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Suggestions: Find yourself a map of Beleriand (Fonstad's "Atlas of Middle-Earth is the best thing ever), also consult the family tree of Finwë when needed.
Stephen King had someone write a concordance for the Dark Tower series, so I'm sure Rich has copious notes on past events.
This is why they were idiots for getting rid of the 50-80s "deep doctrine" McKonkie/Nibley/etc. types. Our parents all had bookshelves of what were effectively the Encyclopedia of Wheel of Time or Game of Thrones but for Mormonism.
Then they decided that members should only read approved sources and most of that died away and so we were bored stiff and satisfied our curiosity by reading things wholly unrelated to the church and learned about science and history and psychology and oops it's become painfully clear that all those Mormon approved sources aren't compatible with reality.
Speaking of maps, you'll probably be a very happy camper if you reward your new achievement (and prep for the Silmarillion) by spending around $20 for this atlas. Helps with not just locations, but populations, battles, journeys, and even timelines. Indispensable and so readable you'll sit with it just turning the pages, not only for reference.
And congratulations on completing your first read of Hobbit and LOTR! Be sure to check in here as you go while reading the Silmarillion. First-time readers have a special honored place here :-)
The HoMe books are really just the collected earlier, abandoned and alternative drafts of the main 'canon' material that makes up the contents of the Silmarillion and LOTR. There are some very interesting bits and pieces that are only found in them, but yeah I'd read the main books again first. Also, if you want a quick path to a deeper understanding of the whole mythos, add to your list one more book, the Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, which does in fact touch on this and a whole lot of other fascinating core details.
OP, this is the correct answer right here.
And even if you aren't looking for a whole book, you should still get Fonstad's Atlas. It's a bargain and gives you way more info than a mere book of maps. I once read it nearly cover to cover.
Lexicon Urthus: A Dictionary for the Urth Cycle, which is an encyclopedia of people, places, and terms used in BotNS, has a summary of all the Severians. It also has a lot of commentary and analysis that might not be obvious upon one's first read, so it's a book I recommend all Wolfe fans get, alongside others like Solar Labyrinth.
https://www.amazon.com/Letters-J-R-R-Tolkien-J-R/dp/0618056998 An Amazon link to The Letters of Tolkien Unfortunately I can't help you I asked because I plan to do the same after I finish with the Witcher and I wasn't sure about the order
For general writing as well as sci-fi / fantasy world building (eg, how empires rise and fall, magic Systems, etc): On Writing and Worldbuilding - Volume I, by Timothy Hickson: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Writing-Worldbuilding-I-Timothy-Hickson-ebook/dp/B07PNKHDFZ
Edit: here's a link to a list with links to other resources I've found on YouTube which, in my experience, have been just as useful as books on writing: https://www.reddit.com/r/writing/comments/n333f1/the_best_writing_resources_ive_found_via_youtube/gwncmk8?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share&context=3
I found On Writing and Worldbuilding: Volume I on Writing and World Builby Tim Hickson to be great! Helped me a lot, plus he does YouTube and is informative on there as well
Not exactly an Encyclopedia, but The Atlas of Middle Earth by Karen Wynn Fonstad is excellent.
Everything is incredibly well sourced (including showing you exactly where in the texts she gets her information) and I personally consider it the most accurate and "essential" book on Middle Earth not written by a Tolkien. It has a ton of information, and maps to accompany all of it. It is a lot more than just maps though.
Looks like you can snag it used on Amazon for less than $10 too. https://www.amazon.com/Atlas-Middle-Earth-Revised-Karen-Fonstad/dp/0618126996
I also recommend getting Lexicon Urthus: A Dictionary for the Urth Cycle, which is an encyclopedia of people, places, and terms used in BotNS. It includes a lot of commentary and analysis that might not be obvious upon one's first read. The same author also wrote an excellent chapter guide that provides a lot of insight, such as allusions to other works that may have escaped the reader. Turns out Wolfe makes a lot of them.
Are you familiar with Tolkien's World from A to Z: The Complete Guide to Middle-Earth.
This is what I was hoping that the Companion would try to be. It has everything in it. Everything. Even the page listings for each entry! Robert Foster put a lot of time and hard work into it, and it shows. I LOVE this thing.
I was extremely disappointed that Jordan's work could not get the same treatment. Not even remotely close.
Yeah. The book even admits this in its Introduction, which you can actually read it on Amazon.
The Introduction explains this- Amazon.
Take a look at the book's Introduction on Amazon where actually it states this!
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I found a few on my first go through—the most famous is 'Bela' which is deliberate!(it was kind of a tongue in cheek joke for the fans)—but I did not bother to make a list of them.
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Though it is very far from the thoroughness of the extravagant 'Tolkien's World from A to Z: The Complete Guide to Middle-Earth', as a lot of stuff is left out—Aiel 'bridal wreath' for example—of tWoT's version, while Tolkien's includes—everything—including the kitchen sink.
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I say that it is still worth getting. But, like pointed out, some entries need to be taken with a grain of salt.
It does cover polytheistic religions. Look, I took this from the Amazon page (https://www.amazon.com/Writing-Worldbuilding-I-Timothy-Hickson-ebook/dp/B07PNKHDFZ ):
>Writing advice tends to be full of 'rules' and 'tips' which are either too broad to be helpful or outright wrong. In On Writing and Worldbuilding, we will discuss specific and applicable ideas to consider, from effective methods of delivering exposition and foreshadowing, to how communication, commerce, and control play into the fall of an empire.
>
>ON WRITING
Part I: Prologues
Part II: The First Chapter
Part III: The Exposition Problem
Part IV: Foreshadowing
Part V: Villain Motivation
Part VI: Hero-Villain Relationships
Part VII: Final Battles
Part VIII: The Chosen One
Part IX: Hard Magic Systems
Part X: Soft Magic Systems
Part XI: Magic Systems and Storytelling
>
>ON WORLDBUILDING
Part XII: Polytheistic Religions
Part XIII: Hidden Magical Worlds
Part XIV: How Empires Rise
Part XV: How Empires Work
Part XVI: How Empires Fall
>
>EXCLUSIVE CONTENT
Part XVII: How I Plan a Novel
Dozens of sidenotes and extra thoughts on all these wonderful stories
This, OP. Buy it. It's cheap. It's indispensable. It's interesting enough to sit and read by itself.
As others have said recommended I'd start with Silmarillion first, though I'd also recommend picking up The Atlas of Middle-Earth to have close by so you can reference as needed when reading.
/u/italia06823834 mentions it in that post, but I just want to reiterate, if you're interested in maps of Tolkien's works I highly recommend Karen Wynn Fonstad's The Atlas of Middle-Earth. It's only $16 and it's well worth it.
Wheel of time. Want to look up people places or things in the series? You might need this 800+ page companion book.
i'm a huge Tolkien fan too. if you read his letters https://www.amazon.com/Letters-J-R-R-Tolkien-J-R/dp/0618056998 it discussed this and says that a different letter was probably sent to the German publisher. the one that you quoted was in Tolkien's publishers files which means it wasn't actually sent.
I wouldn't bother with much of the "optional stuff" until you've read the main trilogy twice. Silmarillion is a good next step.
Unfinished Tales is just that - a lot of "unfinished" and often contradictory stories. Something people new to the space don't quite understand is that a LOT of the works in UT/HoME are not actual complete, fleshed out stories - but notes on directions that Tolkien jotted down, him starting to take characaters/stories in certain places, changing his mind and then creating another version. But it's all recorded, so we read and study them all.
I would suggest avoiding those two for now as they might confuse you until you fully grasp the main stories. A lot of these subs also struggle with that when regarding the show, because they believe there is an actual "canon" that was broken having only read, say, the Silmarillion, without reading more of Tolkien's ideas for the second age.
My suggestion would be to read
- The Fellowship of the Ring
- The Two Towers
- The Return of the King
- The Hobbit
- The Silmarillion - although even this has many things that were published that were no longer considered "canon" by Tolkien, so be a little careful with it
- The Lord of the Rings Readers Companion by Hammond & Scull
- Any of Beren & Luthien/Fall of Gondolin/Children of Hurin/Fall of Numenor that interests you
- Then dive into Unfinished Tales & HoME.
Don't sleep on the readers companion; make sure it's the one by H&S. It's AMAZING, and it complements a second re-read so well.
When somebody types Letters, in italics, they are referring to this book:
> it seems like there are some really valuable Tolkien insight into the lore.
Absolutely. There’s a tremendous wealth of info on the Legendarium buried in them.
> Is there a good reliable place for me to find them to read and take notes on?
They’re collected in *The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Humphrey Carpenter with a little help from Christopher Tolkien. You can buy it here, or from any other reputable retailer.
There is indeed! It would be this one here.
I know there are a few different listings for Tolkien that use "Tolkien+Letters" in the title, so I feel ya.
Seriously, just buy Fonstad's Atlas right now. Look how cheap it is! You won't have to do any printing and you'll get not just maps, but explanations of the maps. And SO MANY MAPS. All the maps. Maps of places, maps of populations, maps of battles! You will end up reading this thing on its own like a regular book. If you love Tolkien you need this book.
Never fear. We know how Tolkien felt on this issues... he was very vocal in his opinions & wrote many letters making his views clear.
His son Christopher once went to South Africa under apartheid during WWII & was shocked at the poverty & misery of POC & the indigenous people there.
He wrote his father, to which Tolkien replied:
"As for what you say or hint of 'local' conditions: I knew of them. I don't think they have much changed (even for the worse). I used to hear them discussed by my mother; and have ever since taken a special interest in that part of the world. The treatment of colour nearly always horrifies anyone going out from Britain & not only in South Africa." (Letter, April 19, 1944).
So he wasn't into racist, colorist apartheid at all.
He was also vocal in rejection of white supremacy & anti-Semitism. His German publisher before the war once dared wrote him to ask if he was "Aryan." Tolkien fired back (while slamming their abuse of the word Aryan): "I am not of Aryan extraction: that is Indo-Iranian... But if I am to understand that you are enquiring whether I am of Jewish origin, I can only reply that I regret that I appear to have no ancestors of that gifted people." (Letter, July 29, 1938)
Tolkien was raised & lived in a racist, imperialist & colonialist UK. He was not perfect; he was human. However for a person of his time, he was extremely progressive.
He was also an environmentalist & was against nuclear weapons from their very invention.
https://www.amazon.com/Letters-J-R-R-Tolkien-J-R/dp/0618056998