I FINALY FINNISHED!!!

[Dfsg]

Yes, I finnished LOTR just the other day when I was on a trip. LOTR IS THE BEST SERIES I HAVE EVER READ and probably the best I will ever read. I was excited from first page to last, cover to cover. I love everything about it! The scouring of the Shire seemed to be the best part because it showed how the 4 hobbits grew to be able to handle things such as battle and other forces that are invisible. It is quite amusing to see how Sarumon ends up, an old begger with not more than 100 people to go to battle for him!

Well, now I can be in more discussions now that I know how the book ends up! I am so happy!

p.s. I should start the Simarillion now right? I already did, but If I'm supposed to read another one first, please tell me! :)

[bmilder]

Congrats! Now you can start topics that have somewhat more substance than "the Anything post" ;) :p , hehe

Sure you can start the Sil now, but be warned, it's less story-driven than LotR. I was able to finish Sil with no problem, but many are disappointed and bored with it in the first reading.

[Shanamir Duntak]

Try unfinished tales instead... You'll find them more pleasants. Then, you'll want to know more about Middle-earth, how it came to be and stuff... read the sil.

[Finduilas]

I found the Silm to be quite readable. There are some sections you might definitely want to read, such as "Of Beren and Luthien" which gives the detail on the story told by Aragorn in FoTR. Some of Tolkien's best dialogue is in the Silm, such as the Doom of the Noldor and the Oath of Feanor:

The Oath of Feanor, the Silmarillion, pages 97-98:
Then Feanor swore a terrible oath. His seven sons leapt straightaway to his side and took the selfsame vow together, and red as blood shone their drawn swords in the glare of the torches. They swore an oath which none shall break, and none should take, by even the name of Iluvatar, calling the Everlasting Dark upon them if they kept it not; and Manwe they named in witness, and Varda, and the hallowed mountain of Taniquetil, vowing to pursue with vengeance and hatred to the ends of the World Vala, Demon, Elf or Man as yet unborn, or any creature, great or small, good or evil, that time should bring forth unto the end of days, whoso should hold or take or keep a Silmaril from their possession.
Thus spoke Maedhros and Maglor and Celegorm, Curufin and Caranthir, Amrod and Amras, princes of the Noldor; and many quailed to hear the dread words. For so sworn, good or evil, an oath may not be broken, and it shall pursue oathkeeper and oathbreaker to the world's end.

The Doom of the Noldor
The Silmarillion, pages 103-104:
Tears unnumbered ye shall shed; and the Valar will fence Valinor against you, and shut you out, so that not even the echo of your lamentation shall pass over the moutains. On the House of Feanor the wrath of the Valar lieth from the West unto the uttermost East, and upon all that will follow them it shall be laid also. Their Oath shall drive them, and yet betray them, and ever snatch away the very treasures that they have sworn to pursue. To evil end shall all things turn that they begin well; and by treason of kin unto kin and the fear of treason, shall this come to pass. The Disposessed shall they be forever.
Ye have spilled the blood of your kindred unrighteously and have stained the land of Aman. For blood ye shall render blood, and beyond Aman ye shall dwell in Death's shadow. For though Eru appointed to you to die not in Ea, and no sickness may assail you, yet slain ye may be, and slain ye shall be: by weapon and by torment and grief; and your houseless spirits shall come then to Mandos. There long shall ye abide and yearn for your bodies, and find little pity though all whom ye have slain should entreat for you. And those that endure in Middle-earth and come not to Mandos shall grow weary of the world as with a great burden, and shall wane, and become as shadows of regret before the younger race that cometh after. The Valar have spoken.

The Unfinished Tales might be another good choice, but there are some sections in there that won't make much sense without the Silm. However it does give details on the Istari (Wizards), Palantiri, The Hunt for the Ring, The Quest of Erebor and the Oath of Cirion just to name a few. It also has material on the Battles of the Fords of Isen, and the Battle of the Gladden Fields.

[Gilthalion]

Congratulations!

You have indeed read one of the finest pieces of literature ever written, and one that will remain on that short list as long as stories are read.

And you will read it again!

And again!

[Wizard of the Secret Fire]

...and again...and again...forever :)

Congratulations indeed!!

[Grand Admiral Reese]

Congratulations!

[arynetrek]

ha ha! another addict!
congratulations!

aryne *

[Bullroarer]

Congrats!

I would suggest reading the Silmarillion first, then UT, BOLT 1 and 2, then into the less known books like "The Lays of Beleriand" and etc.

[emilsson]

Congrats.

I too suggest you read Silmarillion next though it is different from LOTR. There are some parts one cannot miss :) .

[noldo]

Congratulations!

UT has a whole lot of gaps in it that are mentioned only in the Silmarillion. So I suggest you read the Silmarillion first.

[Dfsg]

Okay, I'm reading Simarillion! I already read 60 pages of it! It is a bit confusing though, but I pick up enough to get along. I can't wait to see what happens to Melkor!

[Eruve]

Stick with it, you can always go back and re-read the beginning later, and it might make more sense then. Also, ask us if you don't get something! Enjoy!!

[Tar Anarion]

After reading LOTR one time, you get hooked!
Rally hooked! And you should try reading the Silm first, because it gives a bit information which is nice to have before yoy read unfinished tales, though both are exellent books.

Admin at <a href: http://www.ezboard.com/theworldoftolkien74993> The Prancing Ponie </a>

[Grand Admiral Reese]

I'm reading The Silmarillion right now, too. I like it a lot.

[Dfsg]

This is so exciting! J.R.R. Tolkien is a Genius! One day, I WILL finnish EVERY Tolkien Book EVER written!!!

[Shanamir Duntak]

My favorite tale is the one about Turin Turambar, aka Mormegil (for those not versed in Elfic, it means The Black Sword)


********SPOILER WARNING, IF YOU HAVE NOT FINISHED SIL, DO NOT READ********


I really likes i when he accidently kills Bereg Cuthalion.

Wow! I remember the names even after all this time (must have been 5 years I've read that book!)

Admin note: I just had to add the spoiler warning, since we know that Dfsg hasn't finished :)

[Shanamir Duntak]

Thank you Ben for the edit... I forgot to put a warning! :)

[Morkhon]

I had some problems getting through Sil the first time through too, I found it boring. But about 2 years after that I found myself with nothing to read and this copy of Sil my friend had given me, so I decided to read it again. What was I thinking I had to ask myself. It doesn't have quite the action that LotR has, and has a little bit of a history book (which it really is) feel to it, but it is still great. And the Lays of Beleriand has one of my favorite passages in it during the Lay of Leithian I will provide a small quote:

Warning: the Following is a spoiler for those that have not read the Sil.
















In that vast shadow once of yore
Fingolfin stood: his shield he bore
with field of heaven's blue and star
of crystal shining pale afar.
In overmastering wrath and hate
desparate he smote upon that gate,
the Gnomish king, there standing lone
while endless fortresses of stone
engulfed the thin clear ringing keen
of silver horn on baldric green.

skip rest of stanza

Then Morgoth came. For the last time
in those great wars he dared to climb
from subterranean throne profound,
the rumour of his feet a sound
of rumbling earthquake underground.
Black-armoured, towering, iron-crowned
he issued forth; his mighty shield
a vast unblazoned sable field
with shadow like a thundercloud;
and o'er the gleaming king it bowed,
as huge aloft like mace he hurled
that hammer of the underworld,
Grond. Clanging to ground it tumbled
down like a thunder-bolt, and crumbled
the rocks beneath it; smoke up-started,
a pit yawned, and a fire darted.

Fingolfin like a shooting light
beneath a cloud, a stab of white,
sprand then aside, and Ringil drew
like ice that gleameth cold and blue,
his sword devised of elvish skill
to pierce the flesh with deadly chill.
With seven wounds it rent his foe,
and seven mighty cries of woe
rang in the mountains, and the earth quook,
and Angband's trembling armies shook.

There is a prose version of this in the Sil of course, but the verse form is so much more powerful.

P.S. Maybe the quote wasn't so small after all.

I edited it to provide a spoiler space.

[Shanamir Duntak]

One of my friend never got through the Sil... he said he made an overdose of elf stories right in the beginning! :p But I read it and found it entertaining. :)

[ladyisme]

Well done, my suggestion would be that if you have not read The Hobbit which is the prequill to LOTR you should go back and read that. However if you have read it try reading through LORT again to see what you missed the first time around.

"The road goes ever on and on down from the door where it began."

[Feanturi]

congrates! i also recomend that you read the hobbit if you already have not.




I have only read pieces of The Sillmarillian, more research than any thing else, but i'm in the middle of reading it again now. It was confusing for me the first time also, but if you keep reading it you'll find that it gets easier. :rollin:

[Mace McClain]

I think I'll get Sil after Cloak of Deception...

[Inoldonil]

bmilder, I'm shocked that's such a general opinion about the Silmarillion. I always thought it was very moving, esp. the earlier parts. I love the Ainulindale.

Shanamir, you can't very well read Unfinished Tales before The Silmarillion! It's kind of required for Of Tuor and his Coming to Gondolin and the Narn-I-Hin-Hurin, well, also for some stuff in other texts.

The order in which people usually get into Tolkien's Middle-earth is The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales and the rest is very variable.

Strictly the prequel to the Lord of the Rings is actually The Silmarillion. Originally the Lord of the Rings was supposed to be the sequel to The Hobbit, but that's not how it turned out.

[edited: taking a hint from other threads, I checked the date. lady, you do realize when all this stuff took place, don't you?]