Most people know the three movies of The Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit adaptations. But the universe is so much bigger. MeinMMO editor Sophia Weiß has been digging through the depths of Middle-Earth for over a year and knows how you can join without getting lost.
In May 2026, a post flew across my TikTok For You Page that assigned me a Lord of the Rings partner based on my birth month. I got a guy named Glorfindel, whom I had never heard of before – he doesn’t even appear in the movies!
It took exactly one Google search to slide me into an absurdly deep, Glorfindel-shaped lore hole of Middle-Earth: Suddenly I was dealing with an Elven city called Gondolin, Balrogs in the plural, and the ominous deities of the world, the Valar.
But that’s exactly why I now know how to best approach the expanded universe of The Lord of the Rings. Here’s how to do it best!
More Middle-Earth – Step 1: From the Movies to the Books
The easiest step you can take is to read the corresponding books after enjoying the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movies.
Since the Hobbit movies have already adapted the material quite completely and even added plot points, I wouldn’t see this book as a prerequisite. But it gives a good impression of Tolkien’s writing style and shows Middle-Earth at a time when evil or even war does not lurk around every corner.
However, the first volume of the Lord of the Rings trilogy gives you first glimpses into the extended lore of Middle-Earth: Here, most readers encounter Glorfindel for the first time. At the time of Frodo’s quest, he is a powerful Elf in the service of Elrond and a good friend of Aragorn. Additionally, there is a whole song about the long-deceased Elven king Gil-Galad.
Overall, the role of the Elves and where they go when they sail west is much better elaborated. During the meeting of the powerful in Rivendell, where the destruction of the One Ring is decided, Elrond and Gandalf also explain many more things that happened in the background. For example, the betrayal of Saruman or Elrond’s complete family history.
And yes, Elrond’s family is indeed very much related to the state of the world in the first book and all the things that led to the quest for destruction.
More Middle-Earth – Step 2: Wikis and YouTube
If you have read the books or listened to them as audiobooks, you are already armed with a whole bunch of terms and names about which you probably don’t know much yet. It would be easy to dive into the Silmarillion now and directly start with the backstory set many centuries earlier in Middle-Earth.
Don’t do it.
The Silmarillion is ultimately a chronologically structured history book that primarily describes the first counted of a total of five ages. The Lord of the Rings takes place at the end of the third age. The Fourth begins when Frodo sails west. The Amazon series Rings of Power, on the other hand, takes place in the second age. Age Zero are the Years of the Trees
, which follow a completely different calendar.
You would, metaphorically speaking, pick up a book about antiquity with knowledge of the industrial revolution – that makes no sense. My tip is to look at a few wiki pages or YouTube videos on the topics that interest you.
Back then, I wanted to know who Glorfindel is. Nerd of the Rings on YouTube has a video about him that lasts about 13 minutes. So I listened to it while cleaning the bathroom and learned a lot. At the same time, I suddenly had many more new words in my head:
Glorfindel from The Lord of the Rings is a reborn Elf who fought for the Elven king Turgon and his city Gondolin on a continent that existed before the second age but has since perished. My next stops were therefore Turgon, Gondolin, and the continent of Beleriand.
The more I read and listened, the clearer the picture became, and the more characters I got to know in sequence.
This is important because the Silmarillion throws around terms, places, and especially names. Specifically, the high Elven princes have similar names due to their kinship: Finwe, Findis, Fingolfin, Finarfin, Feanor, Fingon, Finrod … Anyone who has already dealt with individual members of the family finds it much easier to navigate the Silmarillion.
Here are my personal top three resources in German and English on the topic on the Internet:
- lotr Fandom (German)
- Tolkien Gateway (English)
- Nerd of the Rings via YouTube (English)
I spent about a year in the reading books and studying wikis
phase. For a few weeks now, I have been right in the middle of the Silmarillion.
More Middle-Earth – Step 3: Into the Silmarillion …
My personal modus operandi for the Silmarillion is to listen to it in English as an audiobook. Primarily because the Gollum actor Andy Serkis is reading. I am now in chapter 22 and hearing how it came about that the great Elven kingdom of Doriath fell. Doriath was home to many Grey Elves or Sindar, who were eventually to live in the Mirkwood under Thranduil’s rule. Essentially, the ancestors of Legolas live in Doriath.
In the previous chapters, it was about the creation of the world, the divine Valar, the splitting of the Elves into different peoples, the Silmaril created by Feanor, and also the machinations of the first men and dwarves.
Because I approached the Silmarillion with the prior knowledge from the wikis and YouTube videos, it has been pretty easy for me personally to follow the story.
However, what cannot be sugar-coated is the writing style: The Silmarillion is a rather dry retelling of events from the first age. You must come to terms with that.
Those like me who have a rather vivid imagination will probably have no problems.
You can purchase the book either in German or English. There are also various audiobook versions available.
More Middle-Earth – Step 4: … and out!
And if you manage to work your way through the Silmarillion and still want more, you can go through Tolkien’s expanded writings in order.
The following stories are already touched upon in the Silmarillion but not described in detail:
Beren and Luthien
The Elf Luthien is the daughter of King Thingol and Queen Melian, the two immortal rulers of the woodland realm of Doriath. One night she encounters the mortal man Beren. The two fall in love.
However, King Thingol refuses to give his only child to a fleeting, upstart human. He demands that Beren bring him one of the three Silmarils. These legendary gems, however, are in the possession of Morgoth, the great evil who threatens the world and all life within it.
In the story of Beren and Luthien, many important figures from the first age appear: Including Galadriel’s older brother Finrod Felagund, Sauron himself, or the greatest dog of Middle-Earth, Huan.
The Children of Hurin
The Children of Hurin is an incredibly sad and tragic story about some of the most powerful and epic human warriors of the first age. Hurin himself attracts the wrath of the powerful villain Morgoth, who curses his family. Thus, Hurin must witness in captivity how his family succumbs to disaster one by one.
Primarily, this is about the life of Hurin’s son Turin Turambar, the fall of the Elven city Nargothrond, and the tragic fate of Turin’s sister Nienor.
The Fall of Gondolin
Gondolin was an Elven city of the first age and for several centuries housed the followers of King Turgon. For a long time, it was regarded as the last and safest refuge of Beleriand, which the evil Morgoth was determined to destroy but could not find.
Unfortunately, nothing built by the Noldor Elves lasts forever, and thus Gondolin must also fall. This story revolves around that and the courage of Princess Idril.
Of course, there are also some additional stories that did not make it into the Silmarillion. Some also take place not in the first age or even in the age of the trees, but much later or go more into the world itself:
- News from Middle-Earth
- The Book of Lost Tales 1 & 2
- The remaining 10 are unfortunately only available in English so far
- Nature and Being of Middle-Earth
- The Downfall of Númenor
- The History of the Hobbits
- … and many more
And if that’s not enough, you can delve into Tolkien’s letters. In them, he philosophizes with his contemporaries about his works. He sometimes writes that he originally planned for Orcs to descend from Elves. However, he revised that in his later life. More about this can be read here: The Lord of the Rings: In Middle-Earth, Orcs are the soldiers of evil, but hardly anyone knows how they came to be
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