The Hobbit/ LOTR?

Question

Should The Hobbit be read before Lord of the Rings or after it?

Answer 1

Before! The lord of the rings will make a LOT more sense if you read the Hobbit first. It is like an introduction to the idea and is where the ring is introduced. It will help when you're trying to figure out Gollum, too. You could read the Lord of the Rings by itself and still understand it fine but its must better to read teh Hobbit first.

Answer 2

Having read the other answers, I seem to be a member of the minority.

I recommend reading LOTR first for the practical reason that you are apt to put the Hobbit down after an hour or so, think "I don't know what the fuss is about," and never pick up Tolkien again. That would be sad! Whereas, if you read LOTR until the first Black Rider appears, you are not apt to put the book(s) down until you have finished all three.

Furthermore, having finished LOTR, you will still be wanting more, and there is the Hobbit, still waiting to be read. I take issue with the answer that claimed the Hobbit is the better book. I disagree. When Tolkien wrote the Hobbit, he was just beginning to learn about hobbits, Middle Earth, and its other inhabitants, and that lack of knowledge shows. The principal reason that another answer indicated disappointment in reading the Hobbit after LOTR was not, I believe, the reversed chronology, but just the fact that the Hobbit is not as good a book.

It is certainly true that the events of the Hobbit precede the events of LOTR, and it is a little unfair to Bilbo to read LOTR without knowing about Bilbo's quest.

It is, of course, your decision! DO read both!

Answer 3

The lord of the rings is a story on to its own, exisiting in the same world and age that the Hobbit takes place in. There are many parts that pay homage to the hobbit and definetly link the two stories together but there is no loss of detail or story line if you don't read the Hobbit first. I read LOTR's first and wasn't phased about the order after having read them all.

Your choice really....

Answer 4

"The Hobbit," while printed more than a decade before "The Lord of the Rings," is really something of a starter for what would become "The Lord of the Rings." It introduces some of the characters who would later appear in the latter (two of them major characters in both works) and established how the ring of power came into Bilbo's possession and thus came to Hobbiton. While "The Hobbit" is not needed to read and understand "The Lord of the Rings," it does explain some of what happens in the latter work.

Answer 5

The Hobbit was written first, however, it is not absolutely necessary to read it before LOTR. I read LOTR before The Hobbit and had no problems figuring out the storyline.

Answer 6

Definitely read the Hobbit before if you can! Take your time and enjoy. I've read them all 3 times, starting at age 16 when I was supposed to be studying for exams.

Answer 7

The Hobbit comes first, it's the introduction story to a lot of the characters.
LOTR picks up the threads left from the first book and goes on from there.

Answer 8

BEFORE! It's the first....the introuduction to the ring, though it isn't the main part of the book....it is the adventure Bilbo Baggins had in the begining.
LOTR is after, when Bilbo passes the ring to his nephew Froto.....but The Hobbit is actually better....don't know why they didn't make it when they made the LOTR films. :(

Answer 9

before, it takes place before the lotr series and it explains the story of the Ring and how it came to the Bagginses.

Answer 10

1st answer is correct. The Hobbit should *definitely* be read before, and besides, it is an easier read *and* a better story.

Jim, http://www.life-after-harry-potter.com