Now, i may not have been the most prolific(sp) of posters in the MEMOD forums up until now, mainly because i've read whats posted and understand it. But i am a major fan of LOTR (yes, because of the films) and, now, the whole Tolkien fiction. I recently bought The Silmarillion (did i spell that right? Hope so) in the hardback box edition, which came with a CD of Tolkien reading a poem he wrote (the Luthien and Beren one i think). I havent listened to it yet, but i have read the cover blerb by his son, who also edited together the book, describing how his father came about inventing Middle Earth. I was totally engrossed from that point onwards, and i knew, instinctively, that i was in love with the world he had made in his head.

Now, being of a very, very niave disposition, and being a slightly talented writer, i want add to that world. But if i did this just on what i had read in two books (the Silmarillion and the ROTK) i would be very remise indeed, not to mention completely inaccurate in matters of lore and soforth.

So, to cut a very long (and unnecessary) story short, i'd ask people to post the names and, if possible, where they can be obtained, of books, websites, and other sources that the MeMOD team and anyone else has used and would recommend, so i can get as complete an understanding as possible of the world i want to enter.

Many thanks in advance to those who post here, and please, if you have any words of wisdom you could give me i would be much obliged. Just don't say i'm an idiot for trying either. I know this is damn ambitious (READ:stupid) so dont post the obvious.

Hmmm...

Well... that's going to require a LOT of reading.

Here's a start for you... some works in my personal library:

Non-Middle-Earth:
01. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
02. Pearl
03. Sir Orfeo
04. The Father Christmas Letters
05. Letters From Father Christmas (2 printings - different content)
06. Smith of Wooton Major & Farmer Giles of Ham
07. Farmer Giles of Ham: The Rise and Wonderful Adventures of Farmer Giles, Lord of Tame, Count of Worminghall, and King of the Little Kingdom
08. Monsters and the Critics
09. Finn and Hengest
10. Mr Bliss
11. Faerie trans. F le Doux (French)
12. A Middle English Vocabulary
13. Ancrene Wisse
14. The Old English Exodus

Middle-Earth:
01. Pictures By J. R. R. Tolkien
02. The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien
03. The Tolkien Reader
04. Roverandom
05. The Trees
06. The Tolkien Diary
07. The Road Goes Ever On
08. The Silmarillion
09. Goblin Feet (poem by Tolkien, published only in a collection of poems entitled "Fifty New Poems for Children" c.1920's, published by Basil Blackwell)
10. The Tolkien Companion
11. The Hobbit
12. The Fellowship of the Ring
13. The Two Towers
14. The Return of the King
15. Tree and Leaf
16. The Adventures of Tom Bombadil and Other Verses from the Red Book
17. Bilbo's Last Song
18. Poems and Stories
19. Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-Earth
20. The Book of Lost Tales 1
21. The Book of Lost Tales 2
22. The Lays of Beleriand
23. The Shaping of Middle-Earth
24. The Lost Road and Other Writings
25. The Return of the Shadow
26. The Treason of Isengard
27. The War of the Ring
28. Sauron Defeated
29. Morgoth's Ring: The Later Silmarillion Part 1
30. The War of the Jewels: The Later Silmarillion Part 2
31. The Peoples of Middle-Earth

I'm tired of typing. If you want more references, go here: A chronological bibliography of the writings of J.R.R. Tolkien

-- D

There are some internet websites where you could find a lot of material about Tolkien and his works.

My favourite ones are these:

Annals of Arda

Ardalambion (about Tolkien's invented languages)

There are a lot more than these, of course, but you'll find a lot of material in them.

Enjoy!

Out of Daerk's awsome list of which I am insanely jealous of (being that I have about a fraction of those books...<_<) I would say to memorize or at least be very familiar with The Silmarillion, The Lord of the Rings (Appendices esp.), Lays of Beleriand 1 & 2, Shaping of Middle Earth, Unfinished Tales, Morgoth's Ring and The War of the Jewels, for starters.

I myself am currently commiting to memory the lore of the First Age and Second Age, with Numenor as a chief focus for the Second Age. Though, Men do not interest me so much as do the Elves, ever since reading the appendices in LotR I have been fascinated and obsessed with Elven Lore, Language, and overall History.

Another excellent website (of which I do not know how to post a link but I can give you the name) is the Encyclopedia of Arda. The name basically says it all, and above all else, it has MEmod's site posted as a link so that's saying something...

Many thanks guys. Daerk, i am incredibly jealous and more than a little intimidated :lol:

Well, i guess i'd better fire up Amazon and kiss goodbye to my life savings...

I'll look up that Encyclopedia website you mentiond Ancalagon; i guess a Google search would find it?

I'll just save you a search for it. The adress is http://www.glyphweb.com/arda/m/middleearth.html

Muchas gracias pharzon.

I think i should clarify on what i wrote at the start, about what i actaully mean to do with all this lore i'm gathering unto myself, to make his war, the last... sorry about that. Been film-watching again.

Anyway, i want to write short stories and things of that type inside the Middle-Earth world, principally because i lack the skill and imagination to create my own, and because the world Tolkien made is, in my opinion, the best fantasy environment ever created.

Sorry if i gave anyone any misconceptions there.

You're welcome, dude..

Well, that sounds quite cool as well! Going to publish any of your stories?

Woah, pharzon, that hadn't even entered my head. So far, i've written:

A re-write of the film version of the end battle in ROTK.

I've decided that until i own all or at least most of the books listed above, then it will certainly contain loads of errors that, if corrected in retro-spect, would kill the story and probably the lore as well. About publishing, there are probably loads of copyright laws out there to stop poeple like me from screwing up Tolkien's perfect world, so if i do release them, then it will be over a free download from a website or something. Even then it would probably violate some laws i dont know about.

If you do want the re-write i've done, then PM me and i'll send it to you. No? Anyone?

Eh, had to ask :lol:

I've found the Silmarillion to be a chore to read. I don't mean to troll this thread or anything, but man. That thing is rough. :blink:

You think so? Well, we are all different, but I think that the Silmarillion was a thrill to read! I've just begun reading it in english as well. Until now I've only read it in danish, but I think I have to read it in the original language of Tolkien to fully enjoy all the different shades of the language..