Biography
J.R.R. Tolkien is now more famous than ever for being the man behind the Lord of the Rings trilogy of books.
He is also the author of such classics as the Hobbit and the Silmarillion. Originally born in South Africa, his family soon moved to England after the sudden death of his father. As he came of age, Tolkien nurtured what would become a life-long interest in the natural landscape and the european languages. He served in World War One as a communications officer, and the experience of seeing his friends die amidst the horror of modern warfare was a major influence on what he would write about later in life. From 1924 to 1959 Tolkien taught the english language at various colleges, culminating in a 20 year tenure at Oxford.
Starting with "The Book of Lost Tales", written while the author was healing from trench fever, Tolkien went about creating a mythology based in an environment he dubbed middle-earth. It was his version of ancient european history set in a land where gods walked among men and dark forces waged continual warfare. With this series of timeless classics, Tolkien became the godfather of high-fantasy literature. Following his death in 1973, Tolkien's Middle-Earth stories have continued to endure as primary 20th century texts and have found new audiences with each successive generation. LearnOutLoud.com encourages you to come see what all the excitement is about and explore Tolkien's incredible world on audio.
We Recommend
If you are new to Tolkien's work, than you owe it to yourself to start with the beginning and go forward chronologically. First of all, there's "The Hobbit".
This prelude to the Lord of the Rings follows the dimunitive Hobbit Bilbo Baggins on his first adventure with the venerable wizard Gandalf the Grey. After you've listened to this primer, it's time to dig in to "The Lord of the Rings". We recommend listening to "The Fellowship of The Ring", "The Two Towers", and "The Return of the King" in that order. The BBC has released a celebrated Dramatized Version and you will find many abridged and unabridged options to choose from below.
Finally there's "The Silmarillion, a collection of tales that enriches the experience of Lord of the Rings. This is a set of stories that details the early history of Middle-Earth and features beautiful stories such as "Beren and Luthien and the Ruin of Beleriand". Once you have made your way through these audiobooks, there is still plenty to find by the author here. Enjoy Tolkien's singular universe with this exhaustive collection of Tolkien Audiobooks.