How to Read the Lord of the Rings Series
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The Lord of the Rings series by J.R.R. Tolkien is so much larger than just the trilogy that we see in the book stores and the theaters. Today we are going to answer the question, How to Read the Lord of the Rings Series?
There are many places that attempt to explain how to best read the Tolkien canon for lord of the Rings. But I always had the hardest time trying to actually figure out the best way to read all the books that have been released related to Middle Earth.
This article contains the list of the recommended way to read the Lord of the Rings canon, as well as How to Read Lord of the Rings in Timeline Order.
The Recommended Order to Read The Lord of the Rings Series
The best way in my opinion to read the Lord of the Rings canon is as follows:
The Hobbit
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
The Silmarillion
Unfinished Tales
Lord of the Rings Series Recommended Reading Order
If you read the books in that order, you will get the majority of the story of Middle Earth as it was envisioned by J.R.R. Tolkien, with some edited works by Christopher Tolkien as well.
The last two books in this list: The Silmarillion, and Unfinished Tales take place throughout the history of Middle Earth but nearly entirely before the events of the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings, but would be incredibly complex and hard to follow without first being grounded in the world with the The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings series.
The Recommended Order to Read the Lord of the Rings Series (Expanded)
There were additional works that were edited by Christopher Tolkien that are described in the events of the Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales that when added into the book series that give a more story like take on some of the events. It’s with this that we alter the order between Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales.
The Hobbit
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
The Silmarillion
Beren and Luthien
Children of Hurin
The Fall of Gondalin
Unfinished Tales
If you read the books in this order, there will be more context to some of the stories in the Silmarillion These three books, Beren and Luthien, Children of Hurin, and the Fall of Gondalin are all expanded from the references and chapters of the Silmarillion.
Timeline Order to The Read Lord of the Rings Series
If complexity be damned though when reading Tolkien’s Middle Earth canon, then here is the order that the books should be read in:
The Silmarillion
Beren and Luthin to replace the Simlarillion chapter “
Children of Hurin to replace the Silmarillion chapter “
The Fall of Gondalin
Unfinished Tales
The Hobbit
The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
The Return of the King Appendix (Which contains events and stories of the characters after the series concludes)
Reading the books in this order will probably make things more complicated if not at least exposed to the series in some way or another already.
What About the Other Tolkien Books?
There are other works that were released in regards to the stories and ideas of Middle Earth, one of the largest is The History of Middle Earth series. This is a 12 part book series that goes over events, lands and characters of middle earth based on the notes written by and interpreted by J.R.R. Tolkien and Christopher Tolkien.
Though these books do not necessary fit into any one specific time in the series, they are great reads for anyone that needs more middle earth in their life.
These books are in the order below:
The Book of Lost Tales, Part |
The Book of Lost Tales, Part II
The Lays of Beleriand
The Shaping of Middle-earth
The Lost Road and Other Writings
The Return of the Shadow
The Treason of Isengard
The War of the Ring
Sauron Defeated
Morgoth's Ring
The War of the Jewels
The Peoples of Middle-earth
These books cover things about the series from the times before the War for the Ring to what could have been the start of the sequel to the Lord of the Rings itself.
In Conclusion
There is no real fantastic white and black way to read the Lord of the Rings Canon, based on if you are a massive Tolkien fan, or just getting into the books for the first time. Pick the route that makes the most sense for you.
I know that we did not cover every single book that is attached in some way to Middle Earth, but it does cover what we consider to be the canon way to read the series. Other books are generally not timeline specific and different in nature. Books such as The Adventures of Tom Bombalil, or Bilbo’s Last Song.
Please comment below if there is another order that you have discovered or what method you read through the series with!
