Welcome back, dear friend!🌻
I’m so glad you’re here with me as I continue on this journey through Tolkien’s works for the first time!
Until last year (2025) I had never heard of anything written by Tolkien outside of The Silmarillion, The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit and Unfinished Tales, and that’s only because I got a bundle of Tolkien books for Christmas a few years ago. In fact, I didn’t even know they were from actual stories by someone named “Tolkien” until after I had watched the movies multiple times! I know… I know… I’ve already written all about my naivety in my first post ‘I’m A Newb, And It Shows’…
In a recent Note on Substack I gave a hint as to what I was reading next, but it may have been too vague, as it wasn’t just one book, but a collection; an anthology of some of Tolkien’s lesser known works in the book Tree and Leaf. At least it made for a pretty photograph!
I had a time trying to find On Fairy Stories in a format I could afford… anyone else have this issue when searching for Tolkien’s works? Is there a Tolkien-rush of ‘26 I don’t know about? I finally settled for a paperback copy of Tree and Leaf, including Mythopoeia and The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth, which will come later in this journey.
Figuring Out What Order To Read Them All
When I began this journey, I actually started with The Silmarillion. I listened to the audiobook read by Andy Serkis because I wanted the backstory (and I wanted to know how to pronounce all… those… names…). Much like starting the Bible in Genesis, I wanted a foundation for the world Tolkien built because my brain just works better that way in understanding—where did this all come from?
Christopher Tolkien gives an explanation in the Foreword of The Silmarillion that:
“A complete consistency (either within the compass of The Silmarillion itself or between The Silmarillion and other published writings of my father’s) is not to be looked for, and could only be achieved, if at all, at heavy and needless cost.”
Perhaps I’m confused, but I disagree. Every detail is like a piece of a puzzle where I can visualize the entire story—from Eru Ilúvatar to Elendil to Frodo to Elanor—the beginning tells of the end and if you have the eyes to see, there are clues and hints and winks across time throughout the whole story. Even though I’ve only yet read The Hobbit and listened to The Silmarillion, I have heard many share additional information about characters and backstories that aren’t in the Peter Jackson films in which I can piece more of the puzzle together in my mind, and I’ve concluded that it’s all connected; to me, it all makes sense!
For the sake of not getting completely overwhelmed, though, I wanted to know which order I should actually read these books. I found many different opinions about whether to start The Hobbit First or The Lord of the Rings first, which season is best for each book and many other confusing things for a beginner like me. I was paralyzed.
Thanks to Breanne Rodgers and Kaitlyn Facista, I began reading The Hobbit alongside Breanne’s Many Meetings Community recently, and found Kaitlyn’s Tolkien Reading Order & Checklist along with her many other incredible and beautiful resources for Tolkien lovers.
Her beautiful shop is here—> https://www.teawithtolkien.com/shop
So now that I have my checklist in hand I am ready to dive into On Fairy Stories next!
I’ll divide my journey into six parts:
- On Fairy Stories + Fairy-story
- Origins
- Children
- Fantasy
- Recovery, Escape, Consolation
- Epilogue
- *Notes referenced throughout my posts
My Wanderings and Ponderings will post here and on my Substack publication Under The Party Tree each Sunday evening as I make my way through On Fairy Stories for the first time and I can’t wait to have you along for this journey to hear your insights—whether you have read it before, or you want to read it along with me!
Take care, dear friend! I’ll see you soon!
~Allison
