The Tolkien Road

A podcast about Middle-earth and all things Tolkien.

0235 – The History of Middle-earth vol2: The Book of Lost Tales II

On episode 235, we explore volume 2 of The History of Middle-earth series, The Book of Lost Tales II. This includes the earliest versions of “Beren and Lúthien”, “The Fall of Gondolin”, “The Children of Húrin”, and more First Age tales. Join us!

The executive producers of this episode are Kaitlyn of Tea With Tolkien, Liis U, Andrew T, John R., and Ms. Anonymous.

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4 Responses

  1. Hello John and Greta,

    I had in mind a restoration of the Silmarillion, rather than introducing new fan-made material. However, now that you mention it, a frame narrative for The Silmarillion inspired by The Cottage of Lost Play and featuring hobbits and other familiar characters from the Third Age may open up The Silmarillion to a much wider audience. Although that is not actually what I had in mind, it may be introduced alongside what I had in mind.

    My idea was that there are numerous places where the 1977 Silmarillion could be corrected by Christopher Tolkien’s later, more scholarly works: The History of Middle Earth and the three stand alone Great Tales. For example, Christopher Tolkien later regretted how heavy-handed he had been in editing Of the Ruin of Doriath, the chapter where his editorial presence is most strongly felt. A restored version of the story is included in the stand-alone Beren and Luthien. Also, there is an argument that The Silmarillion should not end with the voyage of Eärendil. After that account there should be a prophecy by Manos about the Dagor Dagoroth (the Battle of Battles, the eschatological end of days).

    For more information on these two examples, see https://lotr.fandom.com/wiki/Of_the_Ruin_of_Doriath and https://lotr.fandom.com/wiki/Dagor_Dagorath.

    Thanks,
    Tim

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