The Book of Lost Tales | 
panLike the first book of lost tales, it‘s a lot of extraneous explanation from Christopher Tolkien about his father‘s work. The last few stories were unfinished but a few did have full narratives. I liked a couple of them, but the Turambar tale was super messed up and violent. A lot of this is more fleshed out in the Silmarillion.
#wondrouswednesday @Eggs
Thanks to @TheSpineView for tagging me and sorry first the delay.
1. Stay up late... though lately has been increasingly hard. I tend to be so tired at night.
2. Wingelot.
3. By genre, and inside every genre, by author's last name.
pickEarliest form of the complex myths that would eventually comprise the Silmarillion. The Tales are very different from the Silmarillion and a great read for those of you who love Tolkien‘s elf races.
pickThese early versions of Tolkien‘s stories required a decent amount of concentration, and I would probably not recommend them for anyone other than serious Tolkien fans or writers interested in the processes of other writers. Yet, I love having the opportunity to read and compare them alongside later stories. I appreciate the amazing world he created even more with every book I read.
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pickFinished it yesterday night and really really liked it. Both part one and two.
While the first part of the Lost Tales are concerned with the Valar and the creation of Middle-Earth, this second part is concerned with the great stories. These are so different in nature and still all of them will become so strong in the 'definite' version. I wouldn't be able to choose my favourite
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One more reason to move “She” up on my to-read list.... the never ending list😂
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☺️ seems like a good way to sum up a lot of Christopher‘s research with his father‘s writings, not just this last chapter.
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The second part of the chapter tells of an edition of the idea of Eriol. Here the character has turned into Aelfwine, a true English man who goes looking for Tolkien's Eressea and the fairies that once lived on what then became Great Britain.
There's a long fragment of that story here.
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This last chapter, based on sketch and notes, it's a bit hard to follow. The first half is dedicate to Eorl, his life in Tol Eressea and what Tol Eressea meant in tge early legendarium. Loved it. I had never realised before what 'creating a mythology for tge English people' meant
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I‘m not much of a poetry reader, and with everything else on my TBR this month I did not really plan any poetry to add for April. However, two of the books I‘m reading this moth do include poetry in the stories, and I‘m enjoying it so much. I especially enjoy these narrative poems by J.R.R. Tolkien, and realizing he wrote them during WWI adds to their emotional impact for me.
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Plans for this afternoon include housework as well as some crafting and wrapping for #JaneAustenSwap, and I hope to read some more of this book.
I admit I‘m struggling a bit to stay engaged with the vague outline form of the Eriol story, but I have enjoyed the bits of poetry included.
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pickAs with Part One lots depth and early development of what would eventually become the Silmarillion, from brainstorming to outlines, to early and discarded drafts & entirely reworked ideas, all researched and expertly presented by Christopher Tolkien. As always great history into Middle Earth, but even more so into the writing process and the writer‘s working evolution as they craft their unique story.
#YearOfTolkien
And after a break of a few days (l ended up being ahead) l'm back to #YearOfTolkien readalong. I've been missing Middle-Earth 😁
“Doubtless in these jottings my father was thinking with his pen, exploring independent narrative paths; one gets the impression of a ferment of ideas and possibilities rapidly displacing one another, from which no one stable narrative core can be extracted. A complete ‘solution‘ is therefore in all probability an unreal aim, and this reconstruction no doubt as artificial“
I think that about sums up this section for me so far.🧐
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I knew he started out wanting to create a distinctly English mythology, but reading it like this made me disappointed...
I could see wanting your own epic to compare to the great Scandinavian, Greek, and Celtic mythologies, but one that‘s ‘better than‘ the others...more ‘true‘ than theirs... stated that way feels off-putting to me. Maybe I‘m just taking it the wrong way tonight, but 🙄🤮
I‘m SO glad that he went another way.
#YearOfTolkien
#TrivialThursday @GarthRanzz
1. #YearOfTolkien which started last year as #LotRChapterADay And l'm still loving it
2. I actually quite like my name. But if l ever wanted to change it, it's be Elettra. Always loved classic names, and this one has an awesome sound and belongs to a fantastic, tragic heroine
3. We've Had Enough, one of my favourite Michael Jackson's songs
Still reading “The Tale of Earendel” after supper. I thought this one would be a fairly quick read, but I‘ve just got too many things on the list this week. Looking forward to finishing the poetic versions yet tonight. I enjoy Tolkien‘s poems much more than I ever expected.
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Loved reading these, the oldest texts and ideas about Middle Earth.
I'm fascinated by how Tolkien seemed to work backward. I mean, he created Earendel, then started wondering where he came from and Gondolin was created. Then he wandered where the Silmaril came from and Beren and Luthien were born. And then always backward until the beginning of time.
I'm just loving learning all of this 😍
#YearOfTolkien
This tale was dark with a lot of emphasis on the impact of the curses laid upon the gold and the oath of the Silmaril, leading to how the desire for these treasures continuously brought misfortune upon whomever gained them. The description in this line struck me.
“. . . the king‘s hall ran with gore, and the gold that lay before his throne, scattered and spurned by trampling feet, was drenched with blood.”
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I found one that Christopher Tolkien himself didn‘t notice! 🤭. Apparently when Beren the one handed was an elf, and came back from the dead....he grew back his hand!!!! Which means his nickname wouldn‘t have been very accurate anymore.😂
Resurrection regrows lost limbs!
🤫Don‘t fell anyone!
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This is probably the most shockingly different version of the earlier stories of Middle-Earth. I mean, Dwarves on the side of the evil? 😨
I'm happy Tolkien then changed idea about them. Yeah, l have a soft spot for Dwarves. I think they ended up being wonderfully complex characters.
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Maybe Legolas and Gimli‘s friendship was fated from way back when they were both originally elves, and it stuck. 😉
Funny to think that out of LOTR Legolas was the first name to be born and Gimli the second and they ended up developing such a special friendship.
#YearOfTolkien
Finished up my Gondolin chapter & commentary this morning. That story definitely felt very different from what I remember of the Silmarillion. From special armor and 7 gates to Rog of the house of the Stricken Anvil & Legolas Greenleaf of the house of the Tree, and much more detail about the battle than I remember the first time through, Balrogs & dragons, oh my!
#YearOfTolkien
I found some images to add to the ones @JazzFeathers always finds.
I had supper and finished the commentary for “The Fall of Gondolin” outside on this lovely evening. I found the first section kind of vague. For example, I missed the arms mentioned on this page that Tuor takes to Gondolin as a sign of who he is. However, I really enjoyed reading the more detailed description of the battle, although the Balrogs were not at all what they came to be in later stories.
#YearofTolkien #LotRChapterADay #readandeat
From what l had previously read of the Fall of Gondolin, l never imagined such a story or was. The dynamics, the different compagnie, the movement of the battle. Everything is so different from the sommare in the Silmarillion.
I've just learned that the book of the Fall of Gondolin will be out in August. Can't wait.
#YearOfTolkien
The central part of the story feels very rough in comparison with the version of the Silmarillion, particularly Meglin. But some thing are already there: ldril is already such a strong character.
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I really like the quality of this story. The first part, where Tuor wanders the land and very little seems to happen could have been boring. Instead it has such dreamy quality, a kind a suspended atmosphere that suggests something is going to happen soon.
Loved it.
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Coming August 30th. So pretty.
25 hours and 5 minutes for #25infive and I made it with an hour to spare before midnight! 2 audiobooks and 1 book of poetry completed, as well as progress on 3 other books. 📚
Although I am not yet done reading this story, I need to get some sleep. So far, I‘m finding that the early version is missing a lot of the detail I enjoyed in the later version.
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Finally caught up on this story, and almost back on schedule. But I have to say, although revisiting these stories should seem very repetitive by now, the versions are also very different, and I‘m still really appreciating Christopher‘s work in bringing all this normally backstage story-craft (in outlines, drafts and revisions) into the foreground. It‘s amazing how much of the stories were there from the beginning and how much was changed, ....
Ok,now I think I need to go looking for this book to skim through too.
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I finished “Turambar and the Foaloke” and found it interesting to compare to the more finished version of The Children of Hurin. This story has a lot of the key aspects, but the depth of emotion and tragedy is not nearly as developed as it would come to be.
#YearofTolkien #LotRChapterADay #25infive
So happy to have a simple Saturday morning breakfast with my books! I haven‘t made much progress through this story for #YearofTolkien or time for #25infive the last couple of days, but I hope to remedy that today! I plan to alternate this book with audio while working on housework.
It's true that these earlier versions of the big tales are very different from the later versions, but l think this is especially true for this central part of Turin's story.
Although the basically structure of the story is already there, characters, their personality and their reasons are still so basically that nothing of the story's later tragedy really comes out.
As a writer, l'm fascinated to witnessed the evolution.
#YearOfTolkien
I‘m enjoying these early versions, but sometimes my brain is overwhelmed with trying to keep things straight between different versions. Then I find things like this in the commentary that remind me it‘s completely ok to be struggling to comprehend aspects. Ultimately, it‘s a fascinating look at an author‘s long term process of world building and revision, as well as a son‘s dedication to his father‘s work.
Done with Tinuviel and on to Turambar.
The early version of Turin Turambar's story is both so different and so similar to the later versions! It is possible to see the 'final' form, and still this is a far cry from what it will become.
I thought l didn't really feel to read Turin's story one more time, but this is so fascinating 😍
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Ok, New and Revised reading schedule! Sorry guys, these sections seem much larger than in Vol 1, so I spaced them out a bit more. I hope that helps.
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Well I finally finished Part I, I‘m way behind schedule on this one already.
How‘s everyone else making out? This one is still good, but it‘s not quite pulling me in as much as the last since this first particular story we saw a lot of in the separate “Beren and Luthien” book published later.
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I'm already late on the schedule and l have a feeling l'll be all through this book. But Hey!
I'm loving reading the early version of this story and trying to guess where later elements come from.
Loved Christopher's examination of the differences between this version and the one in the Silmarillion. It stresses the complexity of later versions, when this story deeply embedded itself in the larger legendatium.
I really didn't mind reading the story of Beren and Luthien once more and l still find it interesting to read it in the contest of The Cottege of Lost Games frame.
It's so different and it sounds so rough in comparison with the Silmarillion version (well... duh!) But l still love it.
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I‘m spending Easter weekend with my family, which doesn‘t always leave much reading time. Yesterday I helped with the cows in the morning and other things through the day. Today, Dad and I spent the day cleaning up dead trees around the pastures. Tonight I‘m settling in with my book until my sister, her husband, and their kids get home. I really like the evil cats in this early version of “The Tale of Tinuviel.”
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Time for another adventure!
I didn‘t see one made up yet, so hopefully this will work.
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Hey gals! Do we go today? Or do we hold a bit longer? 😊
@Riveted_Reader_Melissa @Daisey @InLibrisVeritas
And anyone else who'd like to join is more than welcome 😄🙌🙌
Well, l'd say l'm quite ready for a new adventure 😆
Let me know when we are going, gals!
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This is one of my favourite parts in the Silmarillion and this early version is so very different.
I find it interesting that over time the centre of the action and the motives moved from the Valar to the Noldor. This part of the Silmarillion (among my favourite) revolves around Feanor, his grif and his strong head, nothing of which appears here yet.
Here the main conflict is between Melko and the other Valar.
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