Announcing the Great Tales Read-Along!
Plus A Giveaway for My Dear Bagginses and Boffins on my Birthday
Mae govannen, friends!
This week is the week of my birthday!
It has now been over two and a half years that I’ve been writing this newsletter on Substack and I am so thankful for everything that has resulted from that. I am also excited for all that is still to come with it, and for your continued company along the way!
Speaking of what is to come, I’m excited to announce that beginning next month, I will begin rereading the three tales that are known as Tolkien’s “Great Tales.”
Rather than doing it all by myself, I’ll be using this space to host a read-along for all who would like to join!
Would you like to join me? Here’s how it will work:
Tolkien’s Great Tales Read-Along
September 22nd is Hobbit Day, a day fans of Tolkien and his works take to celebrate Frodo and Bilbo’s birthdays.
There are many ways to mark the occasion, but one way I plan on celebrating here at Jokien with Tolkien is by kicking off a book club focusing on the three Tolkien stories known as the “Great Tales of Middle-earth.” These three tales are:
Beren and Lúthien
The Children of Húrin
The Fall of Gondolin
Why the Great Tales?
First of all, there are no shortage of excellent The Lord of the Rings read-alongs that you can find. Many of them are hosted here on Substack!
The Great Tales are three of the most essential stories from Tolkien’s wider Legendarium. Knowing them adds a richness and depth to reading The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings that you otherwise just wouldn’t be able to appreciate.
Do I have to have already read The Silmarillion?
You can participate in this readthrough whether or not you’ve read The Silmarillion. These are each tales found within The Silmarillion, but in expanded forms from the versions in The Silmarillion. So if you’ve read The Silmarillion, great! And if not, that’s ok! You may find yourself wanting to before long if you join us!
How the Book Club will work:
Each month we will focus on one of each of the three Great Tales.
At the start of the month, I will share an introductory post for all subscribers about the Tale we will be covering.
Each week there will be a discussion post for all paid subscribers to share about our experience of the work so far. What are you enjoying? Is anything confusing or challenging?
The final week of the month, I’ll share a final post for paid subscribers wrapping everything up.
There will also be a dedicated Book Club channel in the Jokien with Tolkien Discord (join the server now here: JRR Jokien on Discord)
Then we’ll repeat the process for each of the other two tales.
Are there deadlines that I need to keep up with?
I’m not going to publish a week-by-week reading schedule: this is open to all and you don’t need to worry about keeping up with the schedule to participate. Read along at your own pace and, if that’s slower than the pace that I’m sharing posts here, come back to read and participate when you’re ready.
What do I need to do to participate?
All you need to participate is to secure a copy of the three books, but feel free to borrow them from the library or get an e-book copy if purchasing a physical copy of all three would prove a burden!
Which version of the stories will we read?
I’ll be reading the versions published as stand-alone volumes and collected in various boxed sets like this one (I know there’s a newer one, but it’s not nearly as affordable).
But you can get the individual hardcovers, either of the boxed sets, or the paperback versions: doesn’t matter to me! (And shouldn’t affect your ability to participate)
You can also totally join us for just one or two of the months if you already have one or two of the books but don’t want to invest in the rest. Just sign up for a paid subscription for a month when the one you already own is on the schedule!
Additionally, in order to celebrate the launch of the book club and also to celebrate my birthday, I will be running a
Great Tales Giveaway and Sale on Paid Subscriptions!
Since we’ll be reading Tolkien’s Great Tales starting next month, I’m giving away TWO copies of the boxed set of all three books!
One set will go to a current paid subscriber who plans on participating in the book club, and one set will go to anyone who upgrades their subscription to a paid subscription between now and the end of August!
Current Paid Subscribers: look for a paid subscriber exclusive post tomorrow where all you’ll need to do is indicate by commenting (or replying to the email) that you’re planning on participating in the read-along to be entered in the giveaway.
New Paid Subscribers: by upgrading, you’ll be automatically added to the pool of giveaway participants.
On August 31st, I’ll randomly select one winner from each list! (That way the prizes will be delivered in plenty of time for our planned start date of September 22nd).
To encourage you to take the plunge and join us, I’m running a special Hobbit Day Sale on paid subscriptions!
Since Bilbo and Frodo’s birthdays are on September 22nd, I’m giving everyone who upgrades between now and then 22% off an Extended Edition membership!
Want to participate but genuinely can’t afford the cost? DM me here on Substack or email me at jrrjokien@jrrjokien.com and let me know. We’ll work something out, no questions asked!
The Great Tales of Middle-earth await. I hope you’ll join us!
Namárië,
Josh
Schedule Update
As a bit of a peek behind the curtain, I’ve been writing this newsletter for over two and a half years. All that time (with a handful of exceptions), I’ve published a newsletter every week. Some weeks I’ve published multiple newsletters!
During that time, I’ve published over 200 newsletters, discussion posts, guest articles, and more! (According to my Substack dashboard, anyways)
In considering at the next season of this newsletter, as well as my personal responsibilities outside of this newsletter, I’ve decided to scale back the content from weekly to twice a month through the rest of this year.
Paid subscribers will continue to receive at least one paid post per month (more some months like with the Great Tales Read-Along), but the free newsletters will go down from three a month to one.
Some months I will have guest posts to share with you, and in those months I anticipate there will be three newsletters and not just two.
I want to continue to bring great quality Tolkien content to your inboxes regularly, but I’m testing this new schedule through the rest of 2025 to try to help make that more sustainable.
We’ll see how it goes! Thank you again for your support, for reading, and for your fellowship.
Appendices
Astronomers spotted what they dubbed the 'Eye of Sauron' in deep space. Glad Ol’ Red Eye is doing well in the Void with his best bud Melky
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Can't wait to read along and hope I win!!
I've only read The Children of Húrin. The audiobook is narrated by Christopher Lee and it's a fucking delight to hear his voice.