# How old were you?



## King Elf (Aug 27, 2003)

How old were you when you first read this series? Personally I was 12 when I read the Hobbit, and was 15 before I read LOTR.


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## Niniel (Aug 27, 2003)

I was 14 when I read LOTR, and 18 when I read the Hobbit. Last year I started reading the rest of Tolkien's works (Sil, UT, Letters, HOME), so that was when I was 22.


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## Zale (Aug 27, 2003)

I was 8 when I read the Hobbit, and 13 for the Lord Of The Rings. I think I read the Silmarilion at 14, but I might be wrong there.


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## Amras Ciryan (Aug 27, 2003)

I think I was ~12 when I read The Hobbit. It was my school lecture (I had very nice Polish teacher, I mean I liked her a lot). I found it a little bit childish then, so I didn't want to read LOTR. I did it two or three years later (this time thanks to my History teacher, who was a cool guy ). And I have just finished reading LOTR in English. I mean two weeks ago.


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## Bucky (Aug 27, 2003)

I was at a freind's house on a sunday night in 1977 (i think) when NBC had a special on called 'The Hobbit'.

I saw, I loved, I got the books, I read the books.

The Silmarillion came out in XMAS 1977, so I read them all within 8 or 9 months between 15 & 16 years old.


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## Confusticated (Aug 27, 2003)

Read The Hobbit and LotR when I was 22, and The Silmarillion right before I turned 23.

Used to wonder how much I'd have liked The Hobbit and LotR if I had read them when I was younger, and suspect I enjoy them more as an adult... especially in the case of The Hobbit the children's story. I relate much to Bilbo as an adult, and I love him very much and I went into LotR to get more of him and Gandalf.

But part of me will always wonder what it would have been like to read these as a child.

PS: Started HoME when I was 23, and just turned 24 and have not finished it yet.


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## MacAddict (Aug 27, 2003)

I was 14 when I read the Hobbit, I actually started it the day I saw the trailer for FotR, once I read The Hobbit I went straight into LotR.


~MacAddict


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## Manveru (Aug 28, 2003)

I had read _LotR_ about a year before the movies came out (I hadn't even known there were arrangements for that). I was completely hooked by it (actually _LotR_ was my third work of Tolkien so I knew what it was going to be like---I had read _The Silmarillion_ & _The Hobbit_ earlier---nowadays I like that "chronology" of reading). I was 20 (kinda late... but I consider myself a Tolkien-fan since I was 18---> the time I read _The Silmarillion_ for the first time).


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## Tilion (Aug 28, 2003)

I read the Hobbit first at the age of 12 the LOTR at the age of 14 followed by the Silmarillion at 15 and have yet to read Unfinished Tales but have read the tolkien reader and hope to read all of tokiens work as i am now hooked. I dont think i would have got into LOTR if it had not been for my love of the games workshop products.


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## Aglarthalion (Aug 29, 2003)

I was 8 when I first read The Hobbit, and 13 when I first read The Lord Of The Rings. Of course, I've read each book multiple times since then.


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## Gandalf White (Aug 30, 2003)

I'm not sure of the exact age, but these are close approximates. Hobbit must have been read at age 10 or 11. I liked it so much my Dad rented me LotR from the library, and so I read them at age 12, maybe 13. Didn't read the Sil 'til 15 or 16, and really need to read it again.


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## Roilya (Aug 31, 2003)

i was 15, when i read the lotr and i am still 15 now. i plan on reading the other books next.


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## Rhiannon (Aug 31, 2003)

I was five or six the first time my dad read _The Hobbit_ and _The Lord of the Rings_ to me. He reads them out loud every year (with a few unfortunate exceptions). 

When I was twelve I read _The Lord of the Rings_ to myself for the first time, and again when I was fifteen. There are also certain excerpts that I read more often than any others (ie, anything to do with Eowyn, especially The Battle of the Pelennor Fields).

I just realized I have never actually read _The Hobbit_ to myself.


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## Inderjit S (Aug 31, 2003)

14 when I read 'The Hobbit', 15, LoTR, 16, Publsihed Silmarillion,U.T, HoME 1, 2, parts of 3 and 4, 5, 6,7, parts of 9, 10,11,12, quite a bit of Letters of J.R.R.T, Guid to Names in LoTR. It's been a busy year


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## Turin (Aug 31, 2003)

I think I was like 9 or 10 when I first read the Hobbit, and I read LOTR sometime before but in the same year that the first movie came out.


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## BlackCaptain (Sep 1, 2003)

I was 10 when I read the Hobbit, then read The Lord of the Rings two years later. I then read the Sil when I was 13, and now that I'm almost 14 I've completed LotR twice, and the Sil twice


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## Khôr’nagan (Sep 1, 2003)

I read _The Hobbit_, _FotR_, _TTT_, and _RotK_ when I was 14. I read _The Silmarillion_, _Unfinished Tales_, _The Book of Lost Tales 1_ and _2_, and _The Lays of Beleriand_ while 15. I am currently still fifteen, though I'll be sixteen on October 26. I have (this past month) just reread _The Hobbit_, _FotR_, _TTT_, and _RotK_. After seing FotR (the movie), I began reading the books, and I am obsessed with Tolkien now.


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## Turin (Sep 1, 2003)

I think I was 12 when I read UT, and I still haven't read the Sil.


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## Aranaug (Sep 1, 2003)

I was 12 when I read The Hobbit, I started FotR when I was 13 but didn't get very far because I didn't have the time to read. I then started to read it again when I was 14 and was to just before Bree when I saw the FotR movie. I continued to read it and polished off the first two books and started the third in a couple weeks. Once again school work stopped my reading of it for a couple months I then finished it in about a week and the immediately read The Sil. 

Actually this has made me think of some thing I hadn't thought about since I got my first copy of the Hobbit and LotR. I was in Science class in eigth grade and was looking at my recent acquirements and my science teacher say me came over and said, "You might want to careful, those books are hobbit forming."


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## Telëlambe (Sep 2, 2003)

i was 8 when the hobbit was read to me, i read it myself when i was 11, LotR I was 12 and the holy grail of Tolkien (the sill) when i was 15, i am 16 now and am doing a higher in-depth study of the sill and am trying to build a collection of the history of me


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## Helcaraxë (Sep 2, 2003)

I read the hobbit AFTER LotR, strangely enough. I read LotR when I was 9 or 10, and the hobbit and the silmarillion in the same year. I'm reading HomE now.


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## Lúthien Séregon (Sep 3, 2003)

I first had the Hobbit introduced to me by someone when I was 6 ( they read excerpts from it, but I didn't get to hear the whole story ), but then I read it for myself when I was 7. I also read the Lord of the Rings Trilogy when I was 7, but didn't discover the Silmarillion until I was 13, and the Unfinished Tales until I was 14.


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## Lord of Ry'leh (Sep 5, 2003)

I read The Hobbit when I was around 11, then I read the Fellowship at 11 (didn't really comprehend everything at that time, skipped over a lot that I thought was 'boring' at that age). I re-read Fellowship and the rest or LoTR at 16 and now at 17 I'm reading the Silmarillion.


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## Estella Bolger (Sep 15, 2003)

I was about 12 when I read the Hobbit and 14 when I first attempted LotR. I gave up on the Council of Elrond, then tried again at 15. The rest I have read recently.


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## Starflower (Sep 15, 2003)

I was given the Hobbit as a present on my 9th birthday , loved it, and read LoTR a couple of years later, i was about 11 going on 12... then I just kept going, I haven't read all the HoME , I read the first three and gave up.
I have a niece who got "converted" at the tender age of 10, we read LoTr for her out loud as bedtime reading  lucky she didn't have nightmares!



Starflower


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## Gilgallad II (Sep 21, 2003)

I was 10 when I read the Hobbit. Then read it again at 12 . I read LOTR when I was 11 and the Sil when I was 12. I loved them all!!!!!


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## baragund (Sep 21, 2003)

I was 13 or 14 when I read The Hobbit for the first time. I read LOTR about a year later, and I was 17 when I made my first attempt at The Silmarillion (I found it too dense the first try and set it aside when I was about half way through).


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## Kelonus (Sep 22, 2003)

I read The Lord of The Rings Trilogy at 16-17. The Hobbit I haven't read. I do plan to buy the book and read it.


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## Captain (Sep 22, 2003)

I read The Hobbit at 12, LOTR at 13, and The Silmarillion at 14.


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## Kahmûl (Sep 23, 2003)

I was 13 when I read the Hobbit and LOTR.


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## Beleg (Sep 23, 2003)

Fourteen when I first read Hobbit, Fourteen when I read all the books except HOME VII, parts of VIII, VI, V, IV and most of HOME III, II, I and Vanyar Tengwar.


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## Eru (Oct 19, 2003)

I was about 11 when I read the Hobbit and about 13 when I read the other books in the series. When I was 13 we were required to write a creative story for English, so I composed a historical account of an event in Tolkiens history.

My main characters, however, had names that I latter realised I stole from Tolkien's other works (Silmarillion) which I have not read.

If anyone wants to sound like they know a bit more about Tolkien than they truly do, have the compendium by J.E.A Tyler with you!


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## Manwe (Oct 27, 2003)

I was about 10 when I read The Hobbit and 11-12 when I read LOTR series. Im yet to finish The Silmarillion


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## Gil-Galad (Nov 1, 2003)

Well I read LOTR a little bit older than you.I was 16.Then I read The Hobbit,then The Silmarillion -in 2001 and UT some months later.And now I'm trying to read BOLT 1 and BOLT 2.


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## Elfhelm25 (Nov 1, 2003)

I was 11 when I read the Hobbit ( in 6th grade we did a play for it ) and I enjoyed it very much then. Wasnt at all interested in reading anything else until Gr 10 english class when I started reading FOTR cause I forgot my reading book. And that was the beginning of a now 4 year love affair with LOTR.


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## Weathergirl2006 (Nov 1, 2003)

i was 14 for all of the above..i read them all close together


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## elf_queen (Nov 9, 2003)

I was 10 when I read The Hobbit, and 11 when I read LOTR.


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## Halasían (Nov 11, 2003)

17 when I read The Hobbit, and 18 when I read the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Was 21 when I read the Silmarillion, and was 27 when I read Unfinished Tales.

Lets see if I can remember back ....

It was 1975 and summer was in full swing in Seattle. I was walking about with my neighbor one warm night, and as we shared some pipeweed all rolled up in a ZigZag, he told me about this book he just read and enjoyed very much called The Hobbit. I asked what a Hobbit was, and he told me they were short care-free folk who like eating, drinking, & smoking! Said I'd be interested in reading it since I had finished one of Asimov's Foundation books and wanted something different to read. 

So he loaned me the Hobbit paperback and said he was starting on the Lord of the Rings Fellowship of the Ring. I Read through The Hobbit and liked it, but thought it to be a bit juvenile. My neighbor said Fellowship Of The Ring was better and loaned me that paperback as he had just finished it. I read it through and indeed I enjoyed it much more than The Hobbit. 

I then read Two Towers when he had finished it. By this time I was eating the tale up, and I finished Two Towers while he had stalled a third of the way into Return of the King. After a couple weeks of bugging him about whether he finished it yet and he getting annoyed at me, I finally checked out an old 1957 copyright hardback of Return of the King out of the library and read on through. 

Loved the big fold-out map that was in the back of that hardback edition, so when I returned it I checked out Fellowship and Two Towers hardbacks and started reading the Trilogy all over again! When I checked out Return of the King the second time and finished it, I delved into the appendices and all they had to offer. 

Started learning the elven scripts and, lo & behold, I met a Tolkien geek babe in my senior year in high school. We would practice our Tengwar scripting and pass notes to each other, and sit by the flag pole at lunch telling tales to each other. When they started doing some renovation work on the bus-loading zone near the flag pole, we saw they had just poured fresh curbing, so we decided to cut the class after lunch and imprint 'Friends' in Tengwar. We made a couple mistakes, but it remained in that curb until 2005 when they totally re-worked the school and dug up the curbs and flagpole. 

When word got out that the Silmarillion was going to be published, we geeks were overjoyed! Went to a book release line party and got my copy! Tried to read it, and couldn't get into it at all. I finally skipped the biblicy creation beginning and got into the meat of the book. Aside from a few takes of the Noldor and of Turin, it never really did that much for me. I enjoyed more Unfinished Tales when it came out, and I really enjoyed Children of Hurin when it came out a few years ago. Thought it was a proper treatment of the tale. I will always come back to read the Trilogy every now and again. I think I'm up to 11 readings in 38 years. Sadly, I have only read it through once since those PJ movies came out. I'm way past due to read it through again.


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## celebdraug (Nov 12, 2003)

i was 13 when i read the hobbit, and about 14/15 when i started on lotr!

i started the sil now!


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## Saermegil (Nov 17, 2003)

When in was 14 I saw the first LOTR movie, I liked it a lot and the read the other books (in the order that I read them): the lord of the rings, the hobbit, the silmarillion and unfinished tales. I finished the latter about a month ago


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## Holdwine (Nov 29, 2003)

Well i stared reading the LOTR after i saw the fellowship for the first time when the two towers just came out and i read the hobbit also when i was 17 which is this year


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## Paul (Dec 5, 2003)

i was read the hobbit when i was 7 or 8 and i frst read lotr at 14


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## Earendil (Dec 8, 2003)

I remember i was 12 and a half. I got it for my 12th birthday and i put off reading it until christmas so it was a half a year after i got it that i started reading teh series. I read the Sill about...hmmm...i think a year later so about 13 or something.


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## grendel (Dec 10, 2003)

I read The Hobbit when I was 14, and found it quite funny. Read LotR after that and, well, it wasn't quite as humorous. Read it again a couple of years later and began to "get it." I didn't read The Silmarillion until I was 30 and was amazed at how much of the background of LotR was explained.


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## Aragorn21 (Dec 10, 2003)

I think i was 14 when i read the hobbit, I read the LOTR right after.

Welcome to the forum grendel!


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## Eliot (Dec 10, 2003)

I first read _The Hobbit_ when I was 12 or 13, and I read both _The Lord of the Rings_ and _The Silmarillion_ when I was 13. Since then, I've read TH three times, TLotR three times, and The Sil once. I plan on reading The Sil for the second time sometime soon, but I'm not sure when.

Welcome to The Tolkien Forum, grendel.


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## WizardMagus (Dec 14, 2003)

I read the Hobbit at 15, in one day. That same night I picked up the Lost Tales (a bit out of order, I know), and read that for a few weeks (a little dry for my taste). I think I read LotR at 16, same with Silmarillion, and a few more of the HotME books (I only read four or five).


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## KellGreenleaf (Dec 14, 2003)

At age 15 I started reading The Hobbit, FotR, TTT, and ROTK.


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## Lady_of_Gondor (Dec 17, 2003)

I was between the ages of 14 and 16 when I read them. I read them all in sequence because my aunt gave them to me for my 14th bday.


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## aturina (Dec 27, 2003)

36 when I read The Hobbit and LOTR after seeing the movies FOTR and TTT. I guess I'm one of the oldest (if not, THE oldest).

I'm reading LOTR again as we speak. 

I don't think I had the maturity at a younger age to truly understand the story of LOTR. I see SO many layers to it now. And I'm completely obsessed!


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## Belegmacar (Jan 19, 2004)

The Hobbit when I was 11, LOTR when I was 11 and 12, and the Sil when I was 13.


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## Durino Dagnir (Jan 25, 2004)

When I was around nine or ten (in fourth grade). I had seen the cartoons when I was little, but I only understood the hobbit. Even my mom didn't understand the Bakshi one. Then I heard that there was going to be a new LotR movie, and I had no idea what it was. I figured that there must be books, and I got The Hobbit from the school library sometime around September. Then I started reading the LotR. About halfway through TTT, I found this great website called thetolkienforum.com. I actually shadowed it for a few years before deciding to register about five minutes ago. I learned about these weird things called Maiar (that was the first word that entered my new vocabulary), and I got the Silmarillion for Christmas that year. I've been hooked ever since.

^ My very first post, ever. ^


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## Ireth Telrúnya (Jan 25, 2004)

It seems to me that all of you were quite young when you encountered Tolkien.

Me? I was probably a little over 20 and it was in 1992 or 93 probably when I first tried to read The Hobbit but then dropped it after a while.(I should have started the Fellowship first!)
But I read all of them at thirty.


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## Tinuvien21 (Feb 9, 2004)

I was 11 when I read The Hobbit, and 12 or 13 when I read LOTR.


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## Elessar II (Feb 9, 2004)

I was 12 when I read the hobbit and thirteen when I read LOTR and since then I've read the trilogy five times and the hobbit thrice. I tried to read the Silmarillion right after I had finished the trilogy but I got bored with it really fast. I'm quickly realizing that I am going to have to read it sometime soon. Oh well, I guess I'll have to pick it up at the library next time I go.


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## Aragorn21 (Feb 9, 2004)

I was 13 when i read the Hobbit and LOTR, and for the past 2 years I've meant to read them again...haven't gotten to it.


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## Minuel Lasgalas (Feb 9, 2004)

I read the Hobbit first and then LoTR, at 15 I think. I asked for a copy of the Sil for my birthday when it was published - so that would be '77 sometime and I was in college. I lent it out after I had read it - a bad move - but I replaced it soon afterward. 

My family has a tendancy to reread books as the mood strikes us... I've worn out three sets of paperbacks over the years - I broke down and bought the hardbounds - they are holding up better


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## Lady Legolas (Feb 10, 2004)

I read the Hobbit when I was 14 years old. I read the Lord of the Rings the same year of the movie, but before the move came out.


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## faila (Feb 10, 2004)

I was in like 2nd grade when i read the hobbit and 3rd grade when i read lotr so like 7 with hobbit and probobly 8 when i read lotr. I read big books at a young age.


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## JennyDolfen (Feb 11, 2004)

Much like Rhiannon... I was ridiculously young when my mother read the Hobbit to me for the first time, must have been six. When we were done, I asked, "Does the story go on?" "Yes," she said. "Can you read the rest to me too?" I asked. 

And she did. I was eight before we were done, and I saw that terrible animation movie by Ralph Bakshi sometime during that time, which left its marks as to the looks of some characters. Notably, short hair on many of them. 

I started drawing scenes from the books straight away... and did so for the next ten years.  I think the first time I completely read through all of LotR on my own was when i was 14--and before that, I'd tried reading on chapter in English when i was 13 (I'm German). I got very, vcery little.  When i came to "Denethor's pyre" again in German, I was like, "Oh, Denethor *dies* in that chapter?!"


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## Isthir (Feb 12, 2004)

Hobbit : around the age of 12

LotR : 13 or so

Unfinished tales : 16-17

The Silmarillion : 19 (right now actually)

-Isthir​


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## Bombadillo (Feb 12, 2004)

hobbit:1 11 couldnt get through
2 13

lotr: 1 13

sil: 1 16 

ut: 17


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## Holly (Feb 14, 2004)

Zale said:


> I was 8 when I read the Hobbit, and 13 for the Lord Of The Rings. I think I read the Silmarilion at 14, but I might be wrong there.



I was 8 when I read the Hobbit.


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## Arthur_Vandelay (Feb 18, 2004)

I was about 15 when I read LOTR, The Hobbit, and The Silmarillion.

My introduction to Tolkien was a curious one: I copied the PC game "War in Middle Earth" from a cousin, and wanted to find out more about it. The rest is history.


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## Rhiannon (Feb 18, 2004)

Arthur_Vandelay said:


> I was about 15 when I read LOTR, The Hobbit, and The Silmarillion.
> 
> My introduction to Tolkien was a curious one: I copied the PC game "War in Middle Earth" from a cousin, and wanted to find out more about it. The rest is history.


I remember my brother playing that game! The graphics were based off of the Hildebrandt illustrations. It came with a big map of Middle Earth, which I found and had on more wall for a while, but when we moved it vanished and I _can't find it_, which is currently driving me bonkers.


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## Dáin Ironfoot I (Feb 18, 2004)

LOTR- 15 (reread about 1.75 times)

Hobbit- 15

Simarillion- 16 (rereading it again and loving every page)

UT-16

HoME (1-8)- TO BE DETERMINED (as I have the books but felt it a good idea to reread the Sil first)


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## Glory (Feb 18, 2004)

I think that when I started to read LoTR I was 16 years old, and when I read the Hobbit too. I was kinda happy when the first movie came out because finding the book was quite hard back then (at least where I live) and I had like 2 or 3 years looking for it.


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## 33Peregrin (Feb 22, 2004)

I read The Lord of the Rings when I was thirteen, same with the Hobbit. It's been two years, and I've read LOTR six times.


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## Halasían (Oct 25, 2013)

... I'll add Children Of Hurin at 50 ...


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## Starbrow (Oct 25, 2013)

I first read The Hobbit at age 13 and LOTR at 15.


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## CirdanLinweilin (Jun 7, 2017)

I started reading _The Lord of the Rings _when I was 19, I just finished it yesterday. I am 20 now.

I still need to read _The Hobbit, The Silmarillion, _and all the rest.

CL


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## Ingolmin (Jun 8, 2017)

Hobbit- 11 years
Lotr- 12 years
Silmarillion-13 years
Unfinished Tales- 14 or 15
History of Middle Earth (Currently reading at age 16)


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## Azrubêl (Jun 23, 2017)

When I was in 4th grade (10 years old?) I got _The Two Towers_ from the school library because I had heard of the LOTR movies, which my parents didn't let me see then. Needless to say, starting with _TTT_ didn't make the story make much sense to me! I liked the way it was written and the imagery but I basically had NO IDEA what was going on. I think in 5th or 6th grade I started with _The Fellowship of the Ring, _and that's where it all began! I also read _The Hobbit_ around then. In 7th grade, my English teacher (bless her heart) had us read _The Hobbit _as one of our major subjects for the year, and I was one of the few people who LOVED it. 

I read _The Silmarillion_ in high school and wasn't really that impressed, except by the more exciting parts, but it grew on me a ton. I also read _The Children of Hurin _in high school and wasn't that impressed, and... now I basically cry while reading it. I also read and re-read _LOTR_ and _The Hobbit_ all through high school. Now, I recently graduated college, and I've read a solid chunk of _Unfinished Tales_ and the first 5 _Histories_! Now the challenge is to retain the information from those!

I am super excited about the Beren and Luthien book that just came out, and I'm hoping to see a similar one for The Fall of Gondolin soon!!


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## Sir Gawain d'Orchany (Jan 9, 2018)

King Elf said:


> How old were you when you first read this series? Personally I was 12 when I read the Hobbit, and was 15 before I read LOTR.


I was super young when I read the Hobbit. I was 8 when I read LOTR, I was 10 when I read Unfinished and Untold tales and I was out of high school when I finally read Sir Gawain.


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## Blueduindain (Aug 23, 2018)

I read _The Hobbit_ at eleven years old; by then I had been into the Peter Jackson Trilogy of movies for a few years. And before _That_ I had been playing Dungeons&Dragons since i was about seven. Then when i was Fifteen i _Finally _got around to reading the _Lord of the Rings_! At Sixteen i first read _The Silmarillion. _i own _Unfinished Tales_, but never got around to reading it.


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## Miguel (Aug 26, 2018)

The very first time i learned about Tolkien was when my brother showed me an article in a magazine about a LOTR movie being made and i remember that it showed a photo of the plains were the battle at the prologue was fought, 1999/2000?. Between 14/15 years old. I had no idea what this series was about but my brother said "man, this is going to be great!". Once the movie came out, everyone watched it but me. When it was released on DVD i picked it up and when i saw the scene: "A last alliance of elves and men marched against the armies of Mordor..." I was like "Wut?, Thank you very much for this!" 

The only book i have read is the Silmarillion, which my mom had for a long time. I started reading it around 2006/2007. Between 22/23 years old. At first i found it hard to read since i wasn't familiar with the archaic English but i was fascinated non the less. The moment i read that music gave birth to Arda i understood that this truly was something else. I was reading through it while pausing now and then and checking artworks on the internet from Ted Nasmith, John Howe and Alan Lee which really helped me get even more immersed into the mythology. This book is the best thing ever and is definitely where my chief interest lay


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## Thistle Bunce (Sep 8, 2018)

While I was in my teens when I first read the trilogy, it took a few more years to get around to The Hobbit. As for the Silmarillion, HoME series and other works, it is still an ongoing battle. I have skimmed/scanned the Sil dozens of times, looking for sections that elucidate elements of LOTR, but I still cannot manage to read it straight through, cover to cover. True confession.

At one point, I swore to myself that I WOULD get through The Sil, and armed myself with notecards on which I listed each character, his/her connections to other characters, the 'house' or clan to which each belonged, etc. Yeah. That lasted about 6 months, and I still wasn't at the back cover. Giving it up as a bad job, I resigned myself to a life of perpetually snacking on the Sil, rather than enjoying it as the full repast which it seems to be for so many others. "No accounting for taste" as my gaffer used to say.

(A note for the chronologically curious, I habitually misrepresent my birth date on-line. Like the elves, I am far older than I appear at first glance.)


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## Squint-eyed Southerner (Sep 8, 2018)

Miguel said:


> The only book i have read is the Silmarillion



Miguel, dude, am I misreading this? Are you saying you still haven't read TH and LOTR?!!!


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## Desert Loon (Sep 20, 2018)

If it counts, I think I was probably around eight when my mother first read _The Hobbit_ to me, and maybe 11 when she read the trilogy. And as I remember it wasn't until I was maybe 23 that I finally read the whole trilogy on my own, though I'd read _The Hobbit _a couple of times by then. My memory about events in LotR had faded and muddled considerably by the time I read it on my own, which made for a lot of confusion in family conversations - all of my siblings are familiar with it. In fact, a few years ago, we all got together and took turns recording chapters of the Hobbit as a present for Mom.


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## Nameless Thing (Oct 20, 2018)

I was around 8 when I read TH and 9 when I read LOTR. I read the Silmarillion much later.


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## Elaini (Oct 20, 2018)

I started to read Lotr around the same time when the movie trilogy first came out... which makes my age then as 18.


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## Gilgaearel (Oct 20, 2018)

I was 8 when I read The Hobbit and 10 when I read the Lord of the Rings when the animated movie was in the theaters.


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## Lady Legolas (Oct 20, 2018)

I was 14 when I read The Hobbit. I was 19 when I read LOTR. I was 23 when I read the Sill.


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## Jordan Thomas (Nov 9, 2018)

Elaini said:


> I started to read Lotr around the same time when the movie trilogy first came out... which makes my age then as 18.


What’s you’re favourite

I read the silmarillion at my age of 15, and I’m reading LOTR for the first time


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## Squint-eyed Southerner (Nov 9, 2018)

Welcome to the forum, Jordan!

And enjoy the journey. I can say from experience, it's one that can last a lifetime.


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## Jordan Thomas (Nov 9, 2018)

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> Welcome to the forum, Jordan!
> 
> And enjoy the journey, I can say from experience, it's one that can last a lifetime.


Thanks sir


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## Squint-eyed Southerner (Nov 9, 2018)

BTW, be sure to share your impressions It's always good to get fresh perspectives.


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## Jordan Thomas (Nov 9, 2018)

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> BTW, be sure to share your impressions It's always good to get fresh perspectives.


So far I’m loving the fellowship,but my favourite book of all time is the silmarillion



Jordan Thomas said:


> So far I’m loving the fellowship,but my favourite book of all time is the silmarillion





Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> BTW, be sure to share your impressions It's always good to get fresh perspectives.


One of the many things I’m loving so far are the details we learn, such as Bilbo and Frodo share a birthday


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## Squint-eyed Southerner (Nov 9, 2018)

Not to mention a complicated relationship!

http://www.thetolkienforum.com/inde...ull-question-regarding-shire-genealogy.23723/


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## Jordan Thomas (Nov 9, 2018)

One of the daunting things about this website, is some posts are older than I am


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## Squint-eyed Southerner (Nov 9, 2018)

Ha! Never thought of it that way -- probably because, when I first read Tolkien, there was no such thing as a "website". 

Well, enjoy digging through the old threads here; there have been some deeply knowledgeable people posting over the years -- and still are.

But take your time; lots of spoilers, if you're reading LOTR for the first time.

Of course, you've undoubtedly seen the movies, in which case, the only "spoilers" you'll encounter will likely be those that spoil the films for you.


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## Jordan Thomas (Nov 9, 2018)

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> Ha! Never thought of it that way -- probably because, when I first read Tolkien, there was no such thing as a "website".
> 
> Well, enjoy digging through the old threads here; there have been some deeply knowledgeable people posting over the years -- and still are.
> 
> ...


Yeah, the films got me into the Tolkien legenderium


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## Eebounnie (Nov 9, 2018)

I was 12 when I read LOTR, 15 for the Hobbit and 16 for all his other work. And now I'm still studying all his texts. (Im now 26)


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## BountyHunter (Nov 14, 2018)

I was 9 when I read The Hobbit and 11 when I read Lord of the Rings.


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## Menegilda Brandybuck (Nov 14, 2018)

I read the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings when I was about 7 or 8 years old.


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## Aramarien (Nov 17, 2018)

I first read The Hobbit in 8th grade, when I guess I was around 13 and read LOTR immediately after. I read the SIL when the paperback was first published in the USA (yes I'm old). I bought The Unfinished Tales when it was first published also. 

I've been buying the Tolkien calendars since the 70's (still have them) with the Hildenbrandt Brothers and Lee and Howe. My son still buys me one every Christmas. 

I probably read LOTR over 25 times (lost count) and pick it up to read favorite passages here and there countless times. Like Gilgaearel, I saw the animated film in the movie theater!!!


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## Squint-eyed Southerner (Nov 18, 2018)

More new members -- this is great! 

Menegilda, I joined only a couple of days before you did. I'm looking forward to hearing everyone's thoughts. So don't be shy!


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## Barliman (Nov 18, 2018)

Aramarien said:


> I first read The Hobbit in 8th grade, when I guess I was around 13 and read LOTR immediately after. I read the SIL when the paperback was first published in the USA (yes I'm old). I bought The Unfinished Tales when it was first published also.
> 
> I've been buying the Tolkien calendars since the 70's (still have them) with the Hildenbrandt Brothers and Lee and Howe. My son still buys me one every Christmas.
> 
> I probably read LOTR over 25 times (lost count) and pick it up to read favorite passages here and there countless times. Like Gilgaearel, I saw the animated film in the movie theater!!!


Sounds like a familiar story. 
Except I didn't see the Bakshi film until it was on DVD. Also I buy my own calendars. I do have every year since I bought my first one around '72 or '73.


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## Aramarien (Nov 18, 2018)

Barliman, I even have the old LOTR board game that was based on the movie!!! 

I bought "The Letters of JRR Tokien" that was in perfect condition at a garage sale many years before word of the movies came out for about 50 cents! I felt like I discovered a treasure! 

I also bought the BBC rendition of cassette tapes of their radio broadcast of LOTR many, many years ago. Ian Holmes played Frodo, and when I saw that he was cast as Bilbo in the movies I thought it was a great choice. 

Sorry, getting a bit away from the topic at hand. 

I remember after I first read The Hobbit, my friend told me that she found more books about hobbits. I asked if Bilbo was in it, and she said he was for a bit, but it was about his nephew/cousin. I sounded disappointed, but she assured me that I would love Frodo just as much if not more. 

She was so very right!!!


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## Valandil (Nov 28, 2018)

It was SO long ago. I think 13/14 for The Hobbit, 15/16 for LOTR, and after a few re-reads of those two, about 36/37 when I read the Silmarillion - and THAT was close to 20 years ago!


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## Phil Lewis (Dec 10, 2018)

Darn it I’m old!
I read The Hobbit at 12... and that was 40 years ago!

I read LotR at about 15, The Silmarillion at ~16, then The Book of Lost Tales and the volumes of HoME as they were published.

I’ve still never read any of Tolkien’s non-Arda work, but I think I will be doing soon.


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## Olorgando (Aug 22, 2019)

Phew! At least *one* person here was older than I was when first reading LoTR.
German translation at age 27, original at just under 30, and the last “new” book was “The Fall of Gondolin” last year at 62. I’ve read LoTR 15 plus times (last time a year or two ago, so at 60 or over).


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## Aldarion (Aug 23, 2019)

I was 9 or 10 when I first read Lord of the Rings. I did it after seeing either FotR or RotK in cinema. Hobbit, however, waited much longer - I only read it few years later. EDIT: I am yet to read it in English, though.


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## Alice (Apr 19, 2020)

I was 9 years old when read LOTR in Russian. Then read Hobbit and tried to read The Silmarillion at 11 (also in Russian). All of these I read in English at 18 years old


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## TrackerOrc (Apr 19, 2020)

12 when I read LoTR, then straight on to The Silmarillion, then the Hobbit. Probably the wrong way round to read the books!


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## Aramarien (Apr 19, 2020)

I read The Hobbit when I was 13, and read LOTR the summer I turned 14. I have read and reread both books too many times to count. I read the Sil when it first came out in paperback and the Unfinished Tales when it first came out. I was lucky enough to find a hardback copy of The Letters of JRR Tolkien at a garage sale, practically new and bought it for 50 cents!!! I felt I found gold!!!


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## Midhiel (Sep 17, 2020)

I was 8 when I read The Hobbit. I tried to read LOTR not long after, but I only made it through a chapter or two - it was still a bit beyond me. I finally finished it all when I was 14 or 15, then read The Silmarillion and The Children of Húrin right after.

I've reread The Hobbit and LOTR multiple times, but still need to go back and do the others again.


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## Deleted member 31872 (Oct 15, 2020)

I was 45


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## Licky Linguist (Nov 13, 2020)

King Elf said:


> How old were you when you first read this series? Personally I was 12 when I read the Hobbit, and was 15 before I read LOTR.


I read both LotR and The Hobbit when I was 10  I didn’t understand some parts XD and left it away for a few months before I could make myself read it again.


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## Deleted member 31872 (Nov 14, 2020)

I was 46 years old

I once started the 50th Anniversary Edition of the Hobbit, when I was in my 30s, but never got past the first chapter


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## Squint-eyed Southerner (Nov 14, 2020)

It's a children's story, so somewhat off-putting for many adult readers. But the tone changes, as the story progresses -- especially the last four chapters -- so I recommend giving it another shot.


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## Olorgando (Nov 14, 2020)

Hiril Arwen said:


> I was 46 years old
> I once started the 50th Anniversary Edition of the Hobbit, when I was in my 30s, but never got past the first chapter





Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> It's a children's story, so somewhat off-putting for many adult readers. But the tone changes, as the story progresses -- especially the last four chapters -- so I recommend giving it another shot.


Well, yes.
But as I have now read John D. Rateliff's "The History of The Hobbit", the 2011 single-volume edition of the 2007 originals, I found a part that should be food for thought.
Very late in the book Rateliff covers what he called "The Fifth Phase", also called "The 1960 Hobbit".
Here, JRRT seems to have *attempted* what PJ *did* in his prequel film trilogy, to convert TH into a LoTR "mode" or whatever.
What appears to have brought JRRT's attempts in this direction to a crashing, and terminal, halt, is what Rateliff describes as follows:

"According to Christopher Tolkien, when his father had reached this point [Rivendell] in the recasting he loaned the material to a friend to get an outside opinion on it. We do not know this person's identity, but apparently her response was something along the lines of 'this is wonderful, but it's not The Hobbit'.

"The Hobbit" is a book in it's own right. For far too many decades, it has been put down even by critics sympathetic to JRRT as something like "that children's fairy-tale predecessor" of LoTR. As the first edition of TH, also due to WW II, never reached 20 thousand sold copies (another fact to be found in Rateliff's book), this had at the time of publication of LoTR, some justification.

By the year 2000 (I think stated stated in one of Tom Shippey's books, but I have been unable to locate the exact quote) the LoTR had reached 50 million copies sold worldwide. TH was not far behind, at 40 million ... numbers that have soared since then.


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