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Originally Posted by Estelyn Telcontar
We have many names listed; that may be useful for research, if someone is writing a fan fiction or RPG, but do you skip them when reading? Geography is also an important part of this Appendix, with borders of kingdoms and lands being described.
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I love names...
I'm too lazy to learn languages, or more than smatterings of them, but I love hearing them, and Tolkien's Elvish tongues are right up there with Latin and German as favourites to roll off my tongue.
"Tar-Elendil, Tar-Meneldur, Tar-Aldarion..." "Elendil, Isildur, Valandil..." "Araphant, Arvedui, Aranarth..."
As a great lover of background information, I love Appendix A. I love the history of the Dunedain, laid out over the course of the years, following the progression of their race from Elros to Elessar. There are just enough hints of the stories behind them to spark the imagination, but not so much as to make it a long, boring chronicle. Those unexplained daggers behind the names of the Dunedain Chieftains are perhaps more intriguing that the explained ones.
As far as reading the Appendices regularly, I'll admit that I tend not to anymore, but that's mainly because I've come to know them fairly well, and their contents, once known, lack the entertainment element of the main story that is provided in reading and rereading the great tale and revelling in its fine craft.