Which one first?

[Opan]

I was just posting to ask u all...

Did u read the Silmarillion BEFORE LOTR or after.....?

And which one would u read first now if u wanted to read them both again?

Just a question of interest thats all because i havent yet read the S - and was wondering would the trilogy have been better if i had read it before hand?:rolleyes:

[Arien the Maia]

I read the Sil after I read Lotr and the Hobbit....the Sil is my favorite book but I think I liked reading Lotr first b/c there's alot of mystery there still regarding the elves' history and such

[Opan]

Thats what i was thinking.......because i definately want to read more about the elves....i'm in love with that race lol :rolleyes:

[Arien the Maia]

Originally posted by Opan
Thats what i was thinking.......because i definately want to read more about the elves....i'm in love with that race lol :rolleyes:

they are awesome aren't they! (especially the Noldor!) but I must warn you that it take at least 2-3 time to really love and understand the Silmarillion...there's alot of info in that book and alot of names and places to remember

[Melko Belcha]

I read LotR first. The Silmarillion is my favorite though. The Silmarillion really enhanced my love for LotR.

[Lalaith]

I think reading LotR first is the best choice. Then the Silmarillion and then the Unfinished Tales. I prefer the UT to the Silmarillion. If you have read these three books you could start with the HoME series.

[Opan]

yeah...i've flicked through the Silmarillion and there seems to be a HUGE amount of info with names and p[laces etc..... It seems quite daunting but.....hey....i think i'll give it ago seeing allt he praise thta it has got

[Silpion]

I read Lord of the Rings then The Silmarillion. When I read The Silmarillion, I then read Lord of the Rings again and it was a richer story.

[LutraMage]

Same here, first LoTR, then TS. In fact, first The Hobbit. I think I would recommend that as the order to read the books, but with a warning to any adults reading Tolkien for the first time that TH is a fairy story for children, but well worth the read, whereas LoTR is definitely for children and adults.

[Anglorfin]

When I was little my dad read me the Hobbit. As I got older I read LotR by myself a few times before my dad got me the Silmarillion for my birthday or something. I then read that once, then LotR, then Sil, then LotR, and so on,...recently I have been reading UT and BoLT.

WHen I got my friends into reading Tolkien I told them to start with the Silmarillion. The movies had already come out and I didn't want to wait a long time for them to finish LotR and constantly talk about book vs. movie related stuff, so I just explained the story to them as they read the Silmarillion. I figure tackling the Sil first would prove to me their devotion to the actual world of Tolkien istead of them just going "mainstream" and picking up LotR and forgetting about it. Now that they have read both Sil and LotR they are glad that I made them read Sil first.

[Linaewen]

I read LotR before the Silm. And I like that I read it that way- not entirely sure why. Sometimes it's more interesting to read things out of chronological order, IMO anyway. The 'Rings of Power...' chapter was very enjoyable for me, simply because it related to the events of the WotR. It just made things clearer- and if I could go back in time, and read the Silm first, I wouldn't.

[Fat middle]

it seems i'm the one that read first the Silm. A friend made me a briefing of its story and i decided i had to read that book.

when i finished, i read TH and then LOTR. and then Sil. again... you know...

[Elf Girl]

If you read the Sil first it gives away LotR's ending.

[gollum9630]

i read LotR first, then the Sil. next time, i will read the Sil first

[Radagast The Brown]

originally posted by Elf Girl
If you read the Sil first it gives away LotR's ending.Right. That's why it's wrong to read Sil befroe LOTR.

I read LOTR befroe Sil.

[Anglorfin]

It doesn't really matter anymore with the movies coming out now. Besides when my friends read the Sil first they felt great that they weren't just part of the movie fanclub that flocked to LotR books right away. They had a bit more knowledge to wave over everybody else's heads.

[Ornelírë Mistë]

I read the Hobbit, then Two Towers, then Silmarillion, then Return of the King, then Fellowship. But I wasn't confused about what happened because I listened to the Fellowship on tape before I read TTT.

[Linaewen]

Originally posted by Radagast The Brown
Right. That's why it's wrong to read Sil befroe LOTR.

And not only that it gives away the ending, but I think it's important to see if you're into Tolkien's world in the first place. People who have read LotR beforehand, have still been deterred from reading the Silm because of its complexity/difficulty. Imagine someone reading the Silm first, and assuming the rest of JRRT's works are in that style- they wouldn't even bother with LotR! :eek:

This is sort of why I would recommend LotR before the Silm. The Silm provided a lot more background info for me, which made LotR clearer. Who knows what would have happened if I read the Silm first, but? I would have been too confused and disinterested, maybe.

[Ruinel]

Actually, I read The Hobbit first, it was required reading at my school. Then LotR: FotR, TTT, RotK. Then The Sil. Then BoLT1. Then BoLT2. Then UT. Then Morgot's Ring. Then WotJ. Then PoME. I'm currently working on picking up other books as well.

Pre-Hobbit and LotR stories are still my favorite stories.

I'm also interested in the poetry Tolkien wrote.

Originally posted by Anglorfin
It doesn't really matter anymore with the movies coming out now. Besides when my friends read the Sil first they felt great that they weren't just part of the movie fanclub that flocked to LotR books right away. They had a bit more knowledge to wave over everybody else's heads.
O.o It does matter... the movies and the books are very different. And the books are sooooooo much better than the movies.

[LutraMage]

First TH, then LoTR, then TS

[Radagast The Brown]

originally posted by Lin
And not only that it gives away the ending, but I think it's important to see if you're into Tolkien's world in the first place. People who have read LotR beforehand, have still been deterred from reading the Silm because of its complexity/difficulty. Imagine someone reading the Silm first, and assuming the rest of JRRT's works are in that style- they wouldn't even bother with LotR! Right! didn't think about it.

original;ly posted by Anglorfin
It doesn't really matter anymore with the movies coming out now. Besides when my friends read the Sil first they felt great that they weren't just part of the movie fanclub that flocked to LotR books right away. They had a bit more knowledge to wave over everybody else's heads.I would also suggest to read the books before the movies, becuase the movies destroyed my imagination (I finished to rea dht ebooks just before the first movie - and when I saw Elrond... Now I imagine Elrond as an ugly man. :eek:

[elixir]

I read LOTR first and then Silmarillion, but now that I'm reading LOTR again I understand it a lot better thanks to Silmarillion.

But I think that it's better to read LOTR before Sil (and again after it) and The Hobbit before the LOTR of course. I mean if you had read Hobbit, which is a children's book and then start Sil, it might seem a little too difficult for you. And as LOTR is connected to the Hobbit, I think that's the best way to read those books. But that's just my opinion :)

[kiwi52291]

I would read LOTR before the Silmarillion...just because it was published that way, so I think that's the way most people read them.

[Rosie Gamgee]

I read the Sil after I read The Hobbit and LOTR. I think it would be best to read it (the Sil) after LOTR, because LOTR is written from mostly the hobbits' point of view- so they wouldn't know all the history and backround of the elves. To enjoy LOTR, you have to be kind of in the moment, like the hobbits. If you know to much, it lacks mystery, and the elves as a people are no longer elusive, and you're no longer discovering a whole new world outside your personal 'Shire'. It would seem to me that the Sil would be a history book lying around in Rivendell that one might pick up after have destroyed the Ring.

[Varda Oiolosseo]

I read LOTR then The Hobbit and then the Silmarillion and then Unfinished Tales.

[Valaróma]

I read The Hobbit, LotR, HoMe including BoLT then the Silm.

[Sheeana]

You read HoME before the Sil? Wow. :eek: It must have made no sense...

Oh, and welcome. :)

[cee2lee2]

I didn't even know Sil existed until after I had read LOTR. I still haven't ever read it all. :o

[Valaróma]

Originally posted by Sheeana
You read HoME before the Sil? Wow. :eek: It must have made no sense...

Oh, and welcome. :)

It didn't:rolleyes: I read it again after as well ;)

Thanks as well :D

[Sheeana]

Yeah, I can imagine! I'd only read the Sil once before all the earlier HoMEs and I remember getting royally messed up because Tolkien changed all the 'F' names around. :o :D

[den]

I first read the Hobbit, which is still one of my favorites. Then LOTR, then the Sil. My advice- the Sil is deep. Very complex, with many stories within the story and very little dialog. Lots of characters. In many ways it reads like a history book. Maybe it's a good idea to read the other books first to introduce you to Middle Earth. I agree with those who say the Sil can turn someone off to Tolkien's work if they read it first. Then once you have a better understanding of his world and style, read the Sil, then go back and read LOTR and the rest. You'll have a much greater appreciation for it.

I would also suggest to read the books before the movies, becuase the movies destroyed my imagination (I finished to rea dht ebooks just before the first movie - and when I saw Elrond... Now I imagine Elrond as an ugly man.

Yeah, now I think of Elrond as that guy from the Matrix... just killed it for me.

[Elrond the Wise]

First I read The Hobbit, then I waited for some years becuse I was to young to read loTR and then I read the Sil. and Unfinished Tales

[Durin1]

I read The Hobbit first then LoTR and then The Silmarillion. Since then I have also read the Christopher Tolkien books - first UT and then the rest in random order.

I belive that this should be the order in which to read about Tolkien. I agree that LoTR rouses the curiosity of the reader with its cryptic references to the older age of Middle Earth and it triggers the imagination.

In terms of trying to get others to appreciate the full scale of Tolkien (especially newcomers who have only seen the movies), it becomes virtually impossible because of the cinematic concessions which inevitably arise from the way the movies were/are portrayed. I try to inform my friends of the deeper implications of characters such as Elrond, Galadriel and Aragorn, but find that it becomes virtually impossible unless they read LoTR and the other works.

To attempt to read The Silmarillion before LoTR will only confound a new reader.

[Elrond the Wise]

I thik the best order to read is The Hobbit then LOTR then The Silmarillion and then LOTR again.:D

[nessa]

I read the Hobbit first, then LOTR and then, some years later, Silmirillion. Difficult to say if reading Silm first would have made a difference. I was really young when i read Hobbit. If I had tried to read Silm first it would have put me off for life! Then see what I would have missed.

I've now read all of the books more times then I remember, which Opan, I'm sure you'll do and you become so familiar with them that they all interweave.

[durin's bane]

I read The Silmarillion after The Lord of the Rings because I had no choice. I had gotten it after.

Personally, though, I prefer to read things in chronological order. So when I'm done LotR and The Sil (I'm reading them at the same time), I'll go back and read The Silmarillion, then The Hobbit, then The Lord of the Rings.

[Elenna Alaniel]

I first read Hobbit (as soon as I learnt to read) and few years later LotR and Silmarillion.I think it is the best to read them like that becouse you can read them while growing up and you slowly enter that world,step by step.that is just my personal opinion but one is sure: it is the best way to get a great Tolkien-fan:D

[gollum9630]

i read LotR first becasue i couldnt find a copy of the Hobbit, then i read the Hobbit after i got it for Christmas then i read the Sil