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

Professor Craig walks through his Tolkien reading order recommendations for AFTER you finish the big three: The Hobbit, the Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion. There are two paths readers can go down, either reading more things BY Tolkien, or stuff ABOUT Tolkien and his books.

0:00 - Intro
1:13 - Non-Middle-earth titles by Tolkien
2:56 - More Middle-earth titles by Tolkien
4:36 - Books about Tolkien
6:53 - The scholarly stuff

#lotr #tolkien #readingorder

[xaero___]

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.

[joelwilson]

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

[Lesandira]

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!

[robertsadowski]

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.

[gmansard]

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.

[aninconsequentialobserver]

Tolkien: Man and Myth by Joseph Pearce

[tehwatcherintehwater]

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

[LusiferSam]

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.

[fgdj]

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!

[travisredd]

Craig really killing it with the graphics/charts lately lol

[jackwiseman]

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

[littleredbook]

In which Prof Craig smells a book. This nerd approve.

Gonna check out the bio of Tolkien next time I do nonfic.

[sherizaahd]

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.

[timetrnr]

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.

[BooksForever]

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

[williamanderson]

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

[billbimson]

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.

[fgdj]

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?

[Aeternuss]

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

[mukkaar]

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.