(Part 2) Top products from r/tolkienfans

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We found 51 product mentions on r/tolkienfans. We ranked the 221 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the products ranked 21-40. You can also go back to the previous section.

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Top comments that mention products on r/tolkienfans:

u/belegdal · 5 pointsr/tolkienfans

I was attending a small private Catholic high school when the LotR movies came out. My friends and I were already fans of LotR (I had already read it nearly ten times), but to us the surging popularity of LotR in addition to the strong Catholic identity of Tolkien and his mythos combined to make his work a really big deal among my group of friends.

I think that of all my friends, I was the most familiar with the broader lore of Middle-Earth. I gobbled up the Appendices, the Silmarillion, and Unfinished Tales. I was fascinated by the detailed backstory and Tolkien's incredible attention to culture and especially the languages and alphabets. I can remember taking notes in class using the runes used in the Hobbit, and writing stuff in the Tengwar as well.

Our high school taught Latin as part of the curriculum. In my final year of high school, a friend and I started a project to translate the Hobbit into Latin. Our traslation sucked in hindsight, and we didn't get very far, but it was a lot of fun to work on. (We posted it online if anyone's interested).

I still love Tolkien's works, but my life doesn't revolve around them the way it did then. The recent release of Mark Walker's Hobbitus Ille was very exciting though!

u/philthehippy · 9 pointsr/tolkienfans

The J. R. R. Tolkien Companion and Guide by Christina Scull and Wayne Hammond is essential to all things Tolkien.

I compiled a list with links to Free and Open Access Journals which will offer a large amount of detail not only about Tolkien but the Inklings and extended subjects.

And I recently posted a selection of unpublished letters which offer some intriguing letters that were left out of the published 'Letters of'.

The only official biography is Humphrey Carpenter's Tolkien but there are other works which I and others regard as essential. John Garth's Tolkien and the Great War is excellent. Tom Shippey's Road to Middle-earth is also worth a read. The Inklings again by Humphrey carpenter offers some valuable insights to how the Inklings interacted and includes a large amount of biographical information.

Like the 'free and open access' post I intend to compile a list of blogs in the near future so I will keep your thread in mind and post back here when I do.

u/Dr_irrational · 1 pointr/tolkienfans

This is probably the closest you'll get to original covers in a box set. They're stylized black-themed versions of Tolkien's personal artistry (compare this with this). I have them, they're quite nice. They're matte, not glossy, so they have a nice texture; and the binding is good so the spine doesn't crack if you set it down while open.

Unfortunately if I'm correct I believe your Sil/UT/CoH box set is Harpercollins, so you're probably in Europe or Canada. The ones I posted are published by Mariner, a division of Houghton Mifflin, for sale in the US. This looks like a somewhat comparable Harpercollins edition but I can't vouch for their quality and the covers don't appear to be accurate.

Digging a bit deeper into the Harpercollins library, here's a UK (IDK if you're in the UK but it's probably avaliable in other non-US distribution areas) Hobbit edition that looks just like the original. Here's a LOTR one-volume edition with a cover based on Tolkien's original design for Fellowship of the Ring. This looks like a pretty accurate LOTR+Hobbit paperback set, but it appears to not be in print anymore so you have to buy used or pay through the nose to get it.

Album of all the original covers for reference if you care

u/danjvelker · 1 pointr/tolkienfans

I've had excellent times with this set right here. It's an excellent price, the books are hardcover, lightly illustrated, and beautiful both with the dust covers on (you can see the white covers there) and without (each book is a lovely brown with the an illustration embossed in red and gold). It's a bit secondary, but each book also contains a fold-out map in the back that's of excellent quality and even comes in color. I truly believe this is the best way to go, unless you have hundreds of dollars to shell out for a collector's set.

u/ety3rd · 6 pointsr/tolkienfans

I'll tell you what I did and, hopefully, it'll work out for you, too.

(I'm in the US, so your results may vary.)

Books 1 - 5 were readily available in paperback and are fairly cheap here (about $6 each).

Books 6 - 8 are often called The History of the Lord of the Rings and I got mine in a bundled set. Amazon currently has them separate and about $11 each. But BEWARE the fourth book in the bundle, titled Sauron Defeated. That's only the first part of Book 9.

Books 9 - 12 are nearly unavailable in the US. I found some on ebay years ago for $50 and more each. That's when I discovered Amazon.co.uk. Yes. Looking there now, I see them at about $12 each right now and they're worth it. Very lovely covers ... I almost wish I got all of mine from there. (There was also a 13th book, an index for all twelve volumes. I got it, too)

I did some quick math and it looks like you could them all for between $100 and $130, depending on if you can find that LOTR bundle or just buy them separately.

Or you could spend $164 and just buy this complete set and save the effort.

I also would recommend The History of The Hobbit, a two-volume set from John Rateliff (since Christopher Tolkien didn't include the details in the History). Here's the first one, Mr. Baggins from the Amazon UK site, just $12. The set is about $50 on the US Amazon site.

u/Holint_Casazr · 1 pointr/tolkienfans

I have the this Harper/Collins Deluxe Edition of LotR (also the Hobbit book of this edition) and I would recommend it.

Its hardcover, its sewn (I'm not expert enough to tell you what kind of sewing or if its a kind of sewing/clueing hybrid - but I can see that its sewn) and in one single volume. The paper quality is good/decent. It contains some nice fold-out maps and pictures (of the Book of Mazarbul when they are in Moria - afaik by Tolkien himself?) -though no images/illustration.

The slipcase it comes in also looks very nice and the Edition fits together perfectly (dark green Hobbit, dark red LotR, dark blue Silm etc. - I also own the HoME in this Edition, though the paper is a lot thicker for LotR/Hobbit than it is for the HoME (there (HoME) its more like those Bible papers, but not quite as thin)).

I can very much recommend it. Though note that I was gifted the Hobbit + LotR version of these for christmas (since, just as you, I was looking for a decent version to replace my paperback), so I can't speak for the longevity/permanent quality of it yet.

Edit: ISBN for clarification: 978-0-00-718236-7

u/pfr_77 · 1 pointr/tolkienfans

ballantine 1973 paperbacks

houghton mifflin 1999 trade paperback (my first set, heart eyes)

houghton mifflin 80s hardcover set (had my eye on these for Years and my gf bought me the box set for my bday, more heart eyes) $38 on amazon rn (apparently there's a hobbit hardcover that matches these? i need it)

there's a really nice big coffee table-ish hardcover of the silmarillion with lots of illustrations by ted nasmith. it's huge though (almost as big as TWOIAF) and surprisingly heavy and I don't think I actually have a way to comfortably read it right now? ymmv though

u/_gobber_ · 3 pointsr/tolkienfans

I had the same issue in january, I wanted to buy a "complete" collection of Tolkiens books but box sets mostly dont contain everything I wanted and the nice ones are really expensive...<br /> <br /> I decided to buy the Harper Collins Anniversary editions (as mentioned in your other post) because they had every book I wanted in a similar size and spine layout. Its not the cheapest way to get all of them but the most satisfying for me... Also by far not the most expensive editions.

The books I got:

Fellowship of the Ring

Two Towers

Return of the King

Hobbit

History of the Hobbit: Mr. Baggins

History of the Hobbit: Return to Bag End

Simarillion

Unfinished Tales

This is a picture of them I found online, missing the second History of the Hobbit book and an one extra, but you get the idea of how they look: Link

I hope this is some help or at least a bit interesting

u/Doc_Faust · 3 pointsr/tolkienfans

If you're looking for a good translation of Beowulf, I'm a huge personal fan of Howell Chickering's translation (most editions have are dual-language, so you can see the OE verse on the left and Chickering's ME verse on the right)! He does a fantastic job of integrating the original verse form of the lines while maintaining a pretty exact meaning.

It may also be worthwhile investigating this collection

u/pridd_du · 3 pointsr/tolkienfans

A few thoughts:

At one point Lewis and Tolkien were going to write companion novels about space and time. You can see echoes of this in the last chapter of Out of the Silent Planet, the first book in CSL's Space Trilogy when he mentions that space has been cut off from human travel and now any future voyages would be through time. There's also echoes of what might have been in JRRT's Notion Club Papers, which has a time-travel element, but was never published.

In addition, JRRT did not care for the Narnia series because he felt it lacked a coherent theme. However, in the controversial Planet Narnia, Michael Ward posits that CSL actually did have a theme: the medieval view of the planets (The Seven Heavens). There are definitely intriguing arguments made in the book, especially as he combines information from Narnia and the Space Trilogy into his thesis. I wouldn't say it's iron-clad, but if I was still in education, or had the luxury to write papers, this is an area I'd love to explore in depth - specifically the influence of Charles Williams on the evolution of CSL's thought.

If you're interested in aspects of their backgrounds that influenced their worldviews, I would recommend The Discarded Image from CSL (on medieval literature - my favorite CSL book) and The Road to Middle-Earth by Tom Shippey (on the philological undergirding of Middle-Earth). The Humprey Carpenter books are also good (JRRT Letters, Tolkien bio, Inklings bio) as are CSL's letters.

u/rexbarbarorum · 5 pointsr/tolkienfans

Corey Olsen has a good book called Exploring J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit, which follows the story and analyzes Bilbo's growth as a hero. Definitely worth looking at. Professor Olsen also has a lot of podcasts and other resources on Tolkien as well on his website.

u/LWRellim · 5 pointsr/tolkienfans

The $1800 set is a "collectors hard cover edition" (archival quality, acid-free paper that won't yellow or deteriorate, etc).

Other "complete sets" that you will find on ebay and such are generally first edition hard cover.

What you want to do -- for reading purposes -- is pick up the first five in a paperback boxed set, and then start shopping the used bookstores for the remaining volumes (they've been published in various formats, hard cover, paperback, mass-market paperback, etc.) -- and single volumes are typically pretty cheap (especially the paperback editions), and often they are in pretty good shape, because most people really don't read the things.

Also, if you have NOT already purchased AND read BOTH "The Silmarillion" and "Unfinished Tales", you need to get and read those first... because if you've only read LoTR and/or The Hobbit... well, HoME is probably just going to be almost incomprehensible and "crazy shit" to you. (Ignibus is correct, HoME is not everyone's "cup of tea", and a good indicator is whether you really LOVE Silmarillion/Unfinished Tales -- if you don't think they are GRRRREAATT! then you're probably not going to like HoME.)

u/reformed-ish-homeboy · 1 pointr/tolkienfans

This one's been done. Unlikely to be able to do better than John Garth!

By all accounts it's a fascinating and fantastic book.

u/patheticfa11acy · 4 pointsr/tolkienfans

https://www.amazon.com/Tolkien-Maker-Middle-earth-Catherine-McIlwaine/dp/1851244859

You can still get it on Amazon. It's a little pricey but definitely worth it since you can't take pictures of the exhibit. It's not just images, it's got a lot of good text.

u/HollaWho · 1 pointr/tolkienfans

I recognize that everyone has their own budgets, but I can vouch for this $40 hard cover set on amazon. I just bought it a month ago. The books are very sturdy and has great print.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0395489326?psc=1&amp;amp;ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

u/jhcopp · 1 pointr/tolkienfans

This sums them all up pretty well.

In all seriousness, you might want to give a little more specificity here. Are you looking go learn more about the events in the book? Do you just want to see what everyone thinks is important? There's a whole lot covered and a whole lot to summarize.

u/italia06823834 · 2 pointsr/tolkienfans

I agree that the most entertaining way is to read them in the order they were published: The Hobbit, then Lord of the Rings (technically not a trilogy by the way), then The Silmarillion. The basis of The Silmarillion is it is the story of the creation of the world and the events of the First Age (The Hobbit and LotR take place in the Third Age). Be warned, it can be a difficult read.

Also there is a lot "pertaining to the LotR universe" more than just those 3 works. I have two selves of books by Tolkien or about him/his work.

Also if you are just reading for the first time hardcovers can be expensive. A good paperback set might not be a bad idea.

u/twoplustwoequals5 · 1 pointr/tolkienfans

My favourite by far is the 50th anniversary edition of the LOTR. I have this copy of the Hobbit and love the art direction in it, that alone makes it a safe purchase.

u/JimmeCata · 1 pointr/tolkienfans

If you are interested in collecting, you must, must, must get The History of the Hobbit box set.

It's incredibly inclusive, and contains the 70th anniversary edition of The Hobbit (Perhaps worth the price of the set all by itself!), all the original drafts that Tolkien made of the story, essays on the tale's construction, notes on the text, and commentary.

u/fileg · 2 pointsr/tolkienfans

If your library has Exploring The Hobbit you might want to check out some of the commentary about Bilbo. Interesting, and also a good read.

u/ebneter · 4 pointsr/tolkienfans

...and it's available for pre-order on Amazon UK, at least. Thank you for reminding me of that! It will have a bunch of otherwise very hard-to-find poems that were early versions of much of the work in the book as well as, apparently, an unfinished prose story about Tom.

u/araquen · 1 pointr/tolkienfans

The Silmarillion is not an easy read. It took me many read throughs before things sank in.

Then my mother gave me this https://www.amazon.com/dp/0553456067/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_x_lXJ.ybC4TXZR4

I found that listening to the book helped a great deal and I picked up on stuff not even 20 years of re-reading did. It might be worth it for you to look into acquiring the audiobook or see if your library carries it.

u/Jonlang_ · 5 pointsr/tolkienfans

If you have not already done so, I would strongly urge you to read A Secret Vice, the book not just the essay. The book was published only a few years ago, I think. It serves as an insight into Professor Tolkien’s views on languages, both real and invented.

I would also recommend reading the Professor’s essay English and Welsh, published in the book The Monsters and the Critics and Other Essays.

Another recommendation is David Salo’s A Gateway to Sindarin, though it is primarily a grammar of his Neo-Sindarin for the LOTR movies, he does explore Tolkien’s methods for inventing languages and his inspirations.

u/Mughi · 1 pointr/tolkienfans

This set is extremely limited (500 pcs). You're not going to find it any cheaper than this. If you're planning on opening and reading it, why not just get a cheaper editon? The only things missing from cheaper editions are the revised family trees and the Khazad-dum painting in LOTR, as far as I know. You can get that particular edition as a standalone for less than a hundred bucks on Amazon. Apart from some other random artwork, you wouldn't be missing anything important. You can get the slipcovered Children of Hurin for less than $40 on Amazon. If you want the best edition of The Hobbit that I know of, you should check out John Rateliff's History of The Hobbit link.

u/Eridanis · 5 pointsr/tolkienfans

Thought I'd provide some Amazon links to these fine suggestions, along with a few of my own.

J.R.R. Tolkien Companion &amp; Guide US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0008214549/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_Jc.DCb1A3J8V6

&amp;#x200B;

Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/000755690X/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_Qe.DCbHG7HWXM

&amp;#x200B;

Art of the Lord of the Rings US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0544636341/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_3f.DCbB8Y2ZNZ

&amp;#x200B;

Art of the Hobbit US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0547928254/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_ng.DCbCX2CT65

&amp;#x200B;

Tolkien: Maker of Middle-Earth US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1851244859/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_Vg.DCbSEH99RE

&amp;#x200B;

Rateliff's History of the Hobbit US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CF6AZWK/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_Dj.DCbGWY7970

&amp;#x200B;

Fonstad's Atlas of Middle-Earth US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0618126996/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_Kk.DCbC2XF6NT

&amp;#x200B;

Letters of JRR Tolkien US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0618056998/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_ml.DCbREBRZH4

&amp;#x200B;

Carpenter's Tolkien: A Biography US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0618057021/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_xm.DCbY976PAE

u/cucchiaio · 4 pointsr/tolkienfans

Ok this is going on my list. I don't speak or read Latin, but I'm enough of a linguaphile that I have to have this!!

Edit: aaaaand it's pre-ordered. For those of us in the US!

u/Billy_Fish · 1 pointr/tolkienfans

Read The History of the Hobbit if you are looking for background information.