Why You Should Skip the Prologue the First Time You Read “The Lord of the Rings”

Take it from a decades-long Tolkien fan: don’t bother about the prologue, delve right into the story.

Photo by Siora Photography on Unsplash

I’ve been a Tolkien fan for decades. I love everything Tolkien wrote — Yes, I’ve read most of it, and I’m working on the rest. Even the stranger stuff (read The Notion Club Paper, and you’ll know what I mean).To me, everything is worth reading, everything has something meaningful to offer.

Yet I’m serious when I say that you should skip the prologue the first time you read The Lord of the Rings.

Not that I don’t love it. I do. A bit more every time I read it. But I’m perfectly aware that it may be offputting for a first-time reader, and in fact, I know and have talked to many first-time readers who didn’t go past the prologue.

This is a huge shame because I’m convinced that most readers will enjoy Tolkien’s masterwork once they’re clear of the prologue.

I also see why it may be so hard for first-time readers:

1. It is very expositional. There is a lot of info and very little (if any) story. Not easy to digest when entering a world.
2. It’s full of strange names. As a Tolkien fan, I’m aware that…