The books that, loosely speaking, make up the story of JRR Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings are well worth reading, better—or at least very different—from the films. These are stories of adventure that have the epic feel that the movies capture, but against a backdrop of conviviality and the pleasures of eating, drinking and telling stories by the fireside as you gather with your companions. Notably, the books are filled with poems that are composed and told by the main characters and pay homage to an oral storytelling tradition that has largely disappeared from our culture but Tolkien clearly admired.
Below, we’ve listed the Lord of the Rings books in the best order to read them, starting with The Hobbit (published in 1937), which sets up the basic story and characters from which the rest of the tale flows.
The Hobbit introduces the creature known as a hobbit, about half the height of a human, beardless, and with hairy feet. In particular, the book introduces the figure of Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit in his 50s who enjoys eating, smoking his pipe and taking it easy, and who is very emphatically NOT in search of an adventure. Unfortunately, a visit from Gandalf, a wizard, and 13 dwarves changes all that. Mr Baggins is dragged off from his comfortable home on a quest to recover a treasure.
The Hobbit is fun and light-hearted but has a slightly two-dimensional feel—featuring elves, goblins and dragons: creatures you might expect in a magical story for kids. It does not yet have the epic and ‘real’ feel of The Lord of the Rings. However, it’s in The Hobbit that a magical ring first makes its appearance, as does the creature who is obsessed with it—called Gollum because of the strange noise he makes in his throat when he talks. It’s clear that the ring’s power and the role it would play in the narrative of The Lord of the Rings had yet to take shape in Tolkien’s mind.
The Fellowship of the Ring, published in 1954, comprises books 1 and 2 of The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien’s thousand-page plus fantasy novel. As book 1 opens, we learn that Bilbo Baggins, the hobbit, has remained a bachelor, but adopted a distant cousin, Frodo Baggins, as his heir. More surprisingly, Bilbo is about to turn 111 without, apparently, having aged at all. The power of the ring Bilbo picked up in The Hobbit is gradually revealed and it becomes clear that Frodo too must leave home to keep both himself and the world safe. He takes flight just in time, in the company of three hobbit friends. In book 2, the company escorting the ring expands to nine, who call themselves the ‘Fellowship of the Ring.’ The fellowship represents ‘the Free Peoples of the World’ and includes not only hobbits but also elves, dwarves and men, as well as the magician, Gandalf.
The book’s appeal lies in its brilliant evocation of being on the run from danger and the meaning of fear, as well as the power of camaraderie and the challenge of distinguishing friend from foe, and those you can trust from those you can’t. Tolkien is able to make the agents of evil in The Fellowship of the Ring truly terrifying.
The Two Towers includes books 3 and 4 of JRR Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings epic, opening just after the fellowship of the ring splits up. At this point in the story, it may be useful to have a map to hand, as the geography, while beautifully described, can be hard to follow. Maps (drawn by Christopher Tolkien, JRR Tolkien’s son and literary executor) are included in the book but don’t trace the characters’ routes. For that, it’s worth exploring online, where you can find resources like this one. Book 3 follows the fate of most of the members of the fellowship, and is largely about the coming together of forces to do battle against Saruman, a wizard gone bad. Men, trees and orcs (goblins) feature in a fight, which even if you’re not generally big on battle scenes is gripping.
Book 4, by contrast, follows only Frodo, ‘the ringbearer’, and his friend Sam on their lonely journey to Mordor, the home of the enemy but also the only place where the ring of power can be destroyed. It’s about doing what you least want to do because you must. JRR Tolkien was very emphatic that his books were in no way an allegory for anything, but he did live through both World War I (in which many of his friends died) and II and the idea of duty and sacrifice for a cause is strong.
The Return of the King is the 5th and 6th book of The Lord of the Rings epic and its final instalment. In book 5, the members of the fellowship become increasingly embedded in the world of men, as they fight against evil alongside two kingdoms: Gondor and Rohan. It’s almost a medieval military story, with sieges and battles, and a king returning to claim his throne. A few magical elements here and there keep the fantasy aspect alive.
Book 6 follows Frodo and Sam on the last part of their journey to Mount Doom to destroy the ring. Quite a substantial part of the book is about the journey home, which works well as by this stage of the book, you’re thoroughly invested in quite a few of the characters.
One additional thing to note: the appendices at the back of The Return of the King are quite an eye-opener in terms of the scope of Tolkien’s world-building. There are substantial family trees and chronologies, additional historical details and a large section devoted to the languages of Middle-earth, including an alphabet and a pronunciation guide.
Tolkien began writing The Silmarillionwell before his other works but it was only published in 1977 after his death. Chronologically, it’s about the period before The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, but it’s better to read it afterwards. It’s filling in gaps in the ‘history’ (including the forging of the ring) but doesn’t have the narrative flow of the other books and is quite hard to read. Or to put it another way, The Simarillion is only a book to read if you’ve really caught the Tolkien bug and want to know everything about his world.
The Silmarils are jewels filled with light, and like the rings, they lead to trouble. At the centre of the story are elves, though other creatures do feature. You’ll find out the origin myth of dwarves and come across Sauron, originally the servant of Morgoth, who is the chief baddie of The Silmarillion. The Balrog, who later does battle with Gandalf in The Fellowship of the Ring, also features. Tolkien said it was all part of “one long saga of the Jewels and the Rings.” He also felt that two of the stories in particular—The Rings of Power and the Downfall of Númenor (listed as Akallabeth in the table of contents)—were “essential background” to The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.
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If you’re hooked and want to read more books by Tolkien, here are recommendations of other books he wrote set in the world of Middle-earth. Like The Silmarillion, these were published after his death. Most are edited by his son, Christopher Tolkien, and beautifully illustrated by Alan Lee.
November 2, 2024
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