Tolkien Wishlist

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To continue honoring the magnificent J.R.R. Tolkien, I have decided to do a wishlist. If you keep up with my blog you know that I love The Hobbit, as well as The Lord Of The Rings. I am ashamed to say that my Tolkien repertoire does not extend beyond those. So, I have compiled a list of works by J.R.R. Tolkien that I most want to experience.

Without further adieu, here is my Tolkien Wishlist

(Click any picture or title for more info.)
“The Silmarillion”
This is a compilation of 6 stories. One of these 6 is Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age. That story tells of Sauron, whom we know about from The Hobbit and TLOTR. From what I can tell there are other related stories as well. This book seems to be history based (of the elves and what not.) I have gathered that it is a difficult read, and that only serious Tolkien fans usually attempt, complete, and/or like it. I say, challenge accepted. 🙂
Rated 4.5 on amazon.com

 

“Tales from the Perilous Realm“
This is a fully illustrated book that combines 5 of Tolkien’s works. The stories; Farmer Giles of Ham, Leaf by Niggle, Smith of Wootton Major,  and Roverandom, as well as the poem The Adventures of Tom Bombadil. I am really looking forward to this one.
Rated 4.4 on amazon.com

 

 

 


“The Book of Lost Tales“
This is the first in 12 volumes. These books from what  I gather are mainly for filling in the blanks, and fact finding. It is a history of Middle-Earth and Valinor. At first I thought these books were compiled writings of J.R.R. Tolkien that his son Christopher had gathered together and published. This may or may not be the case, but it looks more like Christopher just edited it. Either way it’s something I want to read to further my understanding of this great author and the wonderful world he created.
Rated 4.3 on amazon.com


“Unfinished Tales”
This book is more clear, it is definitely material written by J.R.R. Tolkien but compiled by Christopher Tolkien. J.R.R. Tolkien’s archives unveiled untold stories of the three ages of ancient Middle-earth.  We can thank is son for bringing it all to light, for our enjoyment.
Rated 4.6 on amazon.com

 

 


“Bilbo’s Last Song“
This is a song/poem that Bilbo writes while he takes is final journey to the undying lands. He writes this as a farewell to Middle-Earth and his friends and family. It is also illustrated by Pauline Baynes, which I look forward to seeing.
Rated 4.0 on amazon.com

 

 

“The Children of Hurin“
More Elves, dragons, Dwarves, Eagles, and yes Orcs. This is also a work that Christopher Tolkien compiled. It was not a stand alone text until he brought it all together and tirelessly edited it. Many years were spent bringing all of Tolkien’s unpublished works into form, and I am grateful for it.
Rated 4.3 on amazon.com

To suit any of these books, I  imagine myself in the shire, sitting
by a fire sipping a hot robust drink.
images
Book Bean: Buttered Rum Latte
Steamed whole milk, 1-2 tbls of pre-mixed buttered-rum (butter, brown sugar, clove, nutmeg, cinnamon, rum/rum flavor), espresso (or black tea.) 

If I have fumbled over some facts, please correct me. Since I do not own these books, and only hope to one day, I don’t know a whole lot about them. Some of these books (based on what I know of them,) may even contain repeat content. I could be terribly wrong in my information. All I know is that they all look very interesting, and being a Tolkien fan I would love to have the opportunity to flip through them and learn more.

Which of these have you read?

Please share your thoughts.

109 thoughts on “Tolkien Wishlist”

  2. I’m with you! Want to read more of his work as well. In particular, your number one: the Silmarillion. The thing is… it’s not a one-week read. You read need to take your time for it. Have fun reading these! It’s lovely to see another Tolkien geek around the book blogger realm!

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  3. I approve of all of these. The Silmarillion in particular has a special place in my heart. It is a difficult book to get through, but the characters and the epic events really sparked my imagination. Some of my favorite characters of all time are from The Silmarillion.

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  4. It’s been several ages of world, or maybe decades, since I read the Simarillion, but I’ve read it a few times. It starts like the middle earth version of the bible. It then goes through all of the ages of middle earth up to just before the start of the Hobbit. There are some stories told in great detail, some less so with hundreds or thousands of years summarized in a few paragraphs. One thing that’s very cool is that there are references to the different stories in it throughout The Hobbit and TLotR. After you read it,reread the Hobbit and TLotR and you’ll have a completely different understanding. This book was also left incomplete and was published by his son shortly after his death. The book I have was bought within months of it being released (not by me) and I’ve heard Christopher has edited it since then. I don’t know (I guess i should Google it!), but it might be as difficult of a read as it was. Difficult, but well worth it.

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  5. I have read The Hobbit and I confess I struggled with the depth and complexity of LOTR etc. and the Silmarillion because I was 13 when I tried to read them. I’d like the time to digest all of these again, to mull over the allegory rumours and see if I “see” it. I’ve read a lot *about* the books since I was 13, but haven’t tried to read them since I gave up back then. Good luck and I hope you can secure the books soon to enjoy!~DM

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  6. I love Tolkien! I have read the Lord of the Rings so many times! The Silmarillion is also one of my favorite books. And I have to confess that I learned Elvish as a teenager 🙂

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  7. This is a great list! I love reading the Silmarillian, the Hobbit, and Lord of the Rings back to back. It gives the books a very rich feeling. I will admit it took me about three readings of the Silmarillian to really get it. It was worth the work. The rest are on my list as well. 🙂

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  9. I’ve had the Silmarillion on my shelf for quite a few years. I’ve only read maybe a quarter of it, and is on my someday list to finish reading. It’s like a history book for Middle Earth, and because of that, it further enriches the world we’re familiar with. But it can also be a little dry, like any history book. Always amazing to me, though, how extensive and thorough Tolkien was in creating this entire world, including its own languages. Impressive.

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  12. JRR Tolkien is my favorite author. Discovered it in college, as did many of my peers. A little Tolkien humor for you: In one tunnel between buildings on campus (this was in Buffalo,NY so a way to avoid crossing campus in the snow) was the graffiti “Frodo Lives” and below that “…and Gollum is alive and at the burn unit in Buffalo General Hospital!” I used to reread the Lord of the Rings starting in September (Bilbo’s birthday) every other year or two, and have collected most of the books you are looking at. The Silmarillion is ra tough read (I, too, got it right after it was published, so it may be different.) and at least then, engrossing in parts and very incomplete in others. JRR was working on it at the time of his death. I think as the first piece of his father’s work Christopher published he initially hesitated to add to or change anything at that time. Of all of Tolkien’s stories my favorite is “Leaf by Niggle” which I thought was in Lost Tales. I imagine him at an Inklings meeting discussing it with CS Lewis as Lewis shared “The Great Divorce” and the two talked about heaven and life after death. If you know Fahrenheit 451, when because of suppression people “became books” memorizing them, you’ll know how much I loved the books when I fantasized I would memorize at least one of them….luckily I haven’t had to! It’s only 34 degrees today in sunny NC so perhaps time to try your buttered rum recipe! Thanks for your blog! Jo

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    • Wow thank you so much for sharing 🙂 I love that idea of starting on Bilbo’s birthday, I enjoy fun little incentives like that. Someone else mentioned “Leaf by Niggle” so I am looking forward to reading that especially. There is a book coming out about the Inklings that I am intrigued by as well. So much goodness and just not enough time. Slowly but surely I will get to (hopefully) the majority of books I hope to read in this lifetime. 🙂

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  13. This is a great list. The only one of these I don’t own is ‘Bilbo’s Last Song’. Unfortunately, I haven’t read all of these. I’m ashamed to say that ‘Tales of the Perilous Realm’ is the only one I’ve completed. They are fun tales to read and I’ve read ‘Roverandom’ quite a few times. I tried reading ‘The Silmarillion’ in my late teens, but I couldn’t get through it. I’ve shied away from it ever since, but I know I will get back to it. I received ‘The Story of Kullervo’ for Christmas and just started reading it. You may want to add it to your list. Another fun one, with some great illustrations, that I read a couple of years ago is ‘Mr Bliss’. This is another one that he wrote for his children. I’ve also been collecting some of the biographical works on Tolkien, but have quite a few of these still on my shelves unread.

    Good luck with your wish list. I hope you enjoy the ones you decide to read.

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  16. The Children of Hurin is a wonderful, tragic story. Its contained, at least in part, in the Silmarillion (which I’ve read three times, its fantastic). Have not had the opportunity to read the stand alone edition of Children of Hurin. I hope you enjoy reading through Tolkien’s “less known” works.

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  17. Great list. Many of these are on my list as well. One of my favorite things to do is read the Silmarillion, the Hobbit, and Lord of the Rings back to back. It makes the world richer and deeper. It did take me until the third reading of the Silmarillion to feel like I really got what was going on. The family trees help a lot. 🙂

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  22. You missed quiet a few Tolkien books, amongst them the whole History of Middle Earth series of 12 volumes. Read most of the above, plus a few more 😉 Tolkien was a Genius, not so sure that Christopher is half that genius when compiling from his fathers assorted documents. (like Children of Hurin.)

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  23. I guess it is clever to start with the Silmarillion, then the Hobbit – the Lord of the rings and at last the Children of Hurin. As much I know, the last one was finished (as written above) by J.R.R. Tolkien’s son; the others have been written or assembled after the author death. I have read only these four… but one thing is for sure, you need to get deep into it and read these books a couple times to savour every and each delicate detail! ;-)c

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  25. I waded through the Silmarillion and was not disappointed. I havd found a copy that had much written in his elvish script and len it to a friend. It has sadly never come home. There were total that were released together in the early 2000s. I know i read most of them but the Silmarillion is what stuck with me. Of course, every test I take at buzzfeed calls me an elf so it comes as no surprise that the Children of Hurin was not a huge tug at the heart.

    I like a second breakfast of scrambled eggs and apple jelly (we ate them together as a kid) and bacon on buttered toast with tea and milk to wash it down. I think the simpler the beverage the better the reading 😉

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  26. Hi Abbie. (Happy new year) 🙂
    An interesting post. I’ve read the Hobbit and the Lord of the ring twice (in French and english) Have the Silmarillion on a shelf but never could get past the first pages. I’ll give it another try. 🙂
    And also keep an eye open for the other you mentioned, I thought Silmarillion was the only one. Learned something new today. Merci!
    Brian

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  28. Tales of the perilous realm is great. Granted I’ve only read about half of it but it is brilliant. This is a great wishlist. I ought to make a Tolkien one as well!

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  30. Have you ever thought of reading “The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien – A selection edited by Humphrey Carpenter” with the assistance of Christopher Tolkien. It gives a wonderful view of his ideas, loves, joys etc.

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  32. There is also another one I once saw on a bookstore called something along the lines of Sigmund and Sigurd – except, those are Norse. But the title was like that… Someone and Someone. The main title was supposed to be a title of one of the stories, I think. It says it was a collection of incomplete works by Tolkien collected by his son. Did you ever find something like that?

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    • I have not, but his son Christopher was the one the finished, edited, and published Silmarillion, and that book is 6 short stories. So it is possible that the title to one of those stories is what you saw. I don’t have the book yet so I can’t check. Maybe another Tolkien fan will see this and weigh in.

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  36. That’s a good list of books to read, The Children of Hurin is probably my favourite that I’ve read from your list, I found it to be a great story. The Silmarillion is good too and it’s nice to get an insight into the history of Tolkien’s world.

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  37. Thanks for the follow of Redflagflying, Abbie, which is much appreciated.
    I read Tolkien as a youngster, and enjoyed the fantasy. As I got older, I didn’t like it so much, and I’m sorry to say that I think all the films are dull too. Maybe it’s an age thing?
    Best wishes from Norfolk (UK). Pete.

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  42. I love your blog. Your title is awesome even if I prefer tea over coffee. Your blog is so cozy and I see that we have many things in common. I have read Children of Hurin. I highly recommend the book. However, just to warn you, it is very sad.

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  43. Great great great choices! Tolkien is hands down my favorite author. His writings are all so beautiful and unlike anything else and while I’ll always have a crush on Orlando Bloom as Legolas, the movies will never ever ever compare to the books! I’ve even contemplated tattooing the JRR Tolkien initial emblem on to my wrist but I’m too much of a baby. I hope you love all the mini adventures you’ll take with these books and I’m pumped to read more from you!

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  44. Okay, I’ve read The Silmarillion…5 times, appendices and all. While it isn’t for everyone, it is enjoyable and gives some interesting insight about Tolkien’s universe and characters. I’ve seen The Book of Lost Tales in stores, but never bought it. The other titles listed here are entirely new to me. Thank you for bringing them to light.

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