# The Reader's Companion



## Sabriel (Oct 2, 2006)

I recently bought "LOTR: A reader's Companion" by Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull. And it's quite strange to reflect on some things that do explain exatly many little matters - I'm up to Ch 12 "Flight to the Ford", and it does really help!
So does this make it unnessesary to have the History of Middle Earth to read?


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## Barliman Butterbur (Oct 2, 2006)

Sabriel said:


> I recently bought "LOTR: A reader's Companion" by Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull. And it's quite strange to reflect on some things that do explain exatly many little matters - I'm up to Ch 12 "Flight to the Ford", and it does really help!
> So does this make it unnessesary to have the History of Middle Earth to read?



I think it's a matter of temperament. Some people believe that the HoME is indispensable, and others do not. Some have all of it and some just a few of the books. I think I have one. My main involvement (as it has been for the last 40+ years) is reading _The Hobbit_ and LOTR simply for the great fun of losing myself in a good tale, and I supplement the experience with the DVDs. Others want to know every single nugget of available information they can find about every aspect of Tolkien's saga. Others have gotten into the academic end and have even gotten doctoral degrees studying Tolkien!

Just do what you like in any order you like, the main thing is to have lots of fun! You'll find your pattern soon enough — however you proceed, it's a win-win situation!

Barley


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## Alcuin (Oct 2, 2006)

_Readers’ Companion_ has a great deal of things not released before, mostly from Marquette, but also from Oxford; however, prospective buyers should be aware that by far the greater material is drawn from works already published, especially in _ Letters_, and also a lot of commentary by others, particularly Shippey and Kocher. Hammond and Scull have a particular (and sometimes irritating) preoccupation with H. Rider Haggard’s novel _She_, published in 1921, which they continually cite as an inspiration to much of Tolkien’s work. You should also be aware that the references and citations become thinner and thinner as _The Lord of the Rings_ continues to its end, but particularly so with “The Road to Isengard”, “Flotsam and Jetsam”, and “The Voice of Saruman”, each of which is dispensed with little more than three pages. Explanations of (what seems to me) plainly obvious language (e.g. on “The Siege of Gondor”, p 553: “*Reckoning nothing* – Paying no heed.”) makes one think that they believe the reader for whom the Companion has been prepared must be the whole of the confederacy of dunces.

Despite any defects, it is a most commendable work, and quite useful: not yet to the state of a _Variorum_ on Shakespeare, but a tremendous step in that direction. Hammond and Scull (I believe they are married) document hundreds of changes and emendations to the 2004 and 2005 editions of _The Lord of the Rings_, most of which are errors that crept in during various printings (e.g., on “The Grey Havens”, p 671, ‘*Galadriel was … robed all in glimmering white* – Here “robed” was correct in the first Allen & Unwin printing in 1955, but by the fourth printing (1958) it was inexplicably changed to “roped”…’ – oh, what a concept!), but some of which are much stronger changes that should probably be discussed in a separate thread, if not a whole separate section.

All in all, indispensable for the true Tolkien addict.

The _History of Middle-earth_ series (13 volumes including the master index) is another kind of work altogether. In the first place it is edited by Christopher Tolkien and so reads entirely differently, much more like his father than Hammond and Scull. The amount of detail and background is greater by magnitudes. There are drafts and deletions from _The Lord of the Rings_, additional information on almost every story Tolkien ever wrote on the First, Second, Third, and Fourth Ages, and completely new stories not found anywhere else. Asking if you need _HoME_ if you have _Readers’ Companion_ is much akin to asking if you need to read _The Silmarillion_ if you have read _The Lord of the Rings_: the answer is, No, you don’t have to read it, but if you enjoy Tolkien, you will enjoy the _HoME_ series.

That said, there are a lot of places in which only the most die-hard Tolkien fan will manage to stay awake. Trotter the Hobbit with wooden shoes is amusing at first, but he is in every way an inferior character to Strider the Ranger, not least because he clops when he walks. Some of the passages are numbingly boring, particularly when you are reading the fourth version of the same story and all that’s in that version are errata, additions, and deletions from the previous version, all labeled by paragraph numbers. (That from a die-hard fan.) But most of the material is pleasurable; some of it is exciting; and many, many passages are deeply moving. (One of my favorites is “Athrabeth Finrod ah Andreth”, The Debate of Finrod and Andreth, between Finrod Felagund and Andreth, a wise-woman of the First House of the Edain who is in love with his brother Aegnor – and _Aegnor with her_ – but he will not show his love because of the war with Morgoth. Finrod and Andreth discuss the divergent fates of the Two Kindreds, each in turn surprising and confusing the other, sometimes speaking to one another, sometimes past one another, searching for the Truth. The end of that Tale is as sad and poignant as the parting of Arwen and Aragorn: it brings tears to my eyes just to recall it.)

Finally, _HoME_ is divided into three separate parts. The early stuff is in Volumes I–V. The drafts and notes for _LotR_ are in Volumes VI–IX; Volume IX (_Sauron Defeated_) contains all the variations of the story of the drowning of Númenor in all its variations, including the incomplete novel based upon Númenor, _The Notion Club Papers_, that was supposed to be Tolkien’s companion book to C.S. Lewis’s published novel, _Out of the Silent Planet_. (The publisher sells an abridged version of Volume IX titled _The End of the Third Age_ in a group with the other 3 volumes of this portion of _HoME_; this abridged edition does not include the Númenor material.) Finally, Volumes X–XII cover an array of extraordinary material, including several versions of the Silmarillion stories written after the publication of _LotR_ as Tolkien struggled unsuccessfully to complete his _magnum opus_ before he died. He covers such topics as what happens to Elves when they die, Finwë and his two wives (the only Elf with two spouses), where Orcs come from (he couldn’t decide), what happened to Húrin when he was released by Morgoth; and lots more about Dwarves, Fëanor, Glorfindel (was there one Glorfindel or two?), Círdan … and that is a pitifully partial list. In addition, Christopher Tolkien has a fine dry English wit that often emerges in his comments, as well as occasional expressions of exasperation at the sheer mass of material and the confused state in which he often found it, not to mention the tricks to which he and the curators of the two collections sometimes resort in order to decipher otherwise illegible script.

Do you need _HoME_ to appreciate _LotR_? No. If you enjoyed _LotR_, will you enjoy _HoME_? Not necessarily. (If you loved _Silmarillion_, though, chances rise quickly that you will like _HoME_.)


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## Barliman Butterbur (Oct 2, 2006)

You see Sabriel, you're right: we have squadrons of stone Tolkienites around here, one of whom is Alcuin, who possesses a profound knowledge of Tolkien, and who posted an erudite, deep and mighty tome about RC and HoME at the drop of a hat! Well done, Alcuin, and thanks for the links you included!

Barley


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## Ithrynluin (Oct 9, 2009)

I just bought the Reader's Companion (along with the Annotated Hobbit) and must say it looks very promising (they both do, actually). Can't wait to dig in!

Also, I wanted more people to see Alcuin's informative post.


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## Illuin (Oct 9, 2009)

> Originally posted by *Alcuin*
> 
> _That said, there are a lot of places in which only the most die-hard Tolkien fan will manage to stay awake_


 


Hehe; very true. I do highly recommend _*HoME Vol. 10 (Morgoth’s Ring)*_; and _*Vol. 11 (War Of The Jewels)*_ – they should not be missed if you love Tolkien. _*The Peoples of Middle Earth (Vol. 12)*_ is also very good, though it doesn’t match up to the previous two. Other than that, Alcuin is right on the money. The _*RC*_ is an outstanding work (though I do have a few issues in places). The _*Annotated Hobbit*_ is my favorite reference work….it’s flawless and couldn’t be organized any better.


Good to see you back Alcuin.


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## Bucky (Oct 20, 2009)

Alcuin:

Christopher Tolkien has a _what_ that often emerges in his comments? 

Did you accidently type the word *wit* there? 

I must've missed that in the (fine) mess that HoME is........ 

Personally, I'd describe CT's style as more of an anal retentive one myself.


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## Illuin (Oct 21, 2009)

_



Originally posted by Bucky
Did you accidently type the word wit there?

Click to expand...

_



Speaking of "wit" I must agree. However, the work of Chris has been no less than absolute genius. Of course, Dad was the master, but if it weren't for Chris...my obsession may never have blossomed into what it is. The published _Silmarillion_ is my favorite book (regardless of imperfections). God bless his monumental work. Highly underrated!


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