Do I need to read the appendix of the Lord of the Rings?

Question:

Do I need to read the appendix of the Lord of the Rings?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: If you've read The Lord of the Rings and enjoyed the tale, it's not necessary to read the Appendix sections---however, if you want to know more about the history of Middle Earth, the various races and their histories and languages, and a little bit of the history of what happened after the downfall of Sauron and the return of the King, then you might find the Appendix interesting. It can be a little challenging, but it has some good background material, charts of the elven and runic alphabets, and fills in some of the details of the people and places in the trilogy, as well as timelines of events.