Hi, all! I just had this idea while reading and posting on the Chaining of Melkor thread. Over the last year, we have periodically shared our favorite post-Hobbit and LOTR reading lists with each other to help readers decide where to go next to gain more understanding of Tolkien and his works of literature. However, I've always thought that we could do more than just recommend a list of books to be read next. There are specific chapters in books that are especially helpful, and published essays written by other authors and critics that help clarify what Tolkien was writing about, as well as a few truly well-organized sites that aid in Tolkien research.
I'd like to propose that we as a group begin to work on the compilation of the Ultimate Tolkien Reader's Companion. This would be a reader's list that suggests helpful material for people progressing beyond the Beginner level study of Tolkien.
I think it should include:
- list of all of Tolkien's publications
- list of all the Histories, with one-line synopsis
- list of a few excellent critical commentaries by other writers
- list of a few excellent links to essays on the web
- list of the specific chapters or essays in books that are really helpful for beginners hoping to progress in knowledge.
Example:
I'm reading The Letters of JRR Tolkien right now. I recently read a letter to Sir Stanley Unwin, 14 Sept 1950, which gives a synopsis of much of the narrative of Silmarillion, LOTR, the characters, and why things happen the way they do (from JRRT's perspective). If a person read just this one letter, they would have a very good basis for understanding a lot of what goes on in Silmarillion. Of course, these letters are like potato chips- you can't stop with just one!
Would anyone be interested in helping out with this project? My goal is help people get a good foothold on their Tolkien studies so that they can then progress on their own. I see so many messages from people who have difficulty reading Silmarillion, which is a hard to book to master.
Volunteers needed to do compile the list of Tolkien publications and the synopsis of the Histories, for starters.
"I sang of leaves, of leaves of gold, and leaves of gold there grew..."
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I also would love to contribute if I had a higher IQ. I'll try if I can.
"Go not to the elves for council, for they will tell you both yes and no."
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Jewel, how about helping put together that list of all of Tolkien's own publications? I know you can find a lot on Amazon and Powells, but there might be more essays around that aren't in the usual books. If you could make a start here, it would really help. 
"I sang of leaves, of leaves of gold, and leaves of gold there grew..."
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My pleasure Athene...
"Go not to the elves for council, for they will tell you both yes and no."
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This is a brilliant idea. I am one of those aspiring Tolkien lovers who need to learn more so thank you thank you thank you 
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We hear and obey, O aspiring one!
"I sang of leaves, of leaves of gold, and leaves of gold there grew..."
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Im just grateful, tis all.
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I'd love your help! Let's talk more after you get that much-derserved rest!
"I sang of leaves, of leaves of gold, and leaves of gold there grew..."
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In recent postings (since January), there have been some references to some good essays on the web. One of them, a Legolas essay is referenced on Good Posts, but others need to be retrieved and collected into one place so that we can give them to people as a list of resources. What would be really helpful is for you to start finding those links, collecting them, and writing a one/two line precis of their content. Thanks so much!
"I sang of leaves, of leaves of gold, and leaves of gold there grew..."
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 UPDATED Wed Mar 19 11:24:05 |
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I would love to help out. Maybe something simple? Not too time consuming, perhaps?
 And you have my beaux
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Wow, I used to think that he hadn't written that much!
On a minor note: Everyone feel free to tell me if I'm missing something or if I've included something that wasn't written by Tolkien. Thanks a bunch.
(1)A Tolkien Reader
(2)Adventures of Tom Bombadil
(3)Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics
Actually, I think they're the same book. But you can't be too careful!
(4)Beowulf: The Monster and the Critics
(5)Best of Sydney J. Harris
(6)Bilbo’s Lost Song
(7)Bilbo’s Last Song: At the Grey Havens
(8)Book of Lost Tales
(9)Farmer Giles of Ham : The Rise and Wonderful Adventures of Farmer Giles, Lord of Tame, Count of Worminghall, and King of the Little Kingdom
(10)Farmer Giles of Ham ; [and], The adventures of Tom Bombadil
(11)Father Christmas Letters
(12)Fellowship of the Ring (Lord of the Rings, Part I)
(13)The Hobbit
(14)Morgoth's Ring : The Later Silmarillion, Part One : The Legends of Aman (The History of Middle-Earth, Vol 10)
(15)Mr. Bliss
(16)Old English Exodus
(17)Oliphaunt (Beastly Verse)
(18)Poems and Songs of the Middle Earth
(19)Poems and Stories
(20)Realms of Tolkien: Images of Middle-Earth
(21)Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
(22)Roverandom
(23)Shaping of Middle-Earth : The Quenta, the Ambarkanta and the Annals (The History of Middle-Earth 4)
(24)Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
(25)Smith of Wootton Major and Farmer Giles of Ham
(26)Tales from the Perilous Realm
(27)The Lays of Beleriand (The History of Middle-Earth, 3)
(28)The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien
(30)The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
(31)The Lost Road and Other Writings : Language and Legend Before the Lord of the Rings (The History of Middle-Earth , Vol 5)
(32)The Peoples of Middle-Earth (Tolkien, J. R. R. History of Middle-Earth, 12.)
(33)The Silmarillion
(34)The Town Scold
(35)The War of the Jewels : The Later Silmarillion : Part Two : The Legends of Beleriand (History of the Middle-Earth, Vol 11)
(36)Tree and Leaf: Including the Poem Mythopoeia
(37)Tree and leaf ; Smith of Wootton Major ; The homecoming of Beorhtnoth, (39)(38)Beorhthelm's son
(39)Unfinished Tales
Please fill me in on anything that I missed!
"Go not to the elves for council, for they will tell you both yes and no."
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Impressive research, Jewel! Thank you! There are a couple of items on here that are new to me.
"I sang of leaves, of leaves of gold, and leaves of gold there grew..."
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Just a note.
(26)Tales from the Perilous Realm - contains Adventures of Tom Bombadil, Farmer Giles of Ham, Leaf by Niggle and Smith of Wooton Major.
If thou art in haste, remember the Paths of the Dead.
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fernie, can you compile a list of just the books in the History of Middle Earth series?
"I sang of leaves, of leaves of gold, and leaves of gold there grew..."
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These are the ones that I found:
1. The Book of Lost Tales 1 (The History of Middle-Earth - Volume 1)
2. The Book of Lost Tales 2 (The History of Middle-Earth - Volume 2)
3. The Lays of Beleriand (The History of Middle-Earth - Volume 3)
4. The Shaping of Middle-Earth (The History of Middle-Earth - Volume 4)
5. The Lost Road and Other Writings (The History of Middle-Earth - Volume 5)
6. The Return of the Shadow (The History of The Lord of the Rings, Part One) (The History of Middle-Earth - Volume 6)
7. Treason of Isengard (The History of The Lord of the Rings, Part Two) (The History of Middle-Earth - Volume 7)
8. The War of the Ring (The History of The Lord of the Rings, Part Three) (The History of Middle-Earth - Volume 8)
9. Sauron Defeated: The End of the Third Age (The History of The Lord of the Rings, Part Four) (The History of Middle-Earth - Volume 9)
10. Morgoth's Ring: The Later Silmarillion, Part One (The History of Middle-Earth - Volume 10)
11. The War of the Jewels: The Later Silmarillion, Part Two (The History of Middle-Earth - Volume 11)
12. The Peoples of Middle-Earth (The History of Middle-Earth - Volume 12)
And you have my beaux
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Thank you, fernie! Great work! The lists that you and Jewel have put together will be our foundation for Tolkien 101 for Ringnuts.
"I sang of leaves, of leaves of gold, and leaves of gold there grew..."
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I feel so proud
"Go not to the elves for council, for they will tell you both yes and no."
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t'was nothing
And you have my beaux
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This is wonderful- exactly what I was hoping for! thank you so much for going "schnoopink".
"I sang of leaves, of leaves of gold, and leaves of gold there grew..."
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Well done and thansk for the links. I read the second essay about Tom Bombardil, fascinating! I think the conclusions that the author was driving at were insightful and smacked of the "truth".
It certainly has given me aa greater insight into what for me was a confusing "side story" in LOTR. I used to think old Tom was a bit of a fool. I see him differently now.
I do not know what strength is in my blood. But I swear to you, I will not let the White City fall.
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Tieno
(Wed Mar 19 11:25:30)
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This isn't a link to an 'essay' but nonetheless usefull and very objective and the explanations display many references to the book.
http://tolkien.slimy.com/
"The Tolkien Meta-FAQ is a unified index to several major lists of Frequently Asked Questions about J.R.R. Tolkien and his "subcreated" world of Middle-earth"
http://users.telerama.com/~taliesen/tolkien/lettersfaq.html
"This document is a compilation of Frequently Asked Questions, or likely-to-be-asked questions, about the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, all of which are answered (or at least addressed) by the Professor himself in his own words as published in Humphrey Carpenter's The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien. There are no answers typed here—only the numbers (and in the case of very long letters, the page numbers) of the letters which address the question"
"The Ents are going to wake up and find that they are strong."
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Thank you- this is terrific! Especially for finding the reference on Tolkien's letters- I am so glad someone has indexed them like this. I can't wait to hit that site myself.
"I sang of leaves, of leaves of gold, and leaves of gold there grew..."
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OK, I just went to Amazon.com and copied and pasted everything I could find ON Tolkien (not original works by him). All listed books are in English, some of them out of print...
Finding God in the Lord of the Rings
by Kurt D. Bruner, Jim Ware
A Tolkien Compass
by Jared Lodbell (Editor), Jared Lobdell (Editor)
Splintered Light: Logos and Language in Tolkien's World
by Verlyn Flieger
Tolkien the Medievalist (Routledge Research in Medieval Religion and Culture)
by Jane Chance (Editor), Linda L. Layne
J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography
by Humphrey Carpenter
J. R. R. Tolkien's Sanctifying Myth: Understanding Middle-Earth
by Bradley J. Birzer, Joseph Pearce
The Languages of Tolkien's Middle-Earth
by Ruth S. Noel
Tolkien: Man and Myth
by Joseph Pearce
A Tolkien Bestiary
by David Day, Nancy Davis
Tolkien's Ordinary Virtues : Exploring the Spiritual Themes of the Lord of the Rings
by Mark Eddy Smith
The Magical World of JRR Tolkien
by Gareth Knight
Visualizing Middle-earth
by Michael Martinez
The Magical Worlds of the Lord of the Rings: The Amazing Myths, Legends, and Facts Behind the Masterpiece
by David Colbert
The Atlas of Middle-Earth
by Karen Wynn Fonstad
The Tolkien Companion
by J. E. A. Tyler, Kevin Reilly
I Am in Fact a Hobbit: An Introduction to the Life and Works of J.R.R. Tolkien
by Perry C. Bramlett, Joe R. Christopher
Meditations on Middle Earth
by Karen Haber
Myth & Middle-Earth: Exploring the Medieval Legends Behind J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings
by Leslie Jones
J.R.R. Tolkien: Master of Fantasy
by David R. Collins, William Heagy
J.R.R. Tolkien: Artist and Illustrator
by Wayne G. Hammond (Editor), Christina Scull (Editor)
Treasures from the Misty Mountains: A Collector's Guide to Tolkien
by James H. Gillam
Tolkien: The Illustrated Encyclopaedia
by David Day
Tolkien Treasury: Stories, Poems, and Illustrations Celebrating the Author and His World
by W. H. Auden (Editor),
J.R.R. Tolkien : Author of the Century
by Tom Shippey
Hobbits, Elves, and Wizards: Exploring the Wonders and Worlds of J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings"
by Michael Stanton
One Ring to Bind Them All: Tolkien's Mythology
by Anne C. Petty
The Lord of the Rings (Understanding Great Literature)
by Donato Giancola
Defending Middle-Earth: Tolkien, Myth and Modernity
by Patrick Curry
Myth Maker: J. R. R. Tolkien
by Brad Weinman (Illustrator), Anne E. Neimark (Author)
Tolkien's War
by John Garth
Frodo's Quest: Living the Myth in the Lord of the Rings
by Robert S. Ellwood
Tolkien: A Celebration: Collected Writings on a Literary Legacy
by Joseph Pearce
Tolkien's Legendarium : Essays on The History of Middle-earth
by Verlyn Flieger
The J.R.R. Tolkien Handbook: A Concise Guide to His Life, Writings, and World of Middle-Earth
by Colin Duriez, Brian Sibley
A Question of Time: J.R.R. Tolkien's Road to Faerie
by Verlyn Flieger
J. R. R. Tolkien: Myth, Morality, and Religion
by Richard L. Purtill
J. R. R. Tolkien: Architect of Middle Earth
by Daniel Grotta, et al
Master of Middle-Earth: The Fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien
by Paul H. Kocher
The World of the Rings: Language, Religion, and Adventure in Tolkien
by Jared Lobdell
J.R.R. Tolkien : A Biography
by Leslie Ellen Jones
J.R.R. Tolkien (Critical Lives)
by Michael White, Laura Anne Gilman
Readings on J. R. R. Tolkien (The Greenhaven Press Literary Companion to British Authors)
by Katie de Koster
J.R.R. Tolkien: The Man Who Created the Lord of the Rings (Scholastic Biography)
by Michael Coren
J.R.R. Tolkien
by Robley Evans
Master of the Rings: Inside the World of J.R.R. Tolkien
by Graciela Repun, Enrique Melatoni
CliffsNotes Tolkiens Lord Rings and Hobbit [DOWNLOAD: ADOBE READER; downloadable from Amazon, they charge for it, though!]
J. R. R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings": A Study Guide from Gale's "Epics for Students" [DOWNLOAD: PDF, from Amazon as well, see above]
Proceedings of the J.R.R. Tolkien Centenary Conference, 1992: Proceedings of the Conference Held at Keble College, Oxford, England, 17Th-24th August 1992 to Celebrate the Cenenary of the Birth of Conference (myth (Mythlore Series)
by J. R. R. Tolkien Centenary Conference Staff (Editor), et al
Tolkien in the Land of Heroes: Discovering the Human Spirit
by Anne Petty (Author), J. Stein (Editor)
Myth Maker Jrr Tolkien
by Anne Neimark, Brad Weinman
The Lord of the Rings: The Mythology of Power
by Jane Chance
Tolkien: A Look Behind the Lord of the Rings
by Lin Carter
World of the Rings: The Unauthorized Guide to the Work of J.R.R. Tolkien
by Iain Lowson, et al
J.R.R. Tolkien (Modern Critical Views)
by Harold Bloom (Editor)
The Hobbit: A Journey into Maturity (Twayne's Masterwork Studies, Mws 149)
by William H. Green
Tolkien's Art: A Mythology for England
by Jane Chance
Women Among the Inklings : Gender, C. S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Charles Williams
by Candice Fredrick (Author), Sam McBride (Author)
The Evocation of Virgil in Tolkien's Art: Geritol for the Classics
by Robert E. Morse
J.R.R. Tolkien: A Descriptive Bibliography (Winchester Bibliographies of 20th Century Writers)
by Wayne G. Hammond, Douglas A. Anderson
J.R.R. Tolkien: Man of Fantasy (Classic Authors Series)
by Russell Shorto
The Inklings : C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, Charles Williams, and their friends
by Humphrey Carpenter
J. R. R. Tolkien
by Catharine R. Stimpson
Tolkien and the Critics; Essays on J. R. R. Tolkien's the Lord of the Rings,
by Neil David Isaacs
The new Tolkien companion
by J. E. A. Tyler
The Mythology of Middle-Earth
by Ruth S. Noel
Tolkien's world
by Randel Helms
Tolkien and the Silmarils
by Randel. Helms
Understanding Tolkien and the Lord of the Rings
by William Ready
Tolkien Scrapbook
by Alida Becker
England and Always: Tolkien's World of the Rings
by Jared Lobdell
Good News from Tolkien's Middle Earth: Two Essays on the 'Applicability' of the Lord of the Rings.
by Gracia Fay. Ellwood
The Journeys of Frodo
by Barbara Strachey
The Politics of Fantasy: C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien (Studies in Speculative Fiction, No 10)
by Lee D. Rossi
J.R.R. Tolkien and His Literary Resonances: Views of Middle-earth (Contributions to the Study of Science Fiction and Fantasy)
by George Clark
Harry Potter and Tolkien's Rings: A Christian Perspective
by D. J. Gray
J.R.R. Tolkien : Six Decades of Criticism
by Judith A. Johnson
Tolkien's peaceful war : a history and explanation of Tolkien fandom and war
by Philip W. Helms
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...compiled that list. I just went back to the Amazon site and ORDERED 3 of the books I listed above. They just sounded sooo interesting!
I really think I am their best customer 
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OMG- what a list! Thank you, thank you! I'm heading for Amazon right now!
"I sang of leaves, of leaves of gold, and leaves of gold there grew..."
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An interesting exercise, try picking up The Tolkien Companion by J.A.E. Tyler. I don't think it's in print anymore, because it's rather incomplete. The reason? It was published *before* the release of the Silmarillion! As you thumb through it, it's hard to believe all this information is found solely in the pages of The Hobbit and LotR. It's fun to compare the entries in this book to more up to date stuff, like the Encyclopedia of Arda, both to see how much The Silmarillion filled in, and to see just how much LotR already held before S. release.
*Note: This exercise is only for the most bored/devoted Tolkien-phile!*
I also am a steward.
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I didn't see it on the list (I went through a couple of times to make sure), but Amazon also has Complete Guide to Middle-Earth by Robert Foster. An encyclopedia of ME, it's pretty decent--although does have a few shortcomings. Such as under the Elves entry it talks about the Hall of Mandos--there is no entry for Hall of Mandos, it's listed as the Houses of the Dead although it doesn't mention that name under the Elves entry--could be somewhat confusing to a newcomer. I have the 1978 edition--I don't know if there's an updated one out there.
We do not own all that given to us
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We could still use some help with this project.
"I sang of leaves, of leaves of gold, and leaves of gold there grew..."
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Give me something to keep my mind busy for a while, please.
bovilexia: The uncontrollable urge to lean out the window & yell "Moo!" every time you pass a cow.
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sinaes
(Fri May 2 19:41:20)
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I'm like a good haines t-shirt: tagless 
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I don't think I'll be much help to you experts, but I do want to express my enthusiasm for this project! I think it's a great idea.
I do have a suggestion, though. Once you have the list compiled, you could collect brief summary/reviews from people who have read the critical essays or books. Those lists were so long that ringnuts will probably want a little guidance choosing what to start with! I could give you one on Hobbits, Dwarves, and Elves when I finish it and you're ready.
What news of Boromir the Bold? For he is long away.
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That's an excellent idea, reine! We do need to spend some more time on this.
"I sang of leaves, of leaves of gold, and leaves of gold there grew..."
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even better to furnish the excellent information you have thus far gathered to yours truely, so i can put it on the website so we can all enjoy it without having to bump this great thread up every now and then?
email it to me via the site.
http://members.fortunecity.com/tolkienlovers The IMDb Ringnuts website
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Thanks, athene! I think Aragorn's right, too--this would be great to put on his ringnut site.
What news of Boromir the Bold? For he is long away.
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A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man.
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Old Tom Bombadil is a merry fellow,
Bright blue his jacket is, and his boots are yellow.
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"There goes a lord who tamed a wild shieldmaiden of the North!"
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sinaes
(Tue Jul 8 23:33:34)
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I'm like a good haines t-shirt: tagless
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company.
Advertise on IMDb.
License our content.
You are a daughter of kings. A shieldmaiden of Rohan. 
