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Tor.com is delighted to present Kate Nepveu’s re-read of the entirety of The Lord of the Rings. In addition to re-reading the books themselves, Ms. Nepveu also sometimes examines critical essays on the subject of Tolkien, which appear at certain points in the re-read. For reference, here is an index of all of her posts and their accompanying conversations.

Lord of the Rings Re-Read: Introductory Post

Foreword and Prologue

The Fellowship of the Ring
Book One I.1, “A Long-expected Party” I.2, “The Shadow of the Past” I.3, “Three Is Company” I.4, “A Short Cut to Mushrooms” I.5, “A Conspiracy Unmasked” I.6, “The Old Forest” I.7, “In the House of Tom Bombadil” I.8, “Fog on the Barrow-downs” I.9, “At the Sign of The Prancing Pony” I.10, “Strider” I.11, “A Knife in the Dark” I.12, “Flight to the Ford”		Book Two II.1, “Many Meetings” II.2, “The Council of Elrond” II.3, “The Ring Goes South” II.4, “A Journey in the Dark” II.5, “The Bridge of Khazad-dûm” II.6, “Lothlórien” II.7, “The Mirror of Galadriel” II.8, “Farewell to Lorien” II.9, “The Great River” II.10, “The Breaking of the Fellowship”

The Two Towers
Book Three III.1, “The Departure of Boromir” III.2, “The Riders of Rohan” III.3, “The Uruk-hai” III.4, “Treebeard” III.5, “The White Rider” III.6, “The King of the Golden Hall” III.7, “Helm’s Deep” III.8, “The Road to Isengard” III.9, “Flotsam and Jetsam” III.10, “The Voice of Saruman” III.11, “The Palantír”		Book Four IV.1, “The Taming of Sméagol” IV.2, “The Passage of the Marshes” IV.3, “The Black Gate is Closed” IV.4, “Of Herbs and Stewed Rabbit” IV.5, “The Window on the West” IV.6, “The Forbidden Pool” IV.7, “Journey to the Cross-roads” IV.8, “The Stairs of Cirith Ungol” IV.9, “Shelob’s Lair” IV.10, “The Choices of Master Samwise”

The Return of the King
Book Five V.1, “Minas Tirith” V.2, “The Passing of the Grey Company” V.3, “The Muster of Rohan” V.4, “The Siege of Gondor” V.5, “The Ride of the Rohirrim” V.6, “The Battle of the Pelennor Fields” V.7, “The Pyre of Denethor” V.8, “The Houses of Healing” V.9, “The Last Debate” V.10, “The Black Gate Opens”		Book Six VI.1, “The Tower of Cirith Ungol” VI.2, “The Land of Shadow” VI.3, “Mount Doom” VI.4, “The Field of Cormallen” VI.5, “The Steward and the King” VI.6, “Many Partings” VI.7, “Homeward Bound” VI.8, “The Scouring of the Shire” VI.9, “The Grey Havens”

Appendices

Conclusory Post

Related Posts

Verlyn Flieger, “Tolkien and the Idea of the Book”: A critical essay examining Tolkien’s “intentional, interconnected efforts to bridge the fictive world of the story and the outside, real world, to connect inside with outside and fantasy with actuality through the idea of the book.”

Missing Scene? What missing scene would you like to read in the text of The Lord of the Rings?

Fellowship Movie Re-Watch: discussion of the movie The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)  in light of the re-read of the book Fellowship

Open Thread: verse & what would you do?: Re-tell your favorite scene in verse, and tell us what you would do if you were in the adventurer’s shoes!

John Garth, “Frodo and the Great War”: A critical essay on the World War I parallels within Lord of the Rings, including heroism, shell shock, and trench warfare.

Open thread: responses in fiction: Favorite or otherwise interesting responses to The Lord of the Rings in fiction.

Two Towers movie rewatch: discussion of the movie The Two Towers (2002) in light of the re-read of the book Two Towers.

Boskone panel on worldbuilding anomalies with Tom Shippey