Should I read "The Shaping of Middle-earth"

[Elbereth]

I have just finished reading the "Lays of Beleriand" (which was pretty good), and it is now time for me to move onto my next Tolkien book.

My question is: Should I continue on with The Histories of Middle Earth or should I try some of Tolkien's other works, such as "Sir Gawain & The Green Knight" or "Farmer giles of ham"?

Any suggestions?

[FoolOfATook]

Well, neither Farmer Giles nor [Sir Gawain[/I] will take you very long, and they might be useful to sort of "cleanse the palate", before you head on to HoMe IV (which is a volume that I particularily enjoy, especially "The Sketch of the Mythology"). Farmer Giles would be perfect in this role.

Just one opinion.

[Niniel]

Yes, Farmer Giles and some of the other short works you can read in a day. But after that you should definitely read The Shaping of ME; I'm reading it now, and I enjoy it very much.

[Inderjit S]

If you want to continue your knowledge on M-E then continue with HoME. 'Tales of the Perilous Realm's is pretty short, and if you look hard you may even be able to find a E-Book version. If I was you, I would stop at HoME 5, then buy 10,11 and 12, just to with the 'Silmarillion flow' rather then get disrupted by the History of LoTR, (HoME 6 and Half of HoME 9) and it will also give you a better idea of how/why Tolkien changed parts of the Silmarillion.

[Gil-Galad]

The best decision is to read them all!:D :D :D :D

[Elbereth]

I want to thank everyone for your kind advice. I ended up purchasing the Shaping of Middle Earth and have begun to read the first chapter.

I also purchased "The Atlas of Middle Earth" by Karen Wynn Fonstad....as well. I only hope that I didn't waste my money on this. It was an impulse buy...but I was intrigued, so I had to get it.

[FoolOfATook]

I also purchased "The Atlas of Middle Earth" by Karen Wynn Fonstad....as well. I only hope that I didn't waste my money on this. It was an impulse buy...but I was intrigued, so I had to get it.

You didn't waste your money- the atlas is a wonderful and useful work. :D

[Melko Belcha]

Originally posted by Elbereth
I want to thank everyone for your kind advice. I ended up purchasing the Shaping of Middle Earth and have begun to read the first chapter.

I also purchased "The Atlas of Middle Earth" by Karen Wynn Fonstad....as well. I only hope that I didn't waste my money on this. It was an impulse buy...but I was intrigued, so I had to get it.

I wiil say that you didn't waste your money on the Atlas, and good timing on the buy because all the full world maps in the Atlas were taken off of Tolkien's drawings show in The Shaping of Middle-earth.