[Child of the 7th Age]

Your seven words raises a very big question. There are currently 12 volumes in the set--a 13th is supposed to be issued this month which consists of an index. There is also the volume Unfinished Tales which is similar. In fact, I would read that first before tackling HoMe.

HoMe contains many, but not all, of the writings which Tolkien did on the Legendarium that were not included in the Silmarillion. (There's some other good stuff published elsewhere like the journal Vinyar Tengwar, especially the things on mid-to-mind communication.) Some of the items are earlier drafts of stories that were included in the Silm or LotR. Some of them were even later drafts, things that Tolkien revised after publication of the LotR itself. There are also essays and stories which touch on subjects and ideas that you won't find anywhere in the Silm itself. Morgoth's Ring, for example, has several good examples like this.

The challenge as you read all this is that the drafts and essays don't all agree with each other, or even with the things you find in the Silm. That gets you into the sticky question of "canon". What is the "real" Tolkien---the published things in Silm, the latest things Tolkien wrote, or maybe even just those ideas and essay you like the best??? (To be truthful, I tend to the latter, but a real scholar or someone editing a new edition of the Silm like some people on this site have to make a more organized decision than that!)

nyways, look at first at Unifinished Tales before you tacle HoMe.

sharon