Ultimate Reading Order to Tolkien's 'Poems & Stories'





Tree and Leaf. The Tolkien Reader. Poems and Stories. Tales From the Perilous Realm.

Much of this content has appeared in various titles over the years, with no single title containing EVERYTHING.

So, I have pieced together possibly the best order (opinion only, that is) to read all of the various material, and to get the fullest experience possible:

~ Roverandom (Tolkien Treasury edition)
~ The Battle of Maldon
~ Farmer Giles of Ham (Tolkien Treasury edition)
~ The Adventures of Tom Bombadil (Tolkien Treasury edition)
~ Leaf by Niggle (from whatever source you have this title as: Tree and Leaf, Tales From the Perilous Realm.…For a 'fuller' experience, I'd say the Tales From the Perilous Realm version, due to the artwork, and it's the 'newest' title in which the text has appeared.)
~ Smith of Wootton Major (Extended Edition. Tolkien Treasury edition)
~ On Fairy-Stories (Expanded Edition)

If you have the edition of Tree and Leaf book that includes Mythopoeia, feel free to throw in Myth wherever you wish (that could also serve for using a book that has Leaf by Niggle in it: two birds, one stone).

Also this reading order does not feature any intros, forewords, prefaces etc exclusive to Tree and Leaf, The Tolkien Reader, or Tales From the Perilous Realm.

I followed a combination of The Tolkien Reader and Tales From the Perilous Realm. As good and interesting as On Fairy-Stories is, I liked that Tales uses it as an appendix of sorts. To me, it makes sense to use an essay or lecture to close-out a Tolkien book. 

(the above image is cropped from Tree and Leaf, and features artwork by J.R.R. Tolkien)

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