Are there any pre-1977 readers here? - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

William Cloud Hicklin · 06-17-2021, 08:50 AM

Just a thought that came to me a few days ago: the difference of experience between people who read The Lord of the Rings before the Silmarillion came out, and those a bit younger. The experience, I suppose, of trying to piece together something, anything, about the Elder Days from the tantalizing scraps in print, and which was about as accurate as myths of Hy Brasil were before the discovery of the New World.

06-17-2021, 08:50 AM	#1
William Cloud Hicklin Loremaster of Annúminas Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 2,322	Are there any pre-1977 readers here? Just a thought that came to me a few days ago: the difference of experience between people who read The Lord of the Rings before the Silmarillion came out, and those a bit younger. The experience, I suppose, of trying to piece together something, anything, about the Elder Days from the tantalizing scraps in print, and which was about as accurate as myths of Hy Brasil were before the discovery of the New World. __________________ The entire plot of The Lord of the Rings could be said to turn on what Sauron didn’t know, and when he didn’t know it.