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Summary
Summary
At the end of the 1937 J.R.R. Tolkien reluctantly set aside his now greatly elaborated work on the myths and heroic legends of Valinor and Middle-earth and began The Lord of the Rings. This fifth volume of The History of Middle-earth, edited by Christopher Tolkien, completes the presentation of the whole compass of his writing on those themes up to that time. Later forms of the Annuals of Valinor and the Annals of Berleriand had been composed, The Silmarillion was nearing completionin a greatly amplified version, and a new map had been made; the myth of the Music of the Ainur had become a separate work; and the legend of the Downfall of Numenor had already entered in a primitive form, introducing the cardinal ideas of the World Made Round and the Straight Path into the vanished West. Closely associated with this was the abandoned time-travel story, The Lost Road, which was to link the world of Numenor and Middle-earth with the legends of many other times and peoples. Along essay, The Lhammas, had been written on the ever more complex relations of the languages and dialects of Middle-earth; and an etymological dictionary had been undertaken, in which a great number of words and names in the Elvish languages were registered and their formation explained - thus providing by far the most extensive account of their vocabularies that has appeared.
Author Notes
A writer of fantasies, Tolkien, a professor of language and literature at Oxford University, was always intrigued by early English and the imaginative use of language. In his greatest story, the trilogy The Lord of the Rings (1954--56), Tolkien invented a language with vocabulary, grammar, syntax, even poetry of its own. Though readers have created various possible allegorical interpretations, Tolkien has said: "It is not about anything but itself. (Certainly it has no allegorical intentions, general, particular or topical, moral, religious or political.)" In The Adventures of Tom Bombadil (1962), Tolkien tells the story of the "master of wood, water, and hill," a jolly teller of tales and singer of songs, one of the multitude of characters in his romance, saga, epic, or fairy tales about his country of the Hobbits.
Tolkien was also a formidable medieval scholar, as evidenced by his work, Beowulf: The Monster and the Critics (1936) and his edition of Anciene Wisse: English Text of the Anciene Riwle.
Among his works published posthumously, are The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún and The Fall of Arthur, which was edited by his son, Christopher.
In 2013, his title, The\Hobbit (Movie Tie-In) made The New York Times Best Seller List.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (3)
Booklist Review
Christopher Tolkien continues to edit and explicate the voluminous manuscripts that predated and precursed his father's renowned masterpieces. The fifth installment in this enlightening series concerns the extensive material that eventually spawned The Lord of the Rings. Included among the mythologies and legends analyzed are early chapters and versions of ``The Fall of Numenor,'' ``The Lost Road,'' ``The Later Annals of Valinor,'' and ``The Later Annals of Beleriand.'' The most utilitarian facet of this collection is an etymological dictionary providing historical information and explanation relating to the embryonic vocabularies of the Elvish tongues. Dryly academic in style, content, and tone, this volume lends considerable insight into the evolution of Tolkien's fantastical world. While recommended primarily for Tolkien scholars and serious aficionados, the author's many fans will at least want to have a look. Appendix; index. MF. 823'.912 Middle Earth (Imaginary place) Literary collections / Fantastic literature, English [CIP] 87-16926
Kirkus Review
In this fifth volume of ""The History of Middle-Earth,"" Tolkien's son Christopher blows the dust off some more arcane Tolkieniana and packages it with thoughtful editorial trimmings. This new, fragmented material, written in the 30's, includes several dizzying first-runs at Tolkien's opaque elf-epic, The Silmarillon; a handy etymological dictionary of Elvish tongues, The Etmologies; scattered miscellany; and, most appealing, the partial text of The Lost Road, a ""time-travel"" story--begun in tandem with C.S. Lewis' Out of the Silent Planet--that begins as a classic adventure but all-too-soon transforms into further Elvish effluvia. While hard-core Tolkien scholars may applaud this minutiae, and Christopher Tolkien's painstaking labors over it, those who recall fondly the grandeur of The Lord of the Rings will want to scurry down the nearest Hobbit hole. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Library Journal Review
This is the fifth of six projected volumes on ``The History of Middle-Earth.'' The complex revisions to Quenta Silmarillion , included here, give yet another insight into Tolkien's methods of reworking the rich ore of his linguistic knowledge and imagination, while the etymological dictionary of the Elvish languages reinforces his achievement in creating a self-contained world that yet penetrates our own. Still, only readers steeped in Tolkien's mythology will fully appreciate the discussion of The Lost Road 's relation to The Fall of Numenor. Riches for linguistic scholars and initiates, but casual readers will be much perplexed. Barbara J. Dunlap, City Coll. Lib., CUNY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
