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Does "canon" matter to you?
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Some people treat some of Tolkien's writings about
Middle-earth as more
"canonical" ("trustworthy" or "official") than others. How
much should your list emphasize this?
The list below is sorted by publication date,
which isn't a bad order in which to read the books, especially if
you're determined to read everything. (Having said that,
I'd suggest reading The Children of Húrin
right before Unfinished Tales even if you
stick with published order otherwise.) The sections listed within
each book are not a comprehensive list, and I won't guarantee that
they are in order (though they should be close). This list also
includes information on how "canonical" each book and section is.
If you would like a list sorted in an order tailored to your
personal preferences, you can find the customization form at the
bottom of the page.
Notes and definitions regarding "canonical" texts
Over the course of his life, Tolkien wrote
many versions and drafts of his stories: there's no universal way
to say what is "true" about Middle-earth. Many readers fully
embrace that reality, but some still want a sense of the "final
form" of Tolkien's imagined world and some drafts are a better
guide to that than others, or "more canonical". My essay "Tolkien's Parish: The Canonical
Middle-earth" presents my personal perspective. Inspired by
that, below I list different classes of writings from most
trustworthy to least.
Canonical ("true" canon): Tolkien's published
writings, showing his vision in its final form. (But even here,
Tolkien himself was willing to revise details in new
editions.)
Adopted Canon: Finished work incorporated into the
canonical body after it was written (often after some revision),
while possibly leaving inconsistent loose ends. In most cases,
these are trusted just as much as "true" canon.
Final Intent: Works or information which, while not
published in his lifetime, was Tolkien's unambiguous intent at
the time of his death.
Ambiguous Final Intent: Works or information for
which Tolkien's intent at the time of his death was unclear
(such as contradictory passages whose relative date is
uncertain, changes that would require major revision to other
"final" texts, or works which while not specifically
contradicted are old enough that Tolkien probably intended to
rewrite them).
Reconstructed: Tales assembled from Tolkien's
collected writings by Christopher and his assistant(s).
Developmental: Tolkien's early drafts of a story,
largely superceded by later writings or abandoned
completely.
In many fan discussions, I-III can
be fairly convincing, and only I-IV are really admissible in a
serious debate. Developmental material is sometimes cited when a
particular passage or detail is not specifically superceded by
other texts. But perspectives differ, and others might categorize
things differently. And it's important to remember that the whole
"canon" concept is more of an informal game than a scholarly
truth.
Your recommended reading order for Middle-earth
If you've already read (or skipped) a book, it helps
to specify that in the list below.
This is just a guess! If you dislike a book, skip
it and try the next: they can be very different. Don't read too much into the exact section
recommendations, either. (Positive ones are best to worst, negative
worst to best.)
The Hobbit: A wonderful story, and an important introduction to Middle-earth.
Adopted Canon.Having said that, this book was explicitly written for children, so
you may want to skip it entirely if you don't like such things.
[General content]
Parts to look forward to:
Parts you might skim or skip:
'On Fairy Stories', published in Tree and Leaf
(Often most easily found as part of The Tolkien
Reader (USA), which also contains "The Adventures of Tom
Bombadil", or The Monsters and the Critics and
Other Essays (Commonwealth), both of which also contain a
number of Tolkien's writings not related to Middle-earth.): Technically, this essay has absolutely nothing to do with
Middle-earth at all; those only looking for Tolkien's fiction can skip
it entirely. It is a fascinating but (mostly) academic discussion of
the form and purpose of fantasy, and those seeking storytelling should
look elsewhere. However, in one section of it Tolkien makes numerous
references to "elves" and the Art that they create: for example,
"To the elvish craft, Enchantment, Fantasy aspires." In the essay,
he does not treat the elves as "real", but nevertheless it seems
that his comments on elves here do apply to the elves of
Middle-earth.
Not Canonical at all, really, but if pressed I might call its insights into Elvish
Art Ambiguous Final Intent.
[General content]
Parts to look forward to:
Parts you might skim or skip:
The Lord of the Rings
("LotR") (often published in three volumes: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King): Most find ths to be the best of Tolkien's writings about
Middle-earth. It captures all the beauty and excitement and sorrow
and glory of classic epic tales while casting them into a truly
original form, and describes its world of Middle-earth so vividly that
it seems almost real. The book manages to touch on substantial
questions of ethics and philosophy seamlessly within the narrative,
without discussing them directly or attempting to push some agenda.
True Canon: this is the only undisputedly canonical text.
Because the tone of The Lord of the
Rings changes substantially over the course of the first ten
chapters or so, I generally suggest that people try to finish all of
Book I (the first half of The Fellowship of the
Ring) before giving up. If you aren't interested by that
point, then I'll admit that Tolkien probably isn't right for you (not
yet, anyway). As an additional piece of advice, it's probably best to
skip the Prologue entirely the first time you read the book, although
if you haven't read The Hobbit it would
be worth reading Section 4: "Of the Finding of the Ring" (it, like
the rest of LotR, contains spoilers for the earlier book).Be warned that the book begins in a somewhat childish tone similar to
that of The Hobbit; it's definitely worth
sticking it out until it goes away by the end of Book I.
[General content]
Parts to look forward to:
Parts you might skim or skip:
The Appendices and Prologue of The Lord of the Rings: Listed separately because they are a rather different experience than
the main body of LotR. The different types of writing in the various
appendices give a reasonably good sampling of what can be found in
Tolkien's other books about Middle-earth.
True Canon, as they are part of LotR.
Prologue
App. A.I-II: Gondor, Arnor, and Rohan
App. A.I.v: The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen
App. A.III: Durin's Folk
App. B: The Tale of Years
App. C: Family Trees
App. D: Calendars
App. E: Writing and Spelling
App. F: Languages, Peoples, and 'Translation'
Parts to look forward to:
Parts you might skim or skip:
The Adventures of Tom Bombadil
(Often most easily found as part of The Tolkien
Reader (USA) or Tales from the Perilous
Realm (Commonwealth), which both also contain quite a few of
Tolkien's writings not related to Middle-earth.): A collection of poems, supposedly traditional Hobbit verses from the
Red Book, together with a preface relating their history in the
Shire. Many of these poems existed before The
Lord of the Rings was written and were only later revised and
brought into the mythology (indeed, the first poem about Bombadil was
part of the inspiration for his character in LotR rather than the
reverse).
Adopted Canon, but be warned that it is very light in tone and has relatively
little "factual" content about Middle-earth. (In particular, the
poems themselves are only "trustworthy" to the extent that they were
written by hobbits as detailed in the preface.)
Preface. True Canon
Bombadil Poems (1-2). Adopted Canon
Other Poems (3-16). Adopted Canon
Parts to look forward to:
Parts you might skim or skip:
The Road Goes Ever On
(music by Donald Swann): A collection of poems and songs from Tolkien's writings set to music.
Almost all of the poetry is all available in other books (primarily
The Lord of the Rings), and the music is
mostly Swann's work without substantial input from Tolkien himself
(Tolkien did approve of the music, however, and he suggested the theme
for the Namarie). However, Tolkien contributed substantially to the
book, providing direct translations of the songs in Elvish languages
and even some "story-internal" historical notes. The second edition
of this book (1978) incorporated the short poem "Bilbo's Last
Song", which is now also available as a small book
illustrated by Pauline Baynes.
Mixed: Swann's music is not canonical, but Tolkien's contributionss should
probably be treated as True Canon.
[General content]
Parts to look forward to:
Parts you might skim or skip:
"Guide to Names in The Lord of the Rings"
(First published in A Tolkien Compass,
ed. Jared Lobdell. Recent reprints of that book omit the Guide,
but it is now available as part of The Lord of
the Rings: A Reader's Companion by Wayne Hammond and Christina
Scull.): A document that Tolkien wrote to assist those translating The Lord of the Rings into other languages. It
explains the source or meaning of many of the names in the book, and
includes a few pieces of non-linguistic information about Middle-earth
as well.
True Canon.
[General content]
Parts to look forward to:
Parts you might skim or skip:
The Silmarillion: Tolkien's lifework, edited and published posthumously by his son
Christopher. Somewhat biblical in style at the beginning (perhaps in
part because Tolkien never had the chance to rewrite it in more
narrative form), it contains the entire history of Middle-earth from
its creation to the end of the Third Age. This is the last book about
Middle-earth to have a single, coherent storyline, which makes it
essential for a good understanding of the First Age.
Reconstructed, and therefore not really canonical,
because of the changes made so the story would be coherent.
Although most of the events described in The
Silmarillion took place thousands of years before the time of
The Lord of the Rings, it is almost
certainly best to read LotR first, for several reasons. First, LotR
is written as a novel, while much of of The
Silmarillion reads like a history book. Second, many readers
enjoy the glimpses of Middle-earth's history that are mentioned in
LotR because they are just glimpses; it's probably good to
experience that at least once before you fill in all those gaps.
Finally, the last section of The
Silmarillion actually includes a plot summary of LotR filled
with spoilers.
The Quenta Silmarillion in general. Reasonably canonical
Ainulindale. Quite canonical
Valaquenta. Fairly canonical
QS Ch. 2: Of Aule and Yavanna. Fairly canonical
QS Ch. 14: Of Beleriand and its Realms. Fairly canonical
QS Ch. 19: Of Beren and Lúthien. Reasonably canonical
QS Ch. 21: Of Turin Turambar. Reasonably canonical
QS Ch. 22: Of the Ruin of Doriath. Invented during editing based on old, conflicting notes
QS Ch. 23: Of Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin. Reconstructed from very early texts
Akallabeth. Final Intent
Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age. Final Intent
Genealogies. Mostly canonical (Gil-galad's parentage is wrong)
Appendix: Elements in Quenya and Sindarin Names. Quite canonical (I think)
Parts to look forward to:
Parts you might skim or skip:
Tolkien: The Authorized Biography
(by Humphrey Carpenter): As might be expected, this book does not deal directly with
Middle-earth. However, it contains a great deal of information on
Tolkien himself, which can in turn shed light on Middle-earth (and
give more insight into the textual history in HoMe).
Not Canonical.
[General content]
Parts to look forward to:
Parts you might skim or skip:
Pictures by J.R.R. Tolkien
and J.R.R. Tolkien: Artist and
Illustrator
(the latter edited by Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull): I have not actually seen the first of these, which I believe is very
much what the title proclaims it to be: a collection of Tolkien's
drawings. The second is also a collection of his pictures, but with
a fair bit of commentary about the drawings' history and style. Many,
but not all, of the pictures are related to Middle-earth.
No clear canon level: of the Middle-earth pictures, some may be final intent
while others are ambiguous or developmental.
[General content]
Parts to look forward to:
Parts you might skim or skip:
Unfinished Tales: A collection of stories and
histories in various stages of completion that Tolkien never
chose to publish while he lived. Many of these are extremely
good, and make me wish that Tolkien had managed to bring them to
a final form. In addition to the enjoyable stories themselves,
this book provides a wealth of information and many tantalizing
hints about Middle-earth and its history, both within the tales
and in a number of fascinating essays.
Final Intent and Ambiguous Final
Intent, which are generally easy to distinguish based on
Christopher's notes.
While the first part of this book deals
with the First Age and almost requires you to have
read The Silmarillion, much of the
rest of it (especially the Third Age stories) can be read
immediately after The Lord of the
Rings. (The independent nature of these stories and
essays makes it easy to read them in any order.)
Unlike The Silmarillion, it is also a
good introduction to the style of the "History of Middle-earth"
books, with Tolkien's writing thoroughly annotated by his son
Christopher. (It's easy to skip the annotations if you aren't
interested.)
Of Tuor and his Coming to Gondolin. (Also included in The Fall of Gondolin.) Final Intent
Narn I Hîn Húrin. (Also presented as The Children of Húrin, without textual notes and with gaps filled.) Final Intent
A Description of the Island of Numenor. Final Intent
Aldarion and Erendis. Final Intent
The Line of Elros: Kings of Numenor. Final Intent
The History of Galadriel and Celeborn. Ambiguous Final Intent
The Elessar (end of Hist. of G & C). Ambiguous Final Intent
Hist. of G & C: Appendices. Final Intent
Hist of G & C App. D: The Port of Lond Daer. Final Intent
The Disaster of the Gladden Fields. Final Intent
Cirion and Eorl. Final Intent
The Quest of Erebor. Final Intent
The Hunt for the Ring. Final Intent
The Battles of the Fords of Isen. Final Intent
The Druedain. Final Intent
The Istari. Final Intent
The Palantiri. Final Intent
Parts to look forward to:
Parts you might skim or skip:
The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien
(ed. Humphrey Carpenter): While this is not technically a book by Tolkien about Middle-earth, a
great many of the letters that it contains discuss various
Middle-earth related issues. Their topics include Tolkien's comments
and speculation while writing his stories, the publication process,
details about Middle-earth not covered in the other books, and
speculation on the deeper issues raised by the tales. (There are also
quite a few letters that deal primarily with Tolkien's personal life
and beliefs, which are interesting in their own right.)
Developmental to Final Intent, depending on when each letter was written and your own preference.
[General content]
Parts to look forward to:
Parts you might skim or skip:
The Book of Lost Tales, Parts I-II
(HoMe I-II): These books contain Tolkien's earliest writings about Middle-earth
and its history, and they include some incredibly vivid and beautiful
stories and scenes. The tales themselves are told in the context of a
framing story about an early English sailor who stumbles upon Tol
Eressea. Be warned that it can be quite difficult to follow these
tales, as they differ substantially in detail and in general from the
corresponding stories in The Silmarillion
and The Lord of the Rings and they are
often not in finished form. Only Christopher Tolkien's commentary on
the stories assmues knowledge of The
Silmarillion; for the stories themselves, having read that book
can make this one at once more and less confusing.
Developmental, as most of these stories were entirely rewritten, replaced, or just
plain dropped in later versions of the mythology. However, note for
example that the tale "The Fall of Gondolin" in Part II is the only
full description of that crucial event that Tolkien ever wrote.
[General content] Developmental
I and II: Appendices on Names. Developmental
II: The Tale of Tinúviel. (Also included in Beren and Lúthien.) Developmental
II: Turambar and the Foaloke. Developmental
II: The Fall of Gondolin. (Also included in The Fall of Gondolin.) Developmental
Parts to look forward to:
Parts you might skim or skip:
The Lays of Beleriand
(HoMe III): The existing fragments of Tolkien's poetic versions of the stories in
The Silmarillion, which can be beautiful and powerful in some places
and wearying in others. Those reading this book before The Book of Lost Tales should be prepared for
substantial confusion at first: most of these poems were written when
the mythology was very different than the version in The Silmarillion, and both the poems and the
commentary may be difficult to understand without being familiar with
both of those books. (Substantial excerpts of The Lay of Leithian are included in Beren and Lúthien.)
Developmental, but some parts nevertheless constitute Tolkien's latest or most
fully developed work on their topics and might thus be considered
Ambiguous Final Intent
[General content]
Parts to look forward to:
Parts you might skim or skip:
The Shaping of Middle-earth
(HoMe IV): The earliest development of Middle-earth as a world in its own
right. In addition to the earliest sketches of what would become the
Silmarillion, this book contains some of Tolkien's earliest maps of
Arda, including his only hints at extrapolation beyond the area shown
on the usual maps of LotR (make sure you find a copy that includes
them! Some paperback editions leave them out).
Developmental.
[General content] Developmental
The Earliest Silmarillion. Developmental
The Quenta. (Excerpts appear in Beren and Lúthien and The Fall of Gondolin.) Developmental
The First 'Silmarillion' Map: Developmental
The Ambarkanta: Developmental
The Earliest Annals of Valinor and Beleriand: Developmental
Appendices: Translations into Old English. Developmental
Parts to look forward to:
Parts you might skim or skip:
The Lost Road
(HoMe V): This book contains a very broad range of content: the earliest
versions of the tale of the Fall of Numenor (including early work on a
"time travel" story based on that theme), the state of the mythology
at the time that LotR was begun, and the Etymologies which are of
great value to those interested in the Elvish languages.
Developmental.
[General content]. Developmental
The Lost Road. Developmental
The Later Annals of Valinor and Beleriand. Developmental
The Lhammas. Developmental
Quenta Silmarillion. Developmental
Etymologies. Developmental
The Second 'Silmarillion' Map. Developmental
Parts to look forward to:
Parts you might skim or skip:
The History of The Lord of the Rings
(HoMe VI-IX) (usually published in four volumes: The Return of the Shadow, The Treason of Isengard, The War of the Ring, and either the first third of Sauron
Defeated (listed elsewhere) or the separate volume The End of the Third Age): These books track the development of LotR through many drafts from
its origins to its final form. Watch as Trotter the hobbit turns into
Strider the human, as an adventure to replenish the dwindling Baggins
fortune turns into a quest to save the world, and as dozens of story
elements seem to come as even more of a surprise to their author than
they do to us. Some of Christopher Tolkien's notes indicate places
where the published text seems to have deviated unintentionally from
the final drafts. The final book includes the unpublished Epilogue to
LotR. (Note that this is also mentioned separately under Sauron Defeated.)
Developmental (the classic examples of that class, in fact), although the Epilogue
at the end might conceivably be rated as Ambiguous Final
Intent. Additionally, Christopher's notes on errors in the
published texts should probably carry as much weight as the published
versions.
[General content]
Parts to look forward to:
Parts you might skim or skip:
Sauron Defeated
(HoMe IX): The first third of this book is "The End of the Third Age", the
conclusion of "The History of The Lord of the
Rings" subseries, including the unpublished epilogue to LotR.
(Note that this is also mentioned under the entry for that subseries
as a whole.) The final two thirds consists of early writings related
to Numenor. "The Notion Club Papers" is an abandoned but
substantial draft of a fascinating "dream-based time-travel" story
connecting members of a discussion group in the present day (based
loosely on the Inklings, a group including Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and
others) to their ancestors in Numenor. "The Drowning of
Anadûnê" is more or less a retelling of the Downfall of
Numenor from the perspective of humans many years later when they had
forgotten the nature of the Elves and the details of their history.
It's an amazingly different perspective (some of which survived into
the "Akallabeth" in the published Simlarillion.
Developmental (mostly).
The End of the Third Age
The Epilogue (of LotR). Ambiguous Final Intent
The Notion Club Papers
The Drowning of Anadune
Lowdham's Report on the Adunaic Language
Parts to look forward to:
Parts you might skim or skip:
Morgoth's Ring and The War of the Jewels
(HoMe X-XI) ("The Later Silmarillion"): These books contain Tolkien's latest work on the Silmarillion,
including the texts from which the published version was primarily
compiled. They also include a number of fascinating essays, showing
entirely new directions that Tolkien was considering taking the
mythology and shedding light on many details of Middle-earth and its
history. Despite this, the books would be very hard to follow on
their own: reading The Silmarillion first
is all but essential.
Final Intent and Ambiguous Final Intent: these books, along with
Unfinished Tales, are the source of
almost all of our most canonical information about the First Age.
X: Ainulindale. (Ambiguous) Final Intent
X: The Annals of Aman. (Ambiguous) Final Intent
X,XI: The Later Quenta Silmarillion. Final Intent
X: Laws and Customs among the Eldar. (Ambiguous) Final Intent
X: Athrabeth Finrod Ah Andreth. Final Intent
X: Myths Transformed. Ambiguous Final Intent
X: Appendix: Synnopsis of the Texts. (Developmental)
X: Index: Star-names. Final Intent
XI: The Grey Annals. (Ambiguous) Final Intent
XI: The Wanderings of Húrin. Final Intent
XI: Aelfwine and Dirhaval. Ambiguous Final Intent
XI: Of the Ents and the Eagles. Final Intent
XI: The Tale of Years (and note on 'The Ruin of Doriath'). Ambiguous Final Intent
XI: Quendi and Eldar. Final Intent
Parts to look forward to:
Parts you might skim or skip:
The Peoples of Middle-earth
(HoMe XII): This book is divided into three main parts. The first is a history
of the writing of the Appendices and Prologue of The Lord of the Rings. The second is a
collection of significant essays written late in Tolkien's life. The
final section contains the abandoned beginnings of two stories, one
about a man in Second Age Middle-earth who meets the returning
Numenorians and the other a sequel to LotR itself.
Developmental and Final Intent.
General History of the Prologue and Appendices to LotR. Developmental
[Writing of] The Appendix on Languages. Developmental
The History of the Akallabeth. Developmental
[Writing of] The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen. Developmental
[Writing of App.A:] Durin's Folk. Developmental
Of Dwarves and Men. Final Intent
The Shibboleth of Feanor. Final Intent
The Problem of Ros. Ambiguous Final Intent (largely rejected)
Last Writings. Ambiguous Final Intent
Dangweth Pengolodh. Final Intent
Of Lembas. Final Intent
The New Shadow. Developmental
Tal-Elmar. Developmental
Parts to look forward to:
Parts you might skim or skip:
"Ósanwe-kenta: 'Enquiry into the Communication of Thought'"
(Now published in The Nature of
Middle-earth and probably much easier to find there, but originally in the Tolkien linguistics journal Vinyar Tengwar #39 (July 1998), available in
"The Collected Vinyar Tengwar Vol. 4" Elvish Linguistic
Fellowship website): A remarkable essay (associated with "Quendi and Eldar" in
The War of the Jewels), discussing the
"telepathy" possessed by all "incarnates" in Middle-earth, ways in
which the Ainur could become "bound" to their physical forms, and
the moral decisions of Manwe regarding Melkor. (This issue of Vinyar Tengwar also contains a passage omitted
from App. D of "Quendi and Eldar" as published, of primarily
linguistic interest.)
Final Intent.
[General content]
Parts to look forward to:
Parts you might skim or skip:
The History of The Hobbit(Similar to HoMe) (published in
two volumes: Mr. Baggins
and Return to Bag-End, both by John
D. Rateliff. These books detail Tolkien's writing process
for The Hobbit. It includes his early
drafts and outlines (where Gandalf was named Bladorthin and
Thorin was named Gandalf), comments on connections to the
broader mythology and to The Lord of the
Rings, and his process of revising the text after
publication (including the first three chapters of a complete
rewrite that he began in 1960 that would have changed the book's
tone to match LotR).
Developmental.
[General content]
Parts to look forward to:
Parts you might skim or skip:
The Children of Húrin: One of the Great Tales from the
First Age of Middle-earth, long before the era
of The Lord of the Rings, it tells
the tragedy of the family of a human hero cursed by Morgoth, the
first Dark Lord. The text is largely identical to the "Narn I
Hîn Húrin" published in Unfinished
Tales, but Christopher Tolkien has filled the gaps in
that version with portions of other writings by his father to
produce the only complete narrative story about Middle-earth
published after Tolkien's death.
(Ambiguous) Final Intent:
Christopher Tolkien did his best to base this entirely on JRR
Tolkien's own words and final vision for the story, but the
style of the book is not designed to make the sources or
editorial changes for individual passages clear.
One aim of this book was to provide a
glimpse of the First Age accessible to those who have
read The Lord of the Rings but
not The Silmarillion. The story
itself stands on its own, but readers could easily feel lost
among the unfamiliar names and background. The book's 15-page
introduction provides very helpful context, but if that seems
too long and dry I have
written a
short introductory "bridge" to help new readers get oriented
more easily. There is also a list of names in the back of the
book for reference if you find yourself confused.
[General content]
Parts to look forward to:
Parts you might skim or skip:
The Nature of Middle-earth: This is in some sense "HoMe
XIII": a collection of short to mid-length essays written by
Tolkien late in his life as he attempted to sort through the
philosophical foundations and detailed logistics of Middle-earth
and its history. The demonstrate both Tolkien's devotion to
producing an internally consistent world and the difficulty of
that task. (Edited by Carl Hostetter.)
Ambiguous Final Intent: These essays span a range of periods, but many are Tolkien's latest word on the subject.
[General content]
Ósanwe-kenta (Previously published in Vinyar Tengwar.)
Parts to look forward to:
Parts you might skim or skip:
Beren and Lúthien: The textual development of one
of the Great Tales from the First Age of Middle-earth, long
before the era of The Lord of the
Rings: the mortal man who loved the most beautiful of
Elven women, whose story Aragorn sang at Weathertop (hinting at
his own relationship with Arwen). The text is not a single
narrative story. Instead, Christopher Tolkien tells a friendly,
non-technical tale of how his father developed the story over
time, drawing relevant texts from many volumes of The History of
Middle-earth.
Developmental and Ambiguous Final
Intent: This is a collection of drafts of the tale, some
of which give a reasonably good sense of Tolkien's final
vision.
The story of Beren and Lúthien is
beautiful, and this book seeks to make Tolkien's own tellings of
that tale accessible to a much broader audience than would want
to read the dense, footnote-heavy History of Middle-earth books
(or even The Silmarillion). But
unlike The Children of Húrin, Tolkien
never wrote a complete version of the tale in its final form:
readers here will see names and even central story elements
evolve from version to version. (Beren was originally an Elf!)
Also, those who have not read The
Silmarillion (or other First Age tales) may feel a bit
lost without broader context for the state of Middle-earth in
this era. Christopher Tolkien's introduction includes a
relatively gentle, approachable overview that may be enough to
begin
with. (My Rings-Readers'
Bridge to The Children of Húrin
may also be helpful, though perhaps less necessary here.) There
is also a list of names in the back of the book for
reference.
[General content]
The Tale of Tinúviel (previously published in The Book of Lost Tales)
Excerpts from the Lay of Leithian (previously published in The Lays of Beleriand)
Excerpts from the Quenta Noldorinwa (previously published in The Shaping of Middle-earth)
Parts to look forward to:
Parts you might skim or skip:
The Fall of Gondolin: The textual development of one
of the Great Tales from the First Age of Middle-earth, long
before the era of The Lord of the
Rings: the story of the hidden Elvish city of Gondolin
and its tragic fall, remembered even in The
Hobbit (the swords Glamdring, Orcrist, and Sting were all
from Gondolin), and the birth of Eärendil father of Elrond. The
text is not a single narrative story. Instead, Christopher
Tolkien shares each version of the story (narrative and
summarized) that his father wrote over the years, drawing
relevant texts from Unfinished Tales
and several volumes of The History of Middle-earth. These
include one of the most vivid of Tolkien's early writings and
perhaps the very best of his late, unfinished work.
Developmental and Ambiguous Final
Intent: This is a collection of drafts of the tale, some
of which give a reasonably good sense of Tolkien's final vision
for at least the early parts of the story.
This book seeks to make Tolkien's own
tellings of the tale of Gondolin accessible to a much broader
audience than would want to read the dense, footnote-heavy
History of Middle-earth books (or even The
Silmarillion). But unlike The
Children of Húrin, Tolkien never wrote a complete version
of the tale in its final form: readers here will see names and
even central story elements evolve from version to
version. Also, those who have not read The
Silmarillion (or other First Age tales) may feel a bit
lost without broader context for the state of Middle-earth in
this era. Christopher Tolkien's prologue sets the scene with
twelve pages of Tolkien's own brief summary of the necessary
backstory (some of it in alliterative
verse). (My Rings-Readers'
Bridge to The Children of Húrin
may also be helpful.) There is a list of names in the back of
the book for reference.
[General content]
The Lost Tale of The Fall of Gondolin (previously published in The Book of Lost Tales
Excerpt from the Quenta Noldorinwa
The Last Version: Of Tuor and his Coming to Gondolin (previously published in Unfinished Tales