The Complete History of Middle-earth

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Navigable diagram of Tolkien's legendarium. Most of it is in The History of Middle-earth, though that includes 4 volumes on The History of The Lord of the Rings. If part one of The Book of Lost Tales was dedicated to Valar and to the World creation concepts, second part is dedicated to 6 pivotal stories for The Silmarillion substance. I enjoyed in the first version of the story of Beren and Luthien, where Sauron is mentioned for the first time, but in form of demon Tevildo - prince of cats. Also, tale about Turin is slightly different than the one in final version. The story about the fall of Gondolin is narrated in all its majesty and details. Also, full version of the creation of the Nauglafring (i.e. Nauglamir) is present in this book, as well as slaying of king Tinwelint (Thingol), that is different than the one in final version, and more logical and consecutive. The wanderings of Hurin, especially in Brethil. Oh the awefulness of Tolkien never having having reworked the Nauglamir and further! The Silmarillion will never read the same for me, alas.

Most of the content consists of earlier versions of already published works by Tolkien, while other portions are completely new material. These books are exceedingly detailed, to the point of documenting scraps of paper (of J.R.R. Tolkien's) that had been erased multiple times with many footnotes. Christopher Tolkien thoroughly documents the history of the writing of the Middle-earth stories, with as much detail as his father documented the fictional history of Middle-earth itself. Tar-Aldarion: Foster speculates that the tragic relations with his father and wife were because he left no male heirs. The later published text Aldarion and Erendis gives a detailed account on their relationship, mostly owing to Aldarion's obsession with the Sea. Some of the content consists of earlier versions of already published works, while other portions are new material. These books are extremely detailed, often analysing a scrap of paper to provide the full evolution of two or even three different versions of a passage that were rewritten over each other. Despite the great amount of material in the twelve volumes, numerous unpublished texts are still known to exist in the Bodleian and Marquette University libraries, and in other papers held by individuals or organizations, such as the Elvish Linguistic Fellowship. Since no edition of the book includes info on post- Silmarillion material (i.e. Unfinished Tales and The History of Middle-earth series), in points it could be outdated or in error. a new edition was released in 1 September, 2022, by HarperCollins. This edition includes several more of Ted Nasmith's illustrations, and has received some small revisions. It also comes with a deluxe version. [7] Accuracy [ edit | edit source ]

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien: writer, artist, scholar, linguist. Known to millions around the world as the author of The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien spent most of his life teaching at the University of Oxford where he was a distinguished academic in the fields of Old and Middle English and Old Norse. His creativity, confined to his spare time, found its outlet in fantasy works, stories for children, poetry, illustration and invented languages and alphabets. A part on linguistics that is really more an analysis of the early days of the Eldar, as such things are intrinsically linked in Tolkiens worldbuilding. The Nature of Middle-earth [2021] • The Fall of Númenor and Other Tales from the Second Age of Middle-earth [2022] The Hobbit (1937) • The Lord of the Rings ( The Fellowship of the Ring: Being the First Part of The Lord of the Rings [1954] • The Two Towers: Being the Second Part of The Lord of the Rings [1954] • The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of The Lord of the Rings [1955]) • The Adventures of Tom Bombadil and Other Verses from the Red Book [1962] • The Road Goes Ever On: A Song Cycle [1967] year. That's how much it cost me to finish this bad boy. 12 months, 1 part a month. And boy, was it a journey. A truly marvelous and epic journey through Tolkien's work and his own insights. Which I will try to summarize in some highlights.

Christopher Tolkien, who edited the books, made the decision not to include any material related to The Hobbit in The History of Middle-earth. His reasons for this were that it had not been intended to form part of the mythology, was a children's story, and had originally not been set in Middle-earth; it was revised during the writing of The Lord of the Rings. The History of The Hobbit was published separately, in two volumes, in 2007 and was edited by John D. Rateliff. iv. The Shaping of Middle-earth · v. The Lost Road and Other Writings · vi. The Return of the Shadow ·In theory, I could produce a lot of books out of the History, and there are many possibilities and combinations of possibilities. For example, I could do " Beren", with the original Lost Tale, The Lay of Leithian, and an essay on the development of the legend. My preference, if it came to anything so positive, would probably be for the treating of one legend as a developing entity, rather than to give all the Lost Tales at one go; but the difficulties of exposition in detail would in such a case be great, because one would have to explain so often what was happening elsewhere, in other unpublished writings. Publication history and gallery [ edit | edit source ] Here is given the publication history and gallery of the three-volume set. For the details of each book see its respective article. The History of Middle-earth ( The Book of Lost Tales Part One [1983] • The Book of Lost Tales Part Two [1984] • The Lays of Beleriand [1985] • The Shaping of Middle-earth: The Quenta, The Ambarkanta, and The Annals [1986] • The Lost Road and Other Writings [1987] • The Return of the Shadow: The History of the Lord of the Rings, Part One [1988] • The Treason of Isengard: The History of the Lord of the Rings, Part Two [1989] • The War of the Ring: The History of the Lord of the Rings, Part Three [1990] • Sauron Defeated: The History of the Lord of the Rings, Part Four [1992] • Morgoth's Ring: The Later Silmarillion, Part One: The Legends of Aman [1993] • The War of the Jewels: The Later Silmarillion, Part Two [1994] • The Peoples of Middle-earth [1996] • Index [2006]) Star of Elendil: The royal symbol Elendilmir, and the Star of the Dúnedain given by Aragorn to Samwise Gamgee, are considered to be the same. This was not agreed by Christopher Tolkien. [10]

The development of Orodreth/Celegorm is a very interesting journey with a great twist. I won't spoil it, but be on the look out for the tale of Nargothrond!Introduction: It is explained that death dates of those who sailed to the West are not given in their characters' entries because "they may live still". While this can be true for Gandalf and the Elves, this is also implied for Bilbo, Frodo, Sam and Gimli. This may contradict Tolkien's concept that the Undying Lands do not grant immortality. [8] [9]

Though not officially labeled as such, Unfinished Tales and The Nature of Middle-earth are often considered the unofficial thirteenth and fourteenth volumes of the series. [ citation needed] This book, or series I should say, cover the writing of the Legendarium from its conception through various intermitten stages to his final work. In 2 regards is this work highly interesting: In the journey the material went through from the primitive initial story to the final (latest would be more accurate) word Tolkien wrote on it, which was often not the final word he intended. The second regard is the vast amount of new material and writings that have never been released and are simply amazing, eye opening and very enriching. Unfinished Tales doesn't even come close to covering it all.i. The Book of Lost Tales: Part One · ii. The Book of Lost Tales: Part Two · iii. The Lays of Beleriand · iv. The Shaping of Middle-earth · v. The Lost Road and Other Writings · vi. The Return of the Shadow · vii. The Treason of Isengard · viii. The War of the Ring · ix. Sauron Defeated · x. Morgoth's Ring · xi. The War of the Jewels · xii. The Peoples of Middle-earth · Index) · The Complete Guide to Middle-earth, published by Ballantine Books. This is the revised and expanded edition, incorporating content from The Silmarillion (1977). The book length is almost doubled, extending the number of entries from 2276 to 3257. However, as it does not include information on post- Silmarillion material (i.e. Unfinished Tales and The History of Middle-earth), this edition contains some statements contradicted by later publications. Tolkien’s most popular works, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings are set in Middle-earth, an imagined world with strangely familiar settings inhabited by ancient and extraordinary peoples. Through this secondary world Tolkien writes perceptively of universal human concerns – love and loss, courage and betrayal, humility and pride – giving his books a wide and enduring appeal. A Guide to Middle-earth, published by Mirage Press. This edition contained only information from The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, as it was before the publication of The Silmarillion. It was also included in a four-volume boxed set: J.R.R. Tolkien: the Man and His Myth. The first two books introduce readers to The Book of Lost Tales, a mythology for England from which Tolkien drew ideas that eventually became the 'Silmarillion' mythology. The next three books follow the history of the emerging early mythology usually known as The Silmarillion. The discussion of the published book is deferred until book ten. Books six through nine discuss the development of The Lord of the Rings, book nine's second half discussing the story of Númenor (the first versions of which were covered in Book Five). Book ten and eleven discuss the Annals of Beleriand and Annals of Aman, works which were developed together with the Silmarillion tradition and which also served as source material for the published Silmarillion. Book twelve discusses the development of the Appendices to The Lord of the Rings, followed by some assorted essays from Tolkien's last years of life.