Other Tolkein Books...?

[ladyflorange]

I've read the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, but I was just wondering if anyone had read any of his other books, and whether you thought they were worth reading?

 

[Green]

The Silmarillion is the only other one I've read. I really enjoyed its detached style. There are bits that lag like hell (listing all the different maya or whatever they're called, for example), but then parts of the LotR lagged like hell, too.

If you're interested in the history of the elves, then this is a big fat infodump with your name on it.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

No one ever seems to mention any of his shorter works, so I will. Farmer Giles of Ham is fast-paced and funny, and it has those great Pauline Baynes illustrations. I like the fairy tale atmosphere of Smith of Wooton Major, too. But Leaf by Niggle comes pretty darn close to allegory for an author who generally despises that form, and the result seems a little forced.

 

[Raynor]

Leaf by Niggle comes pretty darn close to allegory for an author who generally despises that form, and the result seems a little forced.

That was his intent (to use allegory):

To conclude: having mentioned Free Will, I might say that in my myth I have used 'subcreation' in a special way (not the same as 'subcreation' as a term in criticism of art, though I tried to show allegorically how that might come to be taken up into Creation in some plane in my 'purgatorial' story Leaf by Niggle (Dublin Review 1945)) to make visible and physical the effects of Sin or misused Free Will by men.

 

[Allanon]

i like sillmarillion, its hard to read but i liked its scaty jumpiness!

 

[ladyflorange]

Thanks a lot!

 

[Marky Lazer]

I read a paperback including both Smoth of Wootton Major and Farmer Giles of Ham, both were pretty good reads, and I would recommend them.

Even though I read The Silmarillion, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

Though I'm not too sure we can forgive you for spelling Tolkien's name wrong.

 

[Clouddragon]

Tolkien wasa prolific writer, although much of his work is hidden under LOTR.

Farmer Giles Of Ham
The Tale of Tom Bombadil
Smith of Wooton Major
The Road goes Ever On
The Father Christmas Letters
Tree and Leaf
Pearl and Sir Orfeo
Unfinished Tales
Silmarillion
The Hobbit

That's just those I can think of off the top of my head- I'm sure there are more.

Clouddragon

 

[ladyflorange]

Oh my gosh I didn't even notice the sp! Sorry

 

[Marky Lazer]

 

[Shoegaze99]

Even though I read The Silmarillion, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

Why? It's a wonderfully written book with some truly epic tales, a grand saga simply huge in scope and offering some of the best mythology this side of "real" mythology. For the tragic tale of Turin alone it's a worthwhile read. It's nothing short of an essential read for a Tolkien fan.

The Silmarillion may not be as accessible as The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, but it has just as much (if not more) to offer in the way of scope and scale. Some readers complain that the text is too Biblical in style, but even that doesn't last long; the prose comes down to Earth rather quickly. The only real roadblock to the reader is that the cast of characters is huge, requiring strict attention in order to keep all the relationships straight.

 

[Michael Martinez]

Try also Mr. Bliss and Roverandom. And there are many previously unpublished stories in Unfinished Tales and the twelve volumes of The History of Middle-earth. "The Wanderings of Hurin" supplements (and corrects) the published Silmarillion in several ways. Another good tale would be the story of the first elves, published as part of "Quendi and Eldar" in The War of the Jewels.

 

[Lacedaemonian]

I actually preferred the Silmarillion to the The Lord of the Rings. I guess it appealed to the historian in me. I think I read it when I was twelve after somebody told me it would be too difficult for me to fully understand. Well I fell into that book heart and soul. It stole my childhood from me. I have never reached that level of escapism in the thousand or so books I have read since then.

 

[hermi-nomi]

After reading The Fellowship of the Ring, reading The Simarillion doesn't seem so bad. I've only read it once or twice though as it makes me cry
I got the book to provide background information to The Lord of the Rings and you certainly get it, although alot of it does seem disjointed ~ it is part of Middle Earth and provides depth. If the ending of each of the films made you cry, this book probably will too as it is epic in its grandeur.

 

[Marky Lazer]

The Silmarillion may not be as accessible as The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings

That's exactly why. I'm not saying it isn't good, as a matter of fact, I think I enjoyed it better than LOTR as well, but people who say the like LOTR might be disapponinted. That's why I would recommend a story like 'Farmer Giles Of Ham' above The Silmarillion.

 

[Treikayan]

I'm reading through the Unfinished Tales now.

 

[Michael Martinez]

Well, Tolkien can be read on many levels. If people just want to read him for fun, I would recommend these books:

Middle-earth stories

• The Hobbit
• The Lord of the Rings
• The Silmarillion
• Unfinished Tales of Numenor and Middle-earth
• The Adventures of Tom Bombadil

Non-Middle-earth stories

• The Father Christmas Letters
• Smith of Wootton Major
• Farmer Giles of Ham
• Mr. Bliss
• Roverandom

The writing level is not consistent through all these stories. Mr. Bliss, The Father Christmas Letters, and Roverandom were all children's stories (as was The Hobbit). Farmer Giles and Smith were intended for more mature (but still light-hearted) audiences.

I don't personally like "Leaf by Niggle" but many people do. Tolkien's other stories and translations are very interesting in their own right, but I don't read them for fun.

If you want to get into the deeper minutiae of Middle-earth, then of course you have to read The Road Goes Ever On and the twelve volumes of The History of Middle-earth. But I think a Tolkien library can be quite enjoyable without the weight of the heavier books.

 

[Sharkey]

If it exists, Where might I find the story of the Necromance at Dol Guldur?

 

[j d worthington]

As such, it doesn't exist -- that is, as a separate story. The Necromancer was, of course, Sauron, so any of the books that give you a good overview of the events of Middle Earth in the Second and Third Ages will involve this story at least peripherally as well. The best sources for information on this, as I recall, are the appendices to The Lord of the Rings (The Return of the King, following the main story) and the Unfinished Tales, the section on the Third Age. There's also some information on this in one or two of the volumes of the "History of Middle Earth", specifically the volumes dealing with the writing of The Lord of the Rings (the material that had to be cut for one reason or another from the finished book), but it's relatively negligible, as I recall.

 

[Marky Lazer]

I had a quick search for you, Sharkey. According to The OneRing.net:

It was published in part in Unfinished Tales; the most complete and polished draft is found in the new edition of The Annotated Hobbit.