Hi Fedora! That explanation you gave of your reading is fascinating to me! I would love to go right along with you as you outline the Silmarillion and the Book of Lost Tales. Cool that we both had similar plans! Reading the Norse legends and filtering out Tolkien's references is also VEY intriguing! The area I come from is heavily populated by Norse immigrants so I grew up hearing of Norse folk tales though my family wasn't of the Norse bunch.
*sigh*
Unfortunately, it looks like it will be some months before I get to read anything for fun again. Textbooks... for drafting and design. Engineering graphics. I teach in a college tech school. We're on the quarter system and the new quarter starts tomorrow. In this quarter I also have to work up lesson plans for 2 new classes. That's VEY overwhelming to me. I wasn't trained as a teacher. Got this job because of industry background and being in charge of workplace training for the last several years. This formal teaching stuff is a bit intimidating sometimes.
Yeah, I'd look forward to seeing what your thoughts on "Lost Tales" are when you get a chance to go through it. Meanwhile maybe I'll write up some of what I've got so far on "Silmarillion" and see what you think.
On Norse legends, I was first exposed to them by a really neat children's book called "D'Aulaire's Norse Gods and Giants". Wonderful illustrations in a very unique style--really a one-of-a-kind book. Unfortunately it's out of print now and used copies are expensive:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0385236921/002-2284777-8884841?v=glance However they do have a companion volume on Greek myth which is still in print. Anyone who has kids, I'd recommend it. BTW, I'm of Norweigian descent on my father's side and also come from a heavily-Norse area; right now I'm in the Green Bay area.
Good luck on the textbook review! Your course actually sounds like something I could use! I like to draw and I want to improve my illustrations so I can illustrate my own books. The way they teach drawing in drafting class seems to be one of the quicker ways to improve drawing skills, I've heard.