# Tolkien's greatest work



## Elendil3119 (May 29, 2003)

What do you consider to be Tolkien's greatest work, and why?


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## Celebthôl (May 29, 2003)

The Lord Of The Rings definatly!

1) It has the most readers in the world out of any book save the bible, (thats a big lot)

2) It took 12 years to finish, and any book that took that long to complete is the best!

3) It is a literacy piece of genious, and there is no denying it, it has everything the best book in the world should have!

Thôl


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## Eriol (May 29, 2003)

I voted for LotR too. Even though Tolkien himself would probably have voted for the Sil.


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## Confusticated (May 29, 2003)

Well the HoME and UT are collections of works, so I would rather pick one of those than the entire series as a whole. I go with the Silmarillion (as a work, not the published book) being the greatest work because he worked on it throughout the years and wrote so many essays associated with it.
I would group the Legendarium as one work, and definitely the greatest. Though, this is found in HoME and UT.


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## GuardianRanger (May 29, 2003)

I voted for Lord Of The Rings as well.....I believe that without Lord Of The Rings and its popularity, some of the other books would not have seen the light of day; or at least not done as well.


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## Elendil3119 (May 29, 2003)

I would have added each volume of HoMe individually, but there weren't enough poll options.

My vote goes to The Silmarillion. Without the Sil, LotR could never have been what it is; the scattered references to 'historical' events in LotR gave it an overall feeling of depth and substance. If these references were not there, I doubt LotR would be nearly as good as it is. The Sil was probably quite hard for Tolkien to write because he had no such 'historical' references that he could make. Despite this, he did an incredible job. Not just anybody can actually write a _history_ like Tolkien did.


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## Melko Belcha (May 29, 2003)

I couldn't vote for any because The Lay of Leithian in HoME 3 is my favorite of all his works.


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## Ithrynluin (May 29, 2003)

The greatest story ever written - The Lord of the Rings.


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## Mahal (May 29, 2003)

Lord of the Rings...It's a masterpiece. Its just superdetailed and i like that.


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## Lantarion (May 30, 2003)

I concur with Nóm. The entire history/histories of the World, the mythological anomalies and intertwining legends are, I think, the most marvelous thing created by one man - ever. 
I mean certainly great epic works like the Eddas, the Kalevala, the Popol-Vuh etc. are incredible and unimaginable, but they were either compiled from ancient tales an beliefs, or edited and rewritten by many, many people over a long time. Tolkien accomplished to create a legendarium, a collection of dazzling myths and legends, within his lifetime. And even though he did not complete them, as incomplete as they are they are still the greatest historical, mythical fantasy works ever made IMO.
The LotR is very entertaining, and an enormously large adventure; but compared to the epic-scale events of the Sil it is only an escapist fantasy novel. Nevertheless, I consider it a masterpiece of fantasy literature and it is one of my favourite books of all time.


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## Beleg (May 30, 2003)

Lord of the Rings. It's a masterpiece.


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## YayGollum (May 30, 2003)

I had to go with Lord Of The Rings. Because it has the most Gollum lines. sorry about that. Maybe I'd think differently if I had read lots of those other options. Probably not, though. Is there a character more fun to defend in any of those other things?


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## Niniel (May 31, 2003)

I agree with Nom and Lanty; the whole mythology that Tolkien developed during his life, and of which we can only read parts (the Sil, UT, and HOME) are his greatest work, and for him far more important than LOTR. There are many things in it that are stunningly beautiful and comparable to the great mythologies that we have (such as the Greek, Norse, and Celtic myths). LOTR is of course a great work, and easier to read than the mythological wolrs, but in a sense it's just as much a part of Tolkien's mythology as almost all his other works.


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## Lantarion (May 31, 2003)

> _Originally posted by Niniel_
> There are many things in it that are stunningly beautiful and comparable to the great mythologies that we have (such as the Greek, Norse, and Celtic myths). LOTR is of course a great work, and easier to read than the mythological wolrs, but in a sense it's just as much a part of Tolkien's mythology as almost all his other works.


My thoughts exactly. 
*gasp!* You didn't mentioned Finnish myths!


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## Niniel (Jun 1, 2003)

Sorry, I don't know any Finnish myths... In do want to read them, but I haven't got around to it. What should I read?


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## Lantarion (Jun 1, 2003)

Um, ahem, well there aren't that many myths in fact.. Just the _Kalevala_.. But read it, it's great. In Finnish, preferably! 
I'm going to read (the full, long version) this summer! Go me!


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## Niniel (Jun 1, 2003)

Yeah... in Finnish... I can read a lot of languages, and I always try to read books in their original language, but Finnish is just a bit too much I think. But I will try a translation.


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## ely (Jun 19, 2003)

Well, the Silmarillion is really a masterpiece, it's magnificent, it seems almost unbelievable that one man could create something so wonderful.

But the Lord of the Rings is more emotional, it makes you think.
No book have ever influenced me the way that LotR did. It gave me a really powerful feeling, it really felt as I had lived through all the actions of the book. And I felt that nothing will be the same as it was before...

The Lord of the Rings and the Silmarillion are both great books but in different ways. On emotional level, LotR is greater....

In my mind they're equal, but if I really had to pick one, I would choose the Lord of the Rings. It had a really powerful effect on me...


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## Manveru (Jun 21, 2003)

I voted ''The Silmarillion''
I like 'ancient history' of any kind...
And I like Elves above all the races of Middle-earth--here I can learn about their history and Elder Days...(I knowin HoME I can find even more, but I haven't read it yet )


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## Flame of Anor (Jun 26, 2003)

I had to say LOTR was but i haven't read the others save The Hobbit and The Sillmarillion.


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## Lhunithiliel (Jun 26, 2003)

"Tolkien's greatest work"?
Hmmmmm.....
So difficult to say!

To tell the truth I adore BOLT1!
But also the UT and the "Lost Road"... And the marvellous poems in HoMe III....

Now , not that I have read all of the works included in the poll.... but the more I read the more I feel sorry for some true masterpieces that unfortunately had never been finished. Or others - very much altered lately, or revised....

The point is, how can one answer such a question and pick one of the enlisted works ?!!!!

I cannot. That's why I haven't voted, but still wanted to share my opinion.


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## Arvedui (Jun 26, 2003)

Well, talk about asking for the impossible.
IMO, the basis of it all can be found in the Silmarillion, so I'll have to go with that.
But on the other hand, the basis of his work sterted back in 1917 didn't it, and that can be found in the HoME series...

So I'm sorry, like Lhun, I am unable to decide.


Niniel: there is a translated version of the _Kalevala _ to be found here:Northvegr 
And BTW, on the Main side there are other myths to be found.


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## Captain (Jun 28, 2003)

I believe the Sil, because it's the most complex and took longest to complete.


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## Ithrynluin (Jun 29, 2003)

Looking at the poll, I don't think there's really any real choice to make. One really has to decide between the LOTR and the Sil and _maybe_ the Hobbit though I would dispense it, especially if compared to the previous two works. Only these are works proper and works of epic proportions at that. The HoME and UT are only collections of texts, different versions, notes and comments _about_ these works, and cannot be compared in greatness with the works themselves.


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## BlackCaptain (Jun 29, 2003)

No one voted for the Hobbit?! Wowzers!


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## faila (Jun 29, 2003)

I cant decide. In essence most of tolkiens works are summed up in being the tales of arda, his world. They are one thing.


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