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We have a map! #middleearth #lotr #tolkien

Amazon's Lord of The Rings series is slowly making progress!! I'm secretly hoping to meet Bombadil 💕

And so I finish another volume of The History of Middle Earth! Since I read it with another volume, maybe just maybe, I can finish that one when I get home tonight...we‘ll see.🤷‍♀️

Sadly the reviews are starting to sound the same at this point, Tolkien‘s original attention to detail, and his son‘s research exposing the creation and growth of the story through multiple revisions and discarded or enhanced paths continues to amaze.

#YearOfTolkien

Well this section at the end of “The Shaping Of” went way faster than I thought, since my Old English stinks 😂 (skimming a lot here), but still, even though I can‘t make out much here, I‘m still impressed by his dedication, and attention to detail in making it a traceable living mythology.

#YearOfTolkien

Seriously, this language play behind the creation of this language and names is amazingly complex and ingenious. Such a complex mind, that literally spend hours devising the names with references where the (fictional) name derives from, that are based in actual old English language.

#YearOFTolkien

Just imagine what he could have done if he used this power for evil instead of fantasy...the conspiracy theories he could have created🤔😬

Even when you think Tolkien can‘t amaze you even more, beyond the story, beyond the language development, his son throws in, oh, by the way, he wrote out a bunch of these in Old English too, you know to complete the tale of ancient gods creating our world from ancient times.

No wonder some of the first publishers readers weren‘t sure what to do with this & thought it was some unverified find rather than an elaborately created work!
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I still love this quote:

“For heart that is pitiless counteth not the power that pity hath, of which stern anger may be forged and lightening kindled before which mountains fall.”

#YearOfTolkien

Ok #YearOfTolkien, I think I finally have both our current read and my catch-up read at a good place, both are at the beginning of different versions of the Quenta....so if I‘m right, I should be able to read 1 and it‘s commentary in The Shaping of and the 1 and commentary in the later version in The Lost Road. Either this will be really confusing or really help me see the developments one section at a time as he amends and expands his story. 🤞

There is a lot of information I‘ve read before in this book, or at least very similar information. However, that in no way detracted from my enjoyment. In fact, there were certain aspects of the stories and the overall timing in the history that finally seemed to click in my brain with these versions.

#YearofTolkien

I know, I know . . . There‘s so much information, I should just be grateful. Yet, little snippets like this make me even more curious. The line from page 100 doesn‘t seem to match what I thought I knew about the origin of orcs. Then the comments on page 376 make me wonder if there is more information somewhere else. Will it be something elaborated on later in the History of Middle-Earth? Hoping that‘s the case.

#YearofTolkien

I spent some time ordering things for the #TolkieniteSwap this afternoon and read pages of The Trick is to Keep Breathing in between. Intriguing, but I‘m curious if the missing page numbers follow a pattern or are just random?

I had steak fajitas for supper on the porch since it is beautiful this evening. Now, after I clean the kitchen, I‘m switching back to The Shaping of Middle-Earth and “The Earliest Annals of Beleriand.” #YearofTolkien

Finished yesterday night and l loved it. Though honestly, l still have to find one book by Tolkien that l haven't quite enjoyed.
The books of the History of Middle-Earth are just amazing. I love watching sets, characters and event evolving, as they slowly become what we know. I'm so grateful to Christopher Tolkien for giving the world these books.

But l want more Dwarves!!!!! Gimme gimme gimme more Dwarves!!!!!!

#YearOfTolkien

I read “The Earliest Annals of Valinor” tonight, although I doubt I will make it through all the commentary. I find it interesting to see this information in something like a timeline format, and every version helps me gain a better understanding of the early history.

#YearofTolkien

In spite of all my care, the spine cracked 😭

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I don't know why l find this 'technical' stuff (maps, timelines, lista of names) so fascinating, but l do.
Maybe it's because it exposes the depth of Tolkien creation. It's a true exploration of a living world.

#YearOfTolkien

Happy Friday! It‘s been a long day, but this chicken fajita salad (with fresh garden vegetables) was delicious. I read about the first Silmarillion map, which I think would have been really interesting if I could actually read the map. However, in my small paperback, a decent amount of the writing is illegible. It is amazing to think of Tolkien using and updating this map over the years.

#YearofTolkien #readandeat

Maidros (Maedhros) and Maglor are such great characters. They are such decente men and still the are truthful to an oath they took willingly, to their father and their brothers, even if they don't believe in it anymore.
I wish there had been a more positive ending for them.

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So Elrond was created before anything from the Lord of the Rings was ever conceived. He is really the connection between the Elder Days and the Third Age.

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I finished The Quenta (including commentary), Appendix 1 (a translation of a fragment in Old English with notes), and Appendix 2 (a poem) this evening. I really enjoyed all of The Quenta and finally feel I‘m getting a handle on some of the stories I didn‘t really absorb just in reading The Silmarillion.

#YearofTolkien

This is such a compressed rendition of the story of Gondolin. I miss all the details l know from other readings. But l still enjoyed it.

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Every time l read The Children of Hurin, l find something new about this story. There are so many layers to it.

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Every time l read the Nirnaeth Arnoediad l think Tolkien must have had grand ideas about it. In his mind, the story must have existed in far more details, because you can small it as you read it. We just have summaries of it, and still it's so easy to see how much story is crammed in those summaries.
Such a crime the full story never saw the light if day.

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I could read the story of Beren and Luthien one thousend times and l would love it one thousend times ?

"The quest of the Silmaril there aroused the oath from sleep that the sons of Fëanor had sworn, and evil began to grow from it."

In Middle-Earth, everything seems to have power and will. Even inanimete object, even immaterial elements like oaths. Loving it.

#YearOfTolkien

Ah! And now the history of Middle Earth is truly shaping up.
It's such a fantastic journal, from the magmatinc beginning, to the congregation of ideas, to the fine tuning of them.
Every stage has its own strength and surprises. Reading the History of Middle-Earth is such a strange experience, because it sounds family and still new every time.

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The Dwarves at last 😍

#YearOfTolkien

I found this section of the commentary about The Quenta part 13 interesting. In reading the evolving versions we see names change due to aspects of the story. In later versions these are the only names used, and Tolkien seems to explain this as the role of memory in the legends. I‘m fascinated by the melding of his writing development into what becomes mythological & historical development in the world he created.

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My History of Middle Earth collection is growing 😆

#YearOfTolkien

A very swift treatment of two of the best episodes in The Silmarillion: Feanor's death and Maedhros's inprisonment.
I've always thought there must have been so much more story here. Who knows what was in the Professor's mind when he wrote this summary?
But then this is the case for so many stories in The Silmarillion. You can sense, sometimes very sharply, that you are just seeing the tipo of the iceberg.

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#Tolkien

Catch up time! 😄 #YearOfTolkien

@JazzFeathers

Spending the week at a hotel for a workshop about state ELA testing means a quiet evening to myself with my book and a beverage. Here‘s hoping I get caught up on the readalong this week!

I really appreciated the details describing Ungoliant, and I like the stories about the House of Finwe more every time. I never thought I would enjoy rereading these different versions so much.

#YearofTolkien #TeachersofLitsy #BooksandBooze

The Oath of Feanor and the Doom of Mandos

In this version of the Quenta none of the two speeches are truly spelled, but the meaning of the is already clear by the events.
Here Feanor has not come into his complete complex self yet, and the dynamics among Finwe's sons are only scetched, but already the final result can be glimpsed.
One of the most powerful passages of the Silmarillion

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The Darkening of Valinor

The episode of Ungoliant is one of the most visually striking in the Silmarillion. The giant spider, the gloomy fog that spreads from her, the killing of the Trees and the darkness, the smoke filling the streets of the city of the Elves.
Absolutely fantastic!

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House of Finwe

In the essetintiality of this early Silmarillion, Tolkien presents every character with their strongest treat. Feanor the skilful, Fingolfin the valiant, Finrod the wise of heart. The same for all their children.
the Silmarillion has so many characters and still each and every one of then have their own personality and history. None better than the House of Finwe

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The Eldalie
When the Valar realise the first children of llluvatar have awakening, they move war to Morgoth, to make the world a safer place, the invite the Eldar to live with them.

I find moving the way the Valar love and protect the Elves and the way the Elves give themselves to the Valar in total trust. The world as it should have been, l suppose.

But a few hesitate (Thingol, the Teleri) giving birth to a new history

#YearOfTolkien

I fell so much behind with this, but l'm trying to catch up.

The Beginning of Times
I really like this first section of the earlier Quenta, concerning the Valar, the Two Trees and the first days of Arda. Things are now becoming very familiar, it's like going back to a place we love.

#YearOfTolkien

Finally starting The Quenta a few days late, but I‘m switching to two bookmarks and reading the commentary immediately after each short section. I think I‘ll get more out of reading the commentary this way.

#YearofTolkien

Litsy friends really do find the most amazing bookish gifts! This morning I‘ve got a bit of extra time so I‘m enjoying a cup of tea in my new mug from @Captivatedbybooks as a part of #JaneAustenSwap using the adorable book tea diffuser from @tpixie (sent with my most recent #CovertoCover book) while reading some of the commentary on the early Silmarillion for #YearofTolkien.

It‘s been a busy few days, and I‘m already behind on this readalong. Although progressing slowly, I‘m really enjoying the short straightforward sections of this early Silmarillion. I also feel like this form is helping me better grasp the timeline of the events that has often eluded me.

#YearofTolkien

It's interesting to see this intermediate version of the stories of Turin and Tuor, who are not yet cousins 😆
Not the very first versions anymore, but not yet the more refined versions either.

But what l wonder is: when are the Dwarves becoming what they are supposed to be? 😣

#YearOfTolkien

The journey continues . . . I just read the first section of this book and am getting ready to start the second. This first part included very short sections, but I enjoyed the little bits of detail. I‘m intrigued to see how aspects of the Silmarillion came together.

#YearofTolkien

It's exciting seeing the mythology taking up the shape we best know. After the magmatinc early times, when un the 1920s Tolkien was trying different media and ideas, in the early 1930s the material that will become The Silmarillion starts to settle in a more defined form.

#YearOfTolkien

I'm so excited to join in on #YearofTolkien 😄 Especially with the #TolkieniteSwap shopping just beginning!

So nice to be back in Middle Earth. Tonight's chapter is only a very sketchy collection of notes, but it gives an impression of how the first ideas of the stories of the Elder Days trasitioned from the form in the Book of Lost Tales to the Silmarillion.
Always fascinating.

#YearOfTolkien

I haven't forgotten @Daisey! It was just a very busy couple of days, but hay, here it goes the schedule!

#YearOfTolkien

I've divided all the sections, l just need to put the schedule together.
@Daisey l hope to do it tonight. Was thinking to start on Saturday. There will be some 20 sections of about 10/12 pages on average.
Sounds good?

#YearOfTolkien

Everybody else who wants to join is more than welcome.

Whenever you want, now!

@Riveted_Reader_Melissa @Daisey @InLibrisVeritas

#YearOfTolkien