Tolkien Rediscovered through the efforts of his son (The Book Of Lost Tales: Part Two - J. R. R. Tolkien)

Member Name: CaptainD

Product:	The Book Of Lost Tales: Part Two - J. R. R. Tolkien
Date:	08/05/06 (80 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Interesting to see early versions of stories, excellent commentary and obviously painstaking efforts

Disadvantages: ... but it just won't be particularly interesting unless you have a special interest Middle Earth

*WARNING – if you’re not a Tolkien fan, you may find this review rather hard going! You have been warned….*

The Book of Lost Tales 2 is the second of a set of early versions of stories by JRR Tolkien compiled by his son, Christopher. The title is a little misleading as the stories for the most part made their way in a somewhat shortened format into the book The Silmarillion. (In case you’ve never heard of it, this deals with the first and second Ages of Middle Earth – that is, before both The Hobbit and The Lord of The Rings.)

There are 6 actual stories in The Book of Lost Tales 2, which are as follows:

1/ The Tale of Tinúviel

2/ Turambar and the Foalókë

3/ The Fall of Gondolin

4/ The Nauglafring

5/ The Tale of Eärendel

6/ The History of Eriol or Ælfwine of England and the end of the tales

Along with the following:

Appendix: Names in the Lost Tales – Part II
Short Glossary of Obsolete, Archaic, and Rare Words
Index

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1/ “Tinúviel” is more commonly known as Luthien, and this is basically a slightly extended version of “The Lay of Beren and Luthien” (if there are any inaccuracies here it’s because someone borrowed my copy of The Silmarillion a while ago and I haven’t got it back yet…)

2/ This is the story of Turin in The Silmarillion, and is the only version here that I actually prefer to the edited version that appears in that book. This is because there is interesting incidental detail included that is not included in the final version. Not hugely different but still something Tolkein enthusiasts will really enjoy.

3/ This tells, as you might have guessed, of the fall of Gondolin. It is rather wordy and benefited greatly from the greater brevity it was treated to in The Silmarillion.

4/ Most of the narrative of this story about the Nauglafring (Necklace of the Dwarves) failed to make it in any form into The Silmarillion, so this is the only place you’re ever likely to see it. In his commentary, Christopher Tolkein explains that much of the original text is in pencil only (meaning it was the first draft), and he is not sure why his father abandoned so much of it. As Middle Earth mythology goes, it’s certainly not all that shoddy but would almost certainly have slowed down the incredible narrative drive of the finished product.

5/ This isn’t a story as such but an outline of how the story (which was never actually written) was planned to develop. There are some poems which allude to the character Eärendel, and these are included. The pains Christopher Tolkein goes to here to explain how the intended story would fit in with all the others are quite astonishing – he really seems to take unravelling his father’s ancient texts and drafts as seriously as a devout scholar might undertake translating sacred scrolls.

6/ Although this is one of the weakest examples of storytelling I have ever seen by the great JRR, it is probably the most interesting in that he seems to be attempting to make a coherent link between Middle Earth and our own world. Sadly this just feels a little too contrived to ring true (taking into account the suspending of belief you must have when reading created mythologies, obviously), and lacks the power and passion of his true Middle Earth writings.

In general the writing is not quite up to Tolkien ’s high standards, but then that’s to be expected as these represent his mostly unedited work. The one real exception to this is in the second story in the collection, Turambar and the Foalókë, which contains staggeringly good descriptive prose and imagery together with an amazing plot. However as it is not a great deal better than the version Tolkien decided to go with in The Silmarillion, I can’t claim (as I am somewhat tempted to do) that this story alone is worth getting the book for.

The appendices etc are very well put together but I can’t imagine anyone but a real Tolkein nut being particularly interested in them. And that is the weakness of the whole book, unfortunately – while it is superbly researched and written, and the footnotes and commentary are interesting, it is only ever going to have very limited appeal. Even for myself, an affirmed Tolkien admirer, will probably never go back and read this book again (okay apart from to remind myself what it contained while reviewing it).

Because of this, and I really hate to do so because Christopher Tolkein has done an amazing job with reconstructing lost texts and piecing together the history and relationships of each piece, I’m only going to give it 3 stars and a not recommended. [Sorry Christopher :-( ] If you are a real, dedicated Tolkein fan, however, you will certainly enjoy it. (But then, you probably already have it…)


Availability

Play.com have it for £7.49 while Amazon are slightly cheaper at £6.59. Any major bookstore will stock this somewhere near Lord of the Rings!

Summary: Great for real Tolkien nuts but not really for the average reader.