Of Wizards, Hobbits, Ents, & Elves: A perfect Yuletide read

A perfect Yuletide read

Hobbits celebrate(d) Yule, so of course so do we. Professor Tolkien's Letters from Father Christmas are perfect. One learns that Father Xmas, as he signs himself sometimes, is the brother of The Green Man and the son of Grandfather Yule. One could argue it's set in a world very much in line with Middle Earth, though in the 1930s onwards.

I very much recommend an edition that reproduces at least most of the original letters, because for some reason the typeset version leaves out some of the best bits! My edition:

How I Wanted to Read Tolkien

1. I wanted to read stories in chronological order.
2. I wanted to read stories pretty much without interruption, but soon thereafter any interesting tidbits about them.
3. If the tidbits were mixed in with stuff about later periods, I usually wanted to wait to read until those later periods to read them.
4. If there were interesting but somewhat "non-canonical" or otherwise confusing stories or other notes, I wanted to read them after the above parts.

Note that I am not listing the "indexes" of various books that also have much information and are really more like glossaries; I assume you'll refer to them if and when you wish.

All of Tolkien's Books About Middle Earth

*Note that this lists the tags' abbreviations, and that all these books are included in the reading plan. Of course you can pick and choose.
berenandluthien = Beren and Luthien (surprise!)
bilbo = Bilbo's Last Song
bombadil = Adventures of Tom Bombadil
fallgondolin = Fall of Gondolin
fellowship = Fellowship of the Ring
hobbit = The Hobbit
hurin = Children of Hurin
isengard = The History of Middle Earth Vol. 7: The Treason of Isengard
jewels = The History of Middle Earth Vol. 11: The War of the Jewels
kenta = "Osanwe-kenta: `Enquiry into the Communication of Thought'" (Published in the Tolkien linguistics journal Vinyar Tengwar #39 (July 1998), available in "The Collected Vinyar Tengwar Vol. 4" Elvish Linguistic Fellowship
lays = The History of Middle Earth Vol. 3: The Lays of Beleriand
letters = Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien
lostroad = The History of Middle Earth Vol. 5: The Lost Road and Other Writings
losttalesone = The Book of Lost Tales, Part I, The Tales of Valinor (AKA The History of Middle Earth Vol. 1)
losttalestwo = The Book of Lost Tales, Part II, Other Tales of Elfinesse (AKA The History of Middle Earth Vol. 2)
morgoth = The History of Middle Earth Vol. 10: Morgoth's Ring
peoples = The History of Middle Earth Vol. 12: The Peoples of Middle Earth
pictures = Pictures by J.R.R. Tolkien
return = Return of the King
sauron = The History of Middle Earth Vol. 9: Sauron Defeated
shadow = The History of Middle Earth Vol. 6: The Return of the Shadow
shaping = The History of Middle Earth Vol. 4: The Shaping of Middle-Earth
silmarillion = Silmarillion
towers = The Two Towers
unfinished = Unfinished Tales
war = The History of Middle Earth Vol. 8: The War of the Ring

A Call to Fabulous Writers!

There are hints of many stories never told by Tolkien that should be told! (of course with complete permission of Tolkien's heirs). Such as...

for fantasy greats:
From The Book of Lost Tales I, chapter 1 "The Cottage of Lost Play": Eriol speaks of "one of his father's fathers" adventuring to an amazing place with elves...

for science fiction cum fantasy greats:
From the Silmarillion, in the chapter Ainulindalë: Melkor worked in different parts of the universe – many more stories could be told! An interesting combination of science fiction with fantasy! Alien races have their heroes as well!

for historical fiction cum fantasy greats:
From The Book of Lost Tales I, chapter 1 "The Cottage of Lost Play": The Anglo-Saxon adventurer Eriol had many adventure tales to tell, especially of his trip to the Lonely Isle...

for fantasy greats:
From "The Siege of Gondor" and elsewhere in The Return of the King: Prince Imrahil of Dol Amroth and his knights are of the race of Numenor, and also of Elvish blood from the people of Nimrodel - what wonderful stories there must be of them, reaching 'way back in Middle-Earth history to the time of Aragorn...

Middle Earth Good Days translated into our calendar

February 14 - Galdalf Returns to Life
February 29 - Meriadoc and Pippin Meet Treebeard
March 1 - Aragorn's Birthday
March 2 - Théoden is Healed
March 3 - Ents Conquer Isengard
March 8 - Aragorn Takes the Paths of the Dead
March 25 - The Ring Is Destroyed
April 6 - Elves' New Year
May 1 - Aragorn Is Crowned & Sam Marries Rose
"June 31/July 1" - Aragorn and Arwen's Wedding
September 18 - Gandalf's Escape from Orthanc
September 22 - Bilbo's Birthday
September 26 - Frodo Meets Tom Bombadil
September 29 - Frodo and Bilbo Depart to the West
October 1 - Minor Festival in the Shire and Bree
October 24 - Frodo Recovers and Awakens in Rivendell
December 25 - The Company of the Ring Begins Its Quest from Rivendell

Fantasy Music

Of course musical tastes can differ a lot, and what I like you may not....Also, I can't actually read much to songs with words, so they're more for breaks from work, and instrumentals for other times....Also, not all of these are at least inspired by Tolkien; some just seem to be the right flavor for myself.

Tolkien Ensemble and Christopher Lee's At Dawn in Rivendell and the sequel Leaving Rivendell (I prefer the 1st album though)

Everstar's Enchanted Journey's instrumental track River Running

a few "fantasy" songs from Loreena McKennitt, including from her album Elemental

some instrumentals from John Doan

a couple songs from Gary Stadler and Singh Kaur's album Fairy NightSongs

James Prior and Kevin Pearce's The One Ring instrumentals (the album cover is alarming but I find the music fits nicely with the books)

Howard Shore's music for the movies (note I don't want other people's groups playing the same music; I like Shore's quality)

Joshua Messick's instrumental tune In Dreams is pretty (hammered dulcimer with strings)

an interesting Hobbitian drinking song in Glass Hammer's Middle Earth album