Beginner's Guide for The Lord of the Rings & Tolkien's Universe - For People new to Tolkien's Lore

It's maybe not a bad idea to give new people an idea of what makes Tolkien's fantasy works so special (like The Lord of the Rings, the Hobbits, the Silmarillion), but also an overview of the stories and #lore of #LotR . I discuss the films in relation to the books, my recommended reading order, how his works are connected, some terms, ideas and often discussed problems of #Tolkien fans.

I struggled a bit with writing this video, but I hope you still like it. Maybe I should have gone for an faq like format.

I tried to keep the video as spoiler free as possible. Also feel free to ask questions.

Mistakes:
-

Reading Order:
- The Hobbit (second edition: 1951; original first edition 1937)
- The Lord of the Rings + Appendices (1954-1955)
- The Silmarillion (1977)
- The Great Tales (Children of Húrin, Beren and Lúthien, The Fall of Gondolin; 2007, 2017, 2018)
- Unfinished Tales (1980)
- The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien (1981)
- The 12 History of Middle-earth books (1983 - 1996)

- Poems (The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, Bilbo's Last Song, The Road Goes Ever On)

- J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography (1977)
- Tolkien Scholars (e.g. Tom Shippey)

Here some resources:

Playlists:

Sources:

Books:
The Lord of The Rings (1954-1955) by J. R. R. Tolkien
The Silmarillion (1977) by J. R. R. Tolkien; Editor: Christopher Tolkien
The Hobbit (1937) by J. R. R. Tolkien
Unfinished Tales (1980) by J. R. R. Tolkien; Editor: Christopher Tolkien
The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien (1981) by Humphrey Carpenter and Christopher Tolkien

Pictures from:
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013)
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014)

Artworks and special thanks:

Others:

Maps and video by:
- ThePhilosophersGames
- Amazon, Twitter @LOTRonPrime

The Philosopher's Games / TPhGames / TPhLore:

Follow me on Twitter for updates and news:
@PhilosophGames

[ThePhilosophersGames]

If you are new: check the description, I put some information there. I hope it helped some people out and you liked it. It was actually quite hard to make and I'm not 100% happy with it. Let me know what you think of it. Next week could be light on content.

Playlists:

Mistakes:
-

[hannabaal]

The movies weren't out when I first read the books. I had to wait 30 years. I read them every year for many years. I thought the movies were fabulous! I did talk my kids into reading the books before watching the movies.

[timhutzler]

For those who don't want to read Lord of the Rings, I recommend Phil Dragash's audiobook soundscape. He does all the character voices, sound effects, and theme music. Very well done.

[queentara]

My dad bought me the books in 1985 when I was 10. I was consumed for 2 weeks while a devoured the stories. I have read them over so many times I’ve lost count. You do a phenomenal job. You should be very proud. Keep on.

[icecell]

I did read the hobbit, but I was an adamant harry potter kid when the lotr trilogy came out.

I binged the extended trilogy in college (precious free time man) and was thoroughly enchanted, so I started reading the literature after that and was very much mind-blown. Never looked back.

[KrisH-kpvx]

My knowledgeable friend. I really don't think anyone can be a true expert on Tolkien. But you do a fantastic job at it! Thanks for another great video!

[jerrylev]

After reading every book of fairy tales and mythology in my local public and school libraries, I finally came across the Hobbit at age 10 in 1970. It was the perfect realization of fantasy fiction that I had been yearning for. It took me until age 18 to finally get through LOTR. You couldn't cheat by watching movies back then. Still working through the rest of the literary canon, hopefully in this lifetime.

[pawned]

There is a 1977 The Hobbit movie made by Rankin-Bass, the company that made all those claymation Christmas movies. It is cute and dark, and I think it compliments The Hobbit as a children’s bedtime storybook quite well.

[andeeanko]

New subscriber here, not new to Tolkien, but I have loads to learn. I read The Hobbit and then The Lord of the Rings 30 years ago. The film did not disappoint. I didn't like The Hobbit films at first, but now I do, despite its flaws. The extended DVD sets of both film series are highly recommended. I look forward to checking out more of your videos thank you!

[lowlandnobleman]

The most negative thing one could say about Tolkien’s mythology is that he was never able tae finish it. I can only how much more he would have written.

[RobiFM]

Another awesome video with great insight. Love the discussions in this channel

[MikaelKKarlsson]

Hello there traveller; If you have come seeking information concerning the world of Tolkien, then I dare say that you have arrived at the right door. Stay a while and listen.

[Mallikinney]

Vielen Dank für dieses tolle Video! Die LotR Filme sind seit ihrem Erscheinen einfach wie "zuhause" für mich und ich habe sie unzählige male gesehen - aber erst letzten Sommer habe ich begonnen, die Bücher zu lesen und mich wirklich mit der Welt zu beschäftigen. Dein Chanel hilft mir, die LotR Welt noch mehr zu verstehen, schätzen und zu lieben! Danke!

[hrperformance]

I really appreciate this kind of video, especially from a youtuber that knows what they're talking about.
I had already asked previously and got a fantastic, in depth answer on what books to read first (so I knew The Hobbit was my next read!). But this video was typical ThePhilosophersGames quality so there was loads I wasn't aware of and I really enjoyed it! I will recommend this to anyone wanting to start exploring middle earth in a heartbeat :)

[lambielikesit]

Super informative! Great video as usual

[husamlelo]

Thank you sir for these valuable tips and this great research

[karljonson]

Thank you for reading order. I read the hobbit long time ago so I decided to read all of tolkiens work cause I have some free time lately. I thought I should read it in chronological order but thank you for stopping me.

[edriant]

I first read Lord of The Rings when I was 16, right after having been baffled by the Ralph Bakshi animated film. Took me all of two weeks to finish it! I then turned to the Silmarillion, and said "what?" Re-read Lord of the Rings, then went back to the Silmarillion. Son Christopher emphasized that it was the foundation of JRRT's universe, so it had to be worth reading. This time I was determined to understand it. Deliberately went slowly, never turned a page until I was sure I understood it. Every time I found a name I didn't recognize I went to the index (seems every character has at least six names). Took twice as long reading the Silmarillion as when I tore through Lord of the Rings that first time.

Ended up loving it! An incredible story, it's unfortunate that so few people appreciate it. Had he written the Silmarillion in the same style as Lord of the Rings, it would have extended into several dozen volumes. Re-reading Lord of the Rings after the Silmarillion reveals depths that the initial reader never imagines.


I take exception to the critics' deriding of the Silmarillion, "Tolkien didn't write it, his son did, " I think this is unfair. Christopher JRT put together several versions that had been in the works since the First World War. He succeeded in assembling a coherent story. It gave me a good understanding of Tolkien's universe, without which I would have been unable to appreciated Unfinished Tales and Lost tales.

Getting into Tolkien also led me to the Kalevala! Another fantastic story that few people have even heard of. We can easily argue that the Kalevala was the very origin of Tolkien's universe. He discovered it some time before 1910, and was inspired to re-write the story of Kullervo. Tolkien's version ended up the tragedy of Hurin's Children.

I am not a great fan of the movies. Not just that they left things out, but that they changed things too much. Sam would NEVER have abandoned Frodo at Cirith Ungol, and it's inconceivable that Faramir would have been tempted by the Ring. Changes like that bother me. Some individual scenes are great though, especially the arguments between Gollum and Smeagol.

I am not necessarily against making a few changes, but they could have done them better. Giving Arwen a bigger part is a decent idea, in the book she only appears a few times, although closer reading reveals that she is Aragorn's greatest inspiration in all his deeds, "the only treasure I seek, " as he said to Galadriel. Having her confront the Witch-King at the Ford of Bruinen is a good idea, but I would rather that she hadn't carried a sword. She had a famous ancestor that stood before Morgoth, and prevailed, with no weapons at all.

[anthonypeltier]

By far not new to lotr... i just want to watch your videos

[MrZurbagiu]

The Hobbit was one of the books my mom read to me when i was a kid, alongside Astrid Lindgren's works and the Moomintrolls series by Tove Jansson :') and later in elementary school we studied some chapters in the literature class (in translation though, because english isn't my first language). Back then I didn't know much (or at all) about the sequel, I heard the words "Lord of the Rings" but it was very vague in my memory, so I didn't know for sure if it was legit a book, or if I just imagined it XD because when I was reading The Hobbit, i often noticed little references to things far beyond the scope of the story, like when the party found the swords, and it was mentioned that they were most likely made in Gondolin, it made me wonder, what place that Gondolin was, and whether or not we were going to visit it XD
I remember seeing the first LotR movie in a theathre because it came out around my 12th birthday, and that's where we went to celebrate XD it left an impression, although i didn't understand all of the events, haha.
I read the LotR books when I was an adult already, a uni student, and stuck at home alone for the christmas holidays. I read the whole thing in 2 days (not leaving much time for sleep, lol), and then went straight ti Silmarillion. As a linguist myself, i can say it's a must read for anyone who studies languages, and especially the English language!

i read through the comments and saw mentions of other adaptations of the works (i remember seeing some of those). here's an idea/question - would you be interested in making a video about the alternative adaptations of Tolkien's universe? that could be an interesting topic!