What exactly is the History of Middle Earth about?
 

I never really got into the works published after unfinished tales (or that come after UT, whatever). I did buy the first one, and it seemed to be about his first drafts or something of the writings he did publish. Can anyone give me more info please?

Thanks

The history of Middle-earth is the history of how Tolkien wrote his great work, how it mutated, changed and grew over the years, for instance when Tolkien first started LotR, Strider was called Trotter and he wasn't a man but a hobbit, it wasn't until later that the story changed. There are many such changes, read HoME they are really quite good, you could choose by starting with just the ones concerning The War of the Ring, they may be easier to digest.

Think UT - original texts interespersed with editorial commentary - but about 5000 pages of it covering nearly every single thing *Tolkien wrote on M-e. Parts of it are wonderful, parts of it drag, parts of it are almost incomprehensible, parts of it are in Anglo-Saxon.

It is quite possibly one of the greatest works of literature every produced. It will quite possibly bore you rigid - its impossible to say, because its not for everyone. Many fans will not go near vols 6-9 (which deal with the writing of LotR), because they find that all those early drafts & alternate versions of the story take away from the 'inner consistency of reality' Tolkien struggled to achieve.

Don't feel you 'ought' to read it & force yourself through it - reading Tolkien's work should not be a 'chore'.

* Many of the 'linguistic' writings have appeared subsequently in the journal Vinyar Tengwar.

HoMe also satisfies readers' curiosity in that it has extra text which follows on fromt he end of LotR but was not included, and Tolkien's attempts at a fourth age tale, so it's a kind of literary 'pudding' in a way. Gives you that little bit more.

Also if you're interested in background info on the nature of Elves etc you will find some fascinating stuff in HoMe. My fave volume is 10.

What isn't HoME about?
 

My favourite is The Lost Road and other writings (vol. 5), because it's very philological in its focus. It contains extracts from Tolkien's lectures on Beowulf, yet more Old English, early versions of Ainulindalë and some very interesting tie-ins with early Germanic legend; not to mention the fascinating early etymologies of Tolkien's languages.

I agree with davem about the content. There are points in the History of The Lord of the Rings where one's mind almost sinks under the weight of endlessly repeated drafts of the same passages; but Sharkû found out on which finger Frodo wore the One Ring from a footnote in HoME IX, so you can't afford to discount them. In my opinion HoME contains Tolkien's best writing; and Christopher Tolkien's commentary and notes provide a wealth of knowledge and understanding. The Lays of Beleriand contains some beautiful (and some rather imperfect) verse, and the gems that are C.S. Lewis' comments on The Lay of Leithian. All in all, it's difficult to sum the whole series up in few words, but certainly it represents an unique achievement. Almost everything that was Tolkien's writing is represented: poetry, prose, the baroque, the fantastic, the comic and the scholarly; and, of course, those sections in Old English (in one instance, Old English written in Tengwar). There's something there for everyone, but I doubt that everyone will want to read through the whole series. In my opinion it's worth the cost of the paperbacks just to find out which parts you like.

the only reason i didnt like it because it wasn't what happend. As in, it was neat to see where his ideas came from, aside from being really boring (at least the first), but none of that happened. It ended up being different. So are they ALL in past tense, like they never came to be, or are some things further explanations of the present? Or even of the future that did take place would be good.

No it's not all drafts, but there is plenty of supplementary info on things like Elven lifestyles, e.g. marriage, children, what happens when Elves are 'killed'. There are also the unused passages about Sam's family long after the War of the Ring, and an abandoned fourth age tale.