The War of the Jewels Vol 2: History of the Middle-Earth

Collections of an author's work are often confusing, particularly when what the author has created is as complex as Tolkien's writings. Here's an overview of the twelve-volume History of Middle-earth, which was edited by his son Christopher Tolkien. Hopefully, it will help you select which book or books to buy. Keep something in mind. In the U.S. Houghton Mifflin publishes Tolkien's authorized works in hardback and trade paperback editions, while Ballantine Books publishes them as cheaper mass-market paperbacks. For some reason, Ballantine doesn't always make it clear that some of their titles are part of the same History of Middle-earth series as those published by Houghton Mifflin. If the title is the same, the content is the same. Which you buy depends on your taste in books and finances. I have copies of both. GROUP ONE, VOLUMES I - V, EARLY TALES These five volumes deal primarily Tolkien's writings before the publication of The Hobbit (1937) and The Lord of the Rings (1954-55). In them, Tolkien was struggling as a still unknown author to create his first history of Middle-earth. Vol 1 & 2, The Book of Lost Tales Part 1 ( 1983) & 2 (1984). The Book of Lost Tales was written during the 1910s and 1920s. Wikipedia describes it this way: "The framework for the book is that a mortal Man visits the Isle of Tol Eressëa where the Elves live. In the earlier versions of the `Lost Tales' this man is named Eriol, of some vague north European origin, but in later versions he becomes Ælfwine, an Englishman of the Middle-ages." Vol. 3, The Lays of Beleriand (1985). These are collections of poems, many of them incomplete, written between the 1920s and the late 1940s. Vol 4, The Shaping of Middle-earth (1986). As you might guess by the title, in this book Christopher describes how his father shaped his vision of Middle-earth from the primitive The Book of Lost Tales to early versions of The Silmarillion. This theme is taken up again in volumes X and XI. Vol 5. The Lost Road and Other Writings (1987). Along with other writings this volume includes Tolkien's drafts of a tale about time travel. Wikipedia describes it this way: "The Lost Road itself is a fragmentary beginning of a tale, including a rough structure and several intiguing chunks of narrative, including four entire chapters dealing with modern England and Numenor, from which the entire story as it should have been can be glimpsed. The scheme was of time-travel by means of 'vision' or being mentally inserted into what had been, so as to actually re-experience that which had happened. In this way the tale links first to Saxon England of Alfred the Great, then to the Lombard Alboin of St. Benedict's time, the Baltic Sea in Old Norse days, Ireland at the time of the Tuatha's coming (600 years after the Flood), prehistoric North in the Ice Age, a 'Galdor story' of Third-Age Middle-Earth, and finally the Fall of Gil-Galad, before recounting the prime legend of the Downfall of Numenor/Atlanti

Volume XI of the History of Middle-Earth contains JRR Tolkien's writings of the First Age after the Lord of the Rings was published. Most texts date from the 1950s, but some were written as late as 1970, in the last years of his life. This volume contains the history of Beleriand. Unlike most other volumes of the History of Middle-Earth, much of Volume XI is *NEW* material that is published nowhere else. It also includes some of the actual texts that Christopher Tolkien used to construct the "published" Silmarillion. Not everyone who has read the Silmarillion will enjoy this scholarly work, but if you are a "Tolkien scholar," or if you read the Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales and still hunger for more stories and information about the First Age, this book is wonderful. If you don't care for the commentaries, there are still the stories themselves. "The Wanderings of Húrin" can be considered the greatest gem of Volume XI, continuing the tragic tale of the Children of Húrin in the tradition of the Narn i Chîn Húrin, and further developing Húrin's character. It is a completely new narrative, describing in almost novelistic prose the story of Húrin after he was released from Angband: his travel to Hithlum, and the disastrous fallout of his visit to Brethil. This is a nearly complete story, similar to the narratives in Unfinished Tales. "Quendi and Eldar" is a long linguistic work, a completed text focusing on the names for the Elves and their Clans, and the other Speaking Peoples, and many other words, in different Elvish languages. Besides the linguistic material, it also discusses the various Elven clans, as well as telepathy, sign language, the Great March, some information about the Avari and the Petty-Dwarves, and other subjects. Included is Pengolodh's description of the Valar's unique language, plus a detailed account of the Elves' awakening at Cuiviénen. This section will be essential to any student of the Elvish languages, but is quite valuable for non-linguists as well. "The Grey Annals" and "The Tale of Years" are separate (incomplete) texts from the Quenta Silmarillion, containing different accounts of the history of Beleriand and the stories of the Noldor and Edain. More importantly, the Annals and Tale of Years together give the dates when the events of Beleriand's history happened. The Tale of Years also tells for the first time the *real* story of the Nauglamír and the Ruin of Doriath. Silmarillion readers will be surprised! "Of Maeglin" traces the development of that chapter in the Silmarillion, and includes several notes and additional writings that shed much new light on the story and character of Maeglin. This material was mostly written in 1970-1. "The Later Quenta Silmarillion" is mostly a rough draft in the vein of earlier History of Middle-Earth volumes, but there is also new information about the Edain and Dwarves, including extensive family trees of the Three Houses of the Elf-Friends. "Ælfwine and Dírhavel" is th

The variety of material available in 'The War of the Jewels' is what makes this volume of the History of Middle-earth series one of the best. Two things stand out. First is the extensive writings on Hurin after his release from Angband. In an extension and more fully recounted version of his tale, Hurin's character and the consequences of his release are more fully explored, giving greater depth to the account given in 'The Silmarillion'. The other is the essay 'Quendi and Eldar'. This is a treasure-trove not only for the Tolkien linguist but anyone interested in the history of the Elves. Through an examination of the different words used by the Elves to refer to themselves and their different divisions, the look at their history as they themselves saw it is priceless. Other parts of the essay and accompanying material fill out references found in 'Unfinished Tales', etc. 'The War of the Jewels' has many stories worth reading on their own that are great examples of the depth and the layers of the legendarium.

The War of the Jewels is one of the most misunderstood and underrated volumes in the History of Middle-earth series. Although it is primarily a scholarly work which explains precisely how Christopher Tolkien brought together the various sources to produce the published Silmarillion, this book also opens up new vistas into First Age Middle-earth that readers never imagined could exist.Casual readers will enjoy "The Wanderings of Hurin", which Christopher has editorialized to some extent. The story of what Hurin REALLY did after he left Morgoth's domain is an eye-opening experience, and it explains why the sons of Earendil and Elwing were the last heirs of the heroic chieftains of the Edain. But "The Wanderings of Hurin" also gives us the only detailed view of the Folk of Haleth, the mysterious woodmen who figured so prominently in "Narn i Chin Hurin", the tale of Turin Turambar.Another fantastic gem lies between the covers of this book, however. Accompanying the very scholarly essay "Quendi and Eldar" is a short Elvish nursery tale which provides the only account of how the Elves awoke at Cuivienen, and who the eldest Elves actually were. Their names will surprise everyone. "Quendi and Eldar" itself is filled with a great deal of historical and cultural information although it is primarily a linguistic work. It may represent the last significant contribution Tolkien made to his mythology, even though he later changed his mind on a few details.

Since J.R.R. Tolkien's death in 1973, a substantial effort has been made by first Guy Gavriel Kay working with Christopher Tolkien, then Christopher Tolkien but also a host of only marginally acknowledged Tolkien scholars such\ as Taum Santoski, John Rateliff, Doug Anderson, Richard C. West and possibly others unknown to us, to make the body of J.R.R. Tolkien's lifework available to those of us wishing to watch the creative process of architecture of Tolkien's world unfold. Early on in the process, there was a parting of the ways between Guy Gavriel Kay and J.R.R. Tolkien's son, Christopher, over the form that J.R.R. Tolkien's posthumously-published lifework would be presented. G.G. Kay opted for a posthumous collaboration format which would allow for the presentation of much of the work in a finished form. Christopher Tolkien chose a more scholarly option. Each approach has its advantages and audiences. While The History of Middle Earth in its currently eleven volumes (projected for twelve) is perhaps a unique event in publishing history, useful to the scholar but also prized by a wider group of readers, one wonders what the effect might have been of presenting this body of work as works of fiction. Phil suspects that it may have supplanted a whole generation of bad imitators of the works, style and subject matter of Tolkien. Especially if the themes were handled at a level of artfulness consistent with the will of J.R.R. Tolkien. We can only speculate whether that would even be possible without Tolkien's own hand - a core question in any discussion of individual creativity. However, since J.R.R. Tolkien thought of himself as a chronicler rather than a creator, it might be argued that a writer such as G.G. Kay who has so effectively used other historical sources as themes for his own work (e.g. A Song for Arbonne), could have achieved results that even the master would have approved. This particular volume of the History also includes the second part of a set of Tolkien's notes and commentary on the Later or Quenta Silmarillion, an unfinished MS. that appears in Volume V of the History (The Lost Road and Other Writings, 1987, p. 199-338) as well as J.R.R's background notes and annotations on The Lays of Beleriand (Volume III, 1985) and a few other similar texts from J.R.R. Tolkien's papers, with contextual commentary by Christopher Tolkien. As with most of the other works in the History, this one requires a good memory or a good library of Tolkien or both. Nevertheless the scholar or the Tolkien enthusiast will want to own the book, complete with its (typically) excellent indexes to help in establishing both the illusion that Middle Earth has an intense level of validity (almost reality) and to trace the complexities of Tolkien's creative process. The history in its entirety is a demonstration of both J.R.R. and Christopher Tolkien's textual/scholarly training in language and literatur