Beginner's Guide for The Lord of the Rings & Tolkien's Universe - For People new to Tolkien's Lore

It's maybe not a bad idea to give new people an idea of what makes Tolkien's fantasy works so special (like The Lord of the Rings, the Hobbits, the Silmarillion), but also an overview of the stories and #lore of #LotR . I discuss the films in relation to the books, my recommended reading order, how his works are connected, some terms, ideas and often discussed problems of #Tolkien fans.

I struggled a bit with writing this video, but I hope you still like it. Maybe I should have gone for an faq like format.

I tried to keep the video as spoiler free as possible. Also feel free to ask questions.

Mistakes:
-


Reading Order:
- The Hobbit (second edition: 1951; original first edition 1937)
- The Lord of the Rings + Appendices (1954-1955)
- The Silmarillion (1977)
- The Great Tales (Children of Húrin, Beren and Lúthien, The Fall of Gondolin; 2007, 2017, 2018)
- Unfinished Tales (1980)
- The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien (1981)
- The 12 History of Middle-earth books (1983 - 1996)

- Poems (The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, Bilbo's Last Song, The Road Goes Ever On)

- J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography (1977)
- Tolkien Scholars (e.g. Tom Shippey)


Here some resources:
Best Wiki - http://tolkiengateway.net (https://lotr.fandom.com/ got better over the years and also has good information on e.g. games, etc)
Map – lotrproject.com/map/ or https://www.amazon.com/adlp/lotronprime

Playlists:
My best lore videos -    • Dragons in Lord of the Rings' Lore - ...  

Film/Book differences series -    • LotR Prologue Explained - Films expla...  



Sources:

Books:
The Lord of The Rings (1954-1955) by J. R. R. Tolkien
The Silmarillion (1977) by J. R. R. Tolkien; Editor: Christopher Tolkien
The Hobbit (1937) by J. R. R. Tolkien
Unfinished Tales (1980) by J. R. R. Tolkien; Editor: Christopher Tolkien
The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien (1981) by Humphrey Carpenter and Christopher Tolkien

Pictures from:
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013)
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014)


Artworks and special thanks:

Kimberly80 - https://www.deviantart.com/kimberly80/
Niahti - https://www.artstation.com/niahti
Frédéric Bennett (Benef) - https://www.deviantart.com/benef

Others:
tolkiengateway.net

Maps and video by:
- ThePhilosophersGames
- Amazon, Twitter @LOTRonPrime


The Philosopher's Games / TPhGames / TPhLore:

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