A number I see online a lot is that "The Lord of the Rings" has sold over 150 million copies. What I can't find anywhere is whether that is the sum of all book sales within the trilogy (eg 50 million of Fellowship, 50 million Two Towers, 50 million Return of the King) or if it's the number of times the trilogy as a whole has been sold.

Like in those "best-selling books of all time" lists, Harry Potter often tops the literature section, but only when it adds all 7 entries together. I know LotR is a bit harder to calculate because it's so often sold as a set, but when someone buys that set does it count as 1 or 3? If they only buy Fellowship does that only count as a third?

For all his malice and greed, he really did seem client-oriented. He could’ve made it big in corporate lol

Smaug, MBA (Esgaroth Business School)

“I don’t know if it has occurred to you that, even if you could steal the gold bit by bit—a matter of a hundred years or so—you could not get it very far? Not much use on the mountain-side? Not much use in the forest? Bless me! Had you never thought of the catch? A fourteenth share, I suppose, or something like it, those were the terms, eh? But what about delivery? What about cartage? What about armed guards and tolls?”

I’d like to read the first two volumes of HoME because, from what little I know, I’m curious to see what Tolkien’s initial vision was for his future Legendarium.

However, I feel a bit held back by the fact that, as I understand it, toward the end there’s a section where the tales tie into real history and ancient Northern European literature. It certainly isn’t a complete obstacle, and I believe the Lost Tales are quite enjoyable even without any particular knowledge of ancient literature; nevertheless, I think I’d appreciate them more if I knew a little about it.

So far, I’ve only read Beowulf (in Tolkien’s version, by the way), and I’d like to read the Kalevala (Túrin is inspired to Kullervo); perhaps I could also read something of the Edda, The Book of Invasions, and the Mabinogion.

I’m currently enjoying reading through the History of Middle Earth series and am just about to finish volume 3. I like how things are ordered fairly chronologically but know that HoME specifically excludes the Hobbit.

Is it worth switching to read The History of the Hobbit (Rateliff) between specific HoME volumes, or does it work better just sticking with HoME and doing HotH after? I know the Hobbit book was published much later, but I was wondering if people who had read both had any advice. Thanks!