Try Smith of Wooton Major. It is more like a kind of a "fairy story" but with his adventures in Faerie - there is something special about them.
Smith of Wootton Major
Then Farmer Giles of Ham - an entertaining short story
Farmer Giles of Ham
Leaf by Niggle is more of an allegory than an exciting story, but you might like it
Leaf by Niggle - Tolkien Gateway
The Letters from Father Christmas are fun for a child
Letters from Father Christmas
as is Roverandom, adventures of a toy dog
Roverandom - Tolkien Gateway
The Adventures of Tom Bombadil is basically a long poem, along with other shorter poems
The Adventures of Tom Bombadil
I don't think you can call any of those dull. Though none is quite an "action adventure" type tale like the LOR or the hobbit which keep going from one crisis to another.
With the Silmarillion - it was meant more as a kind of a "history" than a story as such. And - it is also largely the work of his son - using manuscripts from Tolkein. But his son, though an excellent scholar and good writer, is not the great story teller his father was, I think is reasonable to say. Tolkein never finished it, and who can tell how he might have framed and presented it if he had managed to finish it?
I recommend if you want more background for the early history of Middle Earth, to read the Book of Lost Tales and other books in that series instead - a whole series of books by his son Christopher which collates his manuscripts.
The Book of Lost Tales Part One
Many stories there about the long earlier history of Middle Earth.
You can also find alternative versions of the LOR. For instance in the very earliest drafts, did you know - that there were no black riders? The hobbits meet Gandalf in the Shire early on. The black rider in the woods with its eerie sniffling - originally it was Gandalf with a cold! And later on in the story, then Frodo uses the ring to play tricks on Farmer Maggot and his family at the table - it is treated as a light hearted invisibility ring just as in the Hobbit without any trace of the idea that it is such a major thing as it turns out to be in LOR.
All of this is also entertainingly written, but in draft form. So sometimes stories will stop mid flow for instance, especially obviously early drafts for LOR.
But - it also has many complete stories as well, about the earlier years. Also some that are dated in the present day (when he was writing), long after the events of the LOR, kind of "time travel" stories. (There I'm talking about the The Notion Club Papers)
To my mind, it is more accessible than the Silmarillion, simply because it is better written - in the sense - that it is written by an author who knows how to write a good tale and to draw the reader into it. Which I don't think his son Christopher has the knack for in quite the same way. I've read the Silmarillion. But read and re-read the Book of Lost tales stories.
There are many footnotes and scholarly introductions and so forth, which are great for those interested in such things. But you can also pick up those books and just go through and read the original stories as transcribed from Tolkein's manuscripts - and skip the rest.
Then Farmer Giles of Ham - an entertaining short story
Farmer Giles of Ham
Leaf by Niggle is more of an allegory than an exciting story, but you might like it
The Letters from Father Christmas are fun for a child
as is Roverandom, adventures of a toy dog
The Adventures of Tom Bombadil is basically a long poem, along with other shorter poems
I don't think you can call any of those dull. Though none is quite an "action adventure" type tale like the LOR or the hobbit which keep going from one crisis to another.
With the Silmarillion - it was meant more as a kind of a "history" than a story as such. And - it is also largely the work of his son - using manuscripts from Tolkein. But his son, though an excellent scholar and good writer, is not the great story teller his father was, I think is reasonable to say. Tolkein never finished it, and who can tell how he might have framed and presented it if he had managed to finish it?
I recommend if you want more background for the early history of Middle Earth, to read the Book of Lost Tales and other books in that series instead - a whole series of books by his son Christopher which collates his manuscripts.
Many stories there about the long earlier history of Middle Earth.
You can also find alternative versions of the LOR. For instance in the very earliest drafts, did you know - that there were no black riders? The hobbits meet Gandalf in the Shire early on. The black rider in the woods with its eerie sniffling - originally it was Gandalf with a cold! And later on in the story, then Frodo uses the ring to play tricks on Farmer Maggot and his family at the table - it is treated as a light hearted invisibility ring just as in the Hobbit without any trace of the idea that it is such a major thing as it turns out to be in LOR.
All of this is also entertainingly written, but in draft form. So sometimes stories will stop mid flow for instance, especially obviously early drafts for LOR.
But - it also has many complete stories as well, about the earlier years. Also some that are dated in the present day (when he was writing), long after the events of the LOR, kind of "time travel" stories. (There I'm talking about the The Notion Club Papers)
To my mind, it is more accessible than the Silmarillion, simply because it is better written - in the sense - that it is written by an author who knows how to write a good tale and to draw the reader into it. Which I don't think his son Christopher has the knack for in quite the same way. I've read the Silmarillion. But read and re-read the Book of Lost tales stories.
There are many footnotes and scholarly introductions and so forth, which are great for those interested in such things. But you can also pick up those books and just go through and read the original stories as transcribed from Tolkein's manuscripts - and skip the rest.
About the Author
Robert Walker
Writer of articles on Mars and Space issues - Software Developer of Tune Smithy, Bounce Metronome etc.Studied at Wolfson College, Oxford
Lives in Isle of Mull
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