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- Publisher: Del Rey
- Edition: Paperback (April 1992)
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`Great was the power of Melko for ill,' said Eriol,
- `if he could indeed destroy with his cunning the happiness and glory of the Gods and Elves...'
When the hateful god Melko marred the world, the Valar hid within the blessed land of Valinor, abandoning the Elves and Men of Middle Earth to slavery under his terrible rule. This was the time of great heroes who challenged Melko's impossible might. Beren and Lúthien entered Melko's hall to pluck his most prized possession from his crown. Cursed Túrin became a feared enemy of all evil creatures. Tuor fought to save a beleaguered realm. The mighty kingdoms of Gondolin - ruled by King Turgon - and Menegroth - ruled by King Thingol - long provided refuge for the few free people. Finally Eärendel risked all to beseech the Valar for aid. These heroes made terrible sacrifices to rid the world of the greatest evil it has ever known. Ashamedly, as magic faded and the Elves fled from the world, Men forgot these great deeds.
Ages later, the English mariner Eriol sailed to Tol Eressëa, the Lonely Isle, where Elves welcomed him as guest. In grand oral tradition, they recounted to Eriol the tales that should never have been lost.
Anybody who enjoyed The Book of Lost Tales Part 1, which should be read first, will love Part 2. It is also helps to first read The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, Unfinished Tales, and, most importantly, The Silmarillion.
Christopher Tolkien continues to expertly assemble and present his father's works. His precise commentaries are essential to understanding J.R.R. Tolkien's mythos.
Some of the stories in Lost Tales are much more detailed than their final versions in the Silmarillion. Lost Tales is a treasure trove of rejected content that really fleshes out the myths.
The Book of Lost Tales Part 2 has six sections.
`The Tale of Tinúviel', one of Tolkien's most popular stories, tells of the triumphant love between Beren and Lúthien. This version is shockingly different than that found in The Silmarillion, and it contains much more dialogue and plot.
`Turambar and the Foalókë' is the stirring tragedy of Túrin son of Úrin (or Húrin). Cursed as a child, Túrin rages against fate with heroic intensity. This account is wonderfully detailed.
`The Fall of Gondolin' recounts the final days of King Turgon's fair city. Ulmo (the only Valar to intervene in Middle Earth during this period) sends brave Tuor upon a divine quest to bring counsel to the doomed realm. This Lost Tales version is staggeringly well detailed. The final battle for the city (summarized in a few sentences in The Silmarilllion) here receives tremendous attention. This action-heavy scene is definitely a highlight of the book.
In `The Nauglafring', Elves and Dwarves battle over cursed gold. This early-abandoned tale flatly contradicts much of Tolkien's other work.
`The Tale of Eärendel' tells of the legendary mariner who now sails the firmament above Earth as a radiant star, bringing hope to men. J.R.R. Tolkien never wrote this story, so this section consists of outlines, poems, and heavy commentary.
`The History of Eriol or Ælfwine' delves into Eriol's life. It clearly identifies Middle Earth as our Earth; for instance, the origins of England and Ireland are spelled out and Rome is presented as an Elvish enemy. Although enlightening, this thoroughly explained setting lacks the mysterious grandeur of LoTR's Middle Earth. This tale was never finished, and Christopher Tolkien shows superhuman diligence in piecing together jumbled outlines and narrative fragments. It is densely commented and makes a slow, though worthy, read.
The Book of Lost Tales shows the devotion J.R.R. Tolkien had for his craft. It is a perfect choice for any Silmarillion fan.
Essential Continuation to Part One. Tolkien'sEarly Myths
- `The Book of Lost Tales, Part One and Part Two' by J. R. R. Tolkien, edited by son, Christopher Tolkien, is, according to the editor's Foreword, some of the very earliest works written by Tolkien on the mythology of Middle Earth. Many, it is stated, were drafted in the 1920s, nearly ten years before the start of `The Hobbit'.
This is an important fact, as it means that they were not written to `fill in' details of references made in either `The Hobbit' or `The Lord of the Rings' (LOTR). It means that both of these published novels were narratives of a preexisting world of Middle Earth with a history stretching back thousands of years, to the very creation of the world. This supports the sense of historical depth one has when you read both novels. Early in the Foreword, editor Tolkien addresses this very aspect and the danger that the great depth of history felt in the novels may not transfer to documents that lay out that history. I personally do not sense that danger when I read these works. The intellectual effort required to understand the text and tie it together with all the Tolkienania that has gone before is more than enough to keep me busy. This is the basis of my title for this review, `Fantasy for Grown-ups'.
My experience is that neither `The Hobbit' nor `LOTR' books or movies had a strong appeal to the same audience as the literal and virtual comic book works such as Spiderman, Superman, Batman, Star Wars, Lara Croft (Tomb Raider), or even Indiana Jones. The world in which Middle Earth is set is much more subtly different from our world or the world of `Long ago, and far, far, away...' Even in `The Hobbit' one gets hints that the world of Middle Earth is not our comfortable sphereical planet with a different geography but the same physics, chemistry, and biology. One gets the sense that while the great `Gandalf the Gray' may be called a `wizard', he is not a wizard in the same sense as Merlin or a wizard of `Dungeons and Dragons'.
The most important difference between Middle Earth and our world is that this continent is in the center of a great disk surrounded by seas across which are the undying lands including the Elven island of Eressea and Valinor. The next major difference is that there are beings, primarily elves, which walk the earth and which are literally immortal. That is, they cannot die by natural causes. They can, however, be killed in battle, as seen in `The Two Towers' movie with the death of the elven archer allies helping to defend the Hornburg with Aragorn, Theoden, and the Rohrrim. It is also interesting to see that Gandalf possesses an immortality of an entirely different order, as he survives the great battle with the Balrog in the mines of Moria, a battle that would have killed any ordinary immortal elf.
It would have been interesting to see Tolkien deal with immortality in the same way that John Boorman did in his script for the movie `Zardoz', an easily underestimated movie. (Oddly enough, Gandalf is most like the characterization of Merlin in Boorman's movie, `Excalibur').
Another big difference is that the physics of this world is different from our world. Light, for example, simply does not behave like our notions of light. It is much more like a liquid that can be captured in the Silmarils or in the vial give by Galadrial to Frodo in Lorien. This is part of the reason neither Gandalf nor any other character, even Sauron, seems to use much `magic'. What may appear to us as magic is simply bending the different laws of physics to the will of the magician, as Sauron does in creating the One Ring.
These two books are yet another step removed from the `popular fiction' of `LOTR'. `The Silmarillion' was one step removed in being much more like Hesiod's mythology than Homer's epics. The `Unfinished Tales' were another step removed in that they were close to being stories with extensive editorial annotations. These two volumes, which are really one work in two books are reconstructions of even cruder material. Reading them may be about as much fun as reading Frazier's `The Golden Bough'.
Now, reading `The Golden Bough' can be fun for a particularly intellectual interest, but it takes just a bit extra to gain the same pleasure from these works, as they are not stories from a historical mythology which may explain genuine primitive thought and beliefs. They are make believe! They just happen to be of a type of make believe which is more different than just about any other fiction you can imagine.
The greatest insight I get from these myths on the early history of Middle Earth is on the origins of Tom Bombadil and the Ents. While neither is mentioned, there are ample hints that both are beings who sprung up from the bones of Middle Earth itself, independent of any efforts by the Valar. This explains the total difference between Bombadil and every other character in `LOTR' aside from Treebeard and the Ents. The Elves, the Wizards, Sauron, dragons, and probably dwarves, hobbits, and men all arose out of immigrants from `The Undying Lands' or were created by the Valar.
I find the single most interesting character in these pre `LOTR' stories to be the Noldor (elven) leader Feanor. He seems to have the air of Prometheus about him in that he defies the gods (the Valar) without being an evil force like Melkor / Morgoth or Sauron. When Feanor is not on the stage, my interest drops several notches.
These are the first two volumes of the twelve volume `The History of Middle Earth'. While several of the volumes seem independent, I would not venture to read any of them without having read `The Silmarillion'. They will make very little sense without this background in hand.
Tolkien Rediscovered through the efforts of his son, Christ
- WARNING - if you're not a Tolkien fan, you may find this review rather hard going! You have been warned....*
The Book of Lost Tales 2 is the second of a set of early versions of stories by JRR Tolkien compiled by his son, Christopher. The title is a little misleading as the stories for the most part made their way in a somewhat shortened format into the book The Silmarillion. (In case you've never heard of it, this deals with the first and second Ages of Middle Earth - that is, before both The Hobbit and The Lord of The Rings.)
There are 6 actual stories in The Book of Lost Tales 2, which are as follows:
1/ The Tale of Tinúviel
2/ Turambar and the Foalókë
3/ The Fall of Gondolin
4/ The Nauglafring
5/ The Tale of Eärendel
6/ The History of Eriol or Ælfwine of England and the end of the tales
Along with the following:
Appendix: Names in the Lost Tales - Part II
Short Glossary of Obsolete, Archaic, and Rare Words
Index
1/ "Tinúviel" is more commonly known as Luthien, and this is basically a slightly extended version of "The Lay of Beren and Luthien" (if there are any inaccuracies here it's because someone borrowed my copy of The Silmarillion a while ago and I haven't got it back yet...)
2/ This is the story of Turin in The Silmarillion, and is the only version here that I actually prefer to the edited version that appears in that book. This is because there is interesting incidental detail included that is not included in the final version. Not hugely different but still something Tolkein enthusiasts will really enjoy.
3/ This tells, as you might have guessed, of the fall of Gondolin. It is rather wordy and benefited greatly from the greater brevity it was treated to in The Silmarillion.
4/ Most of the narrative of this story about the Nauglafring (Necklace of the Dwarves) failed to make it in any form into The Silmarillion, so this is the only place you're ever likely to see it. In his commentary, Christopher Tolkein explains that much of the original text is in pencil only (meaning it was the first draft), and he is not sure why his father abandoned so much of it. As Middle Earth mythology goes, it's certainly not all that shoddy but would almost certainly have slowed down the incredible narrative drive of the finished product.
5/ This isn't a story as such but an outline of how the story (which was never actually written) was planned to develop. There are some poems which allude to the character Eärendel, and these are included. The pains Christopher Tolkein goes to here to explain how the intended story would fit in with all the others are quite astonishing - he really seems to take unravelling his father's ancient texts and drafts as seriously as a devout scholar might undertake translating sacred scrolls.
6/ Although this is one of the weakest examples of storytelling I have ever seen by the great JRR, it is probably the most interesting in that he seems to be attempting to make a coherent link between Middle Earth and our own world. Sadly this just feels a little too contrived to ring true (taking into account the suspending of belief you must have when reading created mythologies, obviously), and lacks the power and passion of his true Middle Earth writings.
In general the writing is not quite up to Tolkien 's high standards, but then that's to be expected as these represent his mostly unedited work. The one real exception to this is in the second story in the collection, Turambar and the Foalókë, which contains staggeringly good descriptive prose and imagery together with an amazing plot. However as it is not a great deal better than the version Tolkien decided to go with in The Silmarillion, I can't claim (as I am somewhat tempted to do) that this story alone is worth getting the book for.
The appendices etc are very well put together but I can't imagine anyone but a real Tolkein nut being particularly interested in them. And that is the weakness of the whole book, unfortunately - while it is superbly researched and written, and the footnotes and commentary are interesting, it is only ever going to have very limited appeal. Even for myself, an affirmed Tolkien admirer, will probably never go back and read this book again (okay apart from to remind myself what it contained while reviewing it).
Because of this, and I really hate to do so because Christopher Tolkein has done an amazing job with reconstructing lost texts and piecing together the history and relationships of each piece, I'm only going to give it 3 stars and a not recommended. [Sorry Christopher :-( ] If you are a real, dedicated Tolkein fan, however, you will certainly enjoy it. (But then, you probably already have it...)
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