History of Middle-Earth, The - Vol. 6 - The Return of the Shadow, The History of The Lord of the Rings, Part 1 (Lord of the Rings Books & Guides (Houghton Mifflin))

J.R.R. Tolkien

ISBN 10: 0395498635 / ISBN 13: 9780395498637

Published by Houghton Mifflin, 1999

About this Item

Houghton Mifflin Lord of the Rings Books & Guides (Houghton Mifflin) History of Middle-Earth, The - Vol. 6 - The Return of the Shadow, The History of The Lord of the Rings, Part 1 (EX/NM) (dust jacket VG+)Manufacturer: Houghton MifflinProduct Line: Lord of the Rings Books & Guides (Houghton Mifflin)Type: HardcoverCopyright Date: 1988Author: J.R.R. TolkienPage Count: 497Please review the condition and any condition notes for the exact condition of this item. All pictures are stock photos. The condition of the item you will receive is EX/NM - dust jacket VG+. Our grading system is explained in the terms of sale section of our bookseller page. Please feel free to contact us with any questions. Product Description:In this sixth volume of The History of Middle-earth the story reaches The Lord of the Rings. In The Return of the Shadow (an abandoned title for the first volume) Christopher Tolkien describes, with full citation of the earliest notes, outline plans, and narrative drafts, the intricate evolution of The Fellowship of the Ring and the gradual emergence of the conceptions that transformed what J.R.R. Tolkien for long believed would be a far shorter book, 'a sequel to The Hobbit'. The enlargement of Bilbo's 'magic ring' into the supremely potent and dangerous Ruling Ring of the Dark Lord is traced and the precise moment is seen when, in an astonishing and unforeseen leap in the earliest narrative, a Black Rider first rode into the Shire, his significance still unknown. The character of the hobbit called Trotter (afterwards Strider or Aragorn) is developed while his indentity remains an absolute puzzle, and the suspicion only very slowly becomes certainty that he must after all be a Man. The hobbits, Frodo's companions, undergo intricate permutations of name and personality, and other major figures appear in strange modes: a sinister Treebeard, in league with the Enemy, a ferocious and malevolent Farmer Maggot.The story in this book ends at the point where J.R.R. Tolkien halted in the story for a long time, as the Company of the Ring, still lacking Legolas and Gimli, stood before the tomb of Balin in the Mines of Moria. The Return of the Shadow is illustrated with reproductions of the first maps and notable pages from the earliest manuscripts.

Seller Inventory # 2150096704

Bibliographic Details

• Title: History of Middle-Earth, The - Vol. 6 - The Return of the Shadow, The History of The Lord of the Rings, Part 1 (Lord of the Rings Books & Guides (Houghton Mifflin))
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
• Publication Date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0395498635
• ISBN 13: 9780395498637
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: Very Good

About this title

Synopsis

In this sixth volume of The History of Middle-earth the story reaches The Lord of the Rings. In The Return of the Shadow (an abandoned title for the first volume) Christopher Tolkien describes, with full citation of the earliest notes, outline plans, and narrative drafts, the intricate evolution of The Fellowship of the Ring and the gradual emergence of the conceptions that transformed what J.R.R. Tolkien for long believed would be a far shorter book, 'a sequel to The Hobbit'. The enlargement of Bilbo's 'magic ring' into the supremely potent and dangerous Ruling Ring of the Dark Lord is traced and the precise moment is seen when, in an astonishing and unforeseen leap in the earliest narrative, a Black Rider first rode into the Shire, his significance still unknown. The character of the hobbit called Trotter (afterwards Strider or Aragorn) is developed while his indentity remains an absolute puzzle, and the suspicion only very slowly becomes certainty that he must after all be a Man. The hobbits, Frodo's companions, undergo intricate permutations of name and personality, and other major figures appear in strange modes: a sinister Treebeard, in league with the Enemy, a ferocious and malevolent Farmer Maggot.

The story in this book ends at the point where J.R.R. Tolkien halted in the story for a long time, as the Company of the Ring, still lacking Legolas and Gimli, stood before the tomb of Balin in the Mines of Moria. The Return of the Shadow is illustrated with reproductions of the first maps and notable pages from the earliest manuscripts.

About the Author

J.R.R. Tolkien was born on January 3, 1892. After serving in the First World War, he embarked upon a distinguished career as a professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford University. He is the renowned creator of Middle-earth and author of the great modern classic, The Hobbit, the prelude to his epic masterpiece, The Lord of the Rings. Other works by J.R.R. Tolkien include The Silmarillion. J.R.R. Tolkien died in 1973 at the age of 81.

Christopher Tolkien, who formerly taught at Oxford University, is J.R.R. Tolkien's son and literary executor. The editor of The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales as well as the twelve-part series The History of Middle-earth, he lives in France.