The Tolkien and Middle Earth Handbook

[Krazy Kat]

Noticed this book in a local sh shop. I've been trying to read the Silmarillion but the sheer volume of nouns forced me to put the book down after only several chapters. The book above could useful. It might be the only book I will read from A right the way through to Z.

The Silmarillion has some wonderful imagery, but without a story to bind them with it's almost like reading a phone book. This Handbook of Middle Earth might be the key I need.

It's a first edition with around 300 pages (1992) and the cover is illustrated by a favorite artist of mine, Rodney Matthews. His style is so like Roger Dean of Yes - whether I read this book or not I'm glad to have this on my bookshelf.

[High Lord Tolkien]

I've been trying to read the Silmarillion but the sheer volume of nouns forced me to put the book down after only several chapters.

Never heard it described that way.
It is different in the beginning.
Don't give up, I love it.

[Krazy Kat]

A

Adunaic
On the great island of Numenor, Adunaic was the common language of the Dunedain, the men of the West. It was the ancestor of Westron, or Common Speech, represented by English in Tolkien's writings about Middle-earth.
The name derives from adun, 'west'.
[This sounds like an island somewhere heavily populated by idiots but with an oasis of sanity, more than likely unused and deserted]

Adunakhor, Ar-
In the Second Age (born 2899), he was the nineteenth king of Numenor. Symbolically, he broke with tradition and took his name in Aduniac rather than in Elvish. It blasphemously means 'Lord of the West'. He forbade the use of Elven Languages and persecuted those faithful to the true West and the rule of Iluvatar.
[Most likely a transvestite. Not that I'm against someone who wishes to cross dress, but wasn't he the one swinging his handbag outside the corner sweety shop. We have draw the line somewhere...quiet and secluded, then kick the crap out of him!]

Adventures of Tom Bombadil (1961)
A hippy. Daevid Allen, and Gilli Smyth the River Daughter Goldenberry.
Planet Gong

Hey, this is fun...

[Orlion]

Looks great! I, personally, always perferred the Silmarillion to LotR. I appreciated it even more with the letter Christopher Tolkien included at the beggining of the 2nd ed. It adds a lot of insight into the theme of the entire work.