A Tolkien Virgin

Back in 1999-2002, starting before the Peter Jackson films had appeared, a blogger named Mark-Edmond Howell undertook to read the whole of The Silmarillion, The Hobbit, and The Lord of the Rings in that order and to write chapter-by-chapter commentary in Tolkien Online as he went.  As he himself says, he had started The Hobbit some years before but not gotten very far into it, and was vaguely aware of some of the pre-Jackson films.  While theonering.net has undertaken to lovingly preserve A Tolkien Virgin, their index is in reverse order of posting (which sometimes differs slightly from book order), and is chopped up arbitrarily, making it hard to navigate.  As a public service, therefore, I am providing this organized and properly ordered table of contents to A Tolkien Virgin, using chapter titles rather than numbers in all cases (Book IV, Chapter 4, what's that?  "Of Herbs and Stewed Rabbit", ahhhh!)  Share and enjoy.  And as Mark-Edmond says, keep thinking!

Introductory

• "The first in a series"

The Silmarillion

• "The journey begins"
• Ainulindale
• Valaquenta
• The Quenta Silmarillion
• Of the Beginning of Days
• Of Aule and Yavanna
• Of the Coming of the Elves and the Captivity of Melkor
• Of Thingol and Melian
• Of Eldamar and the Princes of the Eldalië
• Of Feanor and the Unchaining of Melkor
• Of the Silmarils and the Unrest of the Noldor
• Of the Darkening of Valinor
• Of the Flight of the Noldor
• Of the Sindar
• Of Men
• Of the Sun and Moon and the Hiding of Valinor
• Of the Return of the Noldor
• Of Beleriand and its Realms
• Of the Noldor in Beleriand
• Of Maeglin
• Of the Coming of Men into the West
• Of the Ruin of Beleriand and the Fall of Fingolfin
• Of Beren and Luthien
• Of the Fifth Battle: Nirnaeth Arnoediad
• Of Túrin Turambar
• Of the Ruin of Doriath
• Of Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin
• Of the Voyage of Earendil and the War of Wrath
• "Summary of the Quenta Silmarillion"
• Akallabêth  (including Mark-Edmond's epilogue to The Silmarillion)
• Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age (not read by Mark-Edmond)

The Hobbit

Note that some commentaries cover two or even three chapters.

• An Unexpected Party
• Roast Mutton
• A Short Rest  (included with above)
• Over Hill and Under Hill (included with above)
• Riddles in the Dark
• Out of the Frying-Pan into the Fire
• Queer Lodgings (included with above)
• Flies and Spiders
• Barrels out of Bond
• A Warm Welcome (included with above)
• On the Doorstep
• Inside Information (included with above)
• Not at Home
• Fire and Water (included with above)
• The Gathering of the Clouds
• A Thief in the Night (included with above)
• The Clouds Burst (included with above)
• The Return Journey
• The Last Stage (included with above)

The Fellowship of the Ring

• Book I
• A Long-expected Party
• The Shadow of the Past
• Three Is Company
• A Short Cut to Mushrooms
• A Conspiracy Unmasked
• The Old Forest
• In the House of Tom Bombadil
• Fog on the Barrow-downs
• At the Sign of The Prancing Pony
• Strider
• A Knife in the Dark
• Flight to the Ford
• "Book I Overview"
• Book II
• Many Meetings
• The Council of Elrond
• The Ring Goes South
• A Journey in the Dark
• The Bridge of Khazad-dûm
• Lothlórien
• The Mirror of Galadriel
• Farewell to Lórien
• The Great River
• The Breaking of the Fellowship

The Two Towers

• Book III
• The Departure of Boromir
• The Riders of Rohan
• The Uruk-hai
• Treebeard
• The White Rider
• The King of the Golden Hall
• Helm's Deep
• The Road to Isengard
• Flotsam and Jetsam
• The Voice of Saruman
• The Palantír
• Book IV
• The Taming of Sméagol
• The Passage of the Marshes
• The Black Gate Is Closed
• Of Herbs and Stewed Rabbit
• The Window on the West
• The Forbidden Pool
• Journey to the Cross-roads
• The Stairs of Cirith Ungol
• Shelob's Lair
• The Choices of Master Samwise

The Return of the King

• Book V
• Minas Tirith
• The Passing of the Grey Company
• The Muster of Rohan
• The Siege of Gondor
• The Ride of the Rohirrim
• The Battle of the Pelennor Fields
• The Pyre of Denethor
• The Houses of Healing
• The Last Debate
• The Black Gate Opens
• Book VI
• The Tower of Cirith Ungol
• The Land of Shadow
• Mount Doom
• The Field of Cormallen
• The Steward and the King
• Many Partings
• Homeward Bound
• The Scouring of the Shire
• The Grey Havens (with the Appendices and Mark-Edmond's summaries of The Lord of the Rings and A Tolkien Virgin)

There is room for vast amounts of meta-commentary here.  Let me just point to Mark-Edmond's fascination with Círdan the Shipwright, and how satisfying he finds it that Círdan reappears at the end.