Traversing Middle Earth: Entry Zero

For eighty-seven years fans of the fantasy genre have been captivated by J.R.R. Tolkien’s world of wizards, hobbits, and elves. Scholars spend their careers plotting out and studying Middle Earth, and it would be unsurprising if they were still discovering new lands, creatures, and characters to this day.

While I have read The Hobbit once before, and dipped my toes into The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, I still know next to nothing about this immense world. With season two of The Rings of Power now happening, I’ve found myself with more and more questions about the lore of Middle Earth. Almost every week I find myself pausing to look something up, and then going on a deep-dive into the extensive history of this imagined world. Last week, during another deep-dive I stopped and thought, “Why not start from the beginning?”

So that’s exactly what I’m going to do.

The plan is simple: Start with The Hobbit, and make my way through all the major works in the legendarium. I would like to read in chronological order for the most part, but if anyone has any suggestions on the best order to follow the books, I would happily take your suggestions.

In a way I’d like to treat this almost like a college course (which I’m sure exists in some form or fashion). Taking notes, marking passages, researching as I read. In true Geeky fashion I will be deep-diving into the books and learning as much as possible.

As of right now I do not have a schedule for when I’ll be posting updates. It all depends on my reading speed. I can tell you I’ll be posting when I reach the halfway mark on each book. I also would love to bring back Book vs Movie as I finish each book. For The Hobbit in particular, that may be a good way to split the book into sections, watching each of the three-part film as I go.

I’m really excited to start this journey. I have no idea how long it will take me, and I’m looking forward to an extended adventure with all of you. For anyone who is already a fan of The Lord of the Rings stories, I would gladly take any advice on how to supplement my reading. I’ll provide a list of my current expected order of reading at the end of this post. If I’m missing anything, or I should be reading in a different order, please don’t hesitate to drop your advice.

I’ve always admired just how much work Tolkien put into his world-building. To put so much work into creating a history for a world, much of which isn’t necessarily shown in the books itself, just shows how much an author loves their stories. It’s my favorite part of reading, discovering all the lore and minute details of a new world.

I hope you’ll join me on this new adventure. I’ll see you in Middle Earth soon.

My Planned Reading Order:

1)      The Hobbit

2)      The Fellowship of the Ring

3)      The Two Towers

4)      The Return of the King

5)      The Adventures of Tom Bombadil

6)      The Silmarillion