16 Books to Read After The Lord of the Rings | Tolkien Reading Order

16 Books to Read After The Lord of the Rings | Tolkien Reading Order | Professor Craig Explains

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@xaero___ 3 жыл бұрын

Another path that is well worth going down at some point is the texts that inspired Tolkien, Beowulf (Tolkien's translation), The Wanderer (an Old English poem), the Poetic Edda and other sources of Norse mythology, the Icelandic sagas etc etc.

@TheLegendarium 3 жыл бұрын

Absolutely!!

@robertsadowski9690 7 ай бұрын

For religious folk, I would recommend “Frodo’s Journey” by Joseph Pearce. It’s a nice, short read that sheds light on a lot of the Catholic themes and symbolism in LotR.

@joelwilson289 3 жыл бұрын

That 'Author of the Century' book is brilliant - I picked it up about 10 years ago and it completely exceeded my expectation.

@Lesandira 2 жыл бұрын

One of my favorite secondary sources is The Atlas of Middle Earth by Karen Wynn Fonstad. It's really an amazing resource of maps, travel routes and battles. Highly recommended!

@TheLegendarium 2 жыл бұрын

A very good one!

@fgdj2000 Жыл бұрын

I found this invaluable during my first read-through. I didn't buy it until very late, but I realized I've unintentionally googling the maps and sketches in there.

@tehwatcherintehwater2022 3 жыл бұрын

*The Philosophy of Tolkien* by Peter Kreeft is a great read!

@gmansard641 3 жыл бұрын

There's one from about 1972, Paul Kocher's Master of Middle Earth. It's a very good analysis of JRRT's works, including things outside the Legendarium. JRRT was still alive when it was written, and Kocher makes a few good guesses as to the then projected Silmarillion. Later, he wrote a similar book on the Silmarillion.

@007EnglishAcademy Жыл бұрын

I think this is the best book of Tolkien's work - it is full of I nsight.

@littleredbook2009 3 жыл бұрын

In which Prof Craig smells a book. This nerd approve. Gonna check out the bio of Tolkien next time I do nonfic.

@travisredd9096 3 жыл бұрын

Craig really killing it with the graphics/charts lately lol

@fgdj2000 2 жыл бұрын

My only modification would be to read The Children of Hurín after The Silmarillion as the only remaining „finished“ prose work set in the legendarium, although Unfinished Tales is better at giving an overview about all the other stuff Tolkien wrote. Christopher Tolkien even intended Children to be accessible to someone who hasn‘t read Silmarillion, yet. Otherwise, this is a great reading order and I‘m loving your channel!

@sherizaahd 3 жыл бұрын

Ah, the Professor in all his regalia! It feels right. I have, unread, The History of the Lord of the Rings and the Unfinished Tales. I'm probably going to Unfinished Tales next. I guess my first foray outside the main Legendarium was the Tolkien Reader or maybe it was The Children of Hurin as read by Christopher Lee, both are excellent. I also watched an old-ish BBC documentary on Tolkien from the 1990s maybe.

@LusiferSam1 Жыл бұрын

I made a very bizarre and very accidentally choose in my first reading of a work by Tolkien. Middle Earth wasn't unknown to me when I picked up my first book by Tolkien. I had seen the animated Hobbit film as a kid, had a BBC audio book version and had seen parts of the animated Return of the King. But had not read them when I picked up my actual book. The very thing I ever read my Tolkien was one of first things he wrote. Yes, I'm talking about the Book of Lost Tales. If I known what I was getting into I never would have picked up the book. But I found interesting enough to finish it and the whole History of Middle Earth series. I did read the Hobbit, the Lord of the Rings, the Silmarillon and Unfinished Tales before jumping back into the History of Middle Earth, but my starting point was the Book of Lost Tales.

@jackwiseman8981 3 жыл бұрын

I love how there were three of the exact same version of the silmarillion just laid on the shelf behind him

@timetrnr7380 Жыл бұрын

Not necessarily wholly about Tolkien, but he is one of the main subjects of the book (and his work is what the main topic is analyzed through): "The Flame Imperishable" by McIntosh is an exploration of the philosophical process of subcreation that Tolkien is engaging in, placing the quality of his writing in a much higher place than the vast majority of other authors, alongside famous poets like Dante Alighieri. It focuses in large part on the Neo-Thomism (a Catholic philosophical school of thought) that Tolkien would have consciouslor subconsciously been aware of his involvement in. It's a wonderful work of metaphysical philosophy that shows the insane brilliance of Tolkien.

@billbimson2408 2 жыл бұрын

Saturday night, on my 3rd beer, 10th September 2022 and celebrating the Ukrainian counter-offensive, hope it all goes OK, and then I came across this video. I read The Silmarilion about 40 year ago after The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit and never thought I would read it again because it was a hard read, but you have just sent me scuttling upstairs to my bookcase to seek out this paperback. It's all I could afford at the time. I can't believe how yellow the pages are, but that somehow adds to the connection to the past, both mine and the fictional time of The First Age. I think I will read more carefully this time and not see the book as something you just have to get through. Congratulations on getting me reading again.

@fgdj2000 Жыл бұрын

As a fellow European my hearts go with you and the hope that this fruitless war will not go on for much longer and you can start rebuilding your beautiful country soon. I hope Tolkien, 50 years after his death, can make this dark time a little brighter for you.

@aninconsequentialobserver Жыл бұрын

Tolkien: Man and Myth by Joseph Pearce

@BooksForever 2 жыл бұрын

The two Shippey books are indeed prizes in scholarship while entirely enjoyable, and The Great War by Garth was also a treat to read.

@calebwilliams7659 6 ай бұрын

That's a weird complaint, "I can't read that bio, it's from all the way back in '77". Me, "Well he died in '74, what more could there possibly be to add?!"

@williamanderson8789 3 жыл бұрын

I have Smith of Wooten Major and Farmer Giles of Ham! Good little stories :)

@willardsteele4857 2 жыл бұрын

Word. Reading some of the Silmarilion is like reading the elder eddas or other mythologies. Think of it like that.

@PapolloDraws 2 жыл бұрын

Tolkien is amazing my God

@mukkaar 2 жыл бұрын

Silmarillion is just fine before lotr, but I unless you for some reason really like style of silmarillion, reading it after lotr is much better since you have thirst to explore lore of the amazing story of lotr is based on. I wouldn't do it, nor recommend it, but it's in no way wrong since it doesn't alter actual enjoyment of lotr or hobbit. But reading silmarillion first might alter your enjoyment of that book. I just base me decision on fact that lotr will stick to your mind firmly since it's just amazing story that I would say objectively keeps you more engaged and immersed due to how it's written. This means your level of engagement spreads to other tolkien works and you get more enjoyment out of it.

@KeirMurphy 10 ай бұрын

I think it depends on the audience. The Silmarillion is for a certain type of reader, and the path beyond this is huge and varied. If you're not that type, then actually, Tolkien's other works such as Farmer Giles, Leaf etc are better suited.

@bosself84 7 ай бұрын

my favorite is tales from the perilous realm

@fgdj2000 Жыл бұрын

Hey, This list is amazing and has helped me a lot. I have a small question though. Since then two more middle earth books have come out. Where would you put The Nature of Middle-earth and The Fall of Numenór in the Reading Order?

@chris123chris82 2 жыл бұрын

I’m looking to get started on lord of the rings. I thought it’d be the 3 books and then the hobbit.. how many books are there all together????

@Aeternuss Ай бұрын

What do you think of David Day book. An Encyclopedia of Tolkien: The History and Mythology That Inspired Tolkien's World (Leather-bound Classics) ?

@Saurles 2 жыл бұрын

I love Christopher's edited stuff, but I'd really like to see a publication of the 3 main poems of the First Age without the commentary

@fgdj2000 Жыл бұрын

Well, The Children of Hurín is pretty much a complete narrative and if you ignore the appendix and introduction, there you have it. As for the other two, those were too fragmented and the later versions too incomplete to have a complete narrative.

@merus2164 10 ай бұрын

Hello Professor Craig. Do you know if there is new, exclusive information within the three "Great Tales" volumes, or is everything in them present somewhere in The Silmarillion and History of Middle-earth? So they are just a more digestible way to look deeper at these three stories, beyond what is present in The Silmarillion, but everything in them was already present somewhere in the History of Middle-earth.

@davidrasch3082 2 жыл бұрын

First read Lord of the Rings, then Hobbit in 1969. The forest suggests to me the mind working thru problems.

@FiggsNeughton 2 жыл бұрын

What's wrong with old biographies? "We need to update this biography with smartphones and reddit references!!!"

@JohnKaess 3 жыл бұрын

The Readers Companion?

@TheLegendarium 3 жыл бұрын

Nice one. I thought about including it, but left it off for the same reason I left off the Annotated Hobbit.

@SomeNativeOfficial Жыл бұрын

Surprised you didn’t mention the “books that inspired J.R.R. Tolkien” series.

@pj773 Жыл бұрын

What are your thoughts on the book “the inklings”. I started it, but it was pretty dry for me.

@ck-wh8gy 2 жыл бұрын

Do you have any advice on age appropriateness for these books? Is it too deep for young teenage to read History of the Middle Earth?

@TheLegendarium 2 жыл бұрын

Totally depends on the teenager. I got SUPER into all this stuff at about 16-17, but of course it could be earlier or later depending on the person. Only one way to find out!

@valentin7693 2 жыл бұрын

I'm 23 now, I read the silmarillion for the first time when I was 16/17 and I loved it. You can say some parts in the first half can be a bit "boring" cause it explains stuff. But i really liked it. I've been a fan of the movies since I was a kid, so my opinion can be a bit biased.

@Griggs1981 3 ай бұрын

I got into lord of the rings because of the films I tryed to read the books I found the hard to read 📚 lots of names that hard hard to pronounce

@hadleyscott1160 2 жыл бұрын

Hobbit is the easiest read. Then LOTRs. The Silmarillion can be a tough reading book for about 100 pages. After that it’s off to where do I go next. Tolkien didn’t write many books. Most have been finished by other authors. Take a trip down to Amazon and see for yourself for what’s next.

@kevinjs26 Жыл бұрын

Where would the upcoming "the fall of numenor" book fall in the order of his other three "Fall of gondolin" "Beren and luthien" and "Children of Hurin" if I'm interested in mainly a chronological order?

@fgdj2000 Жыл бұрын

The Silmarillion (but you can skip the final two sections) - The Children of Hurin (in place of the Chapter "Of Turin Turambar") - The Fall of Numenor - The Hobbit - The Lord of the Rings. Beren and Luthién & The Fall of Gondolin present you with different versions of these tales, similar to HoME and HotH and Unfinished Tales can be seen as a sort of deleted scenes section, of which a few large chunks actually made it into The Children of Hurín & The Fall of Numenor; the latter book draws a lot of the material from The Lord of the Rings (including Apoendices), The Silmarillion (the Final two sections, hence my recommendation to skip them) and Unfinished Tales.

@noahstuvel94 2 жыл бұрын

The wrong way to read these books aka the way I read the books 1. The hobbit 2. Fellowship 3. The silmarillion 4. Book of lost tales vol1 5. The two towers 6. Book of lost tales vol2 7. Return of the king 8. Unfinished tales. Thank you Mr Saul for having me read books that were not movies

@vladimirrejnoch6646 3 жыл бұрын

I cannot fully agree with the freedom in the order if you don't want to spoil the stories end for yourself. Silmarilion will tell you the end of the LOTR. Even there are 1000 of reasons why to read it although you know the end, it is destroying the total impression. I also do not recommend beginning of unfinished tales before e.g. Hurins children for the same reason. You can skip the Turin story at least. Silmarilion is difficult reading so for many readers would be actually easier to read Hurin, Gondolin, Beren, before... It was explained in other video here, that it is difficult to connect yourself with a story if there are no stable heroes. Reading the silmarilion the last partially solve this issue, since you would know Frodo, Turín, Luthien, Galadriel etc. And be more excited what was before them and after Intersting is that you can read Tolkien in a cycle, New book will give you better understanding of past books. Reading LOTR again at the end, you finally know all the references.