[LadyRoisin]

After a most unhappy mishap with a Tolkien related book, I found that I
neded to ask the following question of my fandom friends who are more
knowledgable in this area than I am. What Tolkien books or guides to
Middle earth are accurate? And which guides to Tolkien's languages and
Middle earth should I (or anyone) stay far away from?

I know the books written by JRR Tolkien himself are good. That's an
obvious "d'oh!" there.

What books on the languages (like Elvish, Westron, Rhohirric, ect.) are
accurate? Where can you find them? (Don't say barnes and Noble or
Borders, I've called around to every location of both stores in my area,
and none of them carry anything beyond The Sim, UF, History of M-e, and
That Languages of Tolkien's M-e that I was told was out of date and full
of errors)

What books on the extra resources are ok? Which ones do you stay away
from?

Do you HAVE to be a member of The Tolkien Society to get ahold of these
extra books?

If not, where do you find these extra resource books?

I'm totally 100% serious about this. I'm pretty good with my canon, but
I want to learn more. But I also don't want to get stuck buying another
out of date full of errors book. I'm especially trying to find an
accurate book on the languages. But the only one I can find is the Ruth
S. Noel one that I was told is inaccurate. Is there any other books?
Where do I find them?

I've been told don't trust any of the resource websites because 99% of
them are inaccurate. is this true? Which ones are safe?



Thank you so much for your help. i really appreciate it. And I am
totally serious about trying to get the accurate research I need.

Roisin

[Sulriel]

In addition to most of the Histories, I also have the Index. It's simply called "The Middle-earth History Index" and I've found it invaluable for research.

as far as the non-Tolkien Tolkien-related books I have, I don't have much past the maps.

"The Map of Tolkien's Beleriand and the Lands to the North" by Brian Sibley and John Howe is to die for and I'm going to pull the map out and have it framed for my office once we get in our new house.

I have:

JRR Tolkien, Artist and Illustrator

The Lord of the Rings Weapons and Warfare (movie verse but good)

The Journeys of Frodo by Barbara Strachey
and
The Atlas of Middle-earth by Karen Wynn Fonstad

I also have Robert Foster's "Complete Guide to Middle-earth". I've had people tell me that it has inaccuracies, so I always try to double check the info I get from there, but I haven't found any errors.

[LadyRoisin]

Thank you thank you thank you!!! I've had a horrible time trying to sort through what is ok and what is not. I feel really dumb for having bought "The Languages of Tolkien's Middle earth" by Ruth S. Noel. But then again, I didn't know it was inaccurate. It looked legit to me when I looked through it briefly last night after getting it (I bought it online).

Thank you again for your help.

Roisin

[Sulriel]

You're very welcome

and btw, when I bought the Foster's Guide. It was physically messed up in the binding with several sections repeated and several missing. So I wonder if the information about the print run has been mistakenly passed on as the information the book being bad?

Maybe someone else knows.

But generally, I like to stay with the original works and not use too many outside sources.

[LadyRoisin]

I try to also, and of course the original works are THE standard. It's just hard to know exactly where to look sometimes. I'm also really wanting to learn more Elvish and more about the different anguages. I know there's part of one of the apendices that talks about it. But I want more info!

[NeumeIndil]

The Atlas of Middle-earth by Karen Wynn Fonstad has been pretty helpful too. She actually sat down w/ the professor late in his life to sketch the maps, so I'd consider them more accurate than most.

ISBN: 0-618-12699-6
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Cover Price: $24.00 (US)

[Alassante]

I'm PM you something about a yahoo group.

[NancyBrooke]

I find the Atlas and the Complete Guide very helpful.

I also rely alot on online sites, such as:
The Encyclopedia of Arda
The Thain's Book

and, for language info: Ardalambion

Any sources, except the Professor himself, should be double checked, IMHO.

[Viv]

[Haleth]

One book to avoid is the Tolkien Bestiary by David Day.

I can't really help with references for the languages.

[Alassante]

[Alassante]

[NancyBrooke]

[Haleth]