Arwen-Undomiel.com
http://www.arwen-undomiel.com/forum/

How many times have you read them?
http://www.arwen-undomiel.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=15906
Page 4 of 4

Author:  Gandolorin [ April 6th, 2017, 1:32 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: How many times have you read them?

The newest book would of course be "Beren and Lúthien", only due out beginning of June 2017. I'm curious to see how CJRT handles this one, since the only detailed (meaning more so then the Sil chapter) version I know of is "The Lay Of Leithian" in volume 3 of HoME, "The Lays Of Beleriand." It is far longer than "The Lay Of The Children Of Húrin" also included in LoB, on the one hand, but I don't recall anything remotely comparable for BaL to that version of CoH contained in "Unfinished Tales". (@Elthir?)

Author:  Elthir [ April 6th, 2017, 7:23 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: How many times have you read them?

That's right Gandolorin, with respect to the Great Tales, there shouldn't be anything comparable to the prose matter of Turin, as Christopher Tolkien has stated that none of the other Great Tales have enough [updated] material to work with, in his opinion, to construct a version for readers, like he did with The Children of Hurin. And if any new texts had shown up somehow, I would have expected the promotional blurbs to be all over that.

As to what's going to be included in this book besides the Alan Lee illustrations, I'm not sure, but, there's a fuller prose version, a substantial text* which reads in places like a prose paraphrase of the [rewritten] verse of the Lay... still, as it goes no further than the betrayal by Dairon to Thingol of Beren's presence in Doriath, it might remind of the updated long prose Fall of Gondolin from Unfinishd Tales, abandoned all too early.

Two other notable fuller versions were "draft A", amply conceived but soon abandoned, and QSI "a very full form but less so than A"... "in turn abandoned quite early in the tale." In short, Tolkien's attempts at this time to write the chapter for Quenta Silmarillion (QS) were overflowing, and he needed a more compressed story. A rough "draft B" was completed, but this appears to be the basis for a compressed version to stand in QS. That's not all the texts related to Beren and Luthien of course, and for example, I wonder if the very early tale from The Book of Lost Tales will find its way in.

Essentially, the published chapter [in the 1977 constructed Silmarillion] was based on the fuller form QSI "so far as it goes", then follows the shorter QSII, with some passages derived from the Grey Annals.

*This abandoned long prose version was unknown to CJRT when he prepared the constructed Silmarillion for publication.

Author:  Deumeawyn [ April 6th, 2017, 8:11 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: How many times have you read them?

I do plan on buying the Beren and Luthien book, and I have Children of Hurin. I thought Children of Hurin read nicely compared to the Unfinished Tales chapter. And I just ordered the Atlas of Middle Earth too!

Of how many times I read the books, I read The Hobbit three times, all of Lord of the Rings seven times, and the Silmarillion twice. I read parts of Unfinished Tales but never read it straight through. I love the chapter on Numenor and the tale of Aldarion and Erendis, even though it is sad.

:notworthy: Thank you Elthir for your in depth analysis of Tolkien's works! I find this stuff fascinating! :comppunch:
(sorry, but I also find the selection of emojis here fascinating)

Page 4 of 4 All times are UTC - 5 hours [ DST ]
Powered by phpBB © 2000, 2002, 2005, 2007 phpBB Group
http://www.phpbb.com/