the writing on my own. That series, and-of course-the films are what brought me to Tolkien and your channel.)
If by "authorized" you mean one that the author had access to letters and writings, met Tolkien in person and had the Family's blessing, then go for Humphrey Carpenter's book.
It's not perfect, it needs some updates here and there, but that's the one.
@@leonardofaber5823 Yes. Then that’s the one I will get. Thank you, Leonardo.
1 The Hobbit
2 The Lord of the Rings
3 The Silmarillion
4 The Lord of the Rings Appendices
5 Unfinished Tales
6 The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien
7 The History of Middle Earth
8 The Children of Húrin
9 Beren and Luthien
10 The Fall of Gondolin
*After the LOTR you can read Bilbo's Last Song and The Adventures of Tom Bombadil or at any time latter
*For the other Tolkien books, you can read them at any time as well
I started with Tolkien's biography, the Silmarillion, the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings.
Read silmarillion in year 9, got it out the way early lol, took me a long time, a few months. Definitely good read. Definitely one to sometimes get a bit lost, especially places so i had to sometimes just stop and remember where certain things places were. Then, character names were a bit messy because there are similar names, especially amongst the elves, but that was fine as well after just checking back a few pages. Its good and im happy to have read it, its like a must do on the tick list for a fan of Arda, and the legendary feats in silmarillion are just amazing. My favourites:
Fingolfin marching up to the gates of Angband by himself and demanding single combat with Morgoth. After Morgoth is forced to accept his challenge, he permanently injures morgoth’s foot and even though he does die, he proves to Morgoth’s servants that he too can be damaged. Its such a great detail by tolkien to mention no orcs talked about this duel, none boasted off Morgoth’s victory which just shows although Fingolfin died, he was successful and he must have fought so good that Morgoth’s servants couldn’t boast of such victory. This scene being made into a film could make one of the greatest scenes in movie history, with the right buildup and the right aftermath as well. It was legendary.
Also, feanor’s fall against all those balrogs. Its just such a great way to go. Even Gandalf faces one balrog, but in the books it states there were multiple balrogs against feanor. I know there’s a lot of question on the exact amount of balrogs so i will not go into this and leave it at “multiple”. And i know comparing to Gandalf may not be appropriate because the book of lost tales does say “The early conception of Balrogs makes them less terrible, and certainly more destructible, than they afterwards became”, so i guess it could be argued that durin’s bane was a more powerful balrog than the ones feanor fought, the truth to this is unknown obviously but i doubt durin’s bane would be better than Gothmog king of balrogs.
Don’t forget Smith of Wooton Major, Farmer Giles of Ham, The Father Christmas Letters, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and naturally, The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien.
I read Lotr, wanted more so obviously I read The Hobbit. Now I want even more, so I bought The Silmarillion online. Cannot wait for it to arrive! Most likely will read The Hobbit and LOTR afterwards..
I would say that your order makes sense for someone approaching the works for the first time. However, for those of us who re-visit Arda on a regular basis, maybe a more strict chronological order makes more sense, seeing the entire story unfold in the order in which it happened. All good stuff. Happy Hobbit Day!
That was my intent with listening to the audiobook of The Silmarillion. But once I saw Andy Serkis had narrated LOTR, I won't be able to hold back on listening to those! His narration of The Hobbit was fantastic.
I struggled with the Silmarillion until I listened to the audio book.
I liked the recommendation by difficulty. It's important for me because english is not my native language and I'm going to read it in the original language. Thanks!
I think it would be very beneficial to re-read LOtR immediately after the Silmarillion. Once you know the plot, you can pay attention to the bazillion references to the greater universe
Personally if I’m sitting down to read a complete series whether it’s something like “The Stainless Steel rat,” The Littles,” The Borrowers” series, I sort the books and read them in order of publication. Pre sequels assume you’ve read the earlier novels. No one I know saw Phantom Menace before a New Hope
It was Perfect
thank you
The Silmarillion was the first story of Middle Earth started by Tolkien. At the time of his death, it still was not completed. His son, " Christopher ", compiled the parts written by JRR and the notes JRR left behind, to finish the book. Then there were the " Unfinished Tales ", again, never completed by JRR, hence the " Unfinished " part.
BTW, The Silmarillion is largely regarded as the Bible of Middle Earth.
Happy Hobbit Day!!
This is kind of random, but if anyone wanted to know, my top 3 fav books of Tolkien/Middle Earth (so far, I’m still reading Children of Hurin and Beren & Luthien) are:
1: The Hobbit. A classic. Chef’s kiss.
2: The Silmarillion. Beautiful and... detailed.
3: Return of The King. It’s been a while but I loved seeing Èowyn and Faramir fall in love....I also loved Saruman’s death scene.
To be clear I love all of the books, these are just my top 3....so far.
Wait till you read Been and Luthien. There's a poem version(s) too that is an absolute joy to read.
I was unable to choose, and just got a trunk of books gifted me one day which included The Silmarillion, so I read it first. Then I purchased The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings and read them in that order. Other than the accidental encounter of the Silmarillion and enjoying religious texts generally, I would not recommend it as the first trip into middle earth. I would recommend The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, then if you're interested in the lore and legendarium, go for the Silmarillion, realizing first of all it is less a single, straightforward novel and more akin to a religious text in structure and style of storytelling. That doesn't detract from its quality or the quality of the stories to be found within it, but I can understand why it is a bit much for some. It doesn't make you dumb, doesn't make anyone smarter than you to read this book if you can't get into it. It might not be to your taste, doesn't reflect poorly on you in any way. It does really pick up in Quenyasilmarillion and Ankallabeth, after the first two parts.
Very interesting!
I started with The Silmarillion after spending quite some time reading internet articles about all things First Age. Then I got into the Unfinished Tales, reread The Silmarillion, next were Beren And Lúthien and The Fall Of Gondolin (I'm WAY too familiar with the story told in The Children Of Húrin, that's why I've skipped this book for now; still gonna read it tho). I'm currently reading The Hobbit, next is LOTR and, hopefully, The Nature Of Middle-earth. The History Of Middle-earth is gonna be the icing on the cake.
Happy Hobbit day!