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LOR was meant to be a trilogy only
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I'm afraid not. Actually it was published in three volumes because in the 1950s paper was very expensive in Britain. Even as it was, the first edition cost 21 shillings a volume, which made it a very expensive set indeed. The fact that it sold any copies at all is a testament to the popularity of
The Hobbit.
I think that Heren Istarion's point should serve to remind us that Middle-earth is more complicated than it may seem. The
Silmarillion looks authoritative until you read
The History of Middle-earth, and then it's really up to the individual which of Tolkien's versions they choose to accept. Perhaps it should remind us of something else as well: there is always someone who knows more than you do, and to them you may be an annoying amateur. Don't get me wrong: I like to laugh at ignorance posing as authority as much as anyone, but we shouldn't take it to extremes and poke fun at everyone who doesn't know all the names of Tom Bombadil. It just isn't what the Downs is about.