Reading/Watching Guide: The Lord of the Rings
With fall coming back around, it’s finally time to break out our favorite books and movies to read and watch on those rainy days. Fall is also a great time to start new a book series or watchs ome new movies that you may not have thought of watching before. This article is for those of you who love a good comforting fantasy story. What follows is what I believe is the best reading and watching order for the Lord of the Rings universe by JRR Tolkien,the perfect fall fantasy.
Step One: Reading The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien The Hobbit is the perfect start for your foray into the world of Middle Earth. It’s an easy read as it was originally a bedtime story that Tolkien told to his children and then wrote down and published. It may seem like it is targeted towards a younger audience, but it is a comforting fall read for adults as well! Content Warnings: Mild fantasy violence, smoking, alcohol, and kidnapping.
Step Two: Watching The Hobbit (3 instalments) directed by Peter Jackson.
The Hobbit movies are the perfect next step! The story was split into three instalments so as to incorporate all of the detail that Tolkien put into the book. You will follow all of your favorite characters as they strive to take back their homeland. These are great movies to watch with a cup of tea and some snacks! (Available on Amazon Prime.)Content Warnings: Fantasy violence, smoking, alcohol, kidnapping, and strong language(1 instance).
Step Three & Step Four: Reading and watching The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien.
Steps three and four are combined because you may choose to read one of the books and watch the corresponding movie or read all of the books and then watch all of the movies. I am a fan of the first method as it is nice to take breaks in between! This story follows the nephew of our beloved protagonist from The Hobbit as he goes on an epic quest to save the world from the Dark Lord Sauron. Content Warnings: Fantasy violence, alcohol, smoking, intense battle scenes, character death.
Step Five: Exploring the rest of Middle Earth! Now that you’ve gone through some of JRR Tolkien’s most iconic work, you may want to continue exploring the magnificent world he created. If you’re a fan of learning more about the history of elves, you could check out The Silmarillion! If you are interested in Elrond’s and Galadriel’s backstory, and how the One Ring was created, you could watch The Rings of Power. If you want to read about a guy with the worst luck imaginable, lookout for Turin Turambar in The Children of Hurin! Happy reading!