[Formendacil]

Ever since we got wind of Beren and Lúthien, I wanted this, just to round out the set of the three great tales, but I didn't think it would actually happen, since the vibe from Beren and Lúthien really seemed to suggest it was CT's swansong--and his retirement as head of the Tolkien Estate appeared to confirm that.

I'm with Morth in wondering how it'll come out to 300+ pages, since Huinesoron's right that there's no epic poem this time around. Obviously, we'll probably get the full text out of The Book of Lost Tales and it does seem to be indicated that we'll get a fairly full treatment of Eärendil, so far as that's possible. This is likely to be lengthier than Beren and Lúthien's treatment of the Nauglamír and Elwing, because while even more fragmentary, the early years in particular left quite a few fragments--but those were treated fairly completely in the BoLT, and CT's approach with both The Children of Húrin and Beren and Lúthien has been to provide a commentary-lite, nearly footnote free straightforward text, presumably for the benefit of the more general reader daunted by the HoME. I'll be fascinated to see what we get.