The History of Middle-earth
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Product Description
Review
‘Christopher Tolkien shows himself to be his father’s son… Tolkien devotees will rejoice’ The New York Times Book Review
‘In these Lost Tales we have the scholar joyously gambolling in the thicket of his imagination… a Commentary and Notes greatly enrich the quest’ Daily Telegraph
‘The Tales will be appreciated by those who have read The Silmarillion andwish to examine how Tolkien improved his story and style from their original form, and how weventually The Lord of the Rings came to stand independently with only a few hints from the early mythology’ British Book News
Product Description
The first of a two-book set that contains the early myths and legends which led to the writing of Tolkien’s epic tale of war, The Silmarillion.
The Book of Lost Tales stands at the beginning of the entire conception of Middle-earth and Valinor for the Tales were the first form of the myths and legends that came to be called The Silmarillion. Embedded in English legend and English association, they are set in the narrative frame of a great westward voyage over the Ocean by a mariner named Eriol to the lonely Isle where the Elves dwelt; from them he learned their true history, the Lost Tales of Elfinesse. In the Tales are found the earliest accounts of Gods and Elves, Dwarves, Balrogs and Orcs; of the Silmarils and the Two Trees of Valinor; of the geography and cosmology of Tolkien’s invented world.
This series of fascinating books has now been repackaged to complement the distinctive and classic style of the ‘black cover’ A-format paperbacks of The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
19 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
In real mythologies the tales change and develop over time: names, times and places change with the constant retelling and embellishing by the story-tellers. In real mythologies, accounts often become fragmented and there may be several differing accounts of a single event. It's the same with the mythology of Middle Earth and Valinor. The way Tolkien develops the stories over the course of his life-time is analogous to the way real heroic events become legend and the legends become myths and all sorts of changes reshape them. Real life examples would be 1) the story of Beowulf who may have been a real but mortal hero of his people, but in the telling and retelling of the tale over the centuries, he was able to swim for 2 weeks in the freezing seas of Northern Europe wearing mail and he was able to do battle under water; 2) the Arthurian legends where the hero has been claimed to have lived and had his court at a dozen or more locations in Britain; 3) the Merlin legends where Merlin may or may not have been associated with Arthur 4) The Robin Hood legends where again, Robin has been claimed to have been based at various locations. And so on.
Lost Tales Part 1 is a collection of accounts of the origins of the world of Middle Earth and Valinor, concentrating mainly on the gods and the elves. The stories overlap those in Silmarillion but differ in many instances. Names, characters and places had been changed by the time Tolkien finalised the material that went into The Silmarillion. It's fascinating to see the character and story development with notes and commentary from Christopher Tolkien drawing attention to the changes and stating (where the reasons were known to him) and providing convincing speculations (where specific information was not known) why these changes were made.
This book will be appreciated by the person who enjoyed reading Lord of the Rings but was left wanting to know more, and partially satisfied their curiosity by reading Silmarillion, but was still left wanting to know more ....
35 of 36 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book is really great. It has some stories which don't appear in the sillmarillion yet are really interesting if you have read the silmarillion. You have to concentrate quite hard to understand it all but it is worth it, some of the stories are fantastic. I would recommend this to anyone who has read the silmarillion and wants get deeper into the tolkien mythology. Christopher Tolkien does a superb job of making it all understandable, by linking the stories and refering to the silmarillion.
17 of 20 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
All the Christopher Tolkien books are of value to the reader facinated by The Hobbit and LOTR and wanting to know more about what JRR Tolkein wrote on the subject. He wrote a great deal (and abandoned rather than published much of it) as he tried to link across Middle Earth and its histories into a real European myth.
In this book the reader is guided through this difficult process so that you will be able to get some insight into how "the whole" may once have meant to have hung together; English and European prehistory/mythology, The Silmarillion and the races decribed in the Tolkien books. Other books in this excellent series add more pieces to this virtual jigsaw.
In this book the reader is guided through this difficult process so that you will be able to get some insight into how "the whole" may once have meant to have hung together; English and European prehistory/mythology, The Silmarillion and the races decribed in the Tolkien books. Other books in this excellent series add more pieces to this virtual jigsaw.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Not for the faint of heart!
Be warned: it is not advisable to read this unless you have read the Silmarillion and understood it.
That aside, this book and the next are fantastic. Read more
That aside, this book and the next are fantastic. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Adam
Overview of The History of Middle-earth Series
Collections of an author's work are often confusing, particularly when what the author has created is as complex as Tolkien's writings. Read more
Published on 6 Dec 2008 by Michael W. Perry
Overview of The History of Middle-earth Series
Collections of an author's work are often confusing, particularly when what the author has created is as complex as Tolkien's writings. Read more
Published on 6 Dec 2008 by Michael W. Perry
Most exciting
This book is simply a marvel! It tells you all about the Valar, the Valinor and the coming of the Eldar. You should buy it. Read more
Published on 29 Nov 2004 by Luca Caruana
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