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The History of Middle-Earth #2

The Book of Lost Tales 2

j.r.r. tolkien christopher tolkien

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The Book of Lost Tales 2 (The History of Middle-Earth, Vol. 2)
viii, 391 pp. "The Book of Lost Tales was the first major work of imagination by J.R.R. Tolkien, begun in 1916, when he was twenty-five years old, and left incomplete several years later. It stands at the beginning of the entire conception of Middle-earth and Valinor, for the Lost Tales were the first form of the myths and legends that came to be called The Silmarillion. Embedded in English legend and association, they are set in the narrative frame of the great westward voyage of a mariner named Eriel (or AElfwine). His destination is Tol Eressea, the Lonely Isle where Elves dwell; from them he learns their true history, the Lost Tales of Elfinesse. The Tales include the earliest accounts of Gods and Elves, Dwarves, Balrogs, and Orcs; of the Silmarils and the Two Trees of Valinor; of Nargothrond and Gondolin; of the geography and cosmography of their invented world. The Book of Lost Tales is published in two volumes. The first contains the Tales of Valinor; and this second past includes Beren and Luthien, Turin and the Dragon, and the only full narratives of the Necklace of the Dwarves and the Fall of Gondolin. Each tale is followed by a commentary, together with associated poems, and each volume contains extensive information on names and vocabulary of the earliest Elvish languages. Additional books in this series will extend the history of Middle-earth as it was refined and enlarged in later years and will include the long Lays of Beleriand, the Ambarkanta or Shape of the World, the Lhammas or Account of Tongues, annals, maps, and many other previously unpublished writings of J.R.R. Tolkien."Keywords: FANTASY SCIENCE FICTION HISTORY MIDDLE EARTH JRR TOLKIEN BOOK OF LOST TALES

391 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published August 16,1984
Series
The History of Middle-Earth
Literary awards
mythopoeic fantasy award, 

This edition

Format
391 pages, Mass Market Paperback
Published
April 22, 1992 by Del Rey
ISBN
ASIN
B0DSZF1KH5
Language
English
Characters More characters

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About the author

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j.r.r. tolkien

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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.

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.

Tolkien was an accomplished amateur artist who painted for pleasure and relaxation. He excelled at landscapes and often drew inspiration from his own stories. He illustrated many scenes from The Silmarillion, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, sometimes drawing or painting as he was writing in order to visualize the imagined scene more clearly.

Tolkien was a professor at the Universities of Leeds and Oxford for almost forty years, teaching Old and Middle English, as well as Old Norse and Gothic. His illuminating lectures on works such as the Old English epic poem, Beowulf, illustrate his deep knowledge of ancient languages and at the same time provide new insights into peoples and legends from a remote past.

Tolkien was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa, in 1892 to English parents. He came to England aged three and was brought up in and around Birmingham. He graduated from the University of Oxford in 1915 and saw active service in France during the First World War before being invalided home. After the war he pursued an academic career teaching Old and Middle English. Alongside his professional work, he invented his own languages and began to create what he called a mythology for England; it was this ‘legendarium' that he would work on throughout his life. But his literary work did not start and end with Middle-earth, he also wrote poetry, children's stories and fairy tales for adults. He died in 1973 and is buried in Oxford where he spent most of his adult life.

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Rating(4 / 5.0, 99 votes)
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99 reviews All reviews
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_Pedro_Miguel_
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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Puanım 3/5 (%60/100)

Tolkien'in 6:45 tarafından yayımlanan kitaplarını yorumlamaya devam ediyorum. Bunu da 2016'da Kayıp Öyküler Kitabı 1'i okuduktan hemen sonra okumuştum. Çok devam kitabı olduğu söylenemez ama aynı zamandaki hikayelerden bahsettiği için böyle ayrılmış. Yine sevdiğim yerler de vardı sıkıldığım yerler de. Zaten bu devasa notlar koleksiyonlarını üç beş yeni bir şey öğrenirim diye okumuştum (birçok kişi gibi). Korkunç bir çevirisi olduğunu da söyleyeyim her incelememde söylediğim gibi.
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Toto_123
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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(Same thoughts as for Part One, so copy/paste my review for that)

This book contains a collection of partially finished stories written by J.R.R. Tolkien that his son Christopher Tolkien does an excellent job of weaving together into an almost comprehensible history of Middle Earth. Like The Silmarillion, this prelude of sorts is tooth-grindingly boring; the web of names and variations is confusing and headache-inducing. Even so, I couldn't help but be awed by the individual stories and the work as a whole. J.R.R. Tolkien was an admirable scholar and writer; his desire to create an entire universe from scratch, his love for and dedication to his art is obvious in every sentence. It's also fascinating to see how his stories and his world evolved as he revised and continued to write.
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RadicalXero
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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2.67/5.00 based on the following:

I) The Tale of Tinuviel -- 5/5 Really enjoyed it

II) Turumbar and the Foaloke -- 3/5 It wasn't bad but having read the separate novel The Children of Húrin I felt like it didn't add anything

III) The Fall of Gondolin -- 2/5 Wasn't all my thing, as what I was expecting. I much more enjoyed the story of Tuor in Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth

IV) The Nauglafring -- 5/5 Another one I enjoyed

V) The Tale of Earendel -- 0/5 I had no idea what Christopher Tolkien was talking about or going at here

VI) The History of Eriol -- 1/5 Once again, just wasn't enjoying it. The last two chapters felt like I was missing some context.

Averaging out to 2.67 I round it up to 3/5 for the final review. After the first two books of HoME I am averaging a 3 solidly.
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OscarTheCouch
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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Forse ho aspettato troppo per rileggere questo volume, dalla prima volta sono trascorsi più di 25 anni e alcune cose le avevo proprio scordate mentre altre probabilmente non le avevo comprese a fondo.
Ho riscoperto con notevole gusto la versione di Beren e Luthien di questi racconti, con Tevildo (che verrà sostituito da Sauron nella versione del Silmarillion) come avversario (e io parteggio per i gatti e non per i cani) e quasi mi spiace che sia finita male per il miagoloso sire dei felini.
Turin nel complesso, pur se differente per episodi, aveva già gli stessi temi, e nel complesso è la storia che, tra quelle della Prima Era del Sole, mi attira meno. Non ho particolare simpatia per Turin figlio di Hurin o per il drago.
La Caduta di Gondolin è stata praticamente una riscoperta: non ricordavo nulla se non la versione del Silmarillion, stringata e priva di praticamente tutti i passaggi epici della battaglia. Credo che la differenza tra le due versioni sia dovuta al fatto che JRRT nel tempo ha profondamente cambiato la sua opinione sull'eroismo classico, come ben spiegò in Il ritorno di Beorhtnoth figlio di Beorhthelm e nella Caduta, seppur giustificato, ce n'è troppo di questo tipo di eroismo.
La Nauglafring è un altro pezzo che ricordavo poco, e salta agli occhi quanto diversi siano alcuni protagonisti, Thingol su tutti.
La storia di Earendil è curiosa: so da altri volumi che fu il nucleo originario della costruzione del suo subuniverso mitico, la pietra angolare della sua mitopoiesi. Eppure qui scopro che non è mai andato oltre quelle quattro poesie scritte addirittura, in un caso, prima della Grande Guerra. Quindi qui ci restano dei riassunti di trame mai sviluppate, ed anche la versione del Silmarillion è decisamente stringata.
Infine ci sono le storie di Eriol e AElfwine, che sono la stessa storia e, nel complesso, il fine originale di queste storie. JRRT avrebbe voluto ricostruire, ricreare, la mitologia anglosassone della quale effettivamente ci resta poco. Interessante, ma la mancanza di sviluppo di queste ultime parti rende la lettura un poco pesante.
Comunque mi è decisamente piaciuto.
4 stelle piene.
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marisan1
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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This review will go over both of the Lost Tales parts

This is for those who just can't get enough of Tolkien's works. If you have not read or did not enjoy The Silmarillion, do not even bother reading The Book of Lost Tales. I would actually recommend reading The Silmarillion a couple of times before reading these books. The Book of Lost Tales seems to be a first draft of The Silmarillion. Lost Tales is more convoluted and probably drier, and is full of Christopher Tolkien's commentary (about the last 3rd of each chapter) that you probably have to slog through. Also I felt the tale of Eriol and "The Cottage of Lost Play" was a bit irrelevant.

I kept The Silmarillion with me for reference as I read due to the name differences. Many of the names in Lost Tales are significantly different than those in The Silmarillion. Some of the stories that you may know and love are also different. If you want more details, you'll just have to read for yourself.

Overall, I did thoroughly enjoy these books. It was a cool spin on The Silmarillion. I will probably just stick with The Silmarillion though if I want to reread about the First Age of Middle Earth.
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misacchin
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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This was quite hard to get through. There are some interesting bits, but the stuff in between them is just a tough cookie. A must-read for die-hard Tolkien fans (the whole series is) but don't expect a compelling book that grips you from start to end.
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Aust1n
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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Meglio della prima parte, sia a livello di linguaggio che per i temi presenti - ai 3 racconti classici Beren&Luthien, Gondolin, Tùrin - si aggiunge il bellissimo (anche se non come nella versione finale) Nauglafring e la storia (in fase embrionale e di difficile digestione) di Earendel.
La parte finale è una protologia di Tolkien, dove si vedono veramente temi norreni ed antico-inglesi (che saranno superati solo in seguito).

Il testo, come il primo volume, è estremamente specialistico. Lo consiglio solo agli amanti di Tolkien non solo agli "usufruitori".
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