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Post by Falconer on Dec 19, 2022 1:00:58 GMT -6
1. THE THIRD AGE: THE TALE OF THE RING
a. The Hobbit b. Lord of the Rings: main narrative, then Aragorn and Arwen
2. A GRAND CIRCUIT OF THE LEGENDARIUM
a. Silmarillion: beginning to War of Wrath b. Fall of Númenor c. Lord of the Rings: Prologue, then Appendices d. Unfinished Tales: Galadriel and Celeborn to end
3. THE FIRST AGE: THE LOST TALES AND THE GREAT
a. Book of Lost Tales (I and II): beginning to Tale of Tinúviel b. Lays of Beleriand: Leithian, then Húrin c. Unfinished Tales: Húrin, then Tuor d. Book of Lost Tales (II): Melko releases Úrin to end
Here’s a possible approach to reading Tolkien. I wanted to balance publication order and chronological order, to curate a logical and satisfactorily unfolding narrative with hopefully minimal confusion and fiddliness and flipping and explanation. It’s about half the books (not even).
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Post by Falconer on May 2, 2023 13:40:17 GMT -6
Another take on this…
Growing up in the 80s, this was my reading order for the main writings — straight publication order:
1. The Hobbit 2. The Lord of the Rings 3. The Silmarillion 4. Unfinished Tales 5. The Book of Lost Tales 6. The Lays of Beleriand
Today, there are a few new books which remix some of the writings in pleasing ways, so if you want to take advantage of them, here’s how I would go about it:
1. The Hobbit 2. The Lord of the Rings 3. The Silmarillion* 4. The Fall of Númenor 5. The Children of Húrin 6. Unfinished Tales 7. The Fall of Gondolin 8. The Book of Lost Tales 9. The Lays of Beleriand
* - skip the last two sections
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rhialto
Level 4 Theurgist
Posts: 119
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Post by rhialto on May 3, 2023 4:33:14 GMT -6
How is The Fall of Numenor, if you've read it? I keep eyeing it, but absent Christopher Tolkien's editorship I'm a bit hesitant to give it a go.
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Post by tkdco2 on May 3, 2023 4:52:10 GMT -6
How is The Fall of Numenor, if you've read it? I keep eyeing it, but absent Christopher Tolkien's editorship I'm a bit hesitant to give it a go. I enjoyed it. There's not a lot of new information, if any, but it collects all the lore of the Second Age into one book.
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Post by Falconer on May 3, 2023 6:56:26 GMT -6
Yeah, exactly what tkdco2 said, it’s really enjoyable to sit down with one book and get the whole Second Age in chronological order. A very satisfying read.
Here are the main things you don’t have to read if you read The Fall of Númenor:
From The Silmarillion: • Akallabêth • Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age
From The Nature of Middle-earth: • Of the Land and Beasts of Númenor
From Unfinished Tales: • A Description of the Island of Númenor • Aldarion and Erendis • The Line of Elros
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rhialto
Level 4 Theurgist
Posts: 119
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Post by rhialto on May 3, 2023 11:55:30 GMT -6
Great, thank you both!
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Post by Falconer on May 20, 2023 10:56:12 GMT -6
There is a “forgotten novel” which I think would work very well slotted in before the (notoriously difficult) Silmarillion. There is a 1977 LP of The Silmarillion: Of Beren and Lúthien read by Christopher Tolkien. It’s a good listen, and I think it would make a nice little standalone book. www.youtube.com/watch?v=-L7Y1H1-pkg
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rayotus
Level 4 Theurgist
Posts: 120
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Post by rayotus on May 21, 2023 21:33:56 GMT -6
Another take on this… [...] * - skip the last two sections Is that because the last two sections of the Silmarillion are repeated/expanded in the later books? (I've only ever read The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, Silmarillion, and Tales from the Perilous Realm. Though I have read all of those multiple times.)
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Post by Falconer on May 22, 2023 6:40:45 GMT -6
Yes, they are included in The Fall of Númenor.
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Post by geoffrey on May 22, 2023 8:10:26 GMT -6
Here is one that I like, sort of a "What was the professor thinking when he was writing The Hobbit in the early 1930s?"
1. The "Qenta Noldorinwa" found in The Shaping of Middle-Earth 2. "The Fall of Gondolin" found in both The Book of Lost Tales 2 and in The Fall of Gondolin (wherein it is referred to as "The Original Tale"). 3. The Hobbit (the 1937 version, natch).
Then, if you really want a deep dive, follow it up with John D. Rateliff's 938-page The History of The Hobbit.
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rayotus
Level 4 Theurgist
Posts: 120
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Post by rayotus on May 22, 2023 8:36:22 GMT -6
I once did a "slow read" of The Lord of the Rings with a group on another forum. My idea was to treat it like the slow food movement - to take one's time and relish and discover. We read a chapter a week and I think it took about a year. It was my favorite read through of LotR and we ended up collecting our conversation in a book we printed for ourselves on LuLu. My point is, if enough people are interested, I'd be happy to do that again with any of these books. I think you need at least 7 people who are pretty committed to the reading. For reference, here were the rules:
- No looking ahead and spoiling things (because we had some first time readers). - No reading ahead!! No one is policing this, but the ideal is to have as little distance as possible between the reading of a chapter and the discussing of it. - No pressure! You can drift in and out. If you fall behind, you are welcome to skip chapters, but you shouldn't weigh in on weeks when you haven't read the chapter. (I.e. no discussion "from memory.")
I think maybe that was it.
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Post by ramblingcleric on Jun 1, 2023 17:57:54 GMT -6
I once did a "slow read" of The Lord of the Rings with a group on another forum. My idea was to treat it like the slow food movement - to take one's time and relish and discover. We read a chapter a week and I think it took about a year. It was my favorite read through of LotR and we ended up collecting our conversation in a book we printed for ourselves on LuLu. My point is, if enough people are interested, I'd be happy to do that again with any of these books. I think you need at least 7 people who are pretty committed to the reading. For reference, here were the rules: - No looking ahead and spoiling things (because we had some first time readers). - No reading ahead!! No one is policing this, but the ideal is to have as little distance as possible between the reading of a chapter and the discussing of it. - No pressure! You can drift in and out. If you fall behind, you are welcome to skip chapters, but you shouldn't weigh in on weeks when you haven't read the chapter. (I.e. no discussion "from memory.") I think maybe that was it. This sounds like an enjoyable approach to reading LotR. Your post reminded me of a summer I spent facilitating a reading comprehension program for high school students. We were reading LotR, and we were going at a pretty slow pace. We paused often to engage in summarizing what was read and discussing themes and other elements of the story. I probably learned just as much as the students reading the story for the first time.
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Post by tkdco2 on Aug 15, 2023 15:04:46 GMT -6
I'd go with a chronological order for my readings, from the Music of the Ainur to the end of the Third Age.
My essentials would be: The Silmarillion The Fall of Numenor The Hobbit The Lord of the Rings
After that, I'd go with the Unfinished Tales for supplemental material.
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