TITLE:  Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-Earth

AUTHOR:  J.R.R. Tolkien

EDITOR:  Christopher Tolkien

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DESCRIPTION:

 "Unfinished Tales is a collection of narratives ranging in time from the Elder Days of Middle-earth to the end of the War of the Ring, and provides those who have read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings with a whole collection of background and new stories.

The book concentrates on the realm of Middle-earth and comprises such elements as The Quest of Erebor, Gandalf’s lively account of how it was that he came to send the Dwarves to the celebrated party at Bag-End; the emergence of the sea-god Ulmo before the eyes of Tuor on the coast of Beleriand; and an exact description of the military organization of the Riders of Rohan.

Unfinished Tales also contains the only story about the long ages of Númenor before its downfall, and all that is known about such matters as the Five Wizards, the Palantíri and the legend of Amroth. The tales were edited by Christopher Tolkien, who provides a short commentary on each story, helping the reader to fill in the gaps and put each story into the context of the rest of his father’s writings."

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REVIEW:

I found the sections involving the Third Age most interesting.  These include a fuller narrative of what happened to Isildur on the Gladden Fields (and the interesting things Aragorn finds in Saruman's tower), several extended narratives on the politics and friendship between Gondor and Rohan, a "missing chapter" of the Battle of the Fords of Isen where Theodred was slain, and a hilarious extra "chapter" on Gandalf's quest to convince Thorin to take a hobbit with him to claim his Kingdom Under the Mountain.  There is additional juicy information about Ringwraiths, Gollum, wizards (there were 5 of them!), Seeing-Stones and a peculiar race of humans called the Druedain.  

It really is a pity that Tolkien didn't manage to add some of these "unfinished tales" into his novels, even as appendices.  This book provides a selection of additional material for those who need to know more about Middle-Earth.  However, I do suggest reading The Silmarillion, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, before reading Unfinished Tales to get the most out of this book.

TITLE:  The Silmarillion

AUTHOR:  J.R.R. Tolkien

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DESCRIPTION:

"Tolkien considered The Silmarillion his most important work, and, though it was published last and posthumously, this great collection of tales and legends clearly sets the stage for all his other writing. The story of the creation of the world and of the the First Age, this is the ancient drama to which the characters in The Lord of the Rings look back and in whose events some of them, such as Elrond and Galadriel, took part. The three Silmarils were jewels created by Feanor, most gifted of the Elves. Within them was imprisoned the Light of the Two Trees of Valinor before the Trees themselves were destroyed by Morgoth, the first Dark Lord. Thereafter, the unsullied Light of Valinor lived on only in the Silmarils, but they were seized by Morgoth and set in his crown, which was guarded in the impenetrable fortress of Angband in the north of Middle-earth.

The Silmarillion is the history of the rebellion of Feanor and his kindred against the gods, their exile from Valinor and return to Middle-earth, and their war, hopeless despite all their heroism, against the great Enemy."

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REVIEW:

The Silmarillion is a grand, sweeping epic involving the creation of Middle-Earth, the Sun, Moon and its denizens, along with the history of the Elves and their quest to regain some jewelry stolen my the first Dark Lord (i.e. Sauron's master).  Attached is the story of the downfall of Numenor (Sauron makes an appearance), as well as an interesting narrative of the Second and Third Age of Middle Earth.  Elves, dwarves, men, gods, dragons, balrogs and other creatures make an appearance.  The writing is beautiful.  This is not a fun, fluffy read (it is a condensed history book after all) but it is wonderful and worth the effort if you are at all interested in Middle-Earth.

WARNING:  No Hobbits!

NOTE:  The Silmarillion Primer

TITLE:  The Fall of Gondolin

AUTHOR:  J.R.R. Tolkien

EDITOR:  Christopher Tolkien

ILLUSTRATOR:  Alan Lee

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DESCRIPTION:

"In the Tale of The Fall of Gondolin are two of the greatest powers in the world. There is Morgoth of the uttermost evil, unseen in this story but ruling over a vast military power from his fortress of Angband. Deeply opposed to Morgoth is Ulmo, second in might only to Manwë, chief of the Valar.

Central to this enmity of the gods is the city of Gondolin, beautiful but undiscoverable. It was built and peopled by Noldorin Elves who, when they dwelt in Valinor, the land of the gods, rebelled against their rule and fled to Middle-earth. Turgon King of Gondolin is hated and feared above all his enemies by Morgoth, who seeks in vain to discover the marvellously hidden city, while the gods in Valinor in heated debate largely refuse to intervene in support of Ulmo's desires and designs.

Into this world comes Tuor, cousin of Túrin, the instrument of Ulmo's designs. Guided unseen by him Tuor sets out from the land of his birth on the fearful journey to Gondolin, and in one of the most arresting moments in the history of Middle-earth the sea-god himself appears to him, rising out of the ocean in the midst of a storm. In Gondolin he becomes great; he is wedded to Idril, Turgon's daughter, and their son is Eärendel, whose birth and profound importance in days to come is foreseen by Ulmo.

At last comes the terrible ending. Morgoth learns through an act of supreme treachery all that he needs to mount a devastating attack on the city, with Balrogs and dragons and numberless Orcs. After a minutely observed account of the fall of Gondolin, the tale ends with the escape of Tuor and Idril, with the child Eärendel, looking back from a cleft in the mountains as they flee southward, at the blazing wreckage of their city. They were journeying into a new story, the Tale of Eärendel, which Tolkien never wrote, but which is sketched out in this book from other sources.

Following his presentation of Beren and Lúthien Christopher Tolkien has used the same 'history in sequence' mode in the writing of this edition of The Fall of Gondolin. In the words of J.R.R. Tolkien, it was ‘the first real story of this imaginary world’ and, together with Beren and Lúthien and The Children of Húrin, he regarded it as one of the three 'Great Tales' of the Elder Days."

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REVIEW:

This is a beautifully illustrated compilation of all things relating to the Fall of Gondolin.  There isn't anything in this book that you won't find in the Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales and the History of Middle Earth books, but it's nice to have everything in one book.  Glorfindel makes a wonderful appearance, so does Ecthelion of the Fountain, a bunch of balrogs, dragons and oddly enough metallic war machines stuffed full of orcs.  The writing is beautiful as always.

TITLE:  The Children of Húrin

AUTHOR:  J.R.R. Tolkien

EDITOR:  Christopher Tolkien

ILLUSTRATOR:  Alan Lee

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DESCRIPTION:

"The Tale of The Children of Húrin (Narn i Chîn Húrin), is set during the legendary time before The Lord of the Rings

Morgoth, the first Dark Lord, dwells in the vast fortress of Angband in the North; and within the shadow of the fear of Angband, and the war waged by Morgoth against the Elves, the fates of Túrin and his sister Niënor will be tragically entwined.
Their brief and passionate lives are dominated by the elemental hatred that Morgoth bears them as the children of Húrin, the man who dared to defy him to his face. Against them Morgoth sends his most formidable servant, Glaurung, a powerful spirit in the form of a huge wingless dragon of fire, in an attempt to fulfil the curse of Morgoth and destroy the children of Húrin."

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REVIEW:

This is a more complete (more or less) narrative tale of the Children of Hurin from what is found in the Silmarillion, and includes text from Unfinished Tales.  The writing is delightful as always.  Dragons, orcs, elves, dwarves, a grumpy sword, hidden cities, curses, messed up family dynamics and mayhem.  Some one really should have had a little to chat to Turin about his temper.

The illustrations by Alan Lee were a nice bonus.

TITLE: Beren and Lúthien

AUTHOR:  J.R.R. Tolkien

EDITOR:  Christopher Tolkien

ILLUSTRATOR:  Alan Lee

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DESCRIPTION:

 

"Painstakingly restored from Tolkien’s manuscripts and presented for the first time as a continuous and standalone story, the epic tale of Beren and Lúthien will reunite fans of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings with Elves and Men, Dwarves and Orcs and the rich landscape and creatures unique to Tolkien’s Middle-earth.

The tale of Beren and Lúthien was, or became, an essential element in the evolution of The Silmarillion, the myths and legends of the First Age of the World conceived by J.R.R. Tolkien. Returning from France and the battle of the Somme at the end of 1916, he wrote the tale in the following year.

Essential to the story, and never changed, is the fate that shadowed the love of Beren and Lúthien: for Beren was a mortal man, but Lúthien was an immortal Elf. Her father, a great Elvish lord, in deep opposition to Beren, imposed on him an impossible task that he must perform before he might wed Lúthien. This is the kernel of the legend; and it leads to the supremely heroic attempt of Beren and Lúthien together to rob the greatest of all evil beings, Melkor, called Morgoth, the Black Enemy, of a Silmaril.

In this book Christopher Tolkien has attempted to extract the story of Beren and Lúthien from the comprehensive work in which it was embedded; but that story was itself changing as it developed new associations within the larger history. To show something of the process whereby this legend of Middle-earth evolved over the years, he has told the story in his father's own words by giving, first, its original form, and then passages in prose and verse from later texts that illustrate the narrative as it changed. Presented together for the first time, they reveal aspects of the story, both in event and in narrative immediacy, that were afterwards lost."

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REVIEW:

This book is a compilation of all the bits and pieces and various versions that J.R.R. Tolkien wrote about the Tale of Beren and Lúthien (excluding the relevant chapter in The Silmarillion).  So you have Tevildo, the Prince of Cats, mightiest of all cats, and close companion to Morgoth, that never made it into The Silmarillion, and you have a rather lengthy (but wonderful) poem of the saga.  The full-colour illustrations by Alan Lee are a bonus.  A wonderful book if you love J.R.R. Tolkien's writing style, have read The Silmarillion, and want more background.  There is nothing here that hasn't already been included in The History of Middle Earth volumes.

WARNING:  This is not a complete, narrative style novel. 

NOTE:Beren and Lúthien and Their Not-So-Little Dog, Too by Jeff LaSala