Christopher Tolkien to finish lost Middle Earth novel

[Mithalwen]

Thanks Dave,


I am really getting quite excited about this ..... after all it is my first chance to get a first edition Tolkien ..and maybe my last.....

[Lalaith]

So it ends with the death of Turin, rather than the death of Hurin?

Oh.

[davem]

Originally Posted by Lalaith

So it ends with the death of Turin, rather than the death of Hurin?

Oh.

Looks like. Possibly CT felt that The Wanderings of Hurin might have felt like a bit of an anti-climax. I suspect CT will give a synopsis of it in the Intro or Appendices though.

And btw, Tolkien Society members can buy both versions (standard & deluxe) editions of CoH signed by Alan Lee - good excuse to join up & support the only registered Tolkien charity, set up to promote Tolkien's work. And you get a bi-monthy magazine (Amon Hen) & an annual Journal (Mallorn).

[Maglor]

Very excited about this.

I'm wondering (though certainly not complaining) from whence came this wealth of material that comprises a narrative of, by my count, approximately 227 pages when the Narn clocks in at fewer than 100. And all done apparently "without distortion or invention"? Interesting.

Though I'm slighly disappointed to find that the tale may not come "full circle" with the death of Hurin, despite the stylistic needs for cropping it out. I wonder what Christopher will say about it in his notes included in the publication.

[lindil]

maglor:

I'm wondering (though certainly not complaining) from whence came this wealth of material that comprises a narrative of, by my count, approximately 227 pages when the Narn clocks in at fewer than 100.

I recall from UT notes that CJRT said something to the effect of: " most of the Silmarillion versions of the tale of turin, where compressed from the UT length versions. So every time he sends you back to the Silm in the UT footnotes, that should all be inculded now in non-compressed form.

He may have found new material- post HoME XII.

just finished looking at the info on Amazon.uk. CJRT's process sounds like it was a close cousin to our own methods in TFTE forums.

Hopefully there are more 'final edition' Silm chapters on the way.

[the guy who be short]

Hmm. I make CT's version 230 pages.

The UT version is 112 pages + 11 pages from the Silm (Between Of Mim and The Return of Turin to Dor-Lomin in UT) plus about 12 pages from the Notes in UT. Which is 135 pages - in paperback.

I don't have HoME and I don't remember how much extra material is in there, but it does look like we'll be getting 100 extra pages from somewhere or other.

[Mithalwen]

Well a lot depends on type setting ..... my editions take it up to about 175 in paperback and small type - I think there is more in HoME and CT is likely to be thorough with his notes and appendices ..but a change of font could account for a lot...

[Maglor]

Originally Posted by the guy who be short

Hmm. I make CT's version 230 pages.

The UT version is 112 pages + 11 pages from the Silm (Between Of Mim and The Return of Turin to Dor-Lomin in UT) plus about 12 pages from the Notes in UT. Which is 135 pages - in paperback.

I don't have HoME and I don't remember how much extra material is in there, but it does look like we'll be getting 100 extra pages from somewhere or other.

My 227 was a rough approximation based on the Table of Contents previously posted (The Tables start on 261 so I took one off from that and subtracted 33, the page on which "The Childhood Of Hurin" begins). But no matter how you slice it, it's 220+ pages worth of the actual narrative, apart from the pages taken for illustrations (which I'd forgotten about--thanks davem).

My version of the Narn has the fluid story as under 100 pages, and about 20 more if you include the notes and appendix. Of course, font makes a difference as well.

In any case, I'm interested to see the stuff that is "new" or expanded, because there has to be some to reach the apparent length we've been given.