The Book of Lost Tales (History of Middle-earth) - Hardcover

J. R. R. Tolkien

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0395354390 ISBN 13: 9780395354391

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin, 1984

Synopsis

The Book of Lost Tales was the first major work of imagination by J.R.R. Tolkien, begun in 1916-1917 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 English association, they are set in the narrative frame of a great westward voyage over the Ocean by a mariner named Eriel (or AElfwine) to Tol Eressea, the Lonely Isle, where Elves dwelt; from them he learned their true history, the Lost Tales of Elfinesse. In the Tales are found the earliest accounts and original ideas 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 the invented world.
The Book of Lost Tales will be published in two volumes; this first part contains the Tales of Valinor; and the second will include 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 in the form of a short essay; together with the texts of associated poems; and each volume contains extensive information on names and vocabulary in the earliest Elvish languages. Further books in this series are planned to 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of Beleriand, the Ambarkanta or Shape of the World, the Lhammas or Account of Tongues, annals, maps, and many other unpublished writings of J.R.R. Tolkien.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

'For the true devotee of Tolkien 'The Book of Lost Tales' is a treasure trove to match the hoard of the dragon Smaug himself. The pure imaginative power of J.R.R. Tolkien shines through with a light just as dazzling as that of the Two Trees. The serious student of Tolkien will find much delight in this book, and it serves as an excellent example of the creative imagination at work.' -Don Sakers, Baltimore Sun

From the Inside Flap:

THE BOOK OF LOST TALES, I, stands at the beginning of the entire conception of Middle-earth and Valinor. Here is the whole, glorious history of Middle-earth that J.R.R. Tolkien brought to mythic and dramatic life with his classic fantasy novels of the Ring Cycle.

About this edition

• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
• Publication date: 1984
• ISBN 10: 0395354390
• ISBN 13: 9780395354391
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 304
• Editor: Christopher Tolkien