[A_Brandybuck]

OK, I am the first "newbie" for a long long time, I think. ;-)

I've seen this thread very late, but I will give you a short summary of my experiences with Tolkien.
My first experience with Tolkien was approx. 13 years ago with the sweet age of 10. As most of you (I assume) I started to read the other works concerning Middle-earth (a few times). Sadly I knew the English at this age as a not-native englishspeaker not very well, consequently I could read not all works from him. Only these, which were translated into my language (LotR, Hobbit, Sil, Unfinished Tales).
After a short break and some experiences with other Fantasy-novels and their own worlds, I have returned ruefully back to Tolkien with the insight, that these works don't have the depth of Middle-earth (resp. Arda ;-) ).
To my surprise I explored that my english-skills have been risen, so I could read all his works in the orginal.
After a short journey into the grammar of Quenya (and a shorter into Sindarin), I discovered the new world of HoME.
Because of very few time (being a student with children), I only read fragments of HoME. From all a bit, but not a whole book.
Now, I am hoping for good discussions. :-)
'Brandybuck