Timeline for In what order should Tolkien's writings on Middle-earth be read?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
23 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Apr 1, 2022 at 17:52 | history | edited | Sean McMillan | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
Added _The Nature of Middle-Earth_
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| Apr 1, 2022 at 17:48 | comment | added | Sean McMillan | The Book of Lost Tales is the first two volumes of The History of Middle Earth. | |
| Mar 30, 2022 at 21:46 | comment | added | Spencer | You didn't list The Book of Lost Tales, which was the first thing I read after The Silmarillion so long ago. It's one of the first things he wrote! | |
| Sep 14, 2021 at 13:28 | comment | added | Sean McMillan | You could skip 6-8 if you just don't care, I guess. Volumes 10 and 11 contain revisions to The Silmarillion that were made after The Lord of the Rings was published, so they mostly care about the as published text. I wouldn't want to make the claim for every footnote. | |
| Sep 2, 2021 at 20:17 | comment | added | Wade | Thank you, that's exactly what I was looking for. Do you need to read the History of the Lord of the Rings in order to read volumes 10-12 (and parts 2-3 of volume 9), though? It seems to me that they deal with writings of the first (and maybe 2nd) age, so it surprises to me they'd make references to volume 6-8. | |
| Sep 2, 2021 at 19:34 | comment | added | Sean McMillan | I've made an edit to that effect. In short, read HoME in its own order by volume number. | |
| Sep 2, 2021 at 19:33 | history | edited | Sean McMillan | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
Included recommendation for reading order for HoME
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| Sep 1, 2021 at 17:46 | comment | added | Wade | Is there a chance you might specify a suggested order for the volumes of HoMe? | |
| Jul 19, 2021 at 20:33 | comment | added | Sean McMillan | I'd say that Beren and Lúthien and The Fall of Gondolin are smoother and more entertainment oriented than The History of Middle-earth, but they're far less successful than The Children of Húrin at accomplishing that. | |
| Jul 5, 2021 at 8:44 | comment | added | Wade | From what I've heard, Unfinished Tales is the easier read, so perhaps it should be recommended to read before these two... | |
| Jul 5, 2021 at 8:42 | comment | added | Wade | "Beren and Lúthien and The Fall of Gondolin are collections of the varying versions of those tales, stitched together in a directly readable order" - are you sure about this? From what I've read in other answers, these books are more like the History than The Children of Húrin, and aren't really "smoother, more entertainment oriented"... | |
| Sep 5, 2018 at 17:21 | history | edited | Sean McMillan | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
Included *The Fall of Gondolin*. Broke out the *Great Tales* trilogy into its own section.
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| Apr 17, 2018 at 14:36 | comment | added | Sean McMillan | I suspect Fall of Gondolin will fall after Beren and Luthien, if it is made similarly. | |
| Apr 12, 2018 at 18:23 | comment | added | Josh B. | Looks like we'll have to add the Fall of Gondolin soon! I wonder where this book would fall in the reading order... | |
| Apr 12, 2018 at 18:22 | history | edited | Sean McMillan | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
Added Beren and Lúthien
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| Apr 11, 2016 at 1:36 | comment | added | ibid | @Oldcat - With the possible exception of Children of Hurin and select parts of UT and HoME. | |
| Aug 8, 2015 at 22:01 | history | edited | Sean McMillan | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
Added information about the History of The Hobbit.
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| Nov 2, 2013 at 0:11 | comment | added | Oldcat | One hint for if you want to go on to the Silmarillion and Histories is if you read and really liked the Appendices in LOTR. If you skipped them, or were bored by them, you won't like the rest almost for sure. | |
| Mar 27, 2013 at 23:41 | comment | added | user8719 | I really like this answer. The "stop here" points are great for identifying places where - if you've already gotten what you want from the books - you can just quit reading safe in the knowledge that you're not going miss anything that's important to you. I read Hobbit/Silm/LotR by the way, but I wouldn't recommend that to anyone! | |
| Mar 27, 2013 at 12:59 | comment | added | user13394 | Shouldn't I read The Children of Hurin after Silmarilion after that the Hobit and LOTR? To me it makes sense to start from the begining? | |
| S Feb 3, 2013 at 23:57 | history | suggested | TRiG | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
Spelling of Húrin. Formatting (replaced code block with list; italicised titles).
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| Feb 3, 2013 at 23:52 | review | Suggested edits | |||
| S Feb 3, 2013 at 23:57 | |||||
| Sep 20, 2011 at 15:47 | history | answered | Sean McMillan | CC BY-SA 3.0 |